That seems exactly the opposite direction they’ve always gone though. Microsoft tried to have a completely unified PC/tablet experience, where their desktop OS basically became completely tabled focused in Windows 8. Whereas Apple has always made a strong distinction between e.g. the iPad and the Mac, refusing to build a convertible Mac or any Mac with a touch screen…
I hate to remind you this, but Windows 8 was 10 years ago.
At that time, the iPad was only taking baby steps as the blown-up iPod Touch it was. Its selling feature was reading New York Times. In contrast, OS X was at beloved 10.8 Mountain Lion — the version considered by many as the pinnacle of Mac-assed macOS, and the definition of what Apple’s desktop experience should represent.
So yes, in 2012, what you’re saying about “strong distinctions” was completely true. At that time, “computer” was synonymous with “Mac” in the sphere of Apple and its users.
Meanwhile, look at macOS now. Its last design overhaul, 2 years ago, had one goal: Make all control elements bigger, blobbier and simplified.
Last year’s updates were almost exclusively feature parity with iOS and iPadOS, and/or better collaboration of Mac with the other devices.
This year, the lineup of new macOS features consists of:
• better collaboration between Mac and iOS/iPadOS
• ports of two applications (Clock & Weather) from iOS/iPadOS
• redesign of an integral part of the OS, to make it look like iOS/iPadOS
• port of a window management tool which was very clearly designed for the iPad first and only added to Mac as an afterthought.
To say that the writing is on the wall would be an understatement. Yes, Steve Jobs made a clear distinction when introducing the iPad, but from the day he disappeared, Apple has been working steadily to remove that distinction.
