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iPad 2 to run MAC OS X Lion?

It looks nice on pictures (OSX always does), but it's not at all practical.

Apple already optimised OSX for touch. It's called iOS. It runs on >160 million devices and is about to hit 10 billion app downloads.
 
Marzooq said:
What if the rumored iPad 2 running the apple A5 processor would run Mac Osx Lion instead of iOs that would be awesome :D
What are your thoughts and state if its even possible to do this :)
This came from no source i just thoughts its just a possibility
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Actually, I'm convinced that the opposite is going to happen.... that OS X Lion is going to natively support iOS apps. The introduction of a retina display for the iPad2 sets the stage for support for desktop-level resolutions.
 
Been saying this for weeks
Apple needs to take OSX Lion "back to the iPad"

However I'm not thinking full blown os as op is though that would be sweet.

Watch the lion sneak peek and imagine it all happening on the iPad.

Dashboard
Mission control
Swiping between apps -in beta now
 
No, no, no, no, no.

Do you really think all of those software engineers went to the trouble of developing iOS to junk it five years later after a crapload of success? Um, no. They took core elements of OS X and tweaked it for a touchscreen mobile platform. You start running a desktop OS and every little thing is going to be affected, which means MOUNDS O' BLOAT. I don't know exactly how much room OS X takes up, but the system software for the MacBook Air comes on a 2GB flash drive. iOS takes up a tiny percentage of that.

Now let's move on to hardware. Mac OS X Snow Leopard requires an Intel CPU. Putting aside the difference between an Intel CPU and A4/A5, the slowest Intel CPU on a Mac is about 1.2 or 1.4 Ghz. The current iPad and iPhone CPU is about 1 Ghz. Hello, sluggish. Also while looking that info up, Mac OS X requires 5GB of disk space. So my 2GB number was severely low-balled. That doesn't even address GPU issues or RAM (minimum 1GB for OS X, less than what any iOS device has).

Now let's talk battery life. You can thank computer-optimized batteries and plugs for me being able to type this long on my desktop. OS X is not optimized for the lesser computing ability of mobile devices, so it's going to run the device hotter and burn right through that battery.

I'm not trying to totally kill the OP's excitement, but I am trying to totally kill this notion. iOS was designed for mobile devices. Apple just made $6 billion profit last quarter. Buyers have spoken and say Apple is doing just fine. Future iOS versions will probably add more features that I guess you like from OS X, but a full desktop OS is overkill on a mobile device and mostly waste.
 
Marzooq said:
technically yes but COME ON wouldn't you love having Lion on the new iPad?
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No, no, a thousand times no. If you're going to have a tablet have an OS that's designed for that form factor. I've had... oh, at least five years using Windows on tablets and it doesn't work for the simple reason that everything is built around mouse and keyboard input. Simply replacing the mouse with a pen is a pain, replacing it with a finger is verging on suicidal. Even if you tweak the OS the applications are still built around mouse input and there's no way on earth that you're going to get accurate input on something like the Office ribbon.

Sorry but people need to get this through their heads, full desktop OS's and applications just don't work on 10" tablets built around touch input. Period. There are certain environments where such a thing is useful but the majority of the time such devices will be running bespoke applications tied to a corporate infrastructure anyway. For the VAST majority of consumers (and I'd include myself in this despite being a computer geek) iOS is by far the better choice. Simpler, easier, quicker, every aspect designed around touch and with virtually zero maintenance compared to a traditional PC. Apple got it RIGHT with the iPad and this year you'll see Android, webOS and RIM (sorry, can never remember what their OS is called) follow suit. If you want a full OS in a portable form factor, buy a laptop. You'll be far more productive and a lot happier in the long run.

What you may see with iOS 5 is certain elements of Lion crossing over. The one that sticks in my head is a revised version of Mission Control mapped to that five finger pinch gesture, the current 'go to home screen' being basically a placeholder. But that's idle speculation with nothing to back it up.
 
In a word, no.

In more words...There is little doubt that over time the lines between iOS and osx will continue to blur, until there is essentially no functional distinction (even if technical ones still exist).

There will always be distinctions based on the type of hardware (e.g. gestures on an iMac with hard keyboard will probably always be different than those on an ipad or MBP) but sooner or later we will essentially have one OS to rule them all.
 
Marzooq said:
Well havent u ever heard of Windows 7 running on tablets and why not Mac os X on a new fast processor, you can always adjust or port software to another peice of hardware cant u , and why wouldnt you want that power of a mac os under your fingertips, i heard that the Lion os has the power of iOs on a mac yes the possibilities of it happening is next to never but it would be nice to have

Why wouldnt it be , you would have full mac experience on a iPad :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Number of iPads with iOS sold: 15 millions.
Number of tablets with Windows 7 sold: 15.

I hope that explains why Apple won't have MacOS X running on the iPad. You think it would be nice - it wouldn't. It would at best be slightly less awful than Windows 7.
 
