Apple Says Future iPads Could Feature Landscape Apple Logo

[wbeasley]

When I say it was a monstrosity it has nothing to do with the look or style of the UI and everything to do with the fact that it was a usability nightmare. It was skeuomorphic to a fault - volume sliders were replaced with a virtual thumb dial you had to spin with your mouse by dragging up and down, bookmarked "channels" were in a drawer you had to manually drag out and consisted of icons without text labels. Advanced controls were hidden in a drawer that covered the top row of channel bookmarks when in use. It was big and bulky in an era when screen real estate was still very much at a premium. Even when it launched QuickTime 4's interface was considered a major fail, hence why Apple completely redesigned it when they launched QuickTime 5 alongside Mac OS X.

Skeuomorphic was a way of connecting analogue users to computers.
You (and I) might hate it but the purpose, which it achieved, was to make computers less scary to the majority of users.

Once flat design overdid their interface reworking, UI designers realised there needs to be a balance between the two.
Not everyone likes (or can if they have accessibility issues) to hover a mouse to reveal a link...

I did web design management work. The young designers often would place buttons and menu options in the least optimum position and you had to hunt or know where to look. They didnt get it. They wanted a "pretty" screen.
Today we are more function focused. And design flows to the device size. Or a Reader view.

Today's interfaces will seem odd and dated in a decade's time.
If they ever move away from screens and into VR...

 

[alfonsog]

I use mine in portrait mode to replace sheet music and to read. 3rd gen 12.9 1TB and still no reason to replace it, still on monthly AppleCare+

 

[teh_hunterer]

Not sure you would necessarily change the orientation on the back of the iPad itself. But certainly on all of the cases. They already do for the Magic Keyboard. And probably should with the smart folio cases, because they prop the iPad up horizontally.

 

[JesterJJZ]

One step closer to killing vertical video. If anyone can do it, it's Apple.

 

[Agent007]

M4 but still no option to run Mac OS. Why? Landscape logo is just more foreshadowing. If a Mac with folding display is truly on the horizon, it won't be long after that the iPad and MacBook are merged into one product.

 

[ccsicecoke]

Been using them in landscape since 2010...

You're using it wrong!

 

[G5isAlive]

I still miss the lit up logo on the old Macbook Airs. I still use my 2013 Air as my in house media server.

I'm willing to say my iPad is in landscape mode 95% of the time. I can't actually think of a single thing I use in portrait mode. Hmm.

I always read in portrait mode 😂

 

[Zwhaler]

Steve Jobs rolling in his grave.

iPad was supposed to be a creative tool.....ended up as a glorified netflix/youtube/gaming tablet.

I would have agreed with you 5-6 years ago. iPad OS was way behind and still essentially a blown up version of the iPhone. I was anti-iPad and anti-iOS. Android phablet devices offered more of a computer like experience than an iPad at the time given the software limitations of iOS.

A lot’s changed. For 95% of tasks the new iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard has replaced my MacBook Pro. Sure I still prefer editing on a Mac but Apple even has an answer for that with the latest Final Cut and Logic for iPad. With iOS 18 around the corner, I think the days of underwhelming iPad software experiences are nearly behind us. Sure, many iPad apps are still zoomed in iPhone apps but the OS itself it far more capable and laptop-like (with Magic Keyboard) than it’s ever been.

 

[Shirasaki]

A lot of apps also don't take full advantage of the full size of large iPads, feeling a bit like "blow-up phone apps" still. These apps seem to generally display content better in portrait, with landscape tending to have more useless whitespace / stretched out UI elements. For example, Apollo, one of my most-used apps, is like that.

iPad was initially launched with few iPadOS apps back then, and most were just blown up iPhone apps. Quick way to blow up app numbers on iPadOS for sure but yeah, some developers just don’t see the value of spending time and energy to design an app specifically for iPad. Stage manager can alleviate some of those issues but still.

So when you are surfing the web, you are holding it in landscape?

Of course. Im holding my iPad in landscape while typing this reply.

