Craig Federighi Explains Why Apple Won't Merge iPad and Mac: 'We Don't Want to Build Sporks'

[diddl14]

The same bs-story since years. HP showed more than a decade ago that a tablet device and laptop can be perfectly integrated into a single piece of hardware. HP-TC1000 was the best device I ever had, despite the ****** slow cpu and it running windows whatever. Apple could revolutionize the laptop/tablet space when they just create a single device that seamlessly delivers either the iPadOS or MacOS user experience.

 

[GrassShark]

We don’t make sporks, and that’s why the Mac runs iOS and iPad apps. It makes all the sense in the world.

 

[Tyler O'Bannon]

We’re getting closer to a spork every year tho

 

[StanleyOmar]

iPhone IS a spork. Just give me a dedicated music device please.

Why does your dedicated music device need to be made by Apple? If you still want access to Apple Music, any old iPhone could be a dedicated music device. If not, you definitely have other options.

 

[pdaholic]

Doesn’t want to make a spork…

…makes iPadOS 26.

 

[Lioness~]

I'm glad they don't merge macOS and iPadOS.

I love macOS and Mac's & iPad mini’s - in those case, 🍏 and me understand each other.
But I feel compassion for user who don't get what they want and feel unheard by 🍏 - as most iPhone mini users do 🥲

 

[Wolfden]

I’m just realising I’m no longer loyal to Apple. This whole podcast tour is so frustrating to watch.

Fix your org issues and go build cool inspiring stuff instead of doing a PR tour to cover up the AI mess and keep stock prices up.

I will use MacBooks and iPhones as long as they’re the best, but man, either I’ve grown out of this or the magic is gone.

 

[flexwithmarius]

All about the revenue

These elementary and ridiculously-obvious statements are so tired. Shocker, the for-profit company sells multiple devices for different use cases. I believe it’s called “consumer choice”?

 

[GioGiusi]

The sad part is, there are actually people who know absolutely nothing about product development, software design, or anything relevant, that will claim all of this just BS and its all about 30% app store revenue, which is actually meaningless overall. I'm embarrassed for them on their behalf.

Some people just can't accept that the touch tablet form factor is not the futuristic be-all-end-all form factor of computing that they decided it was back in 1992.

Truth is that form factor is quite enjoyable for some things, but does not replace the kind of computing done with precision input devices and an operating designed for it.

Moreover, the Mac already exists. They don't need another one. And neither do we.

 

[Agent007]

The spork.

 

[silentdevotion]

The same bs-story since years. HP showed more than a decade ago that a tablet device and laptop can be perfectly integrated into a single piece hardware. HP-TC1000 was the best device I ever had, despite the ****** slow cpu and it running windows whatever. Apple could revolutionize the laptop/tablet space when they just create a single device that seamlessly deliver either the iPadOS or MacOS user experience.

How'd that work for HP? Because you can make something doesn't make it good. The iPads greatest strength is that it's not a full desktop computer. You said Slow CPU, that's a bad user experience for 99% of people. I love the 10 hours of battery life on my MacBook Air, as the years go by the devices get closers to each other but still stay their own thing.

 

[naturalboy]

The lack of a touchscreen MacBook is 2025 is a joke. This would be a rational first step in converging the operating systems without creating a ‘spork’. Lets face it, the iPad is already the awkward middle child anyway.

 

[It’s always something]

MacStories' Federico Vittici, who is known for his focus on the iPad as a main computing device, recently did an interview with Apple software engineering chief Craig Federighi. Federighi and Vittici did a deep dive into the iPad and the changes that are coming to iPadOS this fall.

Federighi said that figuring out multitasking on the iPad has been a multi-year task that's required experimentation.

Apple wanted to ensure that users didn't have to worry about managing apps, and that led to the first implementation of Slide Over and Split View multitasking, which was limited. Federighi said ensuring that the iPad's simplicity and interactivity stays intact has always been "job one." Touch first experiences are "the non-negotiable in the whole thing," according to Federighi.

When Stage Manager came around as the next major multitasking change in 2022, Federighi said that the iPad and its OS were well-established and developers had a solid understanding that the iPad was distinct from the Mac, so Apple "felt a little more flexibility" to add multitasking options for those who wanted them.

