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Apps Reportedly Limited to Maximum of 5GB RAM in iPadOS, Even With 16GB M1 iPad Pro

Manzanito said:
I don’t get the “mac as a subscription” part. I have two macs, one bought in 2010, the other on 2013. Both work flawlessly, both are still getting security updates. What’s forcing me to get a new model?

I agree it’s getting to a point where the iPad could replace the entry level macs, should apple allow it. You can get a lot done on an iPad, but it’s not comparable to the mac because of the OS and dumbed down apps (office, for instance). Affinity photo works great, though, on an iPad.

So apple could release some sort of macOS for the iPad, that would be great for iPad Pros but make most of the iPad line sluggish, and that’s not a very good idea.

Maybe the point of having M1 processors is not bothering designing yet another processor, and as a bonus getting a device that will be smooth as butter for years.
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Steve Jobs said an iPad was in between a phone and laptop. Perhaps a better question is should apple focus on making iPadOS a laptop replacement. I’d say no. Instead apple should focus on what an iPad can do well.

If it loses its simplicity then there goes the “anyone can use one” thing that alone sells it.

Meanwhile there’s a chorus of people wanting pro apps. Pro features. Multitasking. Apps that aren’t dumbed down. And the iPad Pro has an m1 chip, Magic kb, 8/16gb ram. If that isn’t crying for macOS then what is.

Apple didn’t hesitate to allow windows on a Mac. I’m doing so many could buy one or finally justify buying one. The same applies here. Having the option to run windows didn’t ruin anyone’s day.

Again I’d buy a 2k iPad Pro in a heartbeat if this happens. Otherwise no. Ill stick with a 599 Mac mini and a discounted iPad Air later. Maybe the bean counters can add that up. Apple should be for anything that sells more iPads.
 
cdarlington1 said:
Exactly. I wonder if we’ll see the iPad version of fcpx at wwdc this year.
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I think this is what everyone is waiting/hoping for. If FCPX comes out on iPad, Katie bar the door. It will be an explosion of iPad 2021 activity. You probably won't be able to get one for 3-4 months.
 
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cardfan said:
Having the ability to run macOS would not impact you or your tablet experience. I’m not sure why people are so against having the option. You should be demanding it.
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No. I have a MacBook Pro for my computing needs. An iPad is a tablet and must remain a tablet. Apple is against making the iPad complicated. The iPad is supposed to be the computer for all those people who find traditional computers too complicated. An iPad is supposed to be intuitive and easy to use.
 
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petvas said:
No. I have a MacBook Pro for my computing needs. An iPad is a tablet and must remain a tablet. Apple is against making the iPad complicated. The iPad is supposed to be the computer for all those people who find traditional computers too complicated. An iPad is supposed to be intuitive and easy to use.
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Again, no one is forcing you to run macOS if you don't want to.
 
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It's surprising to me that I have yet to find any comment that's suggestive of the belief of that iPadOS's keyboard and mice behaviors, animations, and multitasking features, are of any value. In me, iPadOS is an exceptionally effective tablet operating system. What's the cause of everyone's belief of that floating windows would do so much good?
 
maternidad said:
It's surprising to me that I have yet to find any comment that's suggestive of the belief of that iPadOS's keyboard and mice behaviors, animations, and multitasking features, are of any value. In me, iPadOS is an exceptionally effective tablet operating system. What's the cause of everyone's belief of that floating windows would do so much good?
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When you have two windows side by side, and a physical keyboard, you can’t even tell for sure which window will receive input. iPadOS is terrible for multitasking.
 
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cmaier said:
When you have two windows side by side, and a physical keyboard, you can’t even tell for sure which window will receive input. iPadOS is terrible for multitasking.
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As I write this with Safari in one window side-by-side with Mail I see not one, but two visual indicators that Safari is going to be receiving input. This does not change whether I am using the on screen keyboard or my vintage Apple A1314 Bluetooth keyboard.
 
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The visual indicator you see is presumably the text box in the web browser, which is put there because the web browser happens to highlight the active input?

If the app, itself, doesn’t have an indicator (e.g. a flashing cursor, or highlighting a text input), it’s impossible to tell. And different apps indicate ”i’m ready to accept text” in different ways, so it’s inconsistent depending on what apps are viewable.

The system should always make it very clear which app is “active.” On macOS this is done by changing the color of the active titlebar, and, at an app level, changing the menu bar.

And that’s just one of the problems with multitasking on iPadOS - others include the finger gymnastics necessary for picking two or three apps to be shown at once, especially when they don’t happen to live in your dock, the fact that windows that are not visible generally cannot execute instructions (other than certain limited categories for short periods of time, or streaming of audio or GPS), the lack of a swap file that prevents multiple apps from being able to run simultaneously once physical memory is exhausted, copy and paste problems caused by a less flexible pasteboard sdk than in AppKit, the inability to use system-wide extensions that do things like hyperdock, the fact that shortcuts is far less capable (though admittedly much easier to use) than automation solutions on macOS, etc.
 
