All iPads Should the iPad become a Mac Replacement?

[prospervic]

It's because we don't want to have to buy two devices, clearly.

And this is why Apple's not rushing to put macOS on iPad. Why do all of that work when the result would be them selling you only one device when they could continue to sell you two?

Owning Apple stock changes your perspective from “help me spend as little as possible, Apple” to “maximize my shareholder value, Apple.”

 

[Boil]

I want...

• Apple Watch (Ultra) that is stand-alone for cell service and can pair with iPads
• Apple Watch Ultra with cameras & Apple titanium bracelet, black PVD finish for both watch & bracelet
• iPhone that folds, when open is the size of an iPad mini (or is it an iPad mini that folds to the size of an iPhone...?)
• Larger (14"/16") iPad Studio that runs a "touchified" macOS
• Magic Keyboard with edge protection, battery, more ports, internal M.2 slot(s), Apple Pencil storage in the "hinge"

 

[pdoherty]

Well, that’s the limitation on iPad hardware… if I had Mac hardware I can go upwards of 1TB of RAM and 8TB of storage along with adding a graphics card to it.

No, you can't. What M-series (ie one you can buy in the last couple of years) Mac laptop (or desktop) can go to 1TB of RAM?

Discussing a Mac Pro theroretical max memory to the debate about whether an iPad Pro with 1TB and 16GB can run typical MacOS workloads is a bit silly.

 

[pdoherty]

And this is why Apple's not rushing to put macOS on iPad. Why do all of that work when the result would be them selling you only one device when they could continue to sell you two?

Because it pisses your customers off and makes them seek out a solution that isn't from a company trying to rip you off by being purposely inefficient.

 

[sparksd]

Because it pisses your customers off and makes them seek out a solution that isn't from a company trying to rip you off by being purposely inefficient.

But realistically it's just a niche set of their customer base and of that niche, how many will walk away? The bottom line threat is miniscule. Outside of this forum, I have not heard a single person talk about this subject - and I'm a retired s/w & h/w engineer with a lot of tech-savvy friends, many of whom own iPads and/or Macs.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

But realistically it's just a niche set of their customer base and of that niche, how many will walk away? The bottom line threat is miniscule. Outside of this forum, I have not heard a single person talk about this subject - and I'm a retired s/w & h/w engineer with a lot of tech-savvy friends, many of whom own iPads and/or Macs.

You need to get out more. I have talked with more than a few people about this very topic. Heck, look at this thread…lots of people want this. I do agree that it probably won’t happen though.

 

[sparksd]

You need to get out more. I have talked with more than a few people about this very topic. Heck, look at this thread…lots of people want this. I do agree that it probably won’t happen though.

I get out a lot and count the number of contributors to this thread. Apple loses more customers through natural causes every day than they would by irritating the small numbers here who would actually walk, not just talk.

 

[Ludatyk]

No, you can't. What M-series (ie one you can buy in the last couple of years) Mac laptop (or desktop) can go to 1TB of RAM?

Well, obviously.. you can't now. But the possibility of hitting 1TB of RAM on a Mac was a reality at one point, but now M series RAM can max out at 96GBs 128GBs.

Discussing a Mac Pro theroretical max memory to the debate about whether an iPad Pro with 1TB and 16GB can run typical MacOS workloads is a bit silly.

I've never said that 1TB and 16GB cannot run typical macOS workloads. My discussion were toward getting a better experience with Mac hardware... and there's no denying that macOS would get a better experience with Mac hardware.

 

[pdoherty]

And Mac hardware is what iPad Pros have...

 

[eltoslightfoot]

Well, obviously.. you can't now. But the possibility of hitting 1TB of RAM on a Mac was a reality at one point, but now M series RAM can max out at 96GBs 128GBs.


I've never said that 1TB and 16GB cannot run typical macOS workloads. My discussion were toward getting a better experience with Mac hardware... and there's no denying that macOS would get a better experience with Mac hardware.

The thing is, we are not asking to be able to use an iPad with MacOS to edit 8k video. We simply want to be able to use it like an M1 Macbook Air from 2020. Which it can absolutely do.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

I get out a lot and count the number of contributors to this thread. Apple loses more customers through natural causes every day than they would by irritating the small numbers here who would actually walk, not just talk.

Look at the following:

Put macOS on the iPad, you cowards

The new iPad Pro is a laptop in everything but operating system.

www.theverge.com

I Want a MacPad!

