Will there EVER be a chance of an iPad Pro which can run both iOS and OSX? As in it running iOS when not docked with a keyboard and the option to run either when it is docked?
*HOPING*
*HOPING*
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Dual OS iPad Pro?
- Thread starter webitorgal
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Nope. You can count on there never being an OS X iPad. How can I promise this? Easy. Look at the iPod touch for answers.
As technology has advanced, the iPod touch has had the capability of replacing the iPhone as a phone device. The iPod touch could easily be used as a wifi enabled phone device using VOIP but Apple purposely blocks it from being possible.
WHY???
Because it would take away from iPhone sales. The same would apply to the iPad. The technology is finally there to where the iPad could run OS X. We all know the mobile processors are now more powerful than what laptop processors were out 5 years ago and they are catching up to current processors at exponential increases in performance.
However, If customers could spend $500 for a device that replaces their $799-$1399 laptop, then customers stop purchasing those laptops and sales decline.
Apple is pretty strategic. They market the iPad and iPad Pro as devices that can "do anything" and even want you to think that they are professional, but then they limit them just enough to make customers still want a laptop/desktop to do the heavy lifting for certain tasks.
Don't believe me, just ask anyone with a degree in business if it would be a smart idea for Apple to provide a $500 device that can replace their high end computers.
Even Microsoft hasn't tried to build such a machine. Maybe one day technology will advance enough to make such a thing feasible, but my guess is not anytime soon. By that time, it's likely iOS and OS X have advanced to the point they wouldn't be known by those names anymore.
It's pretty rare when you can say anything for certain. Especially in tech (because tech moves so fast and isn't linear)
However...this is one of the few things people can say with almost certainty will never happen as it's obvious where the path is headed. It wouldn't make sense for Apple to put OS X on iPad. The iPad is their idea of the future of computing and they've built the platform with that in mind. iOS was the foundation in 2010. They plant that seed and then build off of it. Going and going and refining it until one day iOS is just as capable and even better than OS X.
Steve jobs said it best himself
However...this is one of the few things people can say with almost certainty will never happen as it's obvious where the path is headed. It wouldn't make sense for Apple to put OS X on iPad. The iPad is their idea of the future of computing and they've built the platform with that in mind. iOS was the foundation in 2010. They plant that seed and then build off of it. Going and going and refining it until one day iOS is just as capable and even better than OS X.
Steve jobs said it best himself
Everything makes itself obsolete. It's all about building off of it. And I didn't mean "iOS" I meant how long iPad has been a thing to build off of, but I guess the introduction date of iOS in general would be a more accurate time to base it off of.
But really, the ipad pro coming out has accelerated things. The next few years should make things interesting
But really, the ipad pro coming out has accelerated things. The next few years should make things interesting
Well, Power PC based Macs are obsolete. Click wheel based iPods are obsolete. The first and second generation Apple TVs are obsolete. In a way, the first generation iPhone is obsolete. Time marches on. I think Steve Jobs was talking more about obsolete hardware than software.
If consumers (on net) truly valued an iPad with OS X over the current separation of MacBook/iMac + iPad, then Apple would be able to sell this fabled device at quite a premium (not just $500).
Last edited:
There is also a technological reason not to create a iPad that runs OS X. The iPad uses ARM-based processors that are based on an architecture totally different from Intel's x86 architecture. That means every OS X app would have to be recompiled for ARM. Microsoft tried this approach somewhat with Windows RT (originally known as "Windows for ARM") and was not successful. And speaking of Windows, how would you run "traditional" Windows on an iPad the same way you can run it on a Mac via Bootcamp?
Therein lies the interesting part. There were rumors (not very legit though) that Apple was tinkering with the idea of having a 2 chip hybrid device so for the iOS side, it would have the usual arm based chip. But when you wanted to use OS X, it would switch over to a core M chip like the one found in the retina MacBook.
It's a cool idea and I wouldn't be surprised if Apple experimented with it. But I doubt anything would ever come of it
Wow people and this dual OS thing...just get a laptop it can take care of all of those issues. For me, I prefer iOS and even android at times and how it's changing the future of computing. I don't want to be stuck using some massive OS that I don't fully utilize anyway. How many of us actually fully utilize the abilities of windows or OSX, I'm sure a good bit of us don't.
Last edited:
Yup, that would be the only way to do it. Basically. It would be two computers in one case. It'd have to be heavier and thicker than a simple tablet, and would probably have a shorter battery life when running OS X mode.
