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Ask HN: My iPhone as My Computer?

by quietthrow on 9/14/23, 1:35 PM with 11 comments

Genuine question: what are the technical challenges that prevent my iPhone from being used as a full fledged daily driver computer (think no normal laptop for normal users use cases.) it already supports external mouse and keyboards. What limits it to support external monitors in full 1080p or 4k resolutions? Why can’t it have user isolation like laptop/desktop os where I can have a work and personal profile?

I understand from a business perspective this giving all this would be hurtful for apple as it would cannibalize other products and decrease revenue. But I am trying to understand if there are technical challenges in addition to business motives.

Is there an appetite for such a product if the app ecosystem was also available ?

  • by GOTO95 on 9/14/23, 2:18 PM

    >Is there an appetite for such a product if the app ecosystem was also available ?

    No, not really. Samsung has DeX[1] which is exactly what you describe - connect your phone to a USB-C hub, plug in HDMI monitor, keyboard and mouse and you'll have phone as a computer with full windowing operating system. I tried it once with my Galaxy S21+ which would be fast enough to be my daily driver computer, but for many reasons it just didn't work right. Maybe it's Samsung's DeX but I doubt it because using an iPad as a laptop also doesn't work (for most people including me).

    [1] https://www.samsung.com/us/apps/dex/

  • by ActorNightly on 9/14/23, 7:35 PM

    Ubuntu convergence exists, so technically its doable.

    Its not as useful as you would think. You can access most commonly used apps as a web app on a laptop or a desktop. The only real advantage would be file locality, but phone storage is somewhat small.

    There is a small use case of mobile gaming where you want to play a mobile game with a keyboard and mouse, but that is very niche and custom solutions exist for this.

  • by endisneigh on 9/14/23, 3:20 PM

    I personally do this today with an iPad and remote desktop - but I always have a desktop running for other reasons so the marginal increase in use is acceptable.

  • by mattl on 9/14/23, 1:41 PM

    I think what you want is an iPad but I do wonder if the USB-C iPhone 15 Pro will be able to support more of what you mentioned.

  • by perilunar on 9/15/23, 7:43 AM

    I'd love to be able to do this. But the phone would have to run MacOS — iOS is too locked down.

  • by person- on 9/14/23, 10:16 PM

    The only thing that could prevent me from doing this is that the phone screen is small and i'm not that tech savy, so i probably couldn't find out how to put it onto a bigger screen, but if your Tech Savy enough I think this could totally work for you!

  • by epberry on 9/14/23, 1:52 PM

    USB-C actually unlocks this I believe.