You might get iPadOS on a touch MacBook, but not likely macOS on an iPad. There is a significant difference in overall hardware despite using the same chip, and macOS has the more demanding requirements.
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Touchscreen MacBook '100% Confirmed,' Says Reputable Leaker
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turbineseaplane
macrumors Penryn
What does a Neo have in that regard that a top flight iPad Pro doesn't?
The dumb touchscreen has been confirmed for over a year via the huge hideous touchable toolbar buttons on OS 26. It's one reason we can't have nice Sequoia things though I will keep running 18 indefinitely.
Enjoy smudging up and poking at your screen like a toddler
As a frequent user of a ThinkPad with Touch functionality at work my really only reason to use touch gestures is because of bugs within the OS. And it doesn't solve the problem. It is a mere desperate attempt to just do something being stuck with an error.
And to use Windows on a 13" screen with touch gestures is just not working for me. MAYBE except for scrolling a page. It is just so bad compared to a Phone or Pad. I guess Apple will do it better, but even then I am skeptical.
Open iPad to MacOS functionality? Why not. On the other hand I am a fan of keeping categories separated.
Even if I have to pay for Touch functionality on a Mac I am skeptical I would ever use it. I don't see the point in my use case.
And to use Windows on a 13" screen with touch gestures is just not working for me. MAYBE except for scrolling a page. It is just so bad compared to a Phone or Pad. I guess Apple will do it better, but even then I am skeptical.
Open iPad to MacOS functionality? Why not. On the other hand I am a fan of keeping categories separated.
Even if I have to pay for Touch functionality on a Mac I am skeptical I would ever use it. I don't see the point in my use case.
My iPad looks like Bonnie Blue’s face at time (I like to each chips and cookies), so no thanks.
zarmanto
macrumors 65816
I perceive two schools of thought on this. One is simple economics: it could be that all of the OLED panels in the applicable target sizes will be touch screen, anyway... so for this school of thought, the direct answer to your question is nobody... but Apple figures they may as well add support for it, since they can't escape it.
The other school of thought... comes right out of the schools. My kids, to be precise: the school system insists on issuing them those blasted Chromebooks every year, so at this point, crappy touchscreen laptops are exactly what they've learned on, and what they expect from a high-end laptop is a better version of what they already know.
Which basically means that we've met Marty, and he has told us the future.
It's namely about thermals. iPadOS is designed to sip power and stay cool so that it can run in a super thin portable form factor. macOS and its hardware is designed to focus more on productivity and performance. So the hardware running both OSes has to accommodate the "lowest" common denominator. The smallest MacBook has a significantly larger thermal capacity than the biggest iPad, due to the MacBook base's thickness and heat-conductive material all around the internals, as opposed to the iPad's thin body with a built-in heat-producing display. And if you compare to the 11" iPad Pro, the thermal differences are even more stark, as well as the issue of battery life. If Apple could have put macOS in a thinner form factor with smaller thermal capacity with adequate performance, they probably would have already.
eltoslightfoot
macrumors 68040
Given the deep dive I saw on on the Neo’s lack of cooling, I am not so sure I believe this. I think the iPad Pros have better cooling than the Neo, honestly.
turbineseaplane
macrumors Penryn
The technology has been out there for years just only new for Apple.
As for a touchscreens usefulness it depends on what you use a Mac Pro for……………Good for some meaningless for others
In any case it’s good to have
As for a touchscreens usefulness it depends on what you use a Mac Pro for……………Good for some meaningless for others
In any case it’s good to have
zarmanto
macrumors 65816
Sooooooo many people wish this would happen... but nobody actually believes that Apple would go down that road.
uller6
macrumors 65816
I don’t think either of these are showstoppers that would prevent running Mac OS on an iPad. MacBook airs are awfully thin and work great without active cooling already, so even if the iPad throttles more than the MacBook Air it would still operate. A throttled MacBook Air is still fast. Heat is not associated with memory pressure. And all Mx Macs now use NAND flash storage, the same as used in iPads and iPhones. They all share the same underlying core system architecture and functionality.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple has had this running in their labs for years to test functionality. I also wouldn’t be surprised if they never let it see the light of day.
i don’t see the need — I have an iPad, sidecar, and a pen.