Not originally. The iPad was introduced as a third device in between the Mac and iPhone, which aimed to do some tasks better than either. Here’s the original list of tasks.

View attachment 2382757

Glad to see Apple sticks to their original vision of treating iPad as a glorified iPhone. Steve Jobs vision was truly legendary and immortal.

 

[GuruZac]

Amazing to me how polarizing the iPad Pro has become. I don’t understand why the iPad working for some as a complete laptop replacement or computer replacement ruffles feathers. Also, who cares if it’s just a word processor, media consumption device.

The point is the iPad has become a device that is extremely versatile, for a broad base of users. Adding Pencil and Magic Keyboard support has only increased its usefulness and appeal. Youtuber Christopher Lawley has demonstrated how the iPad Pro can be a very powerful productivity device. I’m just surprised there’s so much bemoaning of how different users value and use the iPad.

 

[citysnaps]

Amazing to me how polarizing the iPad Pro has become. I don’t understand why the iPad working for some as a complete laptop replacement or computer replacement ruffles feathers. Also, who cares if it’s just a word processor, media consumption device.

The point is the iPad has become a device that is extremely versatile, for a broad base of users. Adding Pencil and Magic Keyboard support has only increased its usefulness and appeal. Youtuber Christopher Lawley has demonstrated how the iPad Pro can be a very powerful productivity device. I’m just surprised there’s so much bemoaning of how different users value and use the iPad.

Sadly, for many years, it's been a tradition here for some to be perpetually unhappy with Apple products; even products that don't personally affect them.

 

[Fraserpatty]

I guess this is part of the iPad's slow evolution from big iPhone to...regular sized Mac.

In all seriousness, I did wonder why it took so long for them to add the words Air or Pro on the back. Guess it was another retooling expense.

 

[Fraserpatty]

This actually sounds realistic. Crazy times.

Sounds like the nano option on the new pros

 

[unchecked]

Amazing to me how polarizing the iPad Pro has become. I don’t understand why the iPad working for some as a complete laptop replacement or computer replacement ruffles feathers. Also, who cares if it’s just a word processor, media consumption device.

The point is the iPad has become a device that is extremely versatile, for a broad base of users. Adding Pencil and Magic Keyboard support has only increased its usefulness and appeal. Youtuber Christopher Lawley has demonstrated how the iPad Pro can be a very powerful productivity device. I’m just surprised there’s so much bemoaning of how different users value and use the iPad.

It's the perfect storm of things that people like to complain about. Firstly most of us can do most things with the base iPad. The Pro is something for Apple to upsell to people who have looser wallets than most people. Then those people are going to want to do more with how much more they are spending over the base/Air. The potential being capped by the software even though the hardware they paid for is more than capable.

Personally they should just shift the entire Pro line to the Mac side of the company and then we get a proper touch screen computer running both macOS and iPadOS. Then the iPad lineup will be a simple base iPad for everyone, and then a more expensive Air for people with more money or people who want the larger screen size.

 

[steve09090]

Skeuomorphic was a way of connecting analogue users to computers.
You (and I) might hate it but the purpose, which it achieved, was to make computers less scary to the majority of users.

Once flat design overdid their interface reworking, UI designers realised there needs to be a balance between the two.
Not everyone likes (or can if they have accessibility issues) to hover a mouse to reveal a link...

I did web design management work. The young designers often would place buttons and menu options in the least optimum position and you had to hunt or know where to look. They didnt get it. They wanted a "pretty" screen.
Today we are more function focused. And design flows to the device size. Or a Reader view.

Today's interfaces will seem odd and dated in a decade's time.
If they ever move away from screens and into VR...

Skeuomorphic 🤮

Thank goodness Scott James Forstall got the sack. If I want leather stitching on my iPad notes, I’ll get my own needles into it.

 

[Shirasaki]

And new money from customers so you don't have to be embarrassed in front of strangers by having a sideways logo on the back. Oh the humanity!

Even better, add colours to the Apple logo and change it every generation. Endless ways to indicate people with the latest gadget “yes, look at my shiny new toy”. Oh the humanity.

