Happy Birthday, iPad: Apple's Tablet Turns 16

[Luftkopf]

I don't want to use macOS with my fingers, I want macOS on my $1.2K M5 iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard with a tandem OLED display that's more portable than my 16 in MBP. I don't want to have to buy MacBook Neo to get a portable cheap macOS when the iPad already exists.
There can be a macOS mode when the Magic Keyboard attaches to iPad. They simply don't want to cannibalize sales. Nice work Sith Lord Timmy

How do you propose to do this? Take a couple of minutes to reboot into a different OS whenever the keyboard is attached or disconnected, splitting the storage between iPadOS and macOS? Run macOS with an iPad interface mode for when the keyboard is detached, giving it terrible battery life? Add a macOS app compatibility package to allow iPadOS to run some macOS apps?

It sounds appealing to some people, but when you look at the details, it doesn’t work very well.

 

[Veinticinco]

Being honest, I was more excited by the launch of the iPad mini a couple of years later.

 

[inlvnv]

Time flies. 16 years ago, I stood in line on launch day to get the original iPad.

 

[macbookj0e]

Damn, where does the time go?! 😱

 

[drunkaviator]

but why does it need an M5 chip. and why does the Neo have an old iPhone chip?

I do astrophotography editing on my iPad, my M1 iPad used to stutter and slow significantly using lots of masks and layers, my new M5 iPad handles this without even getting warm. It's clear the new iPad Pro benefits from M5.

 

[Pedro Simões]

Adoro meu iPad, mas é incompreensível para mim que, 16 anos depois, ele ainda não execute a versão completa de aplicativos de escritório como o Word e o Excel.

Talvez daqui a 16 anos…

You have to ask Microsoft for satisfaction, not Apple

 

[Happy_John]

You have to ask Microsoft for satisfaction, not Apple

The nerfed version of Office / Microsoft 365 ( my annoyance is that iPad word does NOT have the “full fat” equation editor) is a choice made by the app developer, Microsoft, not the platform developer, Apple.

 

[phenste]

TBH, it still is. As others have pointed out, it has the power of top-of-the-line Macs yet can't do nearly as much. I guess that makes sense since by design it was aimed at content consumption, not content production. New models are able to use somewhat limited creative tools, but file management is still a pain point.

🍎 would cannibalize a majority of its Mac market by having an iPad that runs macOS. I agree with you on file management and hope we see improvements as soon as iPadOS 27; I will never be able to get behind the idea of an iPad running macOS. the power of the M5 chip is there for the sake of apps like Final Cut, Procreate, so on—why not boost them to their full potential while still being on a mobile-first, touch-first OS? (of course Apple is now marketing M5 mainly for AI tasks but, I digress)

(semantic footnote: a base M5 doesn’t come close to the performance of an M5 Pro/Max, especially configured with the right amount of RAM. “top-of-the-line Macs” is a stretch comparison.)

 

[Dirk Pieters]

I don't want to use macOS with my fingers, I want macOS on my $1.2K M5 iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard with a tandem OLED display that's more portable than my 16 in MBP. I don't want to have to buy MacBook Neo to get a portable cheap macOS when the iPad already exists.
There can be a macOS mode when the Magic Keyboard attaches to iPad. They simply don't want to cannibalize sales. Nice work Sith Lord Timmy

Apple is a business. Why would they want to cannibalize sales?

What company does that?

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Apple is a business. Why would they want to cannibalize sales?

What company does that?

Apple had no problem with it, under Steve, anyway:

“If you don't cannibalize yourself, someone else will” - Steve Jobs, 2007.

 

[Dirk Pieters]

Apple had no problem with it, under Steve, anyway:

“If you don't cannibalize yourself, someone else will” - Steve Jobs, 2007.

What company out there can offer something great like macOS on a tablet?

I can’t think of one. There is no “someone else” 🤷🏼‍♂️

 

[31 Flavas]

Tim you let the A18 Pro chip run macOS, but the M5 chip iPad can't? Don't tease us Timmy boy.

Well, hasn’t Microsoft had nearly the same amount of time to flesh out the concept? Surely between the Surface Pro (x86) / Samsung DeX / or over a decade of iteration on “2-in-1’s” laptops, along with tailoring of Windows (x86), or subsequent development of ARM Windows that something should have proven the concept as anything more then niche.

I’m not trying to excuse (Tim) Apple or defend the intentional divide. But if the entirety of the tech industry can’t produce something that capitalizes on the idea that Apple intentionally ignores — I’d think maybe there isn’t really anything there.

 

[31 Flavas]

Apple had no problem with it, under Steve, anyway:

“If you don't cannibalize yourself, someone else will” - Steve Jobs, 2007.

I guess this is maybe a more succinct way of saying what I was trying to say above. Is there maybe, in reality, “nothing -to- cannibalize”?

 

[31 Flavas]

Remember the comments back then:

"It's just a big iPod Touch..."

🤣

You need Adobe Flash for the “full web experience”.

 

[rizzo41999]

I do too, but I'd say "works" is pushing it. Some stuff still runs. Many apps are broken and either refuse to open or crash soon afterward.