Apple's long path toward more Mac-like multitasking features seems to reflect a fear that adding Mac capabilities to iPad would limit what developers might do on the iPad. Federighi suggested that if the iPad had app menu bars to begin with, developers might have tucked functionality away, and Apple wanted to encourage a simpler experience.It has taken time for Apple to establish how people are using iPads, and the decision to update iPad multitasking in iPadOS 26 was made to meet the needs of different kinds of iPad users. There are some users who want a simple iPhone-like interface with a fully immersive, single window, but there are also iPad users who want more control and more functionality beyond the tablet interface. "We came to the point of saying, 'Let's recognize that audience,'" Federighi said. "I think we've been on a journey of finding the right interface for iPad, along with our users," he said. "And I think it actually has been important that it's been considered a journey."

Federighi explained that with a new device and a different kind of user in mind, Apple needed to guard against the urge to "pull the old thing off the shelf and put it here because maybe that feels right." Instead, it was important to discover the "essence of iPad," and what windowing might be like on a touch-first device if the Mac had never existed. Apple is now trying to strike a balance.

Apple has long been resistant to merging iPadOS and macOS, and Federighi used a spork analogy to explain why. Apple's aim is not to displace the Mac, and each device has a different purpose.

Federighi went on to say that while the iPad can be "inspired" by Mac elements, he does not believe that the iPad should run macOS.

Vittici's full interview with Federighi goes into much more detail, and it is well worth a read over at MacStories.

Article Link: Craig Federighi Explains Why Apple Won't Merge iPad and Mac: 'We Don't Want to Build Sporks'

Good article. Viticci’s interview is an excellent overview of iPadOS 26.

 

[Rogifan]

They’re not going to merge them because enough people buy Mac laptops and iPads. Apple is never going to give them a reason to only buy one device when they’ll buy two.

 

[xaqt93]

What Mac has a touch screen? Remember that Mac users aren't allowed to have touch screens, for some reason only known to Apple.

Apple has explained why they don't do Touch Screen Macs in the past. I forgot the interview, but they essentially said that they had working models and were testing it, but they said that most of the time, you go back to using your mouse and keyboard., your arm gets tired, and when it comes to touch screen computers, what do you do with those that you just wouldnt want a fine click mouse for?

I have tried touch screen computers in the past, and I often forget they are touch screen. What real world practical use would you personally use a touch screen computer for? Closing windows? Moving things around? It doesnt provide the user any extra benefit other than saying, "Oh, thats cool" and thats it.

 

[xaqt93]

What Mac has a touch screen? Remember that Mac users aren't allowed to have touch screens, for some reason only known to Apple.

Here, I found the link for you. Haha.

 

[Plerf]

I love the hindsight analysis reframed as an intentional journey.

Sheesh.

 

[Etc_]

I hope Federico can maintain objectivity over time.

😐

He's starting down the path Gruber was on way back when.

The "access" with Apple can be intoxicating -- especially for what it does for your business engagement.

He’s moved well beyond just getting started, unfortunately. For example, he was strongly opposed to generative AI (and therefore Apple Intelligence), but now every other post is about using AI for all sorts of trivial things. He used to be much more critical in the past. I’d say he’s like a reverse Gruber: as he loses his privileges, Viticci gains more and more by appeasing Apple. I can see Apple using this access to interviews and their staff as a way to silence their loudest critics.

 

[Plerf]

Apple has explained why they don't do Touch Screen Macs in the past. I forgot the interview, but they essentially said that they had working models and were testing it, but they said that most of the time, you go back to using your mouse and keyboard., your arm gets tired, and when it comes to touch screen computers, what do you do with those that you just wouldnt want a fine click mouse for?

I have tried touch screen computers in the past, and I often forget they are touch screen. What real world practical use would you personally use a touch screen computer for? Closing windows? Moving things around? It doesnt provide the user any extra benefit other than saying, "Oh, thats cool" and thats it.

Scrolling. People love touchscreens for scrolling. And it makes a certain amount of sense.

Can’t speak to anything else; all of the people in my office who get the new laptop from the vendor get touchscreens and that’s the one behavior they’ve all changed.

Of course they’re all mousers because PC laptops that are purchased in bulk and provisioned by a vendor are all middle-to-low-end and their trackpads are hot wet garbage.

 

[mazz0]

You spelt “we want people to buy two devices” wrong.

 

[TundraKing]

With each new “explanation” from Apple it gets more and more contorted and bizarre.

In 2010 there was a difference in hardware in which a lighter lower powered os was needed and made sense but that faded away several years ago with the M series iPads.

