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

[jm31828]

I hope not. Apple's tuning is what makes their devices great.

M1+ iPads only makes sense for this.

Base iPads will remain as-is I think, which is fine for most non-pro users.

Apple could just split the iPadOS version builds in their App Store when checking the target device to be updated/upgraded.

I sure hope they don't do something crazy like only making this work on brand new iPad Pro M3's, leaving those of us who just bought an iPad with the M2 chip out just because we bought a year or so too soon.

 

[zarmanto]

I sure hope they don't do something crazy like only making this work on brand new iPad Pro M3's, leaving those of us who just bought an iPad with the M2 chip out just because we bought a year or so too soon.

Ignoring the fact that this rumor (and this thread) is over a year old at this point, and there have been no new indicators to suggest that the described feature will ever actually come to fruition...

While that would certainly be annoying, I'm afraid it wouldn't be particularly surprising. Various companies frequently do some form of feature exclusivity; they usually justify it by saying that the new software feature requires something specific that's only included in the newer hardware. Then the modding crowd comes along behind and demonstrates that -- with some slight tweaks-- the new software and/or features mostly work just fine on the older hardware. It's a well-trod path that we've seen many times before: it's happened with macOS, Windows, Android and likely other products.

So... is what you describe likely? Yeah, kind'a. (Again, assuming that the rumored feature is ever implemented in the first place.) But... crazy? Only in-so-much as we all know that the real reason for software exclusivity is -- as always -- an obvious profit motivation.

 

[jm31828]

Ignoring the fact that this rumor (and this thread) is over a year old at this point, and there have been no new indicators to suggest that the described feature will ever actually come to fruition...

While that would certainly be annoying, I'm afraid it wouldn't be particularly surprising. Various companies frequently do some form of feature exclusivity; they usually justify it by saying that the new software feature requires something specific that's only included in the newer hardware. Then the modding crowd comes along behind and demonstrates that -- with some slight tweaks-- the new software and/or features mostly work just fine on the older hardware. It's a well-trod path that we've seen many times before: it's happened with macOS, Windows, Android and likely other products.

So... is what you describe likely? Yeah, kind'a. (Again, assuming that the rumored feature is ever implemented in the first place.) But... crazy? Only in-so-much as we all know that the real reason for software exclusivity is -- as always -- an obvious profit motivation.

Yep, totally understood.... if something like this were to ever come to fruition, I will be prepared for it to only be available on M3 (or M4) iPads, or perhaps only those with 256GB storage- some sort of exclusivity like that.

But I am still hopeful I'll be wrong.