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RobArtLyn said:
As I write this with Safari in one window side-by-side with Mail I see not one, but two visual indicators that Safari is going to be receiving input.
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That's nice for input.

Try pressing cmd-Q. Which app will receive that? Can you answer in a nanosecond? Because on the Mac and almost any GUI in the past 40 years, you can, but iPadOS insists on making this hard to answer in the name of "simplicity".
 
gentlefury said:
I'm so sick of this mantra. Apple isn't dumb. The OS isn't a one size fits all like windows it even MacOS. The "limitation" is due to the 2020 iPad has 6gb RAM so 1 for system and 5 for apps. The wouldn't have a reason to allow apps to use more than any device has. iOS 15 will up the limit to 16gb.
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i think the limit will go up, but my personal guess is just to 6 or 7 GB, to still facilitate multi-tasking between pro apps.
Alternatively, maybe the top apps that edit 4K video will confer with Apple on how much RAM they need to do that, and that will become the cap, as a compromise to maintain multi-tasking but meet this real-world requirement.
 
MarkCollette said:
i think the limit will go up, but my personal guess is just to 6 or 7 GB, to still facilitate multi-tasking between pro apps.
Alternatively, maybe the top apps that edit 4K video will confer with Apple on how much RAM they need to do that, and that will become the cap, as a compromise to maintain multi-tasking but meet this real-world requirement.
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I think they are going to introduce paging and allow each active app to access at least up to the physical memory amount. That’s a good compromise vs. allowing the entire address space for each app.
 
iamyash said:
Do not buy a tech product based on the promise of future software updates
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Exactly I remember when the 2018 IPad Pro came out and the higher tiers got 6gb ram etc. people were screaming how a final cut version was on the way and it never happened. Also no one has mentioned it but how about the keynote for the M1 iPad apple mentioned how Luma Fusion would be better lol. So your touting performance of a third party app when it would have been perfect timing to mention how apple is bringing final cut to the iPad soon. This is just one example. Truth is the IPad is a great luxury tablet. I opted for a base MacBook Air with 16gb of ram and couldn’t be happier. If I go with an iPad now it would be the 11 inch pro or maybe air. Nothing is really drawing me into an iPad since I’ve gotten the MacBook.
 
Kierkegaarden said:
This just tells me that we’re in store for some big iPadOS news at WWDC. It doesn’t make sense that Apple would add all of this headroom for nothing.
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Until it happens you just don’t know. Apple in the keynote mentioned Luma Fusion performance when it would have been perfect timing to announce at the very least an iPad OS final cut version. So unless I see it I’m sticking with my amazing M1 MacBook Air with 16gb ram.
 
I am still a bit unclear on the net RAM accessible by apps. Is this 5GB a per-app limit, or is it the same 5GB for all apps? If this is the case, why does an app like ProCreate get updated to increase available layers to 132 on the M1 IPP, when the previous A14Z IPP had 6GB RAM and would have been nearly identically limited?
 
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Just sayin... said:
I am still a bit unclear on the net RAM accessible by apps. Is this 5GB a per-app limit, or is it the same 5GB for all apps? If this is the case, why does an app like ProCreate get updated to increase available layers to 132 on the M1 IPP, when the previous A14Z IPP had 6GB RAM and would have been nearly identically limited?
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5GB is per app limit.

2017 A10X/4GB:
2048 x 2048 - 124 layers

2018 A12X/6GB: (same treatment as 4GB)
2048 x 2048 - 124 layers

2020 A12Z/6GB:
2048 x 2048 - 156 layers

2021 M1/16GB: (same treatment as 8GB)
2048 x 2048 - 196 layers
 
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Just sayin... said:
I am still a bit unclear on the net RAM accessible by apps. Is this 5GB a per-app limit, or is it the same 5GB for all apps? If this is the case, why does an app like ProCreate get updated to increase available layers to 132 on the M1 IPP, when the previous A14Z IPP had 6GB RAM and would have been nearly identically limited?
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It’s per app.
 
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Tmakedon said:
Until it happens you just don’t know. Apple in the keynote mentioned Luma Fusion performance when it would have been perfect timing to announce at the very least an iPad OS final cut version. So unless I see it I’m sticking with my amazing M1 MacBook Air with 16gb ram.
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You’ve got a fine machine there. If I had to choose between a Mac and iPad, I would go Mac. But the experience is different enough that I have both. I use my iPad for learning and creative work, and this may increase in the future, but I’ll still always have a Mac.
 
That extra 8GB of memory wasn’t intended for user space. It’s just padding to increase profits.
 
bwayne said:
That extra 8GB of memory wasn’t intended for user space. It’s just padding to increase profits.
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Pretty sure if Apple wanted to increase profits, they would have just left 8gb across the board and kept the same prices per storage size.
 
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