Apple Patent Suggests Future iPad Could Transform Into macOS-Like Experience When Attached to a Keyboard

[RadioHedgeFund]

I still can't fathom why people dislike iPad OS? I think its brilliant! I use my iPad Pro for LiDAR scanning, Mesh manipulation, full on CAD and project drawing/notes/recording as well as the other meeting and mail stuff and have no issues. And to cap it all off I use Google as my main account for cloud and such and not Apple, adding another barrier to procedings.

If you want a Mac why not just buy a Mac?

 

[GuruZac]

This is what I've been saying to people wanting the Mac to have a touch screen.

Mac OS is designed for mouse/keyboard inputs and is FAR from being touch friendly. iPad OS was designed for touch and gets more desktop capabilities with each update. It's much easier to enhance a UI than to shoehorn it into something it wasn't designed for.

Yeah I like where iPadOS is going. It’s far more productive than when it was just iOS on the iPad. Mark Gurman’s rumored updates would be a near perfect solution for the iPad when there are such large discrepancies in hardware between the base iPad and iPad Pro.

 

[Macyourdayy]

This is exactly what I want Tim Apple.

Actually, I want to able to boot into macOS on my iPad Pro which is twice as fast as my MacBook Pro if a keyboard and trackpad/pencil are connected. Problem solved. I don’t need another half baked, nobbled OS

 

[zarmanto]

It occurs to me that at a low level, both macOS and iPadOS are actually the same operating system, just with different pieces running on top... so my thinking is that this is probably being envisioned as a "macOS app" of sorts, running on top of an iOS instance to provide the traditional desktop computer experience when needed, possibly with an optional auto-launch when your iPad is configured with the appropriate accessories. I feel that this "one-on-top-of-the-other" approach is a bit more likely than any kind of a "dual-boot" implementation.

It would actually amuse me if the app were simply named "Finder". Just as it always has been.

 

[sledgehammer89]

As long as this "macOS mode" runs every macOS apps (also non-App Store apps like Firefox, VS Code) with the dust, poll and breakfast proof Smart Keyboard and an external Trackpad, I'm in and will be upgrade to 12.9" iPad Pro with 16GB RAM. Yesterday. Apple, please release this. It's software only.

 

[Larsvonhier]

Ironic how they keep touting "what's a computer" with a garbage OS. The almighty netflix finger "computer".

iPadOS will never catch up or surpass macOS (even with macOS worsening every year), a full fledged desktop OS has been the real deal since day 1, the rest is marketing BS over and over and people biting.

Interesting chain of reasoning:
- Macrumors posts a finding of a patent that Apple filed
- it gets (inevitably) lots of comments here
- ...and you tout something of BS marketing...

since when is a patent considered marketing in any way?
pls. elaborate on that for full points ;-)

 

[PsykX]

This is all I've been asking since 2018.
I knew this was coming sooner or later.

 

[erikkfi]

A true windowed experience on an iPad? Huh, I guess sometimes the customer does know what they want before you show it to them.

 

[mnsportsgeek]

Today in things that will never happen but that everyone would love.

 

[smoothride]

Imagine I put up a chalkboard in the middle of town, and offer people the opportunity to write things. If you write something I don't like, I can wipe it off.

You can then go to another chalkboard and write exactly the same thing again. But I can't wipe it off because it is not my chalkboard.

You have freedom of speech but not to say absolutely anything anywhere.

You want to say something that no-one will let remain on their chalkboards? Get your own and use that.

REALLY?

I am not sure if that bunch of nonsense you just put above is related to my question.

 

[AltecX]

Having an iPad turn into macOS when there is a physical KB is something I've been asking for YEARS. Now if it can run proper MacOS apps when in MacOS mode I'll have 0 reason to have a Surface Pro.

 

[tubomac]

It's about time. At least do it for the iPad Pro that costs a kidney + ass!

 

[seek3r]

Soooooo basically Samsung DEX.

DEX anyone? Dex is really cool and well ahead of the competition.

Makes sense, problem with dex is it’s an awesome idea with an awkward implementation. Apple’s specialty really is taking something that’s been an awkward thing in tech and refining it into a solid product. If they can do “dex but better” I’ll be super happy

 

[Razorpit]

Soooooo, does anyone here think Apple has heard of the Microsoft Surface devices?

It makes you wonder how thorough the patent search process was...

Not so much what are they patenting that's the same as, what are they patenting that's different.

Surely they will then have to pay me royalties for borrowing my idea?

Sure, whatever is left over after they pay me. 😉

I still can't fathom why people dislike iPad OS? I think its brilliant! I use my iPad Pro for LiDAR scanning, Mesh manipulation, full on CAD and project drawing/notes/recording as well as the other meeting and mail stuff and have no issues. And to cap it all off I use Google as my main account for cloud and such and not Apple, adding another barrier to procedings.

If you want a Mac why not just buy a Mac?

Or better yet, if you want a Mac and iPad experience in one device why not buy an iPad Pro that can do that, as this patent suggests. 🙄

 

[Student of Life]

they got a lot of work to do. to make iPadOS just like macOS.

