Your iPhone (or any other smartphone) is a computer capable of running a complete desktop operating system, and has been so for quite some time.
A week ago, Apple asked us to say hello to MacBook Neo. It's a very reasonably priced entrant to the Mac laptop line, just $599. It's perfect for students, priced at just $499 with an education discount.
I have no arguments against this device's existence. But I couldn't help but also notice it comes equipped with an A18 Pro chip, the very same chip that powers the iPhone 16 Pro I carry in my pocket. I'm bothered, as I have been since the original iPad introduction 16 years ago, by the unnecessary restrictions placed by corporate powers to run third-party software and operating systems on devices we own.
"Love at first Mac." Welcome to the family! Don't ever think of putting MacOS on your iPad though!
On the MacBook Neo, I can ostensibly go to a browser, any browser, and click links to download whatever software I'd like.
On my iPhone, there is no such ability. As a US citizen, I must go through the Apple-approved App Store to download / install third-party software. Smells like freedom.
On the MacBook Neo, I can run code and build software with no restrictions.
On my iPhone, this ability is heavily sandboxed and there is no full access to the filesystem through a user accessible shell, as much as I may want one.
On the MacBook Neo, I can even opt to not use MacOS at all and instead install Asahi Linux if I so choose (assuming Apple continues to allow custom kernel booting as it has in M-series Macs).
On my iPhone, the only operating system I can use is iOS – the boot loader for iPhones and iPads is locked down as to restrict "jailbreaking", otherwise known as modifications that allow a device owner to install software outside of Apple-vetted channels.
Both this new MacBook offering and my iPhone use the same system on a chip, down to the number of CPU cores, GPU cores and gigabytes of RAM. Apple would like to have everyone believe these devices are fundamentally different, that the iPhone must be locked in the name of "user safety", because clicking on links is dangerous.
That is an insult to the average person's intelligence. Despite the form factor differences, these devices are basically the exact same thing. The iPhone / iPad have been restricted in their ability to download software straight from the internet, not due to “safety”, but because Apple has a significant profit motive in doing so.
The MacBook is capable of running iOS, iPad OS, MacOS, or any other OS for that matter. The latest iPhones are equally capable of running MacOS, demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt by this latest product announcement.
An iPhone is a MacBook, is an iPad, is an iPhone. But not actually, because Apple has artificially deemed so through strict hardware-level controls.
In right to root access, I laid out the case for why the right to choose the software loaded on devices we own must be advocated for in the broader "right to repair" discussion.
Nearly two decades after the iPhone was first announced, the chips Apple developed have grown into computing beasts, so much so that even ones meant for iPhones can run MacOS.
The mechanisms employed over these same two decades to restrict software loading on mobile devices are unacceptable. These restrictions are boons for corporate and sovereign powers that would like to control what you can do with your computing devices.
I want to work towards the precedent that every device you own should have the capacity to load the software of your choice. Mobile devices are not special, they are general computers in a handheld form factor, artificially restricted from loading software to keep corporate profits and government controls intact. The narrative that mobile devices are somehow different enough to warrant restrictions on software loading mainly benefits actors that don’t have the average person’s best interests at heart.
Now that I know my iPhone has the capacity to run MacOS, I would very much like to do so. I’d love to consider the possibility of switching to a less intrusive phone and repurposing this iPhone into a web server. Perhaps that seems silly, but it’s really not. I’ve already paid for the device, it's clearly a full blown computer, and why should I not be able to modify it as I see fit?
A right to root access would make all of this possible. And I really want to run MacOS on my iPhone now, damn it.