Another problem with a hybrid device like that is it gives developers no incentive to create tablet apps. See how much trouble Microsoft is having getting devs to write quality apps for Windows in tablet mode. There are a few notable exceptions, like that music composition app, but most devs would just add rudimentary touch support to their existing desktop apps and call it a day. Apple has always dragged people into the future kicking and screaming. They dropped the floppy drive while most people thought they still needed them, and the same with optical drives. Their refusal to add touch screen support to OS X is just more of the same thing.
They could but why would they? OS X would change the iPad. Having to make OS X comptible with iPad would make OS X worse (less powerful to run on less powerful hardware) and make iPads worse (less efficient, thicker, heavier). It's a lose-lose.
I think it would be a long way off (5+ years), but I think a device like this is inevitable. Just not with the distinct operating systems we see today. I could definitely see "OSX" converge with iOS at a system level but utilizing different UIs depending on preferred input/output. It's a slow road because this would be big paradigm shift for developers who would have to radically reconfigure their software and how they think about UI design. I also think this device would look and function much differently than current products.
I'm just asking, because ive been away from anything beyond Windows 7, but don't most Windows 8 or 10 computers and tablets have the full Windows OS, but they also have a "tablet mode" where everything is more for touch interface? My friend was telling me about it but I don't know any more than that.
What Microsoft did is write a single operating system that includes a desktop mode and a tablet mode. The post I was responding to was suggesting that Apple could make a tablet that dual boots OS X and iOS. Totally different idea. As Ghost31 pointed out, in order to dual boot, the device would need two separate chips. If you were running a desktop program, and you decided you wanted to run a tablet app, you would have to shut down the desktop and reboot into tablet mode. Windows 8 and 10 basically lets you run desktop and tablet apps side by side. Or at least, 10 does, and I believe 8.1 also does. I'm not sure what the situation was back in 8.0 -- the less said about that, the better!
Last edited:
I agree with this; I believe that iOS is what they see as their consumer-grade OS and that they will be doing more to make it more competitive with "mainstream" operating systems like Windows and even OS X. They've worked really hard to make cross-platform functionality a core part of the Apple experience, it only makes sense to me that they envision an iOS-centric ecosystem serving as the foundation for this functionality going into the future.
After having used Windows 10 on an SP4 for about a week (before I returned it), I think Apple's approach makes far more sense than what Microsoft has done. Starting with your touch-optimized OS as the foundation and working your way up instead of incrementally changing your desktop OS to try and cram tablet ideas into it just makes more sense to me. Windows 10 is a step up from Windows 8.1 in some ways, but it's just so damn schizophrenic. The only reason that Microsoft went that way, in my opinion, is because they knew they didn't have the app ecosystem necessary to support a non-x86 experience (the Surface RT line proved that). They've been forced to support their desktop OS because that's where the applications are; iOS doesn't have that limitation and can evolve into a more robust platform without having to bastardized OS X to do it.
That, to me, is really the long and short of it.
Windows 10 definitely does this. However, bear in mind that the Surface Pro and similar "tablets" use laptop processors from Intel (mainly the Intel Core i Series). That effects the real battery life of those devices and requires most of those devices to have an internal fan.
Oh gotcha. But on the dual chip part, theoretically though, could iOS be run on the inter core M chip? I'm not experienced in the developer market either, but can iOS emulation be ran on macs for testing as well? Or is ios completely dedicated to ARM-only?
Haha yeah let's pretend 8 never happened for their sake.
Last edited:
Yes, there is an iOS emulator that developers can use on macs to test iOS apps. I don't have personal experience using it, but I imagine it's just adequate for testing apps in development and no way close to providing a good user experience for the non-dev end user.
I have been using my ipod touch as a voip phone for 3 years--what are you talking about?
I accept your major point that ios may be built up into a more generally useful consumer grade os. However--the idea that windows 10 is confusing doesn't resonate with me--its very simple.
I like the hybrid approach. Its is true that MS has not been able to develop anything close to a useful touch ecosystem--but this is not really an indictment of the hybrid concept
The differences between 8, 8.1 and 10 are functionally fairly small. Although you could argue windows 10 is a paradigm shift taking the desktop from being a child of modern space and making modern apps children of desktop space. In practice, little changes
Last edited:
Like stylus support, larger phones, intel based laptops, etc. They are the leaders, no doubt
The danger of this approach though is that if you have an iPad that does 90% of your computing, your laptop/desktop device need not be a $1200+ Mac. For that 10% of tasks - the things iOS can't do - can be done on a cheap Linux or Windows box