Like change the whole file system to save things locally on an iPad.

right now it seems all cloud based.

And if they do this people will just buy an iPad and Mac laptops will take a huge hit in sales.

Most people want the touch screen experience. a regular MacBook will get left behind if touch screen is never implemented on Macs.

Oh this won’t be cheap ? I’m thinking this will only apply to IPad Pro with say at least 256GB and 16GB memory. It will be way cheaper to buy a MacBook Air or even a low level MacBook Pro, but it’s a start and eventually it would work on iPad Airs.

 

[RadioHedgeFund]

Or better yet, if you want a Mac and iPad experience in one device why not buy an iPad Pro that can do that, as this patent suggests. ?

What I am mostly curious about is what functionality people are missing from the iPad OS that would make them want it to behave more like a Mac.

For example people state they want to be able to manipulate app windows more but an 11" screen to me doesn't seem like it has the space to bother.

Is it app functionality, like the ability to run X-code on an iPad?

 

[DNichter]

I am thinking they will add a menu bar and window functionality, but the rest of iPadOS will remain very similar to what we have today, with some logical enhancements that I think are coming sooner than later (external display support, combined app stores, pro apps etc.) That seems pretty clean and doesn't take away from the current iPadOS experience.

 

[anthogag]

For my 12.9" iPad Pro (4th gen.) I use only Apple Pencil.

 

[yegon]

This might happen by 2040, but probably by drip drip drip, with some clowns claiming triumphantly they “called it” to the disgust of the more discerning in the crowd.

 

[sdwaltz]

Not my idea - but eventually the iPhone will be our computer, with the phone itself being the trackpad in a device, almost like a docking station.

I have always said that this is where we need to go.

At this point, iPhones have all the processing power and storage space needed to provide a desktop experience. Since MacOS and iOS are so similar to begin with, Apple should be working on a solution where the iPhone can hook to an external display and run MacOS. Hardcore video and photo editing would obviously not be happening there, but it would be more than enough for basic tasks like web browsing, email, word processing, file management, etc.

Bad business decision, great product decision.

 

[suns93]

Epic’s lawyers are crossing their fingers so hard that this gets released before the appeal trial. Federighi just claimed macOS as having unacceptable levels of malware while on the stand. If they bring macOS to iPad their argument to keep the App Store takes a huge blow.

 

[gnomeisland]

The question is does this work retrograde with 2018+ iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard, just M1 powered iPads, or only a new iPad Pro and new Magic Keyboard that looks closer to what’s in the schematic above? If it works with all iPads with an attached keyboard/mouse/trackpad this could be huge and what many of us have been waiting for.

My educated guess is that it will rely on the hardware virtualization that is only present on the Mx model chips. That would let Apple sandbox the MacOS or the Apps while keeping the rest of iPadOS pretty independent. All the Mx models (I suspect we're going to see an M2 iPad Pro shortly) also have enough RAM to hold full Mac Apps without battery draining swapping or painful reloads. That makes for a nice, easy to understand cut off for buyers.

It would also be a double win for Apple because it will prompt both upgrades and new buyers to justify the more pricy M1 models. Right now, and I'm saying this as an owner of an iPad Pro, the cost/value proposition is pretty skewed—the base iPad is so cheap and the top iPad Pro is so expensive but you really can do all the same things on both.

 

[suns93]

I have always said that this is where we need to go.

At this point, iPhones have all the processing power and storage space needed to provide a desktop experience. Since MacOS and iOS are so similar to begin with, Apple should be working on a solution where the iPhone can hook to an external display and run MacOS. Hardcore video and photo editing would obviously not be happening there, but it would be more than enough for basic tasks like web browsing, email, word processing, file management, etc.

Bad business decision, great product decision.

“If you don’t cannibalize yourself, someone else will.” - Steven Paul Jobs

 

[gnomeisland]

Epic’s lawyers are crossing their fingers so hard that this gets released before the appeal trial. Federighi just claimed macOS as having unacceptable levels of malware while on the stand. If they bring macOS to iPad their argument to keep the App Store takes a huge blow.

That's why I don't think it will run a full version of MacOS. I believe it will run independent, sandbox/virutalized MacOS apps each in a container and probably only downloadable through the App Store.

 

[aParkerMusic]

Ironic how they keep touting "what's a computer" with a garbage OS. The almighty netflix finger "computer".

iPadOS will never catch up or surpass macOS (even with macOS worsening every year), a full fledged desktop OS has been the real deal since day 1, the rest is marketing BS over and over and people biting.

Eh, I think the heart of “what’s a computer” still stands. I am frequently surprised (though increasingly less-so over time) by the fact that there are soooo many people who genuinely don’t know how to use a computer because a smartphone or iPad meets all of their needs, and that’s all they’ve used for a while. This is in multiple age ranges. There are older people who seemingly skipped over a “serious” personal computer and use phones or iPads now. I understand why the “what’s a computer” tagline annoyed some, but the reality is we largely live in a mobile/touch OS world.

That said, while I think iPadOS is great and enjoy it very much, it’d be cool to have this multi-interface design!