All iPads iPadOS 18 is a revolutionary update!!!

[Kal Madda]

iPadOS 18 is a great update, besides all of the complaining it didn’t “push the needle” or whatever for some people. The customizable Control Center will basically add the functionality of macOS Menu Bar Apps to iPadOS. The new Settings app design is great, and Apple Intelligence is going to be huge. Just the few workflows they demonstrated with it show it is likely going to revolutionize multitasking on iPadOS. Sadly, we have to wait till fall to test the AI integration, but from what I’ve seen, I’m convinced this will be game changing. I think people are only looking at the features specific to iPad, and forgetting the big picture with Apple Intelligence. And even with the new features available in the first beta of iPadOS 18, I’m happy with this update.

Something missed in the shuffle is also that Apple just added a ton of new features and tools in Swift that will make it easier for App developers to port their software with Swift, and provide more desktop-class apps. Even the top page of the iPadOS 18 Developer page is encouraging developers to provide dekstop-class apps and experiences for iPadOS. Apple is definitely pushing for developers to add desktop-level functionality into their apps.

Also, so far the first developer beta has given me better battery runtime than what I was getting on the latest public version of iPadOS 17. It seems like Apple improved stability and efficiency this go round, which makes sense with the fact they paused development to specifically address bugs. Not every update can be earth shattering. Though I think Apple Intelligence is the big part of the story we’re not seeing yet, and I think it will absolutely revolutionize the experience. 👍🏻

 

[dumastudetto]

I couldn't agree more.

I truly believe iPadOS 18 with all the new enhancements and Apple Intelligence will be an inflection point for the platform. I see a lot of macOS users switching to the new iPads Pros in the fall.

 

[ericwn]

Hope it can stop the decline of the iPad platform and it would be the first revolutionary update ever to that os. One can hope.

 

[Ghost31]

Revolutionary? Ehh. That’s a stronger word than I’d like for this. But I do appreciate the update and I will enjoy the hell out of playing with “Apple intelligence” this fall. Only took forever but we finally got good Siri!

 

[dumastudetto]

Hope it can stop the decline of the iPad platform and it would be the first revolutionary update ever to that os. One can hope.

The platform is never declining, but some progress has been a touch slow.

This looks like to be a banner year for iPad with the power of M4 and the most advanced version of iPadOS ever coming in fall. I'm very excited that iPad Pro got M4 first as it shows real commitment to the platform from Apple. I'd love it if all the new M series chips came to iPad first.

 

[ericwn]

The platform is never declining, but some progress has been a touch slow.

This looks like to be a banner year for iPad with the power of M4 and the most advanced version of iPadOS ever coming in fall. I'm very excited that iPad Pro got M4 first as it shows real commitment to the platform from Apple. I'd love it if all the new M series chips came to iPad first.

You’re reading this of your cover letter for Apples marketing department I assume. But we shall see. Revolutions have been missing so far and the platform is most certainly not gaining users as Apple has been hiding sales numbers for a long time now. Price increases and additional niche models are the typical ways to address a platform whose sales aren’t going as expected.

 

[Kal Madda]

You’re reading this of your cover letter for Apples marketing department I assume. But we shall see. Revolutions have been missing so far and the platform is most certainly not gaining users as Apple has been hiding sales numbers for a long time now. Price increases and additional niche models are the typical ways to address a platform whose sales aren’t going as expected.

I totally disagree. Apple’s never really showed sales numbers for any of their products, so it’s hardly something we can claim is due to “declining sales”. And there’s pretty good evidence that iPadOS is gaining at least some new users, I see people new to the iPad asking for guidance or assistance all the time.

PS, and the first sentence of your comment is pretty rude. Someone can have a positive opinion, and that doesn’t equal “they’re reading from Apple’s marketing cover”. 🤦🏼‍♂️🙄

 

[tim@ipad]

Something missed in the shuffle is also that Apple just added a ton of new features and tools in Swift that will make it easier for App developers to port their software with Swift, and provide more desktop-class apps. Even the top page of the iPadOS 18 Developer page is encouraging developers to provide dekstop-class apps and experiences for iPadOS. Apple is definitely pushing for developers to add desktop-level functionality into their apps.

I say this is the missing link. Unlike for iOS I would expect Pro Apps & Updates from the like of Adobe, Affinity & Co for iPad OS and there haven’t been any so far. Apple has been dead quiet On this front or even pushing them….

