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iPad 3 to run OS X?

M

Macsaurus

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 7, 2011
15
0
If this is in the wrong place please move it.

I've had this idea for a while, and it's the reason I registered here :p

So far it seems that iOS is merging with OS X, with the iOS features in Lion and all the touchscreen Mac patents.

Is it possible that the iPad 3 will run OS X Lion, with Lion being able to run on Intel and A4 processors, and run iOS apps?

The iPad 3 is a year away, it would make the iPad an actual PC, would give Apple an edge in the Tablet PC market, and it's a lot better idea than Macs running iOS :p

Thoughts? It's just been bugging me.
 
I can see the future iPad and OS X sharing a lot of the same features and appearing similar, however each device will have it's own OS. It's unlikely they will ever run the same OS.
 
OS X would be a horrible OS on a tablet, they need separate OS's. If Apple went to just using OS X, they would be making the same mistake Microsoft did of putting a desktop OS on a tablet.
 
More like iOS will run on a Macbook Air in a few years.

Remember though that iOS and MacOS are mostly the same operating system. They just have different UI elements and apps. I bet that somewhere within AppleHQ is a device running a build of OSX on an ARM chip and also a build of iOS running on an Intel chip. No reason why either of those wouldn't work.

I think that at some point in the next few years there will be an official merger of the two code bases. I don't think that apps will be compatible, just like iPad apps and iPhone apps are separate. Besides having different UI elements (the iPad and the iPhone have different UI elements too) and a different app store, they will be pretty much the same.

The Mac probably won't lose many features and functions but the iPad will gain them. It won't suddenly be running the OSX environment with a dock and windows and menu bar but I think that the capabilities will be a lot closer to those of the Mac.
 
Noob throws gasoline at fire. KABOOM.

This has been debated many times before. In short, go look at the spec requirement for OS X Snow Leopard. Then go check out the hardware for the iPad. I think the iPad either has or will have a 1Ghz processor. Lion will probably require about a 1.5Ghz dual core CPU. The iPad 2 *might* have 1GB of RAM. I'm betting Lion will require at least 2GB, if not 3GB. Now see how much hard disk space Snow Leopard takes up. 5GB. I don't think iOS takes up 1GB.

The point is they're both made for individual devices. You need a lot more stuff on a desktop/notebook, and you need more space and less bloat on a portable. That doesn't even get into the whole challenge of mouse and keyboard clicks versus multitouch.
 
Oh not this again!

Look, it's really not that complicated. The only reason to run OS X on a tablet is you want access to OS X applications. Almost without exception OS X applications will be worse on a tablet because they're designed around the fine control of a mouse / keyboard rather than finger-based touch screens. If you're using a Mac right now just look at the relative size of interface elements and try to imagine using them with a finger on a <10" screen. We've seen how badly that works in the Windows world for a decade now, why in the name of all that's holy would you want to go down that route?

Under the UI OS X and iOS run largely the same code base. Over time you'll probably see it become closer still. You may also see interface ideas from one pass to the other, evolve and pass back (I'd be amazed if we didn't see a version of Launchpad in iOS at some point). But putting full-blown OS X on a tablet would provide a worse user experience than iOS so why would Apple ever do such a thing?
 
Mac OS is designed for desktop/laptop. They'll never put Mac OS on iPad.
 
Why ‘Gorilla Arm Syndrome’ Rules Out Multitouch Notebook Displays

Vertical-Multitouch-660x361.png
 
I can see a folder and desktop OS on the ipad. It wouldn't have every feature of OS X, but faster processors and more RAM would enable it over a year or two. OS X only requires a gig. Multi-touch gestures would also help in the absence of a mouse.
 
jmpnop said:
Mac OS is designed for desktop/laptop. They'll never put Mac OS on iPad.
Click to expand...

This is why.

OSX has been designed with the mouse and keyboard as its inputs. iOS is a slimmed down, customized version of OSX and its UI designed for touch.

Could apple put OSX on the iPad 2 (or 3), sure, will they, no. Just look at the number of times microsoft pushed the tablet idea and how them manufacturers like HP failed to have semblance of a successful product.

It was only when apple created the tablet running iOS did it become popular.
 
I'm guna say no only because they put so much work into it already they won't a andon it, maby xha get the os a bit but no way switch to a mac os X
 
Seriously, you registered just to start a thread like this? There are 100+ threads with this exact discussion already.

No. The current OSX will not be put onto an iPad. First off, while the OS's do have much in common, they are written for different processors. Look at how OSX had to be rewritten to run on Intel chips instead of PowerPC. There was at least 50% more code just to make it work.

Secondly, all software written for OSX is designed around keyboard and mouse input (and no, a wacom tablet is more or less a glorified laptop touchpad so don't get me started on how those are much the same because they aren't). The software is not designed around large buttons to push with a finger.

Third, if you have EVER used a Windows XP or Windows 7 Tablet, you know that a full blown desktop OS is not conducive to a touch only input device. The best PC's have been able to come up with is convertible laptop, but being an owner of several, I can tell you that 90% I just end up using them as laptops and only during presentations do I use it in tablet mode.


Seriously..... Stop.

Edit: Some day could both iOS and OSX converge. Maybe. But we are a long way away from it and Steve has basically stated that touch screens on laptops/desktops aren't the right way to go. Look at all their patents lately about adding touch functionality to input devices (aka keyboards and mice).
 
Sorry but......what a stupid newby question. I dont normally respond to nonsense like this, but this one got me going. iOS is OSX based, just optimised for low power, instant on, 1Ghz processor and a touch interface etc.:mad:

If you want a tablet with full OSx experiance, get yourself an iMac add a big battery and lay it flat !!
 