What I want is 5G on my Mac, same as my iPad, iPhone, and watch. I’d buy an MacBook Air with 5G in a heartbeat.
What I want is 5G on my Mac, same as my iPad, iPhone, and watch. I’d buy an MacBook Air with 5G in a heartbeat.
Hajj.david
macrumors 6502a
1. Is factually woefully inaccurate. First of all, ALL M series macs use NAND storage. In fact nearly every USB drive / SD card in the world, if not 100% of them are all NAND storage. It has nothing to do with formatting or anything.
2. Lack of active cooling has NOTHING to do with memory pressure. Apple has released MULTIPLE macs with ZERO active cooling, including shoving an intel chip in the tiny 12" macbook. The answer is and always will be they don't want to canabalize their sales, and they don't want to give up control on the ipad.
chrono1081
macrumors G3
Same. I legit do not get the appeal of a touch screen laptop.
Yeah or an option to add it if wanted like the ram and ssd upgrades?
I would buy one. Why not. Let's try it out. Maybe I will like it. I can see benefits editing photos with a pen directly on the screen.
ThomasJL
macrumors 68020
If the purpose of adding a touchscreen to a Mac is to do the same things as the trackpad and mouse, then:
Every Mac laptop has a trackpad, which makes a touchscreen redundant. Every Mac laptop can also work with a mouse, which also makes a touchscreen redundant.
Users also have the ability to right-click on a trackpad and mouse, thus making them more functional than a touchscreen.
If the purpose of adding a touchscreen to a Mac is to do different things than the trackpad and mouse, then it might make some sense to have a touchscreen option.
Every Mac laptop has a trackpad, which makes a touchscreen redundant. Every Mac laptop can also work with a mouse, which also makes a touchscreen redundant.
Users also have the ability to right-click on a trackpad and mouse, thus making them more functional than a touchscreen.
If the purpose of adding a touchscreen to a Mac is to do different things than the trackpad and mouse, then it might make some sense to have a touchscreen option.
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Colpeas
macrumors 6502a
Arsenikdote
macrumors 6502a
The ultimate setup, especially with Apple Silicon, would be for it to toggle between MacOS and iPadOS (you would not be able to use it for the super high end workflows, but for EVERYTHING else), you get a modular system. Want to use it for iPad related tasks? Have it not "docked' and it runs iPadOS and it works like an iPad. Want to use it like a Mac? Dock it and it switches so MacOS and you use it like a Mac. Not docked and it is light, portable, etc... while docked you can connect it to whatever you want (monitor, drives, etc...) and it can act like a desktop/laptop. You can even have an iPad "case" style "dock" where you pick between iPadOS and MacOS. But alas, while it would be easily possible from a technical perspective, I am too jaded from history to think we will ever get it 😛
FCX
macrumors regular
My primary concern isn't cost or weight.
Fingers are much larger than cursors, and this trend of making macOS mimic the iPhone has already polluted the UI with downright stupid design choices. Prime example being System Settings.
I don't mind folks having a choice to use touch or not. I really mind when that additional choice ruins the experience by default for those who choose not to use it.
Fingers are much larger than cursors, and this trend of making macOS mimic the iPhone has already polluted the UI with downright stupid design choices. Prime example being System Settings.
I don't mind folks having a choice to use touch or not. I really mind when that additional choice ruins the experience by default for those who choose not to use it.
I have one, but it’s very inconvenient when I’m constantly on the move and repeatedly opening and closing my laptop. I also can’t use it when I bring the laptop home and keep it in clamshell mode on a stand to power three Studio Displays, since the laptop gets hot during video editing and RAW photo batch processing.