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iPad iPad Stage Manager
- Thread starter citivolus
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I completely understand your perspective, but you honestly don't think M1 iPad users won't grow in a span of 2 to 3 years for big companies to invest in. You speak as if there is no hope for the iPad... there will be no growth in software and no reason for Apple to invest further into the OS.
And I understand most users have Macs or Windows laptops/desktops (includes me), but that shouldn't stop companies to make their products available on other platforms. I'm just not fond of the idea that something will never happen, especially in this technology space.
Situations like... iMessage will never come to Android, I get that... it doesn't benefit Apple to do. But desktop class software will never happen on the iPad... when Apple just announced that its attempting to bridge the gap, I respectfully disagree.
Hasn't iPad revenue been flat/declining in recent years as Mac revenue has been growing?
Yes, they do. They’ll get a little narrower but keep the same basic position.
Imagine being able to plug an iPad Mini into an external monitor and use Stage Manager. It would really extend the function of the device.
Alas, it’s not to be. I understand the A15 isn’t as beefy as the M1, but it’s still a very fast processor. I imagine it’s more to do with RAM, with only 4gb. Maybe they could allow stage manager on the iPad mini with a lower max of apps - say 4?
Hell, I would settle for allowing one app on the external screen and another on the inbuilt screen. Surely the hardware is capable of that! We can already run 3
apps with the current multitasking interface (but all on the one screen).
Alas, it’s not to be. I understand the A15 isn’t as beefy as the M1, but it’s still a very fast processor. I imagine it’s more to do with RAM, with only 4gb. Maybe they could allow stage manager on the iPad mini with a lower max of apps - say 4?
Hell, I would settle for allowing one app on the external screen and another on the inbuilt screen. Surely the hardware is capable of that! We can already run 3
apps with the current multitasking interface (but all on the one screen).
You can also use spotlight and I think there’s a plus button on the 3 dots that will probably allow you to add apps by moving the others to the side (currently this doesn’t seem to work yet in the videos I’ve seen)
I understand your perspective, and I do appreciate Apple are attempting to bridge that gap. But there is only so much Apple can do. Apple can give developers the right tools and environment, but it's those developers who have to decide to make their app fully featured. Let's use Microsoft Office as an example. Apple can't make or add features into Microsoft Word no matter how hard they try, only Microsoft can choose to say "we're going to make the iPad app more feature rich as part of our strategy going forward". Like your example of iMessage, it doesn't really benefit Microsoft to spend so much resources building out an iPad app when they're already making their money through the Microsoft 365 subscription regardless of how feature rich an iPad app is. Most developers aren't making iPad apps to begin with - they make iPhone apps because its the dominant platform and then if they have any budget left over they spend some time making the UI look nice for iPad - "good enough" is the pervading mindset.
And I'm not sure if the user base for iPad Pro will grow in 2 to 3 years. I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that most iPad sales come from the lower tier models like the base and Air versions. And something that makes me worried is so many people have already tried iPad at this point and decided it's just a blown up iPhone. I've seen that in my own friends group - some of my friends say "iPad is useless" because they've tried it before and couldn't make any use out of it. I think they're wrong, but their minds have been formed. Apple now has the hard job of having to convince those people who have tried and given up on iPad (and so many people have tried) and bring them back around to the idea of a tablet being their main productivity computer.
You and I are both pro iPad and I know I'm painting a bleak picture. I just feel there's a lot that needs to go right for Apple to make developers excited to build iPad apps and for consumers to be excited about iPad Pros beyond just being a consumption device with a great display/ speakers. It's going to be an interesting couple of years ahead.
Whatever someone is comfortable with, I’ve been installing the developer betas for all devices since at least ios7 and never really had any issues. And since about ios10 they’ve been pretty stable from the jump.If you have a dev account, you can read the release notes which includes important information on what works, what doesn't and what requires workarounds. For example, stage manager may not work at the moment with resolutions less than 4K.
If you're not a developer, it's probably best not to install a developer beta
Great points, I was going to answer, but your post is already so insightful that I don't need to add much. Yes, over 50% of iPad's sale come from the base model.
BhaveshUK already made some excellent points. I think that the base iPad will remain the best selling iPad and that the vast majority pro-users will still buy/use laptops for their work instead of iPad pros. And very few developers will port fully featured desktop apps (not to be confused with stripped down versions based on subscription models like Office and Adobe stuff) to iPad, for the reasons I and BhaveshUK explained.
Does anyone know if Stage Manager works through a dongle/dock with external storage connected at the same time? So outputting (over HDMI or USB-C) with a flash drive also plugged in. Or does it literally have to be one USB-C cable direct to the monitor as shown in all of Apple's promo material?
