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

[seanners]

the best products in their respective categories

And yet you can use an iPad officially as a display (Sidecar) and even run iPad apps on an M1 (featured on M1 Mac pages: https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro-13/).

Seems silly to at least not consider the inverse, even if it doesn't make sense to do it in actuality.

I'm not sure any of us thought it was a "conspiracy" to combine devices though... haha.

 

[ThisBougieLife]

They may not be planning to merge the two product lines, but the difference between the two is becoming more about form factor than anything else. The new iMac for example doesn't offer many performance gains over a MacBook. Never thought I'd see that day. With the Macs becoming more alike and the OS's becoming more alike, there is definitely significant syncretism between the two product lines.

 

[fishkorp]

It's stupid to merge both products or both operating systems. No point. You might think you want it, but you're not going to use it in the long run.

Merging iPad and Mac is just plain stupid.

Why not give an option? Pair a keyboard and trackpad and the new IPP is a MacBook Air with better display.

Despite him saying this, I’m sticking to my guns and saying these new model Pros are going to be very close to being full Mac machines come WWDC.

 

[farewelwilliams]

I'm not asking to merge, but maybe dual boot?

Also, why does the iMac not have ultra wide selfie cam with Center Stage?

You're not putting the iMac in places where you're walking around a lot. iPad is portable so it can be placed anywhere.

 

[cloudphrenia]

The goal is to get you to buy both a Mac and an iPad. Why would they ever merge them?

 

[Frantisekj]

I just got idea for Apple. When iPad Pro has M1 as well now, hey Apple, what about make iPad working as eGPU for Mac and vise versa over thunderbolt?

 

[Jd3774life]

No... a Mac uses different hardware input than an iPad. Hence the reason they should not be merged.

Yeah that’s why they made a $350 keyboard with a trackpad for iPad

 

[entropi]

“we’re doing this for consumers”

This &

It’s just about being able to sell you two devices.

THIS! They are doing it for us - so we have to buy as much stuff as possible, if we like the input methods of both platforms...

 

[Realityck]

Apple marketing chief Greg Joswiak and hardware chief John Ternus this week did an interview with The Independent to talk about the new tablets. The use of an M1 chip in an iPad naturally has led to speculation about the merging of the iPad and Mac lineups, a topic that resurfaces over and over again, but Joswiak says that's not the goal.

Rather than merging the two product lines, he claims that Apple is just trying to make the best products in their respective categories.Ternus added that Apple doesn't aim to limit one device in order to avoid impacting another device. "We're pushing to make the best Mac we can make; we're pushing to make the best iPad we can make," said Ternus.

Apple plans to keep making both products better and is not going to "get all caught up in" theories of "merging or anything like that."

I don't have any problems with concentrating on the differences/application of usage between the products lines. There are things unique to iPhones, iPads, and Macs. Why not make each product the best it can be instead of trying to make it all the same?

I even speculate the reason they switched to using the M1 processor for the new iPad Pro was it was more available and allowed improved memory configurations & I/O then A14 processors since those are used on the heavily sold iPhone 12 series.

 

[citysnaps]

Excellent news! Both device categories have their role and unique capabilities/features. Would hate to see either OS being muddied up to support the other.

 

[Tanax]

What's the point of making the iPad as powerful as it is now, without any sort of power user features? Where's support for programming on iPad? XCode? For that, we need to have far better control of the files.

iPadOS needs to be beefed up A LOT. Not saying it should be merged with MacOS, or even dual booted.. but SOMETHING needs to be done.

 

[mazz0]

He probably just means they’re not going to stop using one of the names, and I believe him.

 

[farewelwilliams]

Why not give an option? Pair a keyboard and trackpad and the new IPP is a MacBook Air with better display.

Despite him saying this, I’m sticking to my guns and saying these new model Pros are going to be very close to being full Mac machines come WWDC.

you'd be forced to carry around a keyboard and mouse even though you probably won't need it. you may as well buy a macbook if you're always carrying a keyboard and mouse for tablet apps, negating the tablet experience.