Sorry for a bit of cross-posting (form the iPad Mini 6 thread), but I want to encourage like-minded tablet users to pull up everything we can find on the mythical unicorn MacPad. Start your exploration by reading this article from 2017 by Benjamin Bannister. He very closely predicted the need to...

forum.tabletpc.review

This guy found a way to use Apple's Mac software on an iPad — and it works surprisingly well

It's long been a dream to see Apple's Mac software on an iPad. And it's actually possible with the new Mac Mini.

www.businessinsider.com

Can the iPad Pro run macOS?

Apple really wants the iPad Pro to be a laptop replacement, but does it have the chops?

knowtechie.com

https://www.cultofmac.com/716121/iphone-running-macos-apps-mac-ipad-rumor/ (this one is iPhone dex type of setup from 2020)

First M1 iPad Pro Benchmarks Are A Nightmare For Intel And Android - BGR

Many people expected the new iPad Pro to feature a variation of the A14 Bionic chip in the iPhone 12 series. Apple would use an…

bgr.com

And here is conversation answering the question (meaning it is asked) from the perspective of stay with iPadOS:

https://www.reddit.com/r/iPadPro/comments/mvzkzl

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/ipad-will-never-run-macos-and-it-shouldnt.2292838/

Apple engineers dish on no macOS for iPad & why 11-inch model didn't get mini-LED | AppleInsider

Two Apple employees sat down for an interview detailing decisions behind the iPad Pro with M1, engineering challenges of the device, and why macOS isn't coming to iPad.

appleinsider.com

Opinion: The M1 iPad Pro needs iPadOS 15, not macOS - 9to5Mac

The M1 iPad Pro needs another cycle of iPadOS updates rather than macOS on it. Here's my take on this controversy.

9to5mac.com

M1 iPad Pro review: Why Apple will never put macOS on iPad

It doesn’t make sense now and it will never make sense in the future to put macOS on any iPad.

www.inverse.com

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/if-ipad-pro-could-run-macos-would-you-bother-with-ipados.2302215/

Final Cut for iPad highlights iPadOS limitations

iPad has been around for 13 years, but it wasn’t until 2015 that Apple began to push it as a...

9to5mac.com

So this idea has clearly caught someone's attention and the back-and-forth is going about as well as it is in this thread. LOL. Like most of us (who are pro-Mac-on-the-iPad-Pro) are saying, we don't even need MacOS per se, we just need the ability to run full-blown Mac Apps--especially Finder.

 

[LeeW]

Can an iPad replace a laptop in general? Yes, depending on how you use it.
Can an iPad replace a Mac? No, unless it has macOS. Much of what I and many do requires software to be installed that there is no App for and I am not allowed to install on an iPad.

 

[sparksd]

Look at the following:

Put macOS on the iPad, you cowards

The new iPad Pro is a laptop in everything but operating system.

www.theverge.com

I Want a MacPad!

Sorry for a bit of cross-posting (form the iPad Mini 6 thread), but I want to encourage like-minded tablet users to pull up everything we can find on the mythical unicorn MacPad. Start your exploration by reading this article from 2017 by Benjamin Bannister. He very closely predicted the need to...

forum.tabletpc.review

This guy found a way to use Apple's Mac software on an iPad — and it works surprisingly well

It's long been a dream to see Apple's Mac software on an iPad. And it's actually possible with the new Mac Mini.

www.businessinsider.com

Can the iPad Pro run macOS?

Apple really wants the iPad Pro to be a laptop replacement, but does it have the chops?

knowtechie.com

https://www.cultofmac.com/716121/iphone-running-macos-apps-mac-ipad-rumor/ (this one is iPhone dex type of setup from 2020)

First M1 iPad Pro Benchmarks Are A Nightmare For Intel And Android - BGR

Many people expected the new iPad Pro to feature a variation of the A14 Bionic chip in the iPhone 12 series. Apple would use an…

bgr.com

And here is conversation answering the question (meaning it is asked) from the perspective of stay with iPadOS:

https://www.reddit.com/r/iPadPro/comments/mvzkzl

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/ipad-will-never-run-macos-and-it-shouldnt.2292838/

Apple engineers dish on no macOS for iPad & why 11-inch model didn't get mini-LED | AppleInsider

Two Apple employees sat down for an interview detailing decisions behind the iPad Pro with M1, engineering challenges of the device, and why macOS isn't coming to iPad.

appleinsider.com

Opinion: The M1 iPad Pro needs iPadOS 15, not macOS - 9to5Mac

The M1 iPad Pro needs another cycle of iPadOS updates rather than macOS on it. Here's my take on this controversy.