 

[Cirillo Gherardo]

Actually his idea was to make it a consumption device. Tim Apple made it a creative tool with the introduction of the pencil, which was dreaded by His Steveness.

Why do people keep saying this? Do you actually not understand the difference between a stylus that has no other purpose than to drive primary input instead of touch, and a multi-function drawing tool that nothing to do with primary input?

 

[Fraserpatty]

I must be the oddball, hardly ever use my iPad in the landscape position, read books, shopping online, visiting websites, social media, play music, play games all in portrait mode.

I only use my iPad in landscape except for games that insist on portrait orientation. I dislike portrait so much that I deleted a favorite game that took away the landscape option and went solely to portrait.

On the other hand, all my grandkids use their iPads in portrait due to their frequent use of whichever social media App it is that is in portrait. I’m thinking it’s Instagram or TikTok.

 

[jjwwqq]

I imagine Apple knows exactly how much time iPads are used in landscape vs portrait.

 

[sfrangu]

Several people have remarked that they keep their iPads in a case, and that anyway the Apple logo is on the back so they wouldn't see it anyway. If apple were to repurpose the face unlock scanner they could spectrum shift it and project the apple logo onto the users forehead. The benefits are obvious, no more obscured logo and auto rotate as the iPad rotates. They could also colour shift to signal " do not disturb "
Remember folks, you read it here first 😉

That’s a futuristic idea. I will try to remember I read it here first 😂

 

[Fraserpatty]

Sadly, for many years, it's been a tradition here for some to be perpetually unhappy with Apple products; even products that don't personally affect them.

It always sounded to me like MacRumors was full of Mac users who felt threatened by all the attention given to iPads. It seems as if they always have to speak up for Macs and for their desire to turn the iPad into a Mac option. They are two different devices with two different use cases both worthy of updates and attention. As long as Tim Cook is CEO you will never have one device that can do both operating systems. The goal is to get you to buy two devices of course.

 

[bassexpander]

How much extra will they charge for this? Will it only be available as an add-on for the most expensive Pro model?

 

[Surf Monkey]

Feels like a move to merge iPad with MacBook.

 

[Surf Monkey]

It always sounded to me like MacRumors was full of Mac users who felt threatened by all the attention given to iPads. It seems as if they always have to speak up for Macs and for their desire to turn the iPad into a Mac option. They are two different devices with two different use cases both worthy of updates and attention. As long as Tim Cook is CEO you will never have one device that can do both operating systems. The goal is to get you to buy two devices of course.

Sure. But just imagine an iPad that’s basically just the screen of a MacBook. When it’s attached to its keyboard it’s a MacBook. When you take the screen off it’s an iPad.

 

[Pre86]

French website Numerama interviewed three senior Apple employees about the new iPad Pro models that launched earlier this month. While the discussion did not reveal many new details, it did mention one potential change for future iPads.

While the Apple logo on the back of iPads is positioned so that it appears upright in vertical orientation, the devices are often used in landscape orientation with a keyboard attached, which results in the Apple logo appearing on its side. Apple even moved the front camera to the longer right-side edge on the new iPad Pro and iPad Air models, so that it appears at the top-center when the devices are in landscape orientation.

With landscape usage becoming increasingly popular, Apple product designer Molly Anderson said a landscape Apple logo is a possibility on future iPads.

"I think it could change," said Anderson, per a computer translation of the French-language interview. "We are thinking about it. The iPad has long been a product that is used in portrait mode, but we are using it more and more in landscape mode."

On the software side, Apple already began showing the Apple logo that appears when an iPad is booting up in a landscape position starting with iPadOS 14.5, when the device is in landscape orientation. With Apple seemingly open to making the change on the hardware side too, it will be something to look for on future iPads.

Article Link: Apple Says Future iPads Could Feature Landscape Apple Logo

That makes no sense unless they plan to add a built in kickstand. I would posit that most people use it in landscape in a case where the logo is not visible (and the cases already have it in landscape). I also have hunch, most people using a naked iPad without a keyboard are using it in portrait mode.