Apple's Greg Joswiak: No Plans to Merge Mac and iPad

[PinkyMacGodess]

That language "there's no plans" always makes me pause. Twice the places I worked at were rumoured to be sold (and then they'd clean house of all employees if sold) so I'd ask the owner if the place was for sale. Both cases they said the same thing, "There's no plan to sell right now". Then a month later the place would be sold. It's the wording.

Or you planted the idea in their heads to sell? Yeah, I know. Businesses lie all the time. But they don't call it 'lying', they like to call it a 'business decision'. One local corporation lied. They got caught. Believe it or not, THAT was their excuse. They 'made a business decision' to not tell the truth. What was priceless was the management 'team' had been jumping ship for weeks, and 'favored relatives' were potted plants, put in offices to occupy the floor, as the whole thing burned to the ground. The owners walked with millions. Typical. But their suppliers, and customers were left hanging. Some went out of business within days because they couldn't take the losses, others clung on. Many survived, but the court house was kept busy I'm sure.

 

[RobArtLyn]

The iPad already does run Mac apps.

I can run Xcode on my iPad?

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

There much more to OS design and functionality than the shape of icons.

Says the frog in the heating pot.

Apple would have their clients by the short hairs if they went full iPad is everything. I'm sure there is a management group at Apple right now having fantasies of their whole product line going a single board, and the only thing that is different is what chassis it's put into in the end. It would be the ultimate end to 'right to repair', and Apple would totally control their users. And their users would run, not walk. Well, some undetermined number would stay. Any hope of Apple doing 'power users' a solid would practically vaporize.

But stay tuned. I've certainly been wrong before, but to say 'No, we aren't going to make you think an iPad is just as good as a desktop computer' is getting much more laughable with every new product release. All they need to do is add a touch screen to the iMacpad, and it's a done deal...

But HP and their Envy line have gone farther. No upgrades. Flippable keyboard to 'tablet mode'. Obvious touch screen. Not exactly 'fast', but capable. Really sexy looking. A gold 13" number caught my eye. It was almost lust at first sight. But the local storage is too small, and at 8g, Windows 10 would be struggling at the bit. If it wasn't for the Windows 10, I'd almost think it was a gold MacBook Pro.

 

[RobArtLyn]

What can't you do on an iPad that you can on the Mac?

And I mean can't, not just "can't do it the same way as on the Mac".

I want to add them to my running list, to see if Apple is going to start checking them off.

They checked all of mine off (in no particular order):

1. RAM amount
2. Processor power
3. Proper output to external monitor
4. Mouse/trackpad support
5. Screen size (they're hitting the bare minimum with 12.9", I want 17")
6. Thunderbolt access to peripherals/external drives

Can’t run Xcode or any other IDE/compiler. Can’t run a browser that does not rely on WebKit. Doesn’t offer a non-kludge method of accessing files. Only offers seriously deficient option for split screen multitasking.

 

[zlt1228]

Technically, this is true. They are not going to merge Mac and iPads. They are going to keep Macs there while giving iPads more and more Mac Like features.

 

[Rogifan]

Of course they will not merge iPads with Macs. They want us to buy both devices.

Why would someone buy an iPad Pro and a Mac? If you want an iPad for the tablet aspect you’d get the cheap one. I guess maybe for artists who use Apple Pencil? But then what specifically about the Mac do they need on an iPad Pro?

 

[DeepIn2U]

They keep saying that, but every year they’re more and more alike

Which makes me think ...

my original thought when the first iPad Pro was announced it would replace the original iMac screen and internal components. Similar to a MagSafe Dock would hold an iPad free standing ... getting direct power and connectivity etc. Logitech or some company did something similar with an iPad dock/stand.

Now ... Im curious ... does the dimensions of the 2021 iMac work if the 2021 iPad Pro 11” or 12.9” held vertically (in Portrait orientation) evenly fit side by side to the iMac?

[=][] (sorry drawing is not my strong suit and I’m not her to burn out anyone’s eyes with my drawing skills).

 

[Rogifan]

This is an artificial divide, honestly. They are literally the same machines now. My MacBook Air is an iPad without the touch screen.

It just floors me how people think hardware is all that differentiates a product. Your MacBook Air doesn’t run iOS.

 

[Rogifan]

Yep that is how it works with Apple, downplay any claim then months or years later introduce a product or feature based of that same claim. It’s like they are in a purposeful state of denial for obvious reasons of course.

Except how many years now has Apple been saying they’re not merging iOS and macOS? At some point you have to assume they mean what they say.

 

[fenderbass146]

Pls no. This is a really bad idea.

You seem to be in minority on that, would love to hear why especially when there would be no downside. The hardware already exists. Outside of using more disc space there no reason it can't be done.

 

[Bluetoot-]

It just floors me how people think hardware is all that differentiates a product. Your MacBook Air doesn’t run iOS.

Thank goodness!

Given that iOS apps now run (depending on the dev) on macOS, that argument doesn’t make sense anymore. It’s not like the apps are different; these are the same apps, just for different form factors.

Keep the iPad interface, keep the apps, but give me the power of macOS to do real computing, not baby-pro apps.

