iPad Pro Amazed there’s no jailbroken MacOS for the ipad

[MajorFubar]

Somewhere in the deepest darkest corner of the basement underneath Apple Park, there is some insider hacker running MacOS on a tricked-out fully-loaded iPad, even if he's not supposed to be doing, just to prove to himself that it can be done.

 

[MajorFubar]

As an iPad/iPhone user I prefer to have Apple’s products clearly defined as they have unique use cases.

The distinction hasn't been 'clearly defined' at least since the Mac and iPad started sharing M1 SoCs, and probably before that depending on one's point of view. But IMO that's where some buyers' frustrations really kicked up a gear, when it became possible to spend Mac money on an iPad which was technologically just as capable as a Mac, were it not strangled by a lousy OS that limits its use to being a media-consumption device, taking notes, highlighting PDFs, and drawing pretty pictures with an Apple Pencil. All the while with a chip inside it that makes a three year old i7 weep.

 

[Andeddu]

The distinction hasn't been 'clearly defined' at least since the Mac and iPad started sharing M1 SoCs, and probably before that depending on one's point of view. But IMO that's where some buyers' frustrations really kicked up a gear, when it became possible to spend Mac money on an iPad which was technologically just as capable as a Mac, were it not strangled by a lousy OS that limits its use to being a media-consumption device, taking notes, highlighting PDFs, and drawing pretty pictures with an Apple Pencil. All the while with a chip inside it that makes a three year old i7 weep.

The iPad is a leisure device rather than a productivity device. It still does basic productivity however it’s not for everyone. It does everything it’s supposed to do and does it very well. I have never seen an operating system so optimised, efficient and bug free in my life. I agree that the iOS App library should be improved with more programs taking advantage of the M1 chipset however these applications should be ported over to iOS rather than the iPad supporting MacOS. I agree that the M1 is wasted on the current iOS offering but I believe it’s up to the developers to port more demanding software over to the platform.

 

[MajorFubar]

I agree that the M1 is wasted on the current iOS offering but I believe it’s up to the developers to port more demanding software over to the platform.

They can't. There's a huge 'gotcha' limiting pro-grade software appearing on the iPad, which is entirely iPadOS related: lack of swap. Any app you open, and whatever project you create or open with it, cannot occupy more RAM than the iPad has onboard, same as on a forty year old Commodore 64. Full disclosure, I didn't know about this limitation until I was following a thread on here a few weeks ago, started by someone complaining about lack of desktop-grade apps on iPads.

 

[Digitalguy]

The distinction hasn't been 'clearly defined' at least since the Mac and iPad started sharing M1 SoCs, and probably before that depending on one's point of view. But IMO that's where some buyers' frustrations really kicked up a gear, when it became possible to spend Mac money on an iPad which was technologically just as capable as a Mac, were it not strangled by a lousy OS that limits its use to being a media-consumption device, taking notes, highlighting PDFs, and drawing pretty pictures with an Apple Pencil. All the while with a chip inside it that makes a three year old i7 weep.

iPadOS is not a lousy OS in itself, it's actually a very enjoyable one, but it's very limited when it comes to office work productivity, except for some use cases. If you want it to replace a traditional laptop it lacks the sophisticated apps available on MacOS and Windows in a lot of fields and has limited ability of using external monitors, limited multitasking compared to a desktop OS and a limited and sometimes unreliable file management especially when it comes to external storage.

I was using the iPad pro with cellular as my on the go device, mainly remoting into my desktop systems, because of the limitations.
MacBooks don't have cellular (and tethering can be limited in some countries or annoying if you don't have an iPhone, and I don't...) and the iPad pro 11 with magic keyboard is definitely lighter and more compact than any current MacBooks (only the old 12in MacBook was lighter).

Recently however I bought a Thinkpad Nano with cellular and that changed the situation. It's lighter than the 11in pro + keyboard, has cellular and it's instantly on (double bio-metrics, face ID + touch ID), it's even more lappable and if the internet connection is not great I don't need to rely on remote desktop. At this point my 11in pro gets very little use as at home I much prefer the 12.9....

 

[woolypants]

I would not be surprised if Apple somehow made it that you could run certain macOS apps on the iPad, just like you can run iOS apps on Macs.

In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if this was announced in WWDC soon. It will all by via the App Store so don’t expect things like BitTorrent clients.

If this does happen then I imagine sales of the new iPad Air will soar.

 

[MajorFubar]

I would not be surprised if Apple somehow made it that you could run certain macOS apps on the iPad, just like you can run iOS apps on Macs.

In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if this was announced in WWDC soon. It will all by via the App Store so don’t expect things like BitTorrent clients.

If this does happen then I imagine sales of the new iPad Air will soar.

Won't happen for the reason I gave in post #29. Well, not unless iOS16/iPadOS16 brings in some sweeping rudimentary changes.

 

[woolypants]

Won't happen for the reason I gave in post #29. Well, not unless iOS16/iPadOS16 brings in some sweeping rudimentary changes.

Well, that’s kind of what I’m saying. You’re not going to be able to run macOS apps without some major work. But this is how Apple tends to iteratively improve software – massive amounts of work for what seems to users like a trivial but nice-to-have change. The recent Universal Control feature is a great example of this. Most average users don’t even know it exists. But the work involved to make it happen is phenomenal.

This kind of thing might be why Apple decided to fork iPadOS from iOS. You could argue that, right now, iPads with 8GB of RAM are the norm following the introduction of the iPad Air 2022 – 3 out of the 4 iPad models on sale today have at least 8GB of RAM.

Fundamental structural changes have to be made because running iOS in 8GB is like bouncing a pea in a drum. And the creation of a desktop-like memory paging system might well be one of them—and yes there’s an irony that this happens because iPads get more rather than less memory.