Just adding the DeNoise Ai to LR Mobile would be a massive step forward or even dare I say having Topaz and NIK for iPad Pro (even if they would require the M4)

 

[ericwn]

I totally disagree. Apple’s never really showed sales numbers for any of their products, so it’s hardly something we can claim is due to “declining sales”. And there’s pretty good evidence that iPadOS is gaining at least some new users, I see people new to the iPad asking for guidance or assistance all the time.

PS, and the first sentence of your comment is pretty rude. Someone can have a positive opinion, and that doesn’t equal “they’re reading from Apple’s marketing cover”.

Thank you for sharing your opinion. Apple has of course for many years revealed its sales figures hence the change came for apparent reasons as soon as iPhone sales plateaued a few years ago. And if I feel like someone’s phrasing their posts in a defensive and overexcited way like only a marketing person would do on the job, I will mention that too.

 

[Kal Madda]

The platform is never declining, but some progress has been a touch slow.

This looks like to be a banner year for iPad with the power of M4 and the most advanced version of iPadOS ever coming in fall. I'm very excited that iPad Pro got M4 first as it shows real commitment to the platform from Apple. I'd love it if all the new M series chips came to iPad first.

I totally agree, I think this will be a big year for the iPad. And I think some third-party apps will feel the pressure to improve their apps (looking at you Microsoft) with the new tools available and such. 👍🏻

 

[Kal Madda]

Thank you for sharing your opinion. Apple has of course for many years revealed its sales figures hence the change came for apparent reasons as soon as iPhone sales plateaued a few years ago. And if I feel like someone’s phrasing their posts in a defensive and overexcited way like only a marketing person would do on the job, I will mention that too.

And thank you for sharing yours. If I remember correctly, Apple hasn’t shared sales numbers for the past 5 years or so. Just because Apple doesn’t show off their sales numbers doesn’t mean their sales have plateaued or gone down. You have to make quite a few assumptions to come to the conclusions you have. 👍🏻

And this form has rules regarding being courteous to other commenters. I will be the first to admit that I haven’t always perfectly conformed to these rules, but I think it’s out of place to toss an ad-hominem like “you must be reading Apple’s marketing material”. Rather than stating reasons you think this optimism is misplaced, it comes across like you just discredit it as Apple koolaid someone’s mindlessly sipped down…

 

[dumastudetto]

I totally agree, I think this will be a big year for the iPad. And I think some third-party apps will feel the pressure to improve their apps (looking at you Microsoft) with the new tools available and such. 👍🏻

I think you are right - if the established players don't get it done this year, others will swoop in and take a very lucrative market from them.

 

[ericwn]

And thank you for sharing yours. If I remember correctly, Apple hasn’t shared sales numbers for the past 5 years or so. Just because Apple doesn’t show off their sales numbers doesn’t mean their sales have plateaued or gone down. You have to make quite a few assumptions to come to the conclusions you have.

And this form has rules regarding being courteous to other commenters. I will be the first to admit that I haven’t always perfectly conformed to these rules, but I think it’s out of place to toss an ad-hominem like “you must be reading Apple’s marketing material”. Rather than stating reasons you think this optimism is misplaced, it comes across like you just discredit it as Apple koolaid someone’s mindlessly sipped down…

Great that we agree on the hiding of sales numbers. Reasons are pretty obvious but we leave that to your interpretation. If my products go well, I tend to shout it from the rooftops. They’re probably not disclosing them for the well established observation that users tend to keep their devices for longer these days.
I’m all up for a successful iPad and we shall see what comes out of this years announcement.

 

[rgwebb]

It is not revolutionary but at least it got all the lock and home screen features from iOS 18 this year instead of next.

 

[Zapski]

iPads, and in particular iPads Pro have been my primary computers pretty much since their inception. Yes I do head over to my Mac for more serious Photoshop or Illustrator work occasionally, but for the most part, the vast majority of my time is spent on iPads. Reading, writing, drawing, watching, and even 3d Modeling are well within their capacity. It always is curious to me that so many dismiss them, but it may be due to working style or how they prefer to interact. I’m not much one for multitasking or distraction, so in my case iPad OS is perfectly suitable ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[kc9hzn]

I think you are right - if the established players don't get it done this year, others will swoop in and take a very lucrative market from them.

I’ve always felt that there was room for Pixelmator to step up their game and really eat Adobe’s lunch on iOS. Sure, as it stands, Pixelmator is more than powerful enough to do the sorