Filed under: iPhone
Steve Jobs: iPhone runs "Real OS X"
When the iPhone was first introduced, Steve proudly announced that it ran Mac OS X. Some have speculated that it might be running some sort of "scaled down" or mobile build of the OS, but at the recent All Things Digital conference, Steve stated that it does, in fact, run "....real OS X." Of course, this leads to speculation about future versions of the iPhone. If it's running OS X, perhaps widgets or other "desktop" OS functionality is possible. Are there any OS X features you'd really like to see on this thing? Let us know.


Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
buzzert said 8:10PM on 6-04-2007
How about spotlight? I'm sure those emails are going to really pile up and it would be kind of helpful to maybe search your bookmarks as well...
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renstein said 8:10PM on 6-04-2007
Perhaps just as important is what features from iPhone will make into onto other Macs. When you think about it, Apple has just released it's first OS with multi-touch capabilities, I would guess built in. How hard is it going to be now to apply those multi-touch capabilities to something like an iMac. The OS will support it, it just becomes a matter of creating new application ideas to effectively use it.
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dumas said 8:34PM on 6-04-2007
I'd love to have Quicksilver on it. I can't imagine using my PB w/o Quicksilver.
Maybe invoke QS with a 2 finger double-tap (or something not used by any other operation). Then using my finger, draw a letter or two to call up a bookmark, contact name, image I tagged, location I tagged in Google Maps, or run a script.
That'd be sweet.
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serge @ theotheroffice said 8:37PM on 6-04-2007
how bout iChat!! wouldn't it be great to communicate using iChat AV with your buddies... hmmm but that would mean adding an additional vidz camera to the front of iPhone....
i agree that even with HSDAP phones, the general populous does not use video conferencing via their mobile phones... but maybe iPhone will change all this (one can hope)
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Ricosuave said 8:41PM on 6-04-2007
How about the iPhone to control the Apple TV?
This way we can listen to our favorite tunes throughout the house without staring at the menu on the tv.
Steve please make this happen.
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Marc Edwards said 8:43PM on 6-04-2007
"Real OS X" probably means the kernel and a lot of frameworks are identical.
Don't confuse the low level stuff with the high level stuff. I doubt we'll see Dashboard, iLife, iTunes or any other application layer parts from Mac OS X on the iPhone OS X. However, Core Animation, Core Audio etc etc are probably in.
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Chris said 9:17PM on 6-04-2007
While he said it is OS X, he did say it does not come with all the OS X bits. So, I think you need to think of his answer as yes, it's OS X. The file system, the security, down to many different libraries, etc. are OS X specific. It's a stripped down OS X specifically made for iPhone. Just like Apple TV is a stripped down OS X for Apple TV. But it's not OS X like you'd pick up in the store designed for a mouse and keyboard.
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Giao Nguyen said 9:21PM on 6-04-2007
.Mac integration. Over wireless.
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Rob said 9:54PM on 6-04-2007
Of all the comments I've read, I think we'll most likely see the following in order of likelihood:
1. iChat Mobile
2. .Mac integration over wireless (especially address book)
3. Apple Remote (for Apple TV, iPod, Mac playback control)
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tehpyro said 10:07PM on 6-04-2007
I would love a USB and firewire port(s) on the damn thing! I'd squeeze protools onto it, pickup a 4 gig thumbnail drive. Plug in a transit and take a mic around for truely portable mobile recording :D
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Licho said 10:24PM on 6-04-2007
you can put the widget "callwave.com" to send free sms to any cellular's in the world and put skype to call a very lows rate to any people in the world.
with those two you have iphone free sms's and cuasi-free long distances and local call's
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tonez said 10:32PM on 6-04-2007
wtf. iphone has to run ichat. its almost impossible to find a decient phone that doesn't run some version of ichat/AIM. i find it absurd that the iphones lack of ichat integration isn't a major concern. of course video chat would be sweet, but not gonna happen at least for now, but some is form of instant message communication via ichat or AIM is a must. get your shiza together apple
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David Wilson said 10:56PM on 6-04-2007
High-end: I would like to see full GPS functionality.
Medium-level: Use of iTunes library for ring-tones.
Low-end: An alarm clock (the iPhone will be replacing a Treo, which has a suitable clock/alarm feature.
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Peter Payne said 11:32PM on 6-04-2007
Wouldn't Terminal be logical? That would be so useful to so many people out there. I for one would kill for BBEdit.
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Matt Miller said 11:36PM on 6-04-2007
In the keynotespeech and in all of the promotion videos I didn't see right click features like you see on an average computer. It would be nice if on the low end those types of features could be added. That way it could use copy, cut and paste.
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Tom said 12:02AM on 6-05-2007
1) iChat
2) Widgets
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Todd Sieling said 12:20AM on 6-05-2007
Voice input/output translation. It has a mic, a speaker, wifi, and sexy new leopard voices. Why not?
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jerbils said 12:38AM on 6-05-2007
...How about a damn desktop? Ya know... like a computer?
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Greg G said 2:10AM on 6-05-2007
Xcode
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damien said 2:34AM on 6-05-2007
How about Nike+ so I don't have to steal my wife's Nano anymore??
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