Windowing, Menu Bar, and Pointer Come to iPadOS

[germanbeer007]

I and many don’t want to plug iPhone into Mac…every. Single. Time. Thanks for the tip.

So...millions of engineering hours went into iPadOS 26 just because you don't like plugging a wire into a Mac and don't want to use a MagSafe battery.

Makes no sense. Asking for a MacBook 5G solves this btw instead of asking to change an entire platform.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Does this replace Stage Manager or is it simply another option?

 

[DanVM]

It intersting how Apple has been incorporating features into the iPad that make it similar to the Surface Pro.

 

[jouster]

R.I.P iPad

…Because they added functionality you’re not required to use?

 

[Falco McGregor]

From the way Apple assured vanilla iPad users nothing would change with how they use the app if they don't want to before rolling out the upgraded windowed experience, it's pretty clear they have tons of market research showing most people are happy with the device's ease of use with the one app at a time paradigm. I'm thrilled they're adding the functionality, but outside of some power users, folks on these forums and tech pundits there's likely little clamor among the general public for a Mac-like iPad experience.

 

[turbineseaplane]

From the way Apple assured vanilla iPad users nothing would change with how they use the app if they don't want to before rolling out the upgraded windowed experience, it's pretty clear they have tons of market research showing most people are happy with the device's ease of use with the one app at a time paradigm. I'm thrilled they're adding the functionality, but outside of some power users, folks on these forums and tech pundits there's likely little clamor among the general public for a Mac-like iPad experience.

I'm still not convinced a world of just "the iPad & iPad Mini" + touchscreen macOS + MacBooks (perhaps even some that can fold all the way over and be a tablet essentially) wouldn't be much tidier and focused on actual needs and wants here.

Maybe add an iPad Pro line that runs touch macOS .. maybe call it a MacPad.

It just seems like they still can't figure what to actually do with the iPad and iPadOS situation.

Every year or two it's a whole new swing at things it seems like.

 

[germanbeer007]

…Because they added functionality you’re not required to use?

a million engineering hours spent on the wrong features means we get nothing but a stale OS.

 

[ApAx]

Makes me think they are pushing for the iPad to replace the MacBook. I certainly hope this is not the case.

This finally makes the iPad more like a computer instead of a large iPhone. Very much looking forward to trying this out.

I don't think iPad will replace MacBooks anytime soon. They still lack true computing processing power in the way of desktop OS and devices.

iPad began as a scaled up iPhone. Once Apple started marketing iPad Pro for designers and professionals, limitations like window and file management surely kept adoption low in the key demographics iPad Pro was meant for. It's nice to see that the changes aren't locked to pro devices for once.

 

[BreuerEditor]

Now I just want a user choice like macOS/tvOS and iPadOS will be 100% better. I use my iPad for business and personal use but have 2 different Apple IDs so that they're separated. I'd LOVE a way to be able to switch from 1 user to another (or even call it something else than user) but that it can have its own settings and restrictions without using Screen Time.

 

[Adelphos33]

I'm still not convinced a world of just "the iPad & iPad Mini" + touchscreen macOS + MacBooks (perhaps even some that can fold all the way over and be a tablet essentially) wouldn't be much tidier and focused on actual needs and wants here.

Maybe add an iPad Pro line that runs touch macOS .. maybe call it a MacPad.

It just seems like they still can't figure what to actually do with the iPad and iPadOS situation.

Every year or two it's a whole new swing at things it seems like.

Many people use the iPad for many work like tasks - emails, word processing, spreadsheets, note taking side by side with web pages or documents, video calling, etc. Better multitasking on ALL iPads would make the experience doing this stuff much better, and is welcome.

 

[Neepman]

If some of this can't be disabled, this is going to be a nightmare for seniors to use.

 

[iPadified]

Looks nice but now we need bigger iPads…and desktop apps if it is to replace a Mac.

 

[ttyRazor]

This is very pleasing to me. Let’s talk Xcode for iPadOS 27

I want inverse-Catalyst: make existing AppKit Mac apps run on iPadOS

 

[cheekyjeremy]

While they showed it in the keynote, does anyone know how to activate expose ?. I cannot seem to find it in the Beta

 

[ttyRazor]

I was truly shocked when I saw this screenshot of ipad pop up on the live stream with the red/yellow/green bubbles

So was I. That was the first sign this might finally be the windowing attempt on iPadOS that gets it right. Here’s hoping it does.

 

[tyranne201]

still no Xcode or terminal for iPad...

 

[ctg7w6]

Apple is never going to do that because then you would have no reason to buy a Mac. I’m sure Apple has data that shows power users own both a Mac and an iPad. They’re not going to do anything to change that.

Right, but you see, I am the consumer. This is what I want. I know why they don't want to do it, from the producer side. I hope there is at some point a compelling business reason that incentivizes them to do it.

 

[ttyRazor]

Still wished they had given us a finder app over files

Just be glad Finder wasn’t replaced with Files.

 

[TechRunner]

I'd love to pick up a 13" Air and keyboard to give this a serious run, but dabbling with it on my Mini will have to suffice for now.

 

[ttyRazor]

Err… does that mean that a single swipe won’t return you to the Home screen anymore?

It does but with already open windows shoved to the side, and opening a new app adds it as a window. The double swipe minimizes the open windows and everything goes back to full screen until you grab the corner handle. Way better than toggling stage manager from control center

 

[groove-agent]

These are all welcomed features IMO. The only thing missing is getting more pro apps on iPad (Xcode etc). Otherwise it's a great "computer" for an average person doing average things.

 

[lars666]

Well, this is an update i have been waiting for. Now the Two Question not answered today:

1) Multiple Audio Stream
2) Virtual Memory

the first one is obvious, but the second one is important for Photo Editing because this is the main reading why “Denoise” Apps lie DXO or Topaz are missing for iPad or in Lightroom…. will this now be possible so we can have the most important features lacking for Lightroom?

Do you really think multiple audio streams is a sure thing now? It finally NEEDS to be, by the love of god … This is the main thing that made working with the iPad a pain in the ass for me until now, one audio always fading out and not even resuming when starting another. (Or even stopping audio by only open an app or a website with some background video I not even see.)

 

[Calle68]

Eventually!

 

[groove-agent]

Wow. It's now like my Mac!!! So...what the hell is the point of iPad?

Touch screen, Apple Pencil, portability.

 

[robertosh]

…Because they added functionality you’re not required to use?

Because is more and more like a half backed MacBook. It will never be a MacBook replacement, and is getting away from being a tablet. It seems that this new multitasking is meant to be used with mouse… even camera is horizontally placed…