iPad Pro Apple Silicon on the Mac unintentionally killed the iPad Pro

[Retskrad]

Before Apple Silicon on Mac, around the 2015-2019 time, iPad Pro had better software and hardware than the Mac and the Mac was seen as a legacy product, both by Apple themselves internally and the userbase. Nowadays, the 14" and 16" MacBook Pro's have the edge in both software and hardware. Taking a look at Apple's quarterly earning we see that Mac revenue are way ahead of iPad. It used to be around 1:1 but the Mac now brings home 11.5B vs 7.2B of iPad.

What can put iPad Pro ahead of the Mac again? The usual suspects are pro level apps like Final Cut Pro and Premiere, putting MacOS on the iPad and making a product that combines both Mac/iPad. I personally don't think any of these ideas will put the iPad ahead of the Mac. Most people have an iPhone. Purchasing the expensive iPad Pro's don't make sense for most people because the iPad and iPhone fundamentally do a lot of the same things. The 14" and 16" MacBooks are also very expensive but they offer something that iPhone does not. I think it's going to be difficult for Apple to bring the iPad Pro to a state where it's ahead of the Mac again. What do you guys think?

 

[StumpyBloke]

The iPad had better software? Are you kidding? The iPad still doesn't have decent software to this day. Not when you compare it to the Mac anyway but that's been done to death here already.

 

[outlawarth]

Extremely overpriced? That’s very subjective and specific to individual use cases.

Ever since I got the 12.9 IPP my laptop has been collecting dust for 99% of the time. And no, I don’t just draw on it or take notes. I run a business off of it.

Not saying it’s for everyone but I just would be careful making generalizations.

 

[Retskrad]

The iPad had better software? Are you kidding? The iPad still doesn't have decent software to this day. Not when you compare it to the Mac anyway but that's been done to death here already.

MacOS on Intel was not as fast, responsive and fluid as iPad Pro's around 2015-2019. The software was better optimised on iPad around that time.

 

[Retskrad]

Extremely overpriced? That’s very subjective and specific to individual use cases.

Ever since I got the 12.9 IPP my laptop has been collecting dust for 99% of the time. And no, I don’t just draw on it or take notes. I run a business off of it.

Not saying it’s for everyone but I just would be careful making generalizations.

iPad Pro 12.9 for some people are heaven sent and worth every dollar. However, for most people it's overpriced.

 

[Shirasaki]

iPad Pro 12.9” overpriced for a reason: better and larger display with larger battery etc etc etc. Apple has been notorious for arbitrarily charge their products so they have unlimited profit margin, and this is certainly nothing new.

Also, why we need to make iPad Pro great again? Why people keep wanting to get one device to do EVERYTHING? We have specialists for a reason, or else GP just do everything. iPhone 6 plus (and subsequent larger iPhone) exist exactly because people demand their phone to do EVERYTHING for them, essentially making them kind of jack of all trade but master of none outside of photography and phone call. Bad Imo.

 

[Janichsan]

...iPad Pro had better software and hardware than the Mac...

[Citation needed]

 

[Retskrad]

iPad Pro 12.9” overpriced for a reason: better and larger display with larger battery etc etc etc. Apple has been notorious for arbitrarily charge their products so they have unlimited profit margin, and this is certainly nothing new.

Also, why we need to make iPad Pro great again? Why people keep wanting to get one device to do EVERYTHING? We have specialists for a reason, or else GP just do everything. iPhone 6 plus (and subsequent larger iPhone) exist exactly because people demand their phone to do EVERYTHING for them, essentially making them kind of jack of all trade but master of none outside of photography and phone call. Bad Imo.

People don’t look at iPhone 14 Pro Max, Apple Watch Ultra, 14” and 16” MacBook Pro’s and say they’re overpriced. The only Apple flagships that people call overpriced are AirPods Max and iPad Pro’s. I think that’s telling.

 

[antiprotest]

I disagree that iPad has better software than Mac and that the Mac was ever seen as a "legacy" product.

"Legacy" has a specific meaning, both in general usage but especially in tech. The term was never applicable to the Mac, and was never seen as such by Apple or by users.

 

[MegaBlue]

I think it's going to be difficult for Apple to bring the iPad Pro to a state where it's ahead of the Mac again. What do you guys think?

My iPad Pro continues to provide me value and functionality that is *impossible* with any current Mac sold, so no. My iPad Pro is still ahead of any Mac available, in my eyes.

 

[Spock]

I disagree that iPad has better software than Mac and that the Mac was ever seen as a "legacy" product.

"Legacy" has a specific meaning, both in general usage but especially in tech. The term was never applicable to the Mac, and was never seen as such by Apple or by users.

I don't think legacy was the word but before Apple Silicon was announced, it really did seem as though Apple wanted the iPad Pro to replace the Mac notebook line. The Intel Macs were getting a little behind and macOS updates were not as polished as the had been in the past. I do think that we will continue to see convergence with macOS and iPadOS, StageManager on the Mac is a prime example of that happening.

 

[Jarutais]

Can't agree with one word you said.
iPad apps are and always were miles behind anything offered on Mac.

Also, "Mac was seen as a legacy product" WTF

 

[rui no onna]

People don’t look at iPhone 14 Pro Max, Apple Watch Ultra, 14” and 16” MacBook Pro’s and say they’re overpriced. The only Apple flagships that people call overpriced are AirPods Max and iPad Pro’s. I think that’s telling.

There are plenty of folks who think iPhones (especially $1K+ models) are overpriced.

