Apple kept insisting.
For quite some time, indeed, Cupertino plagued people with the message that the iPad Pro[1] wasn't just a computer, but the only computer you need.
Two years ago, Apple presented an ad[2] in which a young woman, devoted to her iPad Pro, claimed not to even know what a computer was.
The year before, the company insisted iPad Pro was a computer[3] and appealed to users to merely imagine what that computer could do. Microsoft burst out laughing[4]. Yes, publicly.
Apple was undeterred. Last year, it presented five reasons why iPad Pro is a computer[5]. One of which was that, oh, it has that indispensable computer element: a pencil.
Another was that it "goes anywhere." Because your MacBook Air simply refuses to fly United Airlines.
The implication through all this time was that your PC, your precious MacBook, is a mere symbol of a time gone by.
In practice, it seemed as if Apple was deliberately neglecting MacBooks in order to force customers over to the iPad side. Could there be any other reason for the MacBooks' lamentable butterfly keyboards[6]?
Last week, however, Apple finally gave up.
Not only did it release a new 16-inch MacBook Pro[7] with a (slightly old-fashioned) keyboard that might even work, it also uttered vital words for workers.
The company's senior vice-president of worldwide marketing, Phil Schiller, can reach for haughtiness on occasion, such as when he insisted that if your kids use Chromebooks they'll fail at school[8].
However, in the same interview, he offered CNET these life-affirming words[9]: "We believe the best personal