Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
It's still not a computer and that is the reason it's been sitting unused for two months. I prefer to use my 16 "MBP or MBA. Both do far more than my iPad Pro could ever do. All I ever did on the iPad Pro was read books in the books app. That's all it was good for.
I disagree, I use mine for document writing and any time I want to play with painting. I am trying to start to use it for OmniGraffle again - but I find that OmniGraffle on the iPad is a bit buggy…

I think that making it more of a computer would make it better, but I don’t think that the window system is the problem, that has always been my contention. I suspect at WWDC that we might get a new windowing system but they won’t change the restrictions that make some workflows impossible…

I think the windowing system has distracted people, everyone gets all excited when they hear about a new mac-like UI but that won’t fix anything that is holding back the iPad.
 
I'm assuming this was talked about and I missed it...

..but I'd say Apple has an iPadOS problem on their hands when Federico Viticci -- literally "Mr. iPad for everything at all costs" -- quietly switched to an M1 Mac for a few months and finally told everyone about it ... and prefers it.

If you can't retain someone like Federico on the iPad, you are failing completely on iPad software/OS stuff Apple
Yeah, if you read his article it isn’t about making the UI more make like but about the restrictions in iPad OS, we hear how apple is rethinking the UI but not about if they are rethinking anything else. They need to give us the freedom to use and extend the OS as we have on macOS. Consider one thing Viticci liked, the system wide shell commands for shortcuts, this isn’t rumoured…
Just sticking macOS on it won’t help either because even if you switch between the two you then are limited in power when you are on the go… this is a cop out not a solution.
Everyone got so excited by those mock ups and rumours around windowing and I think none of them are going to start using the iPad as their main computer because the issues of the iPad aren’t windowing related.
 
Apple seems to be stuck between a rock and a hard place.

On one hand, you do have a small group of power users who do use their iPads for serious work and want to be able to squeeze out as much use out of it as possible.

On the other end of the spectrum, you have normal average users who just use the iPad to check email, browse the web and watch Netflix.

The challenge is how to give the power users what they want without alienating the latter. I have no answer to this, but I maintain that the answer is not to bring macOS to the ipad, at least.
Most of the features of macOS we want are things like apps running in the background longer - to actually allow long running tasks to finish without having to babysit them. I want virtual memory/swap (not unlimited in size but maybe 32GB) so that things don’t have to reload if I do something else while waiting for something to finish. I want proper USB support so I can plug things in and just have them work, sometimes I don’t want to fight with my printers wireless connection and I just go to my Mac since I can plug it in.
I want better apps, those that are full featured, give me real Xcode, better UI in pages, etc…
Most of these things would be invisible to the average user… multiple floating windows won’t help me get more done, better system level features and apps will.
Let users disable multitasking and that will help the casual users and they too will benefit from enhancements to usb (they will be easier to troubleshoot).
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tagbert and petvas
For me, my iPad is my favourite device, but I rarely use it. It's my favourite device because I can use touch, keyboard, Apple Pencil, mouse. It's really portable, and it has Face ID. However, the limitations are with external monitor support, and most importantly, apps. The first can be fixed easily if they wanted to (hopefully at WWDC), the second, not so much.

I use the Apple Pencil for Photoshop on my iPad. I prefer to use it over a Wacom drawing tablet. However, it's disruptive to save to the cloud on my Mac, wait for the cloud sync, then grab the iPad/ pencil and continue, then switch back to the bigger screen on the Mac. Not to mention, you have to learn where objects are on two versions of the same program.

I wish there was only one app for both Mac and iPad. Microsoft of all companies have proved that this can be done with the Surface but unfortunately, it's Windows.
 
For me, my iPad is my favourite device, but I rarely use it. It's my favourite device because I can use touch, keyboard, Apple Pencil, mouse. It's really portable, and it has Face ID. However, the limitations are with external monitor support, and most importantly, apps. The first can be fixed easily if they wanted to (hopefully at WWDC), the second, not so much.

