I don’t think it’s that simple. It would take up too much resources to essentially be running both at the same time.
And that doesn’t address the hardware issue. I just can’t see it being a good UX.
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Apple to Use 'Best OLED Panels on the Market' for Upcoming iPad Pro
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And that doesn’t address the hardware issue. I just can’t see it being a good UX.
The one way it could work is integrating the iPad touch UI into MacOS similarly to how Windows has a tablet mode. MacOS can already run all the iPad apps natively since they are using the exact same chips. You could be running MacOS and not be able to tell the difference from iPadOS.
But Apple will not want any iPad to run MacOS. The reason is in the name. I imagine it would be a nightmare to switch from iPadOS which is very locked down with automatic handling of background apps and managing battery life that way to a desktop OS where a simple bugged spotlight indexer could empty the iPad's battery in 60 minutes.
There's a reason iPadOS is so dumbed down, they blew up iOS to make it work better for bigger screens but in the end it's just a big iPhone with better multitasking capabilities. If anything Apple's slowly turning Macs into big iPhones. I'd find it more likely that Apple will eventually lock down MacOS to be even more like its cousins. That might for example mean a boot implementation that can't be downgraded to allow loading any kext or even dualboot another system.
I think iPadOS is here to stay, the only problem I have with it is how Apple just doesn't care to fix the bugs they introduced with the Stage Manager since iPadOS 16. Why can I move a window to an external screen and have it get sucked into oblivion when the UI bugs out? Why are context menu items further down the list hidden behind other UI elements sometimes so I can't click those until I play around with resizing the window? Why do I need to get third party apps to even make use of the external screen, why can't the iPad give me a way to play the videos I recorded on an iPhone on the external display? I can't even Airplay a video from my iPhone to the iPad.
Apple doesn't even consider the most basic of use cases where I'll be on the go with my iPhone and the iPad and need these two devices to work together. Just fix the basics please. Apple promises to make the iPad more capable and advertise how great they now work with external displays but it's obvious nobody responsible for the current implementation at Apple uses an iPad with an external screen as their daily driver. And why would they, the experience is infuriating. I don't even know why this is allowed to pass QC, be rolled out to customers and then remain that way for literally a year.
I want to see Tim Cook use just his iPhone and a new top spec OLED iPad Pro for a single week so I can count how many times per hour he'd be ready to throw that fantastic iPad that we're gonna love out the closed window.
I can't boot any logic into a debate about why Apple should direct significant human resources towards making macOS touch-friendly for iPad, when Apple already maintains a touch-friendly tablet operating system that was originally macOS.
Just look at the windows world. Hybrid devices where you get best of both worlds can make sense. All you need is to be smart about the UX and partition the drive in a way that makes sense for system (partially separate) and data (mostly shared).
Touch-friendly, but feature-less. iPad Pro with M4 can now cancel your Final Cut Pro exports 4X faster than before when switching apps! And it's not long running tasks only...
Oh, absolutely, that would be amazing.I think you mean macOS not iOS, right? The problem is macOS doesn't lend itself to the tablet form factor. Software-wise, the macOS software ecosystem is not optimized for touch, and dual boot is a non-ideal, very un-Apple UX (Boot Camp was a necessary evil for them at the time). And hardware-wise, the thermal envelope for iPads is smaller than clamshells, so macOS would likely have to run slower or more limited than what users are accustomed to.
What I would like is macOS on a convertible laptop form factor with stylus input, no touch. Ideally a form factor something like the Surface Laptop Studio (which I use):
Apple’s recent patent requests imply that they’re working on something like this. They should have done it 10 years ago.
So Apple did come through in terms of display quality. What might have flown under the radar is the battery improvements when looking at the fine print in the tech specs: Battery life is measured at half of full brightness of SDR mode which is 500 nits. On paper it looks like battery life has remained identical but in fact the older model at 50% does 350 nits so this is a substantial improvement as the display is the single most power hungry component in day-to-day use. The chip on the other hand will mostly idle whether it is M1, M2 or M4. During intense use the SoC can draw more power than the display but with iPadOS and the mobile apps this is rare outside of gaming and a few productivity apps.
I am tempted to get the new iPad Pro solely based on the higher brightness with identical battery life. I find myself having to dim the display often to avoid running out of battery in a brightly lit environment. On maximum brightness my M1 iPad Pro is dead within 3 to 3.5 hours limiting its usefulness as a lightweight device on the go.
With the price increase it is still a tough pill to swallow even with selling my M1 model. Previously I was of the opinion that a cheap M1 MacBook Air is the better deal since it comes with better battery life and a keyboard and MacOS at a much lower price point but now with the 1000 nits display I don’t know if I would recommend the Air MacBook anymore.
The battery of my iPad has also degraded in the few years I had it and as everybody knows it is just about impossible to get an iPad battery replacement so with a new device at least that problem would be solved. At this point I am really down to just about 3 hours with maximum brightness that I need in summer and I am carrying a power bank with me further limiting mobility and usefulness.
I am tempted to get the new iPad Pro solely based on the higher brightness with identical battery life. I find myself having to dim the display often to avoid running out of battery in a brightly lit environment. On maximum brightness my M1 iPad Pro is dead within 3 to 3.5 hours limiting its usefulness as a lightweight device on the go.
With the price increase it is still a tough pill to swallow even with selling my M1 model. Previously I was of the opinion that a cheap M1 MacBook Air is the better deal since it comes with better battery life and a keyboard and MacOS at a much lower price point but now with the 1000 nits display I don’t know if I would recommend the Air MacBook anymore.
The battery of my iPad has also degraded in the few years I had it and as everybody knows it is just about impossible to get an iPad battery replacement so with a new device at least that problem would be solved. At this point I am really down to just about 3 hours with maximum brightness that I need in summer and I am carrying a power bank with me further limiting mobility and usefulness.