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The iPad Just Got a Lot More Like a Mac Thanks to These 20+ New Features
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Apple literally manufactured an 11” MacBook Air until 2016 or so.
For everyone saying "macOS isn't made for touch like iPadOS is"...
Did you know that MS Office for macOS is a universal application? This means there’s a chance they could run the full-featured version on modern iPads without any issues. Keep in mind that MS Office for iPadOS has been around for over 10 years and was originally back when iOS powered iPads. It had many limitations and was for a touch-first environment. Most of these restrictions are now gone, and iPadOS26 introduced a lot of desktop-like elements. Could MS eventually replace the mobile version of MS Office apps with macOS Universal apps? Who knows, but I hope they do.
At the end, looks like MS can manage to do a word processor for iPads, as they do with the Surface Pro. Too bad Apple had so many limitations with iPads for so long. At least iPadOS 26 is a step in the right direction.
As I’ve pointed out, it was 11.6” and had a 16:9 aspect ratio. The iPad has a 10.9” or 11.0” display and a 160:114 aspect ratio. Try to display 16:9 or even 16:10 content and you have the “blackletter” effect. The usable space is closer to 10.7”
Try accessing your Mac from an 11” iPad using a remote access app such as Jump Desktop. It works, but the limitations of the screen become obvious.
Yeah, no one was talking about tapping on a menu bar containing large single action buttons. iPad Safari has a Favorites bar with nested folders so obviously an OS menubar wouldn't be a problem.
So how would you handle all of this with only the Touchscreen, no Pointer, no Magic Keyboard, no Trackpad or Mouse?
Single click on green maximizes
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Hover on Green
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Option + Hover on Green
Use a mouse and keyboard is not the correct answer to 'Is Mac OS is built for touch?'
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Well… the most basic functions in word processing are typing and copy/paste. The darn thing can’t even keep up with my typing, and copy/paste is very frustrating. I think that’s on the OS, not MS.
Typing is identical to the Mac, so I don’t get how it can’t keep up with your typing, and I don’t get how it’s any different to cut and paste using the normal keyboard shortcuts.. obviously I’m assuming a hardware keyboard would be attached if doing proper writing, because otherwise missing basic functions are the least of your worries.
If other WPs do that then it's the OS' fault, if not then it's Microsoft's fault.
I was seeing a lot of videos on TikTok showing glass effects that i didn’t see. After a while, i went into accessibility and saw that “reduce transparency” was turned on. I turned that off and now i see glass! Does Apple turn that on by default or something?
It’s good that you can use iPad entirely as your computer. I can’t, and I believe many more can’t either. Unfortunately, Apple replacing macOS with iPadOS is a trend that will not stop. RIP traditional computer operating system.
Some improvements for the future:
- Increase the number of windows that can be opened simultaneously — currently it's limited to 12, but expanding it to 16 would be helpful.
- Add tab support to the Files app, similar to Finder on macOS.
- Allow macOS apps to run on iPad.
I am having a similar issue. I will say that if the active apps are limited native apple apps, it kind of works properly, but it seems like as soon as there is a non native app, it does as you mentioned and pushes them off to the side
I cannot use ipad solely either in my usage. I need to run full version of Matlab. Also, latex mac versions are much better along with latexiT. LYX is not yet available on ipad either. Current ipad office apps are like toys.
Adding an MacOS mode would have been my preference too, defaulting to it as an option when you connect a magic keyboard. But the treatment of the ecosystem hostages would have been worse had Apple retained the classic iPadOS. I welcome the Mac-like upgrade, a significant step forward, the first in 15 years if iPad history.
On the other hand, especially with the update, light to medium multitasking tasks can be completed was easier on the iPad, removing the need for Mac for those with lesser workflows. These people often don't need things like font management or extra little background helpers. They're just wanting to do basic office tasks, and I think that was the idea behind this update.
#1 sounds good but I have a feeling that my iPad A16 will struggle even with 12! 😉🙃
#2 sounds good too
Many would say the same when Windows replaced DOS in 1995. Things progress while older systems die. I do not see Apple replacing macOS with iPadOS. macOS and iPadOS serve two different systems. As Microsoft would tell you have the experience with Windows 8, you cannot shoehorn a traditional desktop operating system into a tablet computer. They compliment each other. iPadOS becoming more functional is a great thing.
It is probably Office as I think that Microsoft is using some other tool than Xcode and frameworks provided by Apple as Pages works perfectly.
I believe that the limitations is Microsoft’s policy decisions as Pages is a much better word processor than Microsoft Word on the iPad. There are limitations on what subscription level you subscribe to Microsoft 365. Thankfully I have two subscriptions that I do not pay for, so I have evaluated both applications. I still do not use Microsoft Word even with the subscriptions because Pages is better and I have increased my productivity since upgrading to Pages. I have used Microsoft Word from version 2.0 though 2007 exclusivity and I have the current versions installed either in a virtual machine or on a supplied computer.