I use the Apple Pencil for Photoshop on my iPad. I prefer to use it over a Wacom drawing tablet. However, it's disruptive to save to the cloud on my Mac, wait for the cloud sync, then grab the iPad/ pencil and continue, then switch back to the bigger screen on the Mac. Not to mention, you have to learn where objects are on two versions of the same program.

I wish there was only one app for both Mac and iPad. Microsoft of all companies have proved that this can be done with the Surface but unfortunately, it's Windows.
"Unlike Windows 10, Windows 11 doesn’t come with a tablet mode. With the new operating system, Microsoft is trying to strike a balance between desktops and tablets, and Windows 11 continues to work better on tablet devices."

"More improvements including a tablet-friendly taskbar could be released with Windows 11 23H2 update next year."

 
They need to give us the freedom to use and extend the OS as we have on macOS. Consider one thing Viticci liked, the system wide shell commands for shortcuts, this isn’t rumoured…
And, I think from Apple’s perspective, a user that wants that level of control can buy one of their OTHER products.
 
Apple seems to be stuck between a rock and a hard place.

On one hand, you do have a small group of power users who do use their iPads for serious work and want to be able to squeeze out as much use out of it as possible.

On the other end of the spectrum, you have normal average users who just use the iPad to check email, browse the web and watch Netflix.

The challenge is how to give the power users what they want without alienating the latter. I have no answer to this, but I maintain that the answer is not to bring macOS to the ipad, at least.
Indeed , macOS on the iPad is not the answer. However, the ability to switch between a more productive interface and a simpler one, for example depending if the iPad is attached to a keyboard via the Smart Connector or not, could be the answer to please both groups of users.
 
  • Disagree
  • Love
Reactions: bcortens and smulji
Don’t know why everyone wants a tablet to be a Mac so much. Steve Jobs said himself during the iPads introduction that the iPad is a “third category device between a laptop and a smartphone”.


Just buy a Mac if you want a Mac, otherwise you’ll never be satisfied because you’ll just want them to add something else to make it like a Mac, then another thing, then another… etc. You are forever chasing after something to be something that it was never intended to be.

I see these old videos and miss Steve so much.

In the keynote it's interesting how he positions the iPad as a halfway point between Mac and iPhone. However he touts it mainly as a media consumption devices.
 
I wish there was only one app for both Mac and iPad. Microsoft of all companies have proved that this can be done with the Surface but unfortunately, it's Windows.
Microsoft had Windows CE and Windows. They did not make one app for both, they just used Windows for everything.
 
That’s not gonna make the iPad a pro device most people don’t need more than than 2 apps open

Regardless of what they do with the hardware, the iPad will never be a pro device until they get developers to make pro apps for it. Even Apple hasn't made Logic or Final Cut for iPad. Hopefully this will change at WWDC.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bcortens
My M1 based 11" iPad with 2TB, Verizon cell service, and Brydge keyboard with large track pad goes with me most everywhere. It is heavier than the my M1 MBAir.

The M1 MBAir, 16" 2019 Intel maxed out MBPro and 14" M1 maxed out MBPro laptops are great if WiFi and ethernet are available. But not so much as stand alone devices without that connectivity. Using the iPhone 13 Max Pro as a hot spot works some of the time.

When home, I plug an ethernet cable into the M1 iPad (it is in landscape mode with the keyboard) and it downloads Apps and OS updates as fast as the 14" M1 based laptop.

My iPad mini v6 has a USB connector that does not interface with the ethernet cable. But does backup quickly over the cable when connected to a laptop.

Bring the correct tool for the job and location.
Not only does the hotspot with my phone work for me reliably for my laptops and ipad air, but it does so automatically, it’s pretty slick, *especially* on the ipad, I’m surprised you have trouble.

I’m on AT&T though, so maybe that’s part of the difference. I actually love that my phone is basically the mobile router for all my devices, seamlessly, without needing cell service on all of them (outside of my watch, because that way it + my airpods give me full reachability out cycling, etc, without having to carry anything else).
 