 

[rui no onna]

I don't think legacy was the word but before Apple Silicon was announced, it really did seem as though Apple wanted the iPad Pro to replace the Mac notebook line. The Intel Macs were getting a little behind and macOS updates were not as polished as the had been in the past. I do think that we will continue to see convergence with macOS and iPadOS, StageManager on the Mac is a prime example of that happening.

I never really got that vibe from Apple. I felt the iPad Pro was more Apple's answer to the Surface rather than a MacBook replacement.

What I did percieve was that Apple was working very quickly to replace Intel with their own Apple ARM chipsets and using the iPad Pro as guinea pigs for their R&D.

 

[Shirasaki]

People don’t look at iPhone 14 Pro Max, Apple Watch Ultra, 14” and 16” MacBook Pro’s and say they’re overpriced. The only Apple flagships that people call overpriced are AirPods Max and iPad Pro’s. I think that’s telling.

People look it that way because each device compliment each other very well. Btw, apple upgrade option, especially storage, are notoriously overpriced.

iPad Pro on the other hand, tips the toe of MacBook while doing a bit of iPhone thing, making its product position unclear (was on day 1, still is today). It is at best targeting a niche market, a market where large touch screen tablet is in demand. iPad Pro is Apple’s answer to hybrid tablet with either android or Windows, and we all know how unpopular hybrid products are.

 

[outlawarth]

My iPad Pro continues to provide me value and functionality that is *impossible* with any current Mac sold, so no. My iPad Pro is still ahead of any Mac available, in my eyes.

+1

 

[MayaUser]

nowadays is not the software , its the apps that are on it
ipadOS still lack behind macOS on professional work apps
ipadOS is still ahead for casual using
So both has their advantages

 

[sparksd]

I don't want a Mac, I want a tablet, so I have the M1 12.9.

 

[MauiPa]

iPad Pro 12.9 for some people are heaven sent and worth every dollar. However, for most people it's overpriced.

no, it is not overpriced, that implies that it is too much for what you get. It is very reasonable for what you get. What it is - is too high specced for most people, who do not need that and therefore don't need to pay for it.

 

[MegaBlue]

nowadays is not the software , its the apps that are on it
ipadOS still lack behind macOS on professional work apps
ipadOS is still ahead for casual using
So both has their advantages

That’s changing every day though.

4 years ago I could only do very basic photo work on my iPad. Today I don’t even have Photoshop or Affinity installed on either of my computers, because all the functionality I need to edit my photos (personal ones + composites from several RAW photos.

The same is beginning to become true for video editing. I rarely need to touch FCPX or Premiere on my computers because LumaFusion can accomplish the task 80% of the time. My last major video project was with with US Department of Defense, producing a 10 minute documentary video of a project they were working on. The entire video, from importing my footage to an external drive to publishing and sharing the final edited piece was done on my iPad Pro.

It obviously can’t replace something like a Mac Pro for very high end tasks (but neither could any MacBook), but the iPad can be both a very powerful complement to professionals, and for a lot of people it CAN be their only device needed for “professional” work.

 

[hagjohn]

I never really got that vibe from Apple. I felt the iPad Pro was more Apple's answer to the Surface rather than a MacBook replacement.

What I did percieve was that Apple was working very quickly to replace Intel with their own Apple ARM chipsets and using the iPad Pro as guinea pigs for their R&D.

Put MacOS on an iPad is an answer to Surface.

 

[AxiomaticRubric]

Before Apple Silicon on Mac, around the 2015-2019 time, iPad Pro had better software and hardware than the Mac and the Mac was seen as a legacy product, both by Apple themselves internally and the userbase. Nowadays, the 14" and 16" MacBook Pro's have the edge in both software and hardware. Taking a look at Apple's quarterly earning we see that Mac revenue are way ahead of iPad. It used to be around 1:1 but the Mac now brings home 11.5B vs 7.2B of iPad.

It all depends on the use-case.

The iPad has opened up computing to demographics formerly shut out from it: the very young, the very old, and individuals with handicaps. The great majority of users in these demographics will never need a Mac for day-to-day requirements.

For professionals and power-users yes, the Mac is superior hands-down. But Apple doesn't need to change the iPad when it is already a successful product category for it's particular use-case.

Apple was never going to allow developers to be stuck with Intel chips on the Mac. The plans for the Apple Silicon transition were started when Steve Jobs was still alive.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

It's not Apple Silicon Macs that killed the iPad Pro. It's iPadOS that killed the iPad Pro. Guts of a Mac but does a lot less than a Mac and is more expensive than a Mac. It's why there's requests to add the ability to dualboot macOS onto the iPad Pro.

 

[Unami]

The ipad pro is still far more portable than a mac and it got a touch screen and lidar. It's true that iOS runs smoother than MacOS does on intel Macs but I'd bet that was not the deciding factor back then, nor is it now.

I'd buy a mac for the pro level software, the option to install software that's not from the app store, the option to modify it's software - e.g. install a browser that's not based on webkit, install drivers for hardware that don't come with the system, a decent file manager, a command line, as much arangeable and resizeable windows as I want (even with on far weaker cpu and with less RAM than an ipad that's able to run stage manager), multiple connectors without needing an adapter, being able to type on the lap, not having to pay €300 for a keyboard with a small touchpad and little key-travel that makes the damn thing bulkier than a laptop, more RAM, small UI-..

The ipad still offers none of that. It was always a hardware-promise that was never fulfilled in software - and that's a lot due to iOS/iPadOS. Personally I prefer an iPad for portability but it just can't replace a "full" computer - people have probably realized that.

 

[ElRojito]

iPad doesn’t run any of the programs I need, lol. What??