 

[TheDailyApple]

iPadOS will grow more and more capable until it can do anything a macOS can do. The difference is that it will have an interface built around the tablet/touch form factor.

The iPad will get better, and iPadOS is a better starting point than macOS.

 

[ChromeCloud]

Most people do not understand the fact that when you design a product you need to optimize your design for a specific set of features that is tied to a specific use case in order to make a really great product.

If you merge the iPad and the Mac you will end up with a product that is neither a great iPad nor a great Mac.

The argument that the two products should be the same product just because they share the SOC that powers them is as good as thinking that a pickup truck and a family car should be the same product because they share the same engine.

 

[Skytouch]

I can understand not merging the laptop and tablet categories into one, but there seems a nice opportunity for a new Mac OS touch laptop that’s a lot like the new 12.9” M1 iPad Pro. Consider a tablet format with more ports similar to the rumored 16” M1x Macbook Pro. This would be a much nicer format for airline travel than a traditional clamshell device. Optionally being able to type onscreen versus connecting a bluetooth keyboard would be nice. Plus, as a second screen in the media studio, it could display plugins that benefit from direct touch control.

 

[fbr$]

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

 

[florida man]

I think in the future a Mac won't even be necessary. It'll just be the tablet on its own, and then when you attach it to the magic keyboard (or a docking station with a regular monitor/keyboard), the UI elements will automatically re-size and it'll be just like working on a Mac. They're working toward a future where there is no distinction between Mac and iPad, but if they say that today, too many heads will explode.

 

[robjulo]

They sure are.

If they're not that far apart, developers can use Catalyst APIs and build their apps cross platform. Not that hard.

Lol. When they are eventually merged, you (and the other usual suspects) will 100% will do a 180 and proclaim how great and amazing it is.

 

[farewelwilliams]

What's the point of making the iPad as powerful as it is now, without any sort of power user features? Where's support for programming on iPad? XCode? For that, we need to have far better control of the files.

iPadOS needs to be beefed up A LOT. Not saying it should be merged with MacOS, or even dual booted.. but SOMETHING needs to be done.

you'd probably try making an app in Xcode iPadOS and give up.

not only are you limited to the 11 or 12.9 inch screen, but the buttons are extra large because Xcode must support a touch interface which would make your screen real estate limited.

and dragging assets from other programs like files or a hypothetical Sketch iPad app would take 2x-3x as long as just doing it in Mac.

 

[terryblyth]

Remember when Jobs said there will never be a stylus for an iPad?

No, I don’t. When was this?

 

[Envo]

Oh, c'mon you idiots! You could obliterate Microsoft's Surface business in an instant, instead you're focusing on iPad OS, which is just a half-baked something...

On the other hand i guess there isn't any single point to update to my 2018 iPad Pro because it's already fast enough for the tablet apps I use right now, cool. ツ /s

 

[farewelwilliams]

Lol. When they are eventually merged, you (and the other usual suspects) will 100% will do a 180 and proclaim how great and amazing it is.

Someone told me the exact same thing in 2012. Hilarious.

 

[aknabi]

Well without macOS or a large leap in iPadOS there's no compelling reason to upgrade from a 2018+ iPad Pro... My 11" with MKB has been a great companion device, but when I couch development or do my quarterly filings I use my M1 MBA... then for heavy stuff or running VMs my 16 MBP or MP... looking to merge the 11 and MBA either with an iPad that can do what the MBA does... or a M1 12" MB to replace the Air and give me max portability (actually I used my 12" MB as long as I could... it was my preferred form factor to both the iPad and MBA... but it's just too slow).

 

[spokenblurb]

What it all boils down to is different ways to do similar things why merge when each product is best as it is, if you merge you lose allot more than you gain. Apples approach actually makes the most sense add interoperability unify the the programming language but keep the input different so that it appeals to the widest amount of people and circumstances.