Apple’s new facility is already scouting to fill positions in several categories, including performance validation in non-iOS workloads, memory controllers, coherency protocols and memory subsystem.

By this token, it seems plausible that the future of computing is shaping up around alternative architectures, other than x86, a technology based on a design that dates back at least 50 years.

Project “Carmel” is the code name for the Surface Pro 6, which is really all we know about it for the time being, aside from rumors hinting to the possibility that this product will be designed to directly compete with Apple iPad Pro and Chromebook devices, by offering consumers configurations with a competitive price point that even Google might have a hard time matching, considering that the Pro 6 is expected to run the full desktop version of Windows 10.

The big question here is whether Apple is interested in expanding its Touch Bar to a size similar to what Asus has done. The chances of that happening depend on Apple’s willingness to lean towards blending functionalities across iOS and Mac OS, as touchscreens on Macs are still a hot button issue for Tim Cook especially, as he frequently reiterated the company’s stance against any type of iOS/Mac OS convergence.