 

[Rogifan]

Its one of the reason's I can't see Apple every fully merging the two lines; iPadOS works brilliantly as a tablet OS; its simple; and effective and relatively good using the keyboard and trackpad now although multi-tasking remains a bit of a pain (and file management).

I can't see Apple ever delivering the full multi-tasking experience that exists in MacOS, Windows and even ChromeOS; they still want to make people buy a second device (Macbook) if they want that experience and frankly who can blame them? Enough people own both devices.

Or maybe they think the typical iPad customer doesn’t want/need all that complexity? I don’t have a personal laptop. I use a Windows laptop for work and an iPad Pro outside of work. The 12.9” iPad Pro replaced the Windows laptop I had. I doubt they’re assuming or expecting MacBook owners to also own an iPad Pro.

 

[Kierkegaarden]

I can run Xcode on my iPad?

I don’t know, but you can run iWork apps, GarageBand, Affinity apps, etc. on the iPad. These are Mac apps that were later made into iPad apps.

 

[Rogifan]

Thank goodness!

Given that iOS apps now run (depending on the dev) on macOS, that argument doesn’t make sense anymore. It’s not like the apps are different; these are the same apps, just for different form factors.

Keep the iPad interface, keep the apps, but give me the power of macOS to do real computing, not baby-pro apps.

If you need to do ‘real computing’ doesn’t the Mac work for you? I struggle to see how someone who needs macOS needs an iPad. Unless they just want the ability to touch their screen.

 

[Techwatcher]

If they refuse to merge it, then just make iPadOS a tablet edition of macOS. They can keep calling it iPadOS for all I care. Just give us pro applications and a proper file management system.

 

[calstanford]

What's the purpose of a 16GB RAM/2TB SSD iPad then? To run iPhone apps and the occassional Procreate? Come on

 

[EricNau]

I think Apple could really use the simplicity of merging iPadOS and Mac OS, to be honest. I encounter weird quirks and bugs on Apple products every day, due to the complexity of modern operating systems and features / services.

Needing to write one fewer major OS release per year sounds like a good thing.

 

[q64ceo]

I believe that they will soon abandon what we today call macOS for a modified version of iPadOS which will then be called macOS.

One unified codebase for every Apple device.

 

[Techwatcher]

I don’t know, but you can run iWork apps, GarageBand, Affinity apps, etc. on the iPad. These are Mac apps that were later made into iPad apps.

Right, and now it’s time for Xcode, Logic Pro, and Final Cut Pro.

 

[kstotlani]

Oh? Then why does every new version of macOS get dumbed down further and further to behave more like iOS? To the point where features are taken away from macOS to make it have feature parity with iOS, and features of iOS are added to macOS.

I didn’t know that there were a lot of features taken away. Is there a link to read about this. Would be an interesting read on why they would be crippling MacOS.

 

[dholzer]

What's the purpose of a 16GB RAM/2TB SSD iPad then? To run iPhone apps and the occassional Procreate? Come on

I am confused, too. How many companies are going to make iPadOS apps to take advantage of the M1 iPad Pro (it may be years before Apple sells enough MX tablets to make it worthwhile for developers).

The other concern I had is that I'd like to use the iPad as a computer replacement, but the iOS file system is just awful (if you're not relying on the cloud).

Overall, this sort of article is keeping me from a $3000 purchase (which I guess I should be happy for). Apple may still get some of this money, but it'd be for the cheapest MBA and iPad options.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

A “real computer” (to most people) is a general purpose computer that can run arbitrary software without artificial restrictions. For example, there is no technical reason why you could not run a compiler on an iPad, but you can’t because Apple artificially restricts it.

To MOST people, it’s that thing they check they check emails on, order amazon products from and search the internet on. That’s all MOST people know about computers. They especially don’t know about “arbitrary software” and don’t consider themselves restricted because they can go to ALLLLL the internets from their computer.

Oh, and 99.999999999999% of them have no idea what a compiler is. Though they’ll more than likely go ask their friends on Facebook on their computer

 

[Analog Kid]

What's the purpose of a 16GB RAM/2TB SSD iPad then? To run iPhone apps and the occassional Procreate? Come on

The OS isn’t what consumes the RAM or the storage, it’s the applications. What do you need 16GB of RAM and 2TB of SSD for on MacOS? That’s what you’d use it for on iPad, just with a different UI better suited to the form factor.

 

[Aston441]

Remember when Jobs said there will never be a stylus for an iPad? Yeah, iPads will have to run mac apps to be a real computer. They’ll realize it sooner or later.

It doesnt need to run mac apps. iPadOS just needs to have real preemptive multitasking and stop killing apps/programs that are in the background. It is IMPOSSIBLE to do actual work on an iPad, when if you need to switch to something else, you risk losing everything you were jist doing.

Sure, criticize what I just said, then hail the genius of Apple when they finally anounce multitasking in iOS 15 lol

 

[dholzer]

The OS isn’t what consumes the RAM or the storage, it’s the applications. What do you need 16GB of RAM and 2TB of SSD for on MacOS? That’s what you’d use it for on iPad, just with a different UI better suited to the form factor.

Only after developers add the features that use these resources to their iPad OS. If they ever do. Apple is advertising AAA level gaming, but companies still need to compile the games.