That should be the annual slogan for iPadOS

I've lost all faith that Apple will figure this out and do what's needed.
It's always just a new arrangement of the deck chairs it seems like

Hah, very true. However, we've seen some pretty decent updates from iPad OS in the last few years including files, external mouse and keyboard support, thunderbolt 4 etc (are the ones that come to mind). The most obvious issue at this point I think is proper external monitor support which might align with the rumoured new resizable windows. Allowing multiple aspect ratios on extended monitors would facilitate better multitasking and windows resizing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Boil and Tagbert
While the hardware isn’t good, I actually prefer the Surface devices. I have a full blown Windows and can run full desktop apps on it. It’s 2022, I would love to start seeing fully responsive operating systems. iPad on the go is the current iPad look and feel. Docked (don’t limit to apple exclusive accessories please) you get macos experience.

Laptops aren’t as mobile as tablets. Laptops have horizontal and vertical space as a requirement. Tablets don’t have this requirement as I can use my iPad on one hand with the screen flat vs how it would be with a laptop.

Surface Pro is almost there. I believe Apple could improve on it and make it great.

Plus you could hook up an EGPU and game with it to some extent.
 
I see these old videos and miss Steve so much.

In the keynote it's interesting how he positions the iPad as a halfway point between Mac and iPhone. However he touts it mainly as a media consumption devices.
Not really. In the 2010 iPad keynote, he shows off iWork and in 2011, he shows off iMove & Garageband, all of which are for creation. He definitely saw the potential of the iPad as a creativity tool.
 
Hah, very true. However, we've seen some pretty decent updates from iPad OS in the last few years including files, external mouse and keyboard support, thunderbolt 4 etc (are the ones that come to mind). The most obvious issue at this point I think is proper external monitor support which might align with the rumoured new resizable windows. Allowing multiple aspect ratios on extended monitors would facilitate better multitasking and windows resizing.

To me they are ruining it -- but I say that because I want a highly refined and simplistic iPad experience.

I'm decidedly not in the camp that wants it to get "more like a normal computer"

I'm not against those additions, but I really wish they'd simultaneously add more ways to get the original iPad experience back. I'd like to totally disable multitasking for instance (more for family than myself really)
 
  • Like
Reactions: gnomeisland
And, I think from Apple’s perspective, a user that wants that level of control can buy one of their OTHER products.
The UX of the iPad is in most ways superior, that’s why people like it, the restrictions that prevent more powerful workloads aren’t helping apple as much as apple thinks they are IMO.
 
  • Like
Reactions: smulji
I personally think both devices really need to be their own entity. It also creates a larger diversification for sales for Apple, by keeping both systems with separate software for different needs or requirements.

iPads are largely ‘entertainment’ devices for the most part, but can be used as a
work tool, where as the MacBook I find more in productivity for workflow purposes.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tagbert
Apple needs to go back to the Jobs playbook. Too many iPad models. It’s confusing to the customer. Overheard this in an Apple store last month and I agree! If a new MacBook or the like doesn’t come out soon, Ima gonna blow my top. Bought a new iPad Pro, keyboard and pen. Less than 2 weeks later, the security update made it all completely unusable. Struggled along for another couple of weeks. Returned all to the Apple store @41 days. Why did they allow that? Because they knew. Thankfully they still have great customer service…

So true. Apple really struggles with it's naming conventions and just confuses the customer (Microsoft Surface isn't much better). Now they've added "studio" into the mix, and I've never really figured out what "air" actually represented. Add the processor branding now too: pro, max, ultra, royale with cheese - it's just a giant soupy mess. Plus, you have Mac Pro and M1 Pro which is confusing. The name of the product should inherently tell the customer the key difference between the lines.
 
  • Love
Reactions: turbineseaplane
Hopefully if it is DEX-like its more refined and less buggy - far too many annoying little faults and bugs with DEX preventing it being as useful as it could be, although in Samsung's defence its not a part of the "core-OS" they're having to tack it on.
Dex is an awesome concept IMO.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: ediks
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.