Marzooq said:


I wish :p



technically yes but COME ON wouldn't you love having Lion on the new iPad?
Click to expand...

You can do this now. It's called LogMeIn.

gnasher729 said:
Number of iPads with iOS sold: 15 millions.
Number of tablets with Windows 7 sold: 15.

I hope that explains why Apple won't have MacOS X running on the iPad. You think it would be nice - it wouldn't. It would at best be slightly less awful than Windows 7.
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Lol...

Toshiba has been making a tablet/notebook hybrid with touchscreen and Wacom stylus. It runs Windows Vista and Windows 7, just imagine how well...:eek:

Maybe that's the main reason why it never succeeded.

And it's nowhere as slim, light and reliable as the iPad.

I like my iPad running iOS. Fast, reliable and light, with 9+ hours of battery life.
Want OS X? Get a MacBook Air, or have your MacBook Pro converted into a tablet, if you have the cash.
 
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Amazing Iceman said:
Toshiba has been making a tablet/notebook hybrid with touchscreen and Wacom stylus. It runs Windows Vista and Windows 7, just imagine how well...:eek:
.
Click to expand...

So has Dell, HP, Fujitsu, IBM/Lenovo, etc., etc. Funny how all these major PC companies have been selling some sort of tablet/notebook and yet interest has still remained extremely low. Why? A full blown OS is not tablet friendly.
 
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MacDawg said:
No, because it would be non-functional in that environment

This has been debated over and over
OSX on the iPad is not feasible or desirable

Try a MBA
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Yup. Even if Apple completely redesigned OSX to be touch friendly, all of the applications would still be designed with a keyboard and mouse in mind.

Still, given some of the UI changes in OSX Lion, and the Mac App Store, I have little doubt that Apple is moving in the direction of unifying iOS and OSX to a much greater degree. I don't think we'll ever see 'full' OSX on a tablet, but I think eventually the iPad will be freed from iTunes and will more readily and directly interface with OSX and desktop applications. For example Sketchbook Pro's desktop application will easily interface with the mobile version with a more unified feature set. And instead of transfering files everything will automatically sync so they won't even feel like seperate applications. I'm imagining an entirely new OSX layer that activates whenever an iPad is connected. It will move beyond an iTunes device or even an external drive and will just be an seamless extension of the desktop.

Apple is definitely always thinking five paces ahead, and it's why no one else can really compete. Their vision is singular and long-term. People mock the Apple walled garden ecosystem whatever, but it is actually Apple's greatest strength.
 
MrWillie said:
its a tablet comparison. Please note pricing. One of the reasons why they were a failure.
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HP has had a full windows 7 tablet for the last two years for around $800. That puts it right in the wheel house of the iPad (albeit the 64GB 3G model) and yet still isn't selling well, because it is still a full blown OS that ends up having poor battery life, poor touch response and, of course, the OS wasn't made to be touch based (even though Microsoft believes it is).
 
One day, in the distant future, I can envisage iOS (for the iPad) and Mac OS converging into one. Even by this time next year they'll be far more similar to each other. But for the time being they'll remain just as they are.
 
sracer said:
Actually, I'm convinced that the opposite is going to happen.... that OS X Lion is going to natively support iOS apps. The introduction of a retina display for the iPad2 sets the stage for support for desktop-level resolutions.
Click to expand...

I agree with sracer on this point.

I think it's more likely, we will start to see support for iOS apps in OS X somewhere down the line. Maybe not in Lion, but maybe in the OS to follow.

I dare say, OS X Lion might be the last of the cat-themed OS X operating systems, and its successor (with iOS "widget" system, and additional gesture support) starts a new naming scheme.
 
paulrbeers said:
HP has had a full windows 7 tablet for the last two years for around $800. That puts it right in the wheel house of the iPad (albeit the 64GB 3G model) and yet still isn't selling well, because it is still a full blown OS that ends up having poor battery life, poor touch response and, of course, the OS wasn't made to be touch based (even though Microsoft believes it is).
Click to expand...

I no longer purchase HP products nor do I care what they do. If they fell off edge of the earth tomorrow, I wouldn't notice nor miss them.
 
MrWillie said:
I no longer purchase HP products nor do I care what they do. If they fell off edge of the earth tomorrow, I wouldn't notice nor miss them.
Click to expand...

Clearly you missed my point. My point was that "tablets" running a "full blown OS" even at the same price point as the iPad still aren't selling because they stink. Plain and simple. I don't buy HP, Dell, etc. All my personal computers are Apple.
 
Why it won't happen (it should be obvious): OS X is designed for desktops, laptops and mouse based input. Even if Apple did this, it would be so frustrating to do certain things in OS X on an iPad that it would be put to shame. If you don't believe this is the case, just try doing your daily tasks from remote login via an iPad app. If those tasks are of any significant complexity, prepare to be really frustrated.
 
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