Well they made the iPad an ok laptop experience with the magic keyboard and the new and improved m/k support. And lots of people hook up their laptops to bigger screens.
The effort to support big screens is nothing they haven't done before. And they've shown they will put "effort" into adding new features to make the iPad more Mac-like (such as) multitasking and the iPad OS mouse cursor system etc.
Just because Apple added features to iPad that are similar to features on Mac doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to do more though. Just like the Apple Watch has become a little more iPhone-like over the years (barometer, gps, lte, Siri, bigger screen), that doesn’t mean it’s eventually going to do everything an iPhone does, then eventually everything an iPad does, then ultimately everything a Mac does. It might not be a trajectory that keeps going forever. The iPhone, iPad, and Watch are relatively new devices compared to traditional computers so they’re still growing into their own and stealing features here and there, but they’re all ultimately different devices with different focuses. The iPad could adopt more Mac features, or it could not. Again, I think it comes down to what Apple thinks is worth the effort (return on investment), and if it’s in line with their vision for the device.
Yeah saving money is a reason no doubt. I mean why do I have to buy a Mini and an IPad when Apple has touted the iPHone as having a faster cpu than the average Windows laptops for years now.
And, for example, obviously most customers get MBAs for $1k or less instead of buying a $2200 MBP despite the MBA not being as nice of an experience overall. IT's the same mentality.
But from Apple’s perspective, offering different levels of MacBooks has a different motivation. That’s about the necessity of reaching big markets. Apple has to offer a less expensive MacBook because if they don’t, they’d lose a ton of market share to less expensive Windows laptops. In contrast, they aren’t really losing any market share by not offering full external monitor support on the iPad right now. Not sure if any android tablets have that function, but either way iPads still dominate the tablet market. Windows hybrids compete mostly with MacBooks than iPads, but either way they aren’t really a threat either.
I wouldn't say Apple thinks the Mac and iPad integration is a better experience. I mean, again, they made the Magic Keyboard and added really good mouse cursor support. And they added multi-tasking. So obviously the iPad is a work in progress and is getting more Mac-like features as time goes on. IF Apple doesn't believe Ipad can be the one device for some (then) it has a funny way of showing it.
So, if anything, adding like external support seems more like a matter of time than a not happening kind of thing.
They’ve explicitly said that the iPad and Mac will not merge on several occasions, and that they believe macs and iPads work well together. Over the years they’ve added sync and Continuity features to make the experience pretty seamless.
Like I mentioned above, yes the iPad is relatively young and getting more functions in general, and
some of those functions have been Mac-like, but that doesn’t indicate it will receive
all Mac functions nor is it even a guarantee there will be any more Mac-like functions.
Apple does believe the iPad can be the one device for some, as they’ve said so explicitly. So since iPads don’t fully support external monitors, that must mean they expect anyone who needs full external monitor support to have a traditional computer.
So if we are to believe them at their word, then we know there is a line between Mac and iPad which the iPad will not cross. But we can only make educated guesses as to where that line is.
I do agree Apple has sent mixed messages though. Initially, they discredited the idea of a touch screen on a laptop form factor, yet that’s exactly what the iPad with Smart Keyboard was, until cursor support/magic keyboard was released. But again, I think the Smart Keyboard came about because of big demand and low effort (high return on investment), and cursor support had to follow to complete the form factor (but also had high return on investment).
