This simple diagram explains how Apple thinks about its strategy

Last week, I took a trip down to Apple's Cupertino headquarters to pick up the iPad Pro tablet I've been using for the past several days.

In the course of conversation, we asked a representative from the Apple iPad development team if he thought a lot of people would end up buying the iPad Pro rather than a new MacBook. This is an especially important point following comments from Apple CEO Tim Cook that the iPad Pro could replace a laptop for many customers.

That Apple developer responded by sketching a diagram on the iPad Pro's screen - a diagram I've tried to replicate here:

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Apple's version was prettier, trust me.

Anyway, the idea here is that Apple thinks about their products like this. From left to right, starting at the circle, they have the Apple Watch, the iPhone, the iPad (including the new iPad Pro), the MacBook, and the desktop iMac computers.

In each case, they want all of them to be the absolute top of the line. The Apple Watch should be the best smartwatch. The iPhone should be the best phone. And so on.

And when they accomplish that, each one pushes the others forward. The shapes are distinct and separate, indicating that there's no overlap.

Apple doesn't worry about how any one product affects the others, he said. The goal is to build each one of these devices to be the best that they can be, and let customers figure out how they fit into their lives.