9to5mac.com

M1 iPad Pro review: Why Apple will never put macOS on iPad

It doesn’t make sense now and it will never make sense in the future to put macOS on any iPad.

www.inverse.com

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/if-ipad-pro-could-run-macos-would-you-bother-with-ipados.2302215/

Final Cut for iPad highlights iPadOS limitations

iPad has been around for 13 years, but it wasn’t until 2015 that Apple began to push it as a...

9to5mac.com

So this idea has clearly caught someone's attention and the back-and-forth is going about as well as it is in this thread. LOL. Like most of us (who are pro-Mac-on-the-iPad-Pro) are saying, we don't even need MacOS per se, we just need the ability to run full-blown Mac Apps--especially Finder.

Let me know when it gets Apple's attention. The entirety of MacRumors forums is still just a niche group in the greater customer community and until Apple sees a significant ROI - and if it fits their philosophy and long-term business plans - nothing will happen on the Apple side.

 

[Ludatyk]

The thing is, we are not asking to be able to use an iPad with MacOS to edit 8k video. We simply want to be able to use it like an M1 Macbook Air from 2020. Which it can absolutely do.

I completely get it, but the point I'm making is... what purpose does it serve putting macOS on iPad hardware when it already has its own operating system? When the end goal is to have Mac with touch support that should be where the focus placed on (imo).

So, I ask you.. would a touch supported MacBook (maybe a M2 MBA) be something worth having than macOS on an iPad?

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Let me know when it gets Apple's attention. The entirety of MacRumors forums is still just a niche group in the greater customer community and until Apple sees a significant ROI - and if it fits their philosophy and long-term business plans - nothing will happen on the Apple side.

Yeah, fun to think about what it be and what it would mean, but Apple’s not reading MacRumors for product ideas

I DO think that macOS will one day end up on an iPad form factor device, just not with dual booting. And, it will be because Mac sales by that time will have dropped so far that it’s not worth it, to Apple, to continue to fund an entirely parallel set of mobile hardware form factors (just like a little while ago they decided to stop funding a parallel CPU/GPU strategy).

 

[LeeW]

I still get good use out of my iPad today as a partial laptop replacement which is where it really sits. The bulk of my work is done on the Mac Mini M2, whilst on the move I do all the tasks I don't need or want a laptop to do. Works well in my use case.

 

[prospervic]

Look at the following:

Put macOS on the iPad, you cowards

The new iPad Pro is a laptop in everything but operating system.

www.theverge.com

I Want a MacPad!

Sorry for a bit of cross-posting (form the iPad Mini 6 thread), but I want to encourage like-minded tablet users to pull up everything we can find on the mythical unicorn MacPad. Start your exploration by reading this article from 2017 by Benjamin Bannister. He very closely predicted the need to...

forum.tabletpc.review

This guy found a way to use Apple's Mac software on an iPad — and it works surprisingly well

It's long been a dream to see Apple's Mac software on an iPad. And it's actually possible with the new Mac Mini.

www.businessinsider.com

Can the iPad Pro run macOS?

Apple really wants the iPad Pro to be a laptop replacement, but does it have the chops?

knowtechie.com

https://www.cultofmac.com/716121/iphone-running-macos-apps-mac-ipad-rumor/ (this one is iPhone dex type of setup from 2020)

First M1 iPad Pro Benchmarks Are A Nightmare For Intel And Android - BGR

Many people expected the new iPad Pro to feature a variation of the A14 Bionic chip in the iPhone 12 series. Apple would use an…

bgr.com

And here is conversation answering the question (meaning it is asked) from the perspective of stay with iPadOS:

https://www.reddit.com/r/iPadPro/comments/mvzkzl

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/ipad-will-never-run-macos-and-it-shouldnt.2292838/

Apple engineers dish on no macOS for iPad & why 11-inch model didn't get mini-LED | AppleInsider

Two Apple employees sat down for an interview detailing decisions behind the iPad Pro with M1, engineering challenges of the device, and why macOS isn't coming to iPad.

appleinsider.com

Opinion: The M1 iPad Pro needs iPadOS 15, not macOS - 9to5Mac

The M1 iPad Pro needs another cycle of iPadOS updates rather than macOS on it. Here's my take on this controversy.

9to5mac.com

M1 iPad Pro review: Why Apple will never put macOS on iPad

It doesn’t make sense now and it will never make sense in the future to put macOS on any iPad.

www.inverse.com

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/if-ipad-pro-could-run-macos-would-you-bother-with-ipados.2302215/

Final Cut for iPad highlights iPadOS limitations

iPad has been around for 13 years, but it wasn’t until 2015 that Apple began to push it as a...

9to5mac.com

So this idea has clearly caught someone's attention and the back-and-forth is going about as well as it is in this thread. LOL. Like most of us (who are pro-Mac-on-the-iPad-Pro) are saying, we don't even need MacOS per se, we just need the ability to run full-blown Mac Apps--especially Finder.