But it's great for things like music playback. It has this strange...kind of hole thing...that I can plug my amp/speakers into. When I do this, the music seems to magically pass into my amp then out the speakers. I have no idea what kind of spells and incantations it took to make this work. But it's very reliable, so I hope they put it in newer models.

Great points. Nothing beats wire, ultimately. We're not there yet. Naturally, the 1st Gen iPad is not practical for daily use in the late 2020s, but my particular unit does still turn on. Impressive within itself.

 

[I7guy]

Apple had no problem with it, under Steve, anyway:

“If you don't cannibalize yourself, someone else will” - Steve Jobs, 2007.

If a company will cannibalize sales of its products at least do it with a more expensive product. Why buy an iPod when an iPhone is available, for example.

 

[Dirk Pieters]

If a company will cannibalize sales of its products at least do it with a more expensive product. Why buy an iPod when an iPhone is available, for example.

Indeed. The iPod touch phased out when the iPhone arrived. Making an iPad run macOS would mean that people can do macOS work while giving Apple a lot less money.

No 4 trillion dollar company is going to do that.

There is also the fact that iPad batteries are a lot smaller than MacBook Air/Pro batteries. MacOS on an iPad would not give the iPad the 10 hour battery life it is known for.

 

[Piggie]

The iPad is amazing, and I know we should not question what Steve would think.

But I feel he'd go crazy to see what a mess the confusing range of iPad models there are now.
For someone who does not follow tech I have no idea how they would easily be able to navigate the amount and options of models out now.

Options are always great but IMHO they need to clean, simplify and clarify the range of models now.
or at least rename them.
The air being the one between the standard model and the pro, then why call it the "Air" ?

 

[Happy_John]

The iPad is amazing, and I know we should not question what Steve would think.

But I feel he'd go crazy to see what a mess the confusing range of iPad models there are now.
For someone who does not follow tech I have no idea how they would easily be able to navigate the amount and options of models out now.

Options are always great but IMHO they need to clean, simplify and clarify the range of models now.
or at least rename them.
The air being the one between the standard model and the pro, then why call it the "Air" ?

It’s getting more standardised that it was.

Air was always between “basic” and “pro”

The problem started when Apple dumped the polycarbonate MacBook, so there was no entry-level Macbook so the MacBook Air became the entry-level, which was never the originally intended tier for the Air. Realising the 12” MacBook muddied the waters even more.

The iPad has always been consistent since it had thus three tier structure - iPad - I pad air - pro. Screen size is just screen size, not another tier. The mini is the awkward one, given it’s price tag - it’s far more mid-tier than entry-tier, but it doesn’t have a M chip, which makes it awkward to fit into the clear 3-tier pattern. I’ve always thought it was a mistake to not brand it s an air, but maybe they just can’t shoehorn an m chip into it. In that case, I think it would make more sense for it to be “just an iPad” and lower then price (and specs) accordingly.

With the Mini, I’ve never been able to accept the price. You’re paying more for it than the entry level iPad for less screen. It should be more expansive than the entry level model, or it should be a full blown or or pro, with internal specs to match.

Same with iPhones now (although the fold will introduce a 4th ultra tier). Same with MacBooks - Neo - air - pro

Going by this logic, for desktops - mini is the Neo/ basic - iMac is the air - studio is the pro. Discontinuing the Mac Pro does make it clearer, but going with this logic, the iMac, while thin and light, just doesn’t have beefy enough processor options to fit the pattern.

 

[sblemmy]

I was coincidently in Target when the iPad 2 launched and bought one on a whim. Since then, I've been a regular iPad user but, despite my best attempts, it's never been a notebook replacement for me. I ended up purchasing a MacBook Neo on launch day, which replaces my 11" iPad Pro + Magic Keyboard as my travel device. With the upcoming foldable iPhone, I may just abandon the iPad line completely.

 

[Piggie]

IMHO and logically any product called "AIR" should be the most lightweight and thinnest product in the range. That was the whole concept behind AIR. there should never be products that are ever thinner or lighter than an "AIR" model

 

[SidricTheViking]

“The iPod touch phased out when the iPhone arrived.”

Not so. The iPod Touch was launched a few months AFTER the original iPhone (September 2007 — June 2007). It was ‘phased out’ (discontinued) in 2022 after 7 iterations, so it sold alongside the iPhone. For quite some time.

 

[philstubbington]

Just bring out a new basic iPad to replace my aging iPad Air 3 please! I’ve got some long flights coming up and need more storage 😂

 

[TVreporter]

Time flies!

Still have the original iPad mini in a drawer - a little sluggish but surprisingly can still load most webpages (except YouTube and Netflix) and some games. Loved that device.

 

[evbtfre56]

The iSlate had bad press before launch day. I bought mine used on launch weekend in the US from someone on Craigslist. I saved taxes and 50$ because they couldn't find any use for it. The battery is still like new. Unfortunately I don't think many apps support iOS 5.1.1 so it collects dust. I'm hoping for a future open source OS to give it new life. Our old devices should be able to run a secure lightweight OS to avoid becoming eWaste after 7 years. Unlikely, I know.