I so desperately want it just to be iPad os, then switch to Mac OS if a keyboard and pointing device are connected.
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Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS
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I have an iPad Pro, a 16-inch MacBook Pro, and a 7th-gen Surface Book. Honestly, I’ve probably spent less than 30 seconds actually using the Surface Book’s touchscreen. It’s just that Windows 11 doesn’t really feel like it was made for touch, so I never feel motivated to use it that way. Similarly, macOS isn’t designed for touch screen, it won’t work on iPad.
Then update and tweak macOS!
They are basically rebuilding macOS, from iPadOS, with each update to iPadOS.
They are doing the work anyhow, just from the wrong starting point (in my view).
This makes no sense
"Yeah, if you want to use the iPad on a 27" screen, you must buy and use 7"-13" screen device"
Imagine telling a AAA studio movie director that they have to use a portable device to edit their hundred million dollar movie.
It would awesome if a Mac could run TVOS, though.
Edit: and pair with a Siri remote, etc., and still retain the full MacOS, of course.
Never said Cook was logical or in touch with users. He has apparently hated the Mac for a long time based on the reduced funding exemplified by lack of improvements, dumbing down macOS, and lack of innovation. It seems that a Mac is really too complicated for him to understand. After all, Apple devices are mostly a fashion statement, not computers.
I don’t even consider the Magic Keyboard a necessity. For everything requiring a keyboard there is MacBook. I love the simplicity, portability and touch interface of iPad.
Cook doesn't know product design at all so he delegates product design decisions to others. The other people are smart enough to never kill the Mac in favor of the iPad.
That seems to be what a lot of people want. They could even charge an insane premium as to not cannibalize either market.
If an ipad pro and macbook air are each $899 ($1800), charge $2400 for a 2-in-1.
I feel like the real reason is Apple regards macOS as legacy software so they wouldn't put it in something new. They haven't figured out a way to kill the Mac and macOS without a significant backlash.
An iPad won’t run macOS, but that’s not saying some future form factor that LOOKS like an iPad won’t be a Mac. They’re keeping the Mac going mainly because they’ve figured out how to get their mobile pieces/parts to run macOS effectively.
Eventually, they will have development tools on the iPad, which means that a Mac is no longer needed to develop for iOS/iPadOS. At that point, sales of Macs will fall to just those that really never connected with another OS after macOS. As those folks get to the point where they’re not buying new Macs, Apple will make the cheapest possible Macs by taking the internals and the casings that they’d be using for an iPad, excluding the iPad privacy regime, and putting macOS on that. By broadly reusing iPad parts, I imagine Mac system sales could drop to under 5 million and they’d still be able to make them profitably for those remaining few that still prefer it.
Eventually, they will have development tools on the iPad, which means that a Mac is no longer needed to develop for iOS/iPadOS. At that point, sales of Macs will fall to just those that really never connected with another OS after macOS. As those folks get to the point where they’re not buying new Macs, Apple will make the cheapest possible Macs by taking the internals and the casings that they’d be using for an iPad, excluding the iPad privacy regime, and putting macOS on that. By broadly reusing iPad parts, I imagine Mac system sales could drop to under 5 million and they’d still be able to make them profitably for those remaining few that still prefer it.
how about all the other things , being able to install a software from anywhere, with or without sandboxing , as well as many features not related to touch/non touch ?
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The only way this could be made to work with good usability is having two different OSs on the iPad for touch vs. desktop usage, with separate sets of applications. And for once I agree with Apple here that this wouldn’t make much sense.
I want my iPhone to do this. It doesn’t need to edit 8k videos, but it would still be a desktop environment.
*when plugged into a USB dock
Agree. That would be an incredibly dumb move by Apple.
This is disappointing to hear. The news earlier in the week that slide over is being dropped in favor of a multitasking set up that seems to favor mouse and keyboard is disappointing as well (I use it almost exclusively as a tablet for annotations and love being able to reference another doc and then get it out of the way with a swipe). My wife, I expect, will be pleased (she loves the keyboard setup on hers).
Apple have made toolbars and UI elements like the "stoplight" on iPadOS physically smaller than they already are on macOS.
And they require touching/hovering over to make larger and usable.
We are already "there" on the touch vs desktop thing
Just think for a second how the revenue from App Store fees compares to the potential revenue gain/loss of making it a much better/worse product. It’s like people saying that they sticked to lightning because of MFi revenue.
Once macOS goes Apple Silicon only next year, they can lock the firmware down like an iOS/iPadOS device. Although, I still believe the future of Mac is iPad Pro.
I actually don’t think that some of these elements are a good idea on the iPad, and that they are too small. Exactly my argument about good usability.
Furthermore, having dual iPad+macOS applications would lead to the mess that we have on Windows, with apps that are neither good touch UI apps nor good desktop apps, in terms of usability.
I'll agree with the first half and disagree with the second half.
Given that any M-Series Mac can run iOS apps natively, albeit with a few visual limitations, at some point there is a genuine case for OS convergence at least on iPads and Macs at the very least - iPads are becoming more and more like "light" laptops, and MacOS is adding entire feature sets from iOS. If the entire set of hardware offerings is essentially running variations of the same chipset, it seems like someone will eventually run a cost analysis of keeping everything as separate forks vs. a unified OS.
Exactly.
IMO, Apple should start doing the work on macOS to make it all work across multiple device types.