Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
This is great, but I think I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s too little, too late for me. I’ve been able to replace my laptop/desktop with an iPad, but I’ve generally come to not be fully happy with it. The limitations of iPadOS grind on you over time. Resizable windows won’t even be a major improvement to me anyways. I’ve learned that while I can make going iPad-only work for me, I’m too much of a power user to where I’d benefit more from macOS.

A lot of the benefits and the allure that going iPad-only used to have have gone away now that the Mac has gained a lot of those benefits too. The flexibility of physical modularity is super cool, but I don’t think this one update will fix things enough for me. Maybe in another 12 years, I’ll be able to make the iPad my only computer and be fully satisfied…
 
My iPad is my favourite device. Unfortunately the OS is crippled to do much pro work. I’m happy to see we’ll see some improvements. I’m really hoping for 16:9 (etc) extended external monitor support.
 
This is literally what I have been asking for since the Surface Pro came out. Give me a Surface Pro like device with a thin/light keyboard with M1, iPadOS when KB is detached or folded back, and MacOS when it's attached.
I haven’t been a Windows guy for a while but a few times I’ve thought of leaving the Apple ecosystem and going with a Surface. One device that does just about everything? It’s so tempting due to its simplicity.
 
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.
Steve said a lot of things. He said Apple wouldn’t make an iPad mini because if they did they’d need to include sandpaper in the box for you to file down your fingertips.
 
I hope they improve the iPad experience but please don’t turn it into a Mac experience. Just bring Final Cut Pro and other Pro apps to the iPad and also add the Apple Health app and the fricking calculator. It’s not that difficult.
We also need a native weather app on an iPad. Why is it so difficult. It's 2022. Come on!
 
I'm all for iPad improvements. But some of the speculation about basically making it turn into a Mac-like interface seems a terrible idea. Let the Mac have a Mac interface. Let the iPad spread its wings and have multiple monitor support (touch-on-monitor would be awesome). Windows if they can do it without making touch targets that only a mouse can find.
Because of it's limitations, my 12.9" iPad Pro has been sitting under my coffee table for the past two months untouched. They need to do something with the iPads to make them more usable as a computer like they claim it is.
 
  • Like
Reactions: arkitect
M1 only feature I suppose. Everyone else will be left with those stupid 3 dots on top that I still did not bother to figure out how it actually works since whenever that was introduced besides invoking it by mistake on safari.
 
Everyone praising this is, I think, wanting a Mac with touch more than they want an iPad... The iPad multitasking UI is really really good these days, most of the problems are not UI related but are system level issues with background processing and inter app communication. I can see why you might want to modify the existing multitasking UI with better keyboard support and faster replacing of an item in split view but there are sooooo many compromises with many of the proposed solutions (3 wide split view breaks rotation, overlapping windows don't actually solve anything if you can only two or three at a time anyway). I really hope they don't ruin the iPad by giving up on its unique UI and just bringing the same windowing UI form the Mac over. They need to fix the underlying structural issues that are what actually hold it back from being a more professional device.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tinsoldier
Because of it's limitations, my 12.9" iPad Pro has been sitting under my coffee table for the past two months untouched. They need to do something with the iPads to make them more usable as a computer like they claim it is.
Nonsense. The limitations for pro apps aren't the UI, they are in the underlying OS systems of inter app communication, background processing, and other structural issues.
 
That’s not gonna make the iPad a pro device most people don’t need more than than 2 apps open
Right now the problem is fast switching - I actually keep multiple apps in slide-over and that is for utility apps that I can quickly command-tab between, then I have some apps in split view.
A nice improvement would be to allow a larger slipover window so you can bring things in temporarily and not be limited to the compact width. Otherwise the UI already supports most workflows I need, the underlying structure (allowing command line utilities and for apps to interact more complexly with one another) is what keeps most of my work on the Mac.
When I am on the Mac I typically have only 2-3 windows visible onscreen at any moment and use the Magnet app to tile them on my screen (and I have a 27" screen). I would use fullscreen on macOS but it isn't actually all that good compared to the iPad version (which lets you do lots of rearrangement with drag and drop).
 
This is great, but I think I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s too little, too late for me. I’ve been able to replace my laptop/desktop with an iPad, but I’ve generally come to not be fully happy with it. The limitations of iPadOS grind on you over time. Resizable windows won’t even be a major improvement to me anyways. I’ve learned that while I can make going iPad-only work for me, I’m too much of a power user to where I’d benefit more from macOS.

A lot of the benefits and the allure that going iPad-only used to have have gone away now that the Mac has gained a lot of those benefits too. The flexibility of physical modularity is super cool, but I don’t think this one update will fix things enough for me. Maybe in another 12 years, I’ll be able to make the iPad my only computer and be fully satisfied…
Well said. However, I'm hoping that this marks the beginning of a concerted effort to add more productivity features to iPadOS. Things like file management and better external monitor support (as many others have said like @DJC631 ). The iPad could be a laptop replacement and viable for many people but it's just not quite there. Additionally Apple must get more productivity apps ported to iPadOS.
 
How would it be a terrible idea?

Apple can offer it as an optional, at least. Imagine, When you can just take your iPad and perform all the tasks as you would on a Mac (especially if you are traveling) You don't really have to carry your Macbook around. It all comes down to the functionality, making it seamless, the eco-system.
The problem is because the tasks we can't perform aren't because of the iPad UI... there because of app interaction choices such as background processing and inter-process communication.
 
Finally...lets hope so it is about what we think its all about
The way they’re talking about it certainly is not. I also don’t think Apple will ever let it happen, because Mac apps are not designed for touch input.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.