Video Demos macOS Catalina Running on iPad Pro via x86 Emulation

[Arsenikdote]

ipadOS is no longer a touch-only interface ... I have the latest iPad Pro with Apple's keyboard+touch pad and also the pencil ... it combines the best of all worlds. Using the iPad became for me a nice mix of keyboard/touchpad/finger/pen ... same could be true for macOS

I have had every iteration of the iPad Pro since launch. With the new interface and dock it has made it more feasible to do true work and keep a good workflow going. I use it more and more in my daily workflow and am seriously considering making it my only portable computing device.

HOWEVER, I still don't understand the idea of using it with a stand (other than the keyboard case version) or with a mouse. For me the reason I use the iPad instead of the MacBook is touch. While close (in my hand, in my lap or stood up on the keyboard) the touch and pen is very useful and is a main reason why I continue to use it. But I just can't understand the mouse idea. Maybe for certain workflows where pinpoint precision is necessary? Or do people want a tiny computer? If I need a "computer" then I would want a large screen or multiple monitors. In that workflow a keyboard and mouse are great. But for a portable touch device, it feel strange using a mouse....I mean would people also want to use a mouse for their iPhone?

Also, when you put an iPad in a stand and then use touch/pen is awkward and it entirely makes sense why Apple doesn't make an iMac touchscreen. No idea how iPad stands are popular unless it is for display purposes only. Utterly uncomfortable using touch or the pencil while in the stand.

 

[macbookfan]

So I just checked this software out. They have UTM for Mac. So should be able to emulate x86 windows on M1.

 

[Darth Tulhu]

I have had every iteration of the iPad Pro since launch. With the new interface and dock it has made it more feasible to do true work and keep a good workflow going. I use it more and more in my daily workflow and am seriously considering making it my only portable computing device.

HOWEVER, I still don't understand the idea of using it with a stand (other than the keyboard case version) or with a mouse. For me the reason I use the iPad instead of the MacBook is touch. While close (in my hand, in my lap or stood up on the keyboard) the touch and pen is very useful and is a main reason why I continue to use it. But I just can't understand the mouse idea. Maybe for certain workflows where pinpoint precision is necessary? Or do people want a tiny computer? If I need a "computer" then I would want a large screen or multiple monitors. In that workflow a keyboard and mouse are great. But for a portable touch device, it feel strange using a mouse....I mean would people also want to use a mouse for their iPhone?

Also, when you put an iPad in a stand and then use touch/pen is awkward and it entirely makes sense why Apple doesn't make an iMac touchscreen. No idea how iPad stands are popular unless it is for display purposes only. Utterly uncomfortable using touch or the pencil while in the stand.

Writing. The iPad sucks for writing anything other than short bursts. The Magic Keyboard (combined with the necessary added mouse/trackpad features in the OS) is SPECIFICALLY designed to address this. Which is why the iPad is easy as Hades to pop on and off of it.

Other than that, the iPad is a fantastically personal device with its own unique use cases that differentiate it greatly from the Mac.

The iPad is not for everybody, and not for every use case. Neither is the Mac, for that matter (try drawing on a Mac screen... it'll be interesting to see 😉 ).

The question is whether or not the iPad replaces everything for YOU. Based on the above, the answer is "no".

The below ad is one of my favorites from Apple, and it explains the iPad PERFECTLY:

 

[Darth Tulhu]

The changes to the user interface on macOS Big Sur were deliberately to support touch. Menus spaced apart, larger "touch" targets.... it's all setting the stage for a touch-based macOS.

No, they only SEEM that way. Perhaps it could be that Apple simply wanted to minimize the differences between each OS, for technical or user-experience reasons maybe?

Craig was clear on this: Apple (at this time) is NOT merging iPadOS and macOS.

iPadOS will remain touch-centric, and macOS will remain cursor-centric.

Maybe we'll get something in between, that uses the iPad's touch target algorithms with floating macOS windows and filesystem support. But then that'd be neither of the 2 OSes.

 

[waveman]

I look forward to having a working Windows XP on that thing.

 

[joecomo]

now bring that emulation to the M1 Macs and let it ran windoze ...
(don't care about speed - just make it run)

 

[jprmercado]

It will be called small sur 😂

Or Sur Mini. 😁

 

[tonyr6]

iPad web browser can't run browser extensions neither can iPhone which is why I only use my iPad for music, downloaded and streaming video services. I use my OnePlus for web browsing which supports extensions.

 

[MartinNobel]

They should get a native hypervisor for iPad Pros. That can change things significantly

 

[Darth Tulhu]

You think the point with this is to produce something that end-users would want to use? I am sure it is done just for fun, to show that it can be done.

I know. My assertions was related to using a mouse-based OS on a device designed for touch.