Hey everybody, give the guy a break. This is his first post.

Welcome! :) Sorry, people here get a little crazy sometimes.

As most people have stated that would be very unlikely (zero chance) for the iPad 3. YES you are right the two platforms do appear to be merging, in fact I have a feeling that by the time Mac OS X 10.8 comes out (the one after lion) the OS's will practically be mirrors of each other. We will probably be on iOS 7.0 or 8.0 by then and I believe iOS will have developed to be more like Mac OS X, but BUILT for a touchscreen. There is the distinction. I heavily doubt the same OS will ever be used for both, because touch and mouse inherently act differently.

Now a possibility might be that Apple creates one OS that has both touch and mouse "modes" where it switches between the two. But creating one exact design for both would either make the touchscreen burdonsome or the mouse version simplistic.
 
I have actually been thinking about that also. But instead of only having OSX, possibly having OSX and iOS models? Or maybe option at boot up?
 
LOL I remember in the months leading up to the iPad's release, EVERYONE was praying for OSX on the iPad. Once it was released and Steve Jobs said his peace though, everyone flip flopped.

I know that Mac OSX is not exactly "designed" for a touch interface, but it DOES work. I hackintoshed an MSI Wind, yea a 10" netbook, and installed a touch screen. Without any thought at all I could hit those traffic light buttons without a hitch.

No touch on a vertical screen, I'll buy that...But no touch on Mac OSX under any circumstance, I know better.
 
Michael CM1 said:
This has been debated many times before. In short, go look at the spec requirement for OS X Snow Leopard. Then go check out the hardware for the iPad. I think the iPad either has or will have a 1Ghz processor. Lion will probably require about a 1.5Ghz dual core CPU. The iPad 2 *might* have 1GB of RAM. I'm betting Lion will require at least 2GB, if not 3GB. Now see how much hard disk space Snow Leopard takes up. 5GB. I don't think iOS takes up 1GB.

...
Click to expand...

I just wanted to point out that Apple is not going to make the 1.4ghz 2gb RAM MacBook Air "obsolete" 8 months after it came out when they release Lion.

Mac OSX has been getting leaner and meaner, and more efficient— not less.
 
thie kicker processor wise is that apple requires am intel core duo or later chip for snow leopard. The ipad won't have a ship that powerful for a while.
 
oh mai gawdguise i think ipad 8 is gunna be best ipad its gonna have 8 screens and all tutchscreen and i want apps for it
 
It's good to think outside the box, (Sorry I actually hate that cliche).
Welcome to MR by the way, nice to see you getting a warm welcome:rolleyes:

I have been thinking about this too ever since the new 11" MacBook Air came out. My iPad-pro design would be an air without the keyboard, slap the display in it's place. From a software perspective I don't think it would be too much of stretch to imagine iOS running as a top layer similar to the way dashboard works on OSX, called up much the same way. Or the option to switch to iOS mode while on the move, and the OSX at the desk, add BT mouse and keyboard. Dock if you want.
I'm sure some apps would work fine with a pop up touch screen keyboard, not all I know.
Someday these devices will have to merge, this data sync idea is getting tiring. Photos and music on a OSX base to iOS mobile devices just doesn't seem to me to be the future. I have a 3GS, MacBook and an iPad. I rarely sync my iPad to the MacBook any more. I can take pictures add them to the iPad edit them on the iPad and upload them. Now I'm out of synch with what I have on the MacBook. And I kinda wish my iPad had a bit more meat in it.

Wouldn't anyone else like a hybrid of the two he devices with the option to select os, depending on your needs? Some basic apps like email and safari could merge.

Open thinking.... Please. At least this isn't another Verizon thread, so don't be to hard on the OP.

Ok I'm standing by to get shot at, but hey I'm 30Km from the border with North Korea, so go for it.:p
 
Mapmonkey said:
Wouldn't anyone else like a hybrid of the two he devices with the option to select os, depending on your needs? Some basic apps like email and safari could merge.
Click to expand...

Sure I'd like a single machine that could be a tablet, notebook and a desktop, depending on where you are at and what you want to do. I can just see it. At home, you have a dock that you plug your tablet into, and the dock connects to a big monitor, keyboard&mouse, external hard drives, etc. On the go, you have a detachable keyboard that you can snap on to the tablet when you want to use it as a notebook. And when you want to use the tablet by itself, it has a full suit of apps that work by touch input alone. But by the time we get there, nobody will care if the OS on that machine was called iOS or OSX. There's no need for such a device to run two OS, it just needs a unified OS that recognizes both touch and keyboard/mouse input.
 
Night Spring said:
Sure I'd like a single machine that could be a tablet, notebook and a desktop, depending on where you are at and what you want to do. I can just see it. At home, you have a dock that you plug your tablet into, and the dock connects to a big monitor, keyboard&mouse, external hard drives, etc. On the go, you have a detachable keyboard that you can snap on to the tablet when you want to use it as a notebook. And when you want to use the tablet by itself, it has a full suit of apps that work by touch input alone. But by the time we get there, nobody will care if the OS on that machine was called iOS or OSX. There's no need for such a device to run two OS, it just needs a unified OS that recognizes both touch and keyboard/mouse input.
Click to expand...


I think you are right about a unified os in the longer term but we may have to go through a transition phase first similar to the move from classic to OSX and power pc to intel. :( It seems to me the hardware is going to be available first based an the level of engineering we've seen with the new MacBook air and the iPad. Any transition of os has to take into account at the very least the 300000 or so iOS apps. It's an interesting conundrum for Apple as a hardware designer and a content provider. The legacy content is likely to cause some drag on the progress to the type of machine you and I want to see. :)
 
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