I’ve got some ideas and thoughts about iPad and iPadOS. I have owned an iPad since 2011, and now my M5 iPad Pro is my main device. I use it for work, gaming, entertainment, note-taking, personal finances, literally everything. There have been drastic changes to iPad over the last few years, and I want to see what other people think about the future.
First, let’s talk hardware.
Apple began sticking M series processors into iPads only 6 months after they first put them into Macs. Other variants such as the Pro, Max, and Ultra chips are obviously absent, so let’s look at MacBook Airs. They, like iPads, don’t have a fan. They are passively cooled and are able to run MacOS perfectly. There have been rumors of an A series Mac coming soon, which would mean that even A series chips are powerful enough to run a desktop operating system. Clearly, the iPad has enough computing power for a higher-class OS. I’m not saying they should just throw MacOS into it, but right now it’s like having a v12 in a Geo Metro.
Now, let’s look at software.
With iPadOS 26, Apple began adding true Mac-like features over such as windowing, taskbar, and better file management. On the MacOS side of things, you have the ability to run any iOS app. Design-wise, Everything is slowly starting to look more identical. Look at OSX Lion to MacOS 26 Tahoe and iOS6 to iOS 26. The Mac and it’s mobile counterparts have looked more and more like each other with every iteration. I set up my iPad and MBA to have the same background and apps on the dock, and I could barely tell a difference visually. Really, the only indicator was Finder instead of Files. That in itself isn’t very telling, I know, but hear me out.
Multiple OS? Perhaps not…
Apple has clearly said that they won’t put MacOS on the iPad. However, there are rumors of a touchscreen MBP with OLED coming later. It’s almost guaranteed that this type of model at least exists in some sort of R&D. What if they were telling the truth, and it isn’t MacOS that they had in mind for the iPad? I think that we are getting very close to a unified operating system across Apple devices, or at the very least the iPad and the Mac. Am I just a tinfoil hat-wearing maniac yelling at the clouds, or does this actually sound realistic? What kind of things do you predict to see in the next 5-10 years?
First, let’s talk hardware.
Apple began sticking M series processors into iPads only 6 months after they first put them into Macs. Other variants such as the Pro, Max, and Ultra chips are obviously absent, so let’s look at MacBook Airs. They, like iPads, don’t have a fan. They are passively cooled and are able to run MacOS perfectly. There have been rumors of an A series Mac coming soon, which would mean that even A series chips are powerful enough to run a desktop operating system. Clearly, the iPad has enough computing power for a higher-class OS. I’m not saying they should just throw MacOS into it, but right now it’s like having a v12 in a Geo Metro.
Now, let’s look at software.
With iPadOS 26, Apple began adding true Mac-like features over such as windowing, taskbar, and better file management. On the MacOS side of things, you have the ability to run any iOS app. Design-wise, Everything is slowly starting to look more identical. Look at OSX Lion to MacOS 26 Tahoe and iOS6 to iOS 26. The Mac and it’s mobile counterparts have looked more and more like each other with every iteration. I set up my iPad and MBA to have the same background and apps on the dock, and I could barely tell a difference visually. Really, the only indicator was Finder instead of Files. That in itself isn’t very telling, I know, but hear me out.
Multiple OS? Perhaps not…
Apple has clearly said that they won’t put MacOS on the iPad. However, there are rumors of a touchscreen MBP with OLED coming later. It’s almost guaranteed that this type of model at least exists in some sort of R&D. What if they were telling the truth, and it isn’t MacOS that they had in mind for the iPad? I think that we are getting very close to a unified operating system across Apple devices, or at the very least the iPad and the Mac. Am I just a tinfoil hat-wearing maniac yelling at the clouds, or does this actually sound realistic? What kind of things do you predict to see in the next 5-10 years?