 

[Umma]

Not convergence but maybe some overlap?

My personal dream is for a laptop/pad hybrid; 2 computers in one. Both the stand/keyboard AND the screen would have a system. Pull the screen off, and it’s an iPad, with the limitations imposed by iOS. Put it back into the stand and it becomes a full fledged Mac OS machine, maybe leverage the pad cpu for graphics acceleration?

I don’t really know much about how these things work, so maybe this is a dumb idea. I just want to run Moi3d on my iPad Pro.

 

[hlfway2anywhere]

Really nice. Anything special used? Just MSOffice apps and/or Apple’s ones?
Did other peers went through grad school in a similar fashion?

I used Keynote for my presentations, Word to write my reports and Excel for some calculations. My degree is a masters in business management so I didn’t require any specific software other than that. The way my program was set up we all used iPads and were automatically subscribed to the ebooks we needed so most people did use the iPad. At the time the only bad thing about it was file management. There really wasn’t any back in 2015.

 

[Arsenikdote]

Writing. The iPad sucks for writing anything other than short bursts. The Magic Keyboard (combined with the necessary added mouse/trackpad features in the OS) is SPECIFICALLY designed to address this. Which is why the iPad is easy as Hades to pop on and off of it.

Other than that, the iPad is a fantastically personal device with its own unique use cases that differentiate it greatly from the Mac.

The iPad is not for everybody, and not for every use case. Neither is the Mac, for that matter (try drawing on a Mac screen... it'll be interesting to see 😉 ).

The question is whether or not the iPad replaces everything for YOU. Based on the above, the answer is "no".

The below ad is one of my favorites from Apple, and it explains the iPad PERFECTLY:

That is a great ad! 😁

I actually think that represents a LOT of how I currently use my iPad Pro. What is interesting is they show you CAN use a mouse, but not actually how it enhances anything. To be clear, I wasn't saying I don't use a keyboard with my iPad Pro, I most certainly do, all the time! And while it doesn't replace everything (deep computing sessions such as video editing, etc...) it does replace a lot. I wasn't really saying that it couldn't/wouldn't for different people. I was questioning the necessity for a mouse. It just seems strange to me that with a device you can get "up close and personal" with, and touch the screen and have it respond so well to touch, what are the benefits to the mouse?

I conceded there may be certain workflows for people that involve precision pointing needs, so maybe for those people. But I have used a mouse for quite a while on my iPad and it always just seemed more work. If I am typing and need to "click" on something, it was far easier to just reach my finger up and tap on whatever it is I was interested in than reaching over to grab the mouse or down to the trackpad. Plus often I then had to move the cursor to where I wanted to interact instead of my finger just tapping it immediately. I know some people don't like selecting text with their fingers, but after using the iPad as a primary device for months, it seems effortless now. Maybe a mouse allows a lower barrier to entry for people trying to convert to using it "full time"? LOL, maybe I am overthinking things 🤷🏻‍♂️🤣

 

[amartinez1660]

That is a great ad! 😁

I actually think that represents a LOT of how I currently use my iPad Pro. What is interesting is they show you CAN use a mouse, but not actually how it enhances anything. To be clear, I wasn't saying I don't use a keyboard with my iPad Pro, I most certainly do, all the time! And while it doesn't replace everything (deep computing sessions such as video editing, etc...) it does replace a lot. I wasn't really saying that it couldn't/wouldn't for different people. I was questioning the necessity for a mouse. It just seems strange to me that with a device you can get "up close and personal" with, and touch the screen and have it respond so well to touch, what are the benefits to the mouse?

I conceded there may be certain workflows for people that involve precision pointing needs, so maybe for those people. But I have used a mouse for quite a while on my iPad and it always just seemed more work. If I am typing and need to "click" on something, it was far easier to just reach my finger up and tap on whatever it is I was interested in than reaching over to grab the mouse or down to the trackpad. Plus often I then had to move the cursor to where I wanted to interact instead of my finger just tapping it immediately. I know some people don't like selecting text with their fingers, but after using the iPad as a primary device for months, it seems effortless now. Maybe a mouse allows a lower barrier to entry for people trying to convert to using it "full time"? LOL, maybe I am overthinking things 🤷🏻‍♂️🤣

Wanted to say: I too just prefer to use the finger to “go to and select item” all in one go instead of reaching for the mouse, placing my hand properly in it (might sound minor but more often than not I do have to take my eyes off the screen even if fractions of a second), hover the pointer from wherever it was to the item, click on it, put hand back in keyboard.

I really don’t use the iPad Pro for work that much, but Procreate, Affinity suite, recently Pixaki 4 update, basic annotation (take a screenshot and sidecar it to the iPad, it’s one button tap) is just great in there.
On the weekends though, 99.9% of the time spent on the iPad