Apples reason is simple …. It wants to sell you a Mac AND an iPad. Even though one machine is now capable of doing both functions just fine.

But for some users It’s about choice. Buy both if you want but for those of us who want one machine let me have my M4 iPad Pro with my keyboard/trackpad folio run MacOs…. Or at least let me run Mac OS apps… it’s essentially a MacBook Air anyways.

 

[beltzak]

Good thing Apple isn't. They bring in some iPadOS elements for visual continuity, but it's clear that Apple is very much keeping the Mac separate from the iPad. I've done significant command line work on Macs for years and tons of scientific computing. While some of the scientific computing in my field took a hit with the switch to Apple Silicon, it's picked back up and is further now than it was before because of the benefits of Apple's unified memory architecture.

Rather than being "dumbed down", macOS is as full-featured (or more so) than it ever was. But that's just my observation based on more than 40 years of using Macs.

The System Settings is the dumbest thing I have seen since some apps in Windows 98 that they wouldn’t let you resize the window. When I put System Settings full screen in my 32” display on an empty desktop on Screensavers settings and to imagine who of this idiots thought it was a good idea to not let “the Users” widen the window is beyond the stars.

Then there are so many brilliant ideas like having VPN inside Networks only to just go back and load VPN settings. Or having 4 different “Settings” just for Network settings and when you want to change the time the Screensavers should kick off logic dictates that you must go Lock Screen.

When you work with dozens of people and suddenly no one is able to change basic things like that and call support asking where to change you get the idea that someone very stupid or maybe someone that isn’t even using macOS anymore and only uses iPad the whole day is running the show.

 

[tobybrut]

I personally hate the new windowing system, but also loved the Split View and slide over functions. Unfortunately the latter two are completely gone no matter what mode you select, so people who liked the old way are out of luck and are forced to use the bad windowing system.

There are so many problems with it. The one thing I do most with multitasking is two run two Safari windows side-by-side. I hardly ever need more than two apps at a time, and most people don’t need more than that even on a Mac. Even if more are being run, they’re usually hidden or minimized. Putting two Safari windows side-by-side is a major pain with the new OS. The three dots in the middle top were also so useful. Now the only way to switch instances is through the Window menu.

There are also other major annoyances, such as my full screen apps going not full screen or vice versa. I can’t count all the times I’ve had two apps centered on the screen and suddenly one of them decides to resize, forcing me to flick the app back in place. Apps are going off to the side all the time when I didn’t want that. The slightest touch anywhere near the top of an app causes these unintended changes, which annoys me to no end, such as when I want to go to the top of a web page by touching the top but it instead goes full screen or leaves full screen. Grr.

I don’t mind if these features are there if others like them, but I don’t like being forced to use them when all I want is my Split View back. I don’t need or want 12 apps on my tiny screen at once. I don’t even need three. Two is all I’d ever need, but this OS can no longer do that with ease. Full-screen mode took all of that away. I also loved the ability to go from Split View to a single app just by swiping from the line between the apps and swiping one of the apps away. That no longer works either.

My request is for Apple to do whatever they feel like with the windowing mode, but give us back the old multitasking. That was so much better and simpler, and this is where Craig F. failed. The iPad lost some of its simplicity.

 

[mazz0]

Craig sure came prepared with a lot of ways to avoid saying: if iPad runs Mac apps we don’t get 30%.

I vaguely recall one of the well known anaylsts making the case for that being their reason. I’m not convinced; I find it hard to believe that people spend a significant amount on iPad apps.

I think they just want you to buy multiple devices. Same reason they refuse to implement multiple users on iPad.

 

[tobybrut]

Apple has explained why they don't do Touch Screen Macs in the past. I forgot the interview, but they essentially said that they had working models and were testing it, but they said that most of the time, you go back to using your mouse and keyboard., your arm gets tired, and when it comes to touch screen computers, what do you do with those that you just wouldnt want a fine click mouse for?

I have tried touch screen computers in the past, and I often forget they are touch screen. What real world practical use would you personally use a touch screen computer for? Closing windows? Moving things around? It doesnt provide the user any extra benefit other than saying, "Oh, thats cool" and thats it.

I had a Dell XPS for several years with a nice 4K screen and touch. I think I used the touch feature twice, and only because I suddenly remembered I could. Touch is pointless (pun intended) on a mouse-driven system.