I have an Air 5 and I don't know if the fact it's only USB-C 3.1 rather than Thunderbolt on the Pro's would make a difference.
I have an Air 5 and I don't know if the fact it's only USB-C 3.1 rather than Thunderbolt on the Pro's would make a difference.
True. I wonder if Apple has plans of accelerating trickle down of M1+8GB to the regular iPad.
I wouldn’t be shocked to see the iPad Pro just fade away. Apple’s clear that they want users to do pro work on their MacBook Pro line, and the base iPads are basically as good as the Pro, so the product seems a bit pointless.
Wow, there is so much wrong with everything you said I don’t even know where to begin. Basically, the opposite of every statement you made is true.
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Never thought about this, but it's an interesting idea if Apple can trickle down the base iPad to use M1 + 8 GB , and i'm guessing the iPad Pro will be using the M3 or M4 chip when the base iPad could get M1.
and that could make iPadOS grow further, exciting to think about it.
My opinion? Not happening any time soon. My expectation for 2022, 4GB RAM, maybe laminated display. 2023? Given than iPhones will be moving to USB C because of EU regulation, the base iPad should move too, so some sort of redesign should be necessary. I expect Apple to keep 4GB, no more. The mini should get 6 instead. 2024 might be the year of 6GB RAM for the base iPad, but no earlier, 8GB would be a couple more years in the future... (it's coming every year, they are not going to increase RAM every year)
I'm confused. Microsoft is already spending resources to build out features for Microsoft Office for the iPad (I'm on the TestFlight), that's what I'm trying to get you and @Digitalguy to realize. The foundation of apps from companies like Microsoft and Adobe are there... whereas Apple has no interest in building iMessage for Android.
The point I'm making is... companies are building apps for the iPad, resources are already tied to it. And gradually features are being implemented, granted.. it's not at the speed that we would like. But companies cannot ignore the iPad and not build for it.
And when companies build for the iPad... like Adobe, they release updates designed specifically for the M1 iPad as you know.
Yes, I agree... a large percentage of iPad users go with the base model. But I'm only targeting M1 iPad users and I feel that in a span of 2 to 3 years that group will grow. Whether they buy from refurbished sites or get from hand-me-downs... it's not as if it's the number of users won't grow. For example, hypothetically speaking ...today M1 iPad users has a total of 10 people then in a week or two, 11 people.
Well, I don't pay attention to those type of people. They are most likely the same group that says Android is filled with bloatware and apps cannot be removed. Those people are removed from the conversation, but it's the upcoming people who are open minded and willing to try different things. That's the people Apple is trying to convince.
As an iPad power user, I've never been this excited for the future of the iPad. I was on cloud nine when Apple announced Stage Manager... it's one of those things where Apple is going down the list and checking boxes. My only issue with Stage Manager at this time..."close" button needs to be revamped.
Right now, when I choose to close an app.... it goes to the other side of the screen. I rather see the close button action to completely remove the app from the screen. And so far, there's criticism that Apple needs to have a grid-like windowing setup or maybe snap feature... similar to how Microsoft approach Windows 11. But I prefer how it is now, however... I'm most certain that things will change.
My reply was more for the fact that you have access to documentation as a developer that the public won't have access to by using a random beta profile you found on the internet - not to mention you have no idea what that profile is really going to allow a third party access to.
Having access to the documentation may explain why some functions a) don't work, b) don't work as expected or c) require workarounds.
As can be seen throughout this thread, there's a number of questions easily answered by reading the release notes.
I am excited as Apple is starting to bear fruit on this tree. I think you’re missing the picture Apple has been painting over the last few years. They are moving the Mac and iPad more in line from a software perspective to enable the iPad to be a more apt companion to the Mac. They will make it so easy for developers they’ll do it even if the market is initially very small.
Apple has moved the Mac to ARM processors, placed identical ARM processors in iPads, and offer universal binaries the simultaneously target iPads and Macs. This creates a possibility for developers to use identical code on both allowing the iPad to potentially run desktops apps. Stage Manager being on both Mac and iPad also shows their desire for this to be the case. As making your app compatible with Stage Manager on Mac likely gets you 95% of the way to iPad.
I wouldn’t be surprised if next year we see Apple allowing desktop macos apps from the Mac App Store to be installable and usable on iPads. Similar to how we have the inverse on macs today.
Finally iPadOS is starting to diverge from iOS in a serious way and become an interesting fusion. I see this as paying off majorly for Apple.
Apple would love to have more pro apps on the iPad, but I think you are way too optimistic on developers. As I said, you will have dumbed-down versions of apps like Office or Photoshop, because these giants want to be on iPad too and incentivize subscriptions, but the fully featured desktop apps optimised for touch? Not going to happen. Not now, not in a few years. For a ton of reasons, many of which I have mentioned in several posts.