But you're proving sparksd's point. Tech writers and tech forum posters do not comprise the huge user base out in the real world, the "regular people" whom Steve Jobs always wanted to serve.

Some participants in the blogosphere and forum-sphere act like they're still in the original Home Brew Computer Club with Steve Wozniak. Apple has grown way beyond that.

I still get good use out of my iPad today as a partial laptop replacement which is where it really sits. The bulk of my work is done on the Mac Mini M2, whilst on the move I do all the tasks I don't need or want a laptop to do. Works well in my use case.

This! At its introduction Steve Jobs described iPad as an in-between device. I use iPad similar to how you use yours. Accept instead of a Mac mini I have a MacBook Pro because I can easily take it to different rooms in my home.

 

[prospervic]

Let me know when it gets Apple's attention. The entirety of MacRumors forums is still just a niche group in the greater customer community and until Apple sees a significant ROI - and if it fits their philosophy and long-term business plans - nothing will happen on the Apple side.

Mistaken post - deleted.

 

[Night Spring]

I completely get it, but the point I'm making is... what purpose does it serve putting macOS on iPad hardware when it already has its own operating system? When the end goal is to have Mac with touch support that should be where the focus placed on (imo).

So, I ask you.. would a touch supported MacBook (maybe a M2 MBA) be something worth having than macOS on an iPad?

I, for one, don't want a touch-enabled laptop, unless the keyboard comes off. What I want is a single device that can function as a tablet with the keyboard off, and as a full laptop with the keyboard on.

The problem, as I see it, on the software side is that no single UI can be optimized for both touch and keyboard/mouse input. If one is optimized, the other suffers. That's why I think this device should dual-boot between iPad OS and MacOS.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

I completely get it, but the point I'm making is... what purpose does it serve putting macOS on iPad hardware when it already has its own operating system? When the end goal is to have Mac with touch support that should be where the focus placed on (imo).

So, I ask you.. would a touch supported MacBook (maybe a M2 MBA) be something worth having than macOS on an iPad?

No, it would not. Unless I can detach the screen and write on it with the pencil.

 

[sparksd]

I, for one, don't want a touch-enabled laptop, unless the keyboard comes off. What I want is a single device that can function as a tablet with the keyboard off, and as a full laptop with the keyboard on.

The problem, as I see it, on the software side is that no single UI can be optimized for both touch and keyboard/mouse input. If one is optimized, the other suffers. That's why I think this device should dual-boot between iPad OS and MacOS.

It is an interesting idea. I'd imagine Apple doing it as a high-end device, not a varied lineup (at least at first) - a package with a dual boot M2 12.9 with large RAM & SSD coupled with an MKB, sold together. I hate to think of what they would do with the price on it, though.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

But you're proving sparksd's point. Tech writers and tech forum posters do not comprise the huge user base out in the real world, the "regular people" whom Steve Jobs always wanted to serve.

Some participants in the blogosphere and forum-sphere act like they're still in the original Home Brew Computer Club with Steve Wozniak. Apple has grown way beyond that.

This! At its introduction Steve Jobs described iPad as an in-between device. I use iPad similar to how you use yours. Accept instead of a Mac mini I have a MacBook Pro because I can easily take it to different rooms in my home.

Then they should make iPadOS actually functional as a pro level operating system. MacOS-level finder and Apps.

You know, since the 12.9” iPad Pro has a way overkill M-series processor in it.

 

[sparksd]

Then they should make iPadOS actually functional as a pro level operating system. MacOS-level finder and Apps.

You know, since the 12.9” iPad Pro has a way overkill M-series processor in it.

When you say Apps here, are you referring to Apple's own apps on the Mac? Which ones? I don't own a Mac so I don't have a reference point.

 

[Ludatyk]

It is an interesting idea. I'd imagine Apple doing it as a high-end device, not a varied lineup (at least at first) - a package with a dual boot M2 12.9 with large RAM & SSD coupled with an MKB, sold together. I hate to think of what they would do with the price on it, though.

And this where it comes to... those who asking for such a device? Would you be willing to pay the price for it? I'm guessing it would be north of $2000 at a starting price..

 

[Night Spring]

When you say Apps here, are you referring to Apple's own apps on the Mac? Which ones? I don't own a Mac so I don't have a reference point.

Apple just released Final Cut for iPad, and many are complaining how it's missing features compared to Mac version. My own experience with Pages is that the iPad version isn't quite as full-featured as the Mac version. It's gotten better over the years, but it's never gotten to full parity.