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iPadOS 26 Review: The iPad is Now More Like a Mac

I love iPadOS 26. The windowing system is brilliant. I can use my iPad more than ever like my Mac and that’s awesome.

What I need now is a good FTP client and something for web development ideally. If Panic brought Nova and Transmit to iPad I’d pay a substantial sub for it yearly.

I’d like an option for the Dock to remain visible at all times, letting you drag windows underneath it, like on Mac.

But overall it’s a great update for iPad.
 
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Hey, how about allowing me to boot Mac OS on the iPad when I hook it up to an external screen and keyboard/mouse? What was the ultimate problem with this?
 
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In my experience, realistically, 11 inch or smaller screens are too small to have multiple Windows open anyways. For the most part, you can barely see anything in each window. The 13 inch iPads (with “More Space” enabled), as well as external monitors with M-series chips, make this more viable, but I wouldn’t bother with anything smaller.
 
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ronno said:
why would Apple want you to stop buying MacBooks?
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It's not Apple but the developers that are the issue for me. Office is not an Apple product, for example.

AlexESP said:
The iPad needs to transition between keyboard and non-keyboard mode. You can’t create two completely different interfaces.
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Which many overlook in the "iPad needs macOS" argument. In my expereince a touchscreen/keyboard combo winds up with the touch screen being used mainly to scroll and the rest done with keys and mice/touchpads.
 
snipr125 said:
Not just eat into Macbook sales, it would probably completely kill off the Macbook Air in its current spec.
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I doubt it. The cheapest M series iPad is 870 US out the door retail, within striking distance of an Air and with half the storage space and RAM. 256 of storage puts it at price parity with less RAM.
 
I watched the video - when you grab the anchor on the lower-right corner to resize, it also MOVES the window? So if I set a window where I want it, then try to resize it, I have to move it again after resizing? That’s an unnecessarily negative experience.
Personally, I use slideover for quick web searches or using Messages all the time. I’d rather see this new window system replacing Stage Manager, which is just awful.
 
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With a keyboard attached can you cmd+Tab to switch apps and quit apps ?? One thing I love on the Mac is how the app you cmd+Tabbed into becomes the first app next time you cmd+Tab. When bouncing around the same group of apps this is really handy. (I use a pretty old MBP, so not sure this is the same on the newer MacOS versions, hope so) Thx, NSC
 
iSayuSay said:
Great, it's time Apple makes use all of those high performance hardware on iPad Pros. But will it be real this time? Apple has been telling iPad will be the only computer you need for years now, but that never happens.

Not a single Mac screen has OLED, or touchscreen, or FaceID with decent camera, or 5G network. But iPad Pro has it all, only problem is it comes with gimped iPadOS.
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Such is Apple’s strategy: handicap their own devices and services so that anticipated overlap doesn’t happen and they get to sell deliberately incomplete products so customers are severely pushed to buy them all.
 
Shirasaki said:
Such is Apple’s strategy: handicap their own devices and services so that anticipated overlap doesn’t happen and they get to sell deliberately incomplete products so customers are severely pushed to buy them all.
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Alternatively, segmenting the market with different types of devices for different use cases and price points; a standard and smart business strategy.
 
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mrgraff said:
I made a comment like this post title during a keynote 8 or 10 years ago, and was downvoted into oblivion. Oh well, times change...
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MacRumours, a Reddit-lite community®. In all seriousness, I'd say the disagreement may have come from the fact that your suggestion wasn't interpreted as an optional experience. Users here likely didn't want to be forced into a Mac-like UX environment, which now they are not. The comments probably went along the lines of, "if you want macOS then get a Mac" (or Mac OS X). Which, to be fair, they didn't just give iPad macOS. Craig not only did a very good UX implementation, he sensibly made it optional. They should add Finder to the dock, perhaps Trash too. For macOS Apple should consider making it a bit more distinct from iPadOS, less round window corners and a more mouse pointer-appropriate CC.
 
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Devnul0 said:
I watched the video - when you grab the anchor on the lower-right corner to resize, it also MOVES the window? So if I set a window where I want it, then try to resize it, I have to move it again after resizing? That’s an unnecessarily negative experience.
Personally, I use slideover for quick web searches or using Messages all the time. I’d rather see this new window system replacing Stage Manager, which is just awful.
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No, that's not what happens at all. Grabbing the anchor allows you to resize the window - it doesn't move the window at the same time. That, as you say, would be a negative experience.
 
B-Mc-C said:
Slide Over is freakin awesome for my workflow. Can someone please confirm it’s only gone if I use the new windowing mode, and is still available if I keep it turned off?
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Let’s hope they bring it back as an option. I like full screen mode where I can switch briefly with slide over. I very rarely use split windows. I briefly tried Stage Manager and found it worse for my usage. The current UI is perfect for most people’s needs. It’s simple, which is why average users love it. Why wouldn’t Apple provide both styles?
 
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neliason said:
Let’s hope they bring it back as an option. I like full screen mode where I can switch briefly with slide over. I very rarely use split windows. I briefly tried Stage Manager and found it worse for my usage. The current UI is perfect for most people’s needs. It’s simple, which is why average users love it. Why wouldn’t Apple provide both styles?
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The loss of SlideOver is particularly bad for those of us on iPad Minis.

It's really disappointing that's not an option/toggle still.
 
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Joseph C said:
What I need now is a good FTP client and something for web development ideally. If Panic brought Nova and Transmit to iPad I’d pay a substantial sub for it yearly.
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I still have the original iOS version of Transmit and it still works on iPad. Of course, it needs to be updated and re-released.

You are probably already aware, but ShellFish is amazing.

Termius is also highly rated if you don’t mind paying crazy subscriptions.
 
needsomecoffee said:
With a keyboard attached can you cmd+Tab to switch apps and quit apps ?? One thing I love on the Mac is how the app you cmd+Tabbed into becomes the first app next time you cmd+Tab. When bouncing around the same group of apps this is really handy. (I use a pretty old MBP, so not sure this is the same on the newer MacOS versions, hope so) Thx, NSC
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You can indeed 😊
 
Does iPad OS have a normal file system or is it still the same sandboxed thing in iOS
 
Joseph C said:
I love iPadOS 26. The windowing system is brilliant. I can use my iPad more than ever like my Mac and that’s awesome.

What I need now is a good FTP client and something for web development ideally. If Panic brought Nova and Transmit to iPad I’d pay a substantial sub for it yearly.

I’d like an option for the Dock to remain visible at all times, letting you drag windows underneath it, like on Mac.

But overall it’s a great update for iPad.
Click to expand...
Some web dev apps, like Texttastic or my old copy of Coda, have FTP built into them.
 
Mackan said:
Hey, how about allowing me to boot Mac OS on the iPad when I hook it up to an external screen and keyboard/mouse? What was the ultimate problem with this?
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Apple wants to sell you two devices. There is zero chance of convergence on any of these products areas unless their sales collapse at any point.
 
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