 

[woolypants]

Won't happen for the reason I gave in post #29. Well, not unless iOS16/iPadOS16 brings in some sweeping rudimentary changes.

Here we go. It’s starting. Never say never with Apple: https://9to5mac.com/2022/05/27/ipad-multitasking/

 

[Geminiwave]

stage manager really looks a lot like MacOS. But I think it cements more clearly that convergence won't happen any time soon. If anything I think it's trying to just eat MacOS completely.

 

[woolypants]

stage manager really looks a lot like MacOS. But I think it cements more clearly that convergence won't happen any time soon. If anything I think it's trying to just eat MacOS completely.

I think the goal is to provide a better experience for a tablet experience, rather than turn the iPad into a laptop. I do believe Apple designs to user experience. The user experience of an iPad is radically different from that of a laptop. There’s the Pencil, for example, and rotatable screen (portrait/landscape). Apple is designing for things like this, rather than simply attempting to take concepts from the desktop/laptop experience and bolt them onto the iPad (which is what somebody like Microsoft would do, or at least back in the day).

 

[Geminiwave]

I think the goal is to provide a better experience for a tablet experience, rather than turn the iPad into a laptop. I do believe Apple designs to user experience. The user experience of an iPad is radically different from that of a laptop. There’s the Pencil, for example, and rotatable screen (portrait/landscape). Apple is designing for things like this, rather than simply attempting to take concepts from the desktop/laptop experience and bolt them onto the iPad (which is what somebody like Microsoft would do, or at least back in the day).

I get what you mean, but as someone who used a surface, Apple didn't design to a pro user experience. Whether you agree with the CX of the surface or not, it was not a bolt on. MSFT thoughtfully created modes based on how you used it, and what did customers do? Set it to laptop mode at all times. I turned off tablet and desktop mode too, because I was a professional who wanted a multi-window multi-app experience.

Apple is pretty afraid of something like that but they're trying to have their cake and eat it too. They say the iPad is a professional tool, but then treat it like it's a simple media consumption device. I can understand why...if you take a hard turn on the pro line then what does it do to the OS on the base model which really is just a limited media consumption device? Using the iPad as a consumption device is very popular and profitable. But with the magic keyboard, the pro model is NOT that. Frankly the 12.9" iPad is a TERRIBLE consumption device.

I tried to do real work on an iPad in the past, but without being able to run multiple apps simultaneously, and having access to a proper 2nd screen, it was a no-go. Stage manager seems like it might help but it sounds like it's locked to M1 potentially, which is a drag.

 

[woolypants]

I get what you mean, but as someone who used a surface, Apple didn't design to a pro user experience. Whether you agree with the CX of the surface or not, it was not a bolt on. MSFT thoughtfully created modes based on how you used it, and what did customers do? Set it to laptop mode at all times. I turned off tablet and desktop mode too, because I was a professional who wanted a multi-window multi-app experience.

Apple is pretty afraid of something like that but they're trying to have their cake and eat it too. They say the iPad is a professional tool, but then treat it like it's a simple media consumption device. I can understand why...if you take a hard turn on the pro line then what does it do to the OS on the base model which really is just a limited media consumption device? Using the iPad as a consumption device is very popular and profitable. But with the magic keyboard, the pro model is NOT that. Frankly the 12.9" iPad is a TERRIBLE consumption device.

I tried to do real work on an iPad in the past, but without being able to run multiple apps simultaneously, and having access to a proper 2nd screen, it was a no-go. Stage manager seems like it might help but it sounds like it's locked to M1 potentially, which is a drag.

It’d be interesting to see the personas that Apple has in mind for the iPad. I suppose this is obvious by looking at their advertising. From a quick scan of the two most recent YouTube iPad ads, this appears to be:

* On the spur creativity – kids making election posters, for example, or quickly assembling a video from clips.
* Gaming
* Music production (I’m surprised they don’t go harder on this aspect – maybe it’s because of the lack of audio input/output?)
* Transformability – one moment at a desk typing, the next taking the iPad off the Magic Keyboard to flop onto the sofa For media consumption

All of this is different from something like the MacBook range, where it’s more about sitting down and creating serious stuff. Gaming and media consumption tend to not even get mentioned.

 

[exoticSpice]

Why though? I already have an iPad. And the screen is way nicer. I really like the iPad Pro 12.9 along with the magic keyboard. And heck I could do the 10” with a keyboard too. Great machine. No reason to get a MacBook (except, you know, besides that I can’t get MacOS on the ipad….)

I get what you mean but I do think it’s a bit BS that they run the same chipset and they don’t let you put macOS on it.

To get the same screen as iPad Pro 12.9", you would need a 14.2" MacBook Pro.

The 14" MBP does come with a M1 Pro, mini-LED display, 120HZ, more ports, better speakers and also a keyboard.

These are some reasons to get a MacBook as well as macOS.

 

[exoticSpice]

There's a huge 'gotcha' limiting pro-grade software appearing on the iPad, which is entirely iPadOS related: lack of swap.

This has been fixed for M1 iPads in iPadOS 16 as it includes swap

 

[MajorFubar]

This has been fixed for M1 iPads in iPadOS 16 as it includes swap

Yep. This finally opens doors to desktop-class apps appearing on the iPad. But it will take a while I reckon: developers will want to be sure there's a market out there before committing the resources, unless Apple quickly sets a president by giving iPad owners FCP and LPX after OS16

 

[dalestrauss]

Buy a Macbook

Gee Tim, why didn't you say "Buy an iPad Pro AND a MacBook and make me happy."

 

[return2sendai]

Gee Tim, why didn't you say "Buy an iPad Pro AND a MacBook and make me happy."

Sorry, totally forgot what my post was in response too. Weeks ago.