Apple CEO Tim Cook: 'Why would you buy a PC anymore?'

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.(Getty Images/Justin Sullivan) Apple CEO Tim Cook is out beating the drum for the 12-inch iPad Pro tablet, which launches later this week, and he doesn't really see why anybody would need a full personal computer anymore. In an interview with The Telegraph, Cook said, "I think if you’re looking at a PC, why would you buy a PC anymore? No really, why would you buy one?"


He continued: "Yes, the iPad Pro is a replacement for a notebook or a desktop for many, many people. They will start using it and conclude they no longer need to use anything else, other than their phones."

But recent history is against him. The iPad has seen seven straight quarters of declining sales — measured against the previous year — dipping below 10 million for the first time since mid-2011, and analysts seem to have given up on it. The overall tablet market has been declining for the last year, too.

Meanwhile, Apple's Mac business has been doing better than ever before — last quarter, it sold a record 5.71 million Macs.

The iPad Pro is Apple's latest attempt to reverse this trend. Like the Microsoft Surface, which Cook once derided for being like a combination refrigerator and toaster, the iPad Pro comes with an optional attachable keyboard. You can also buy a stylus for it, to sketch on the screen. It's also got a larger screen than previous iPads, coming in at almost 13 inches diagonally.

Cook also admitted that the larger iPhone screen, introduced with the iPhone 6 in 2014, might have hurt iPad and iPad Mini sales. But he said that Apple doesn't mind as long as it's cannibalizing itself.

We'll be testing the iPad Pro, out later this week, and see how it compares with Microsoft's Surface Pro 4.