I mean, hopefully they haven't entirely sold their hardware-company soul, in which case Linux support would only help hardware sales, even if by a little bit. Apple certainly didn't do much to interfere with people porting Linux and BSDs to their PowerPC hardware back in the day (and indeed, the Powerbook G4 sitting on my bed right now is mostly-happily running OpenBSD).

However, considering Apple's behavior around iPhones and iPads, I don't expect those hopes to come to much fruition.

If you use Linux on an Apple laptop, you are less likely to use their software stores, mobile phones, tablets, headphones, etc.

The integratedness of Apple's offerings depend on the control they have on both software and hardware. I think it's the integratedness that sells Apple's product.

But is amount of people that want to use Linux on an Apple laptop going to be relevant to Apple? Given most consumer would rather use preloaded OS and the state of the linux on the desktop, I don't really think it matters to Apple.

> I don't really think it matters to Apple [given] amount of people that want to use Linux on an Apple

Agreed. But the point I argues was that Apple does not care because they sell hardware either way. I think they care a lot their hardware is used to runt their software, as this is a big reason to sell more hardware.

Despite what people say, I view the possibility that Microsoft might switch to the Linux kernel to run Windows as very much real.

NT is very much legacy code in maintenance mode, switching to something that's more modern that's also the base for Android makes a lot of sense.

Right, but at least before iOS those software offerings were specifically to make the hardware more attractive. Being able to install Linux or Windows or what have you doesn't really impact that much, since the option to reinstall macOS and return to that "integratedness" always exists, and since there's nobody holding a gun to "normal" users' heads saying "you must install an entirely different operating system" (and indeed, Apple taking a stance of "we don't officially support this, and strongly suggest you stick with macOS, but if you really know what you're doing we won't get in your way" would be perfectly reasonable).

Nowadays, especially on iOS, it seems like the software is the focus. I'd argue that's a mistake that will sooner rather than later bite Apple in the ass. Hopefully the switch to M1 is a sign that Apple realizes this and wants to move back toward making top-notch hardware instead of coasting on App Store rent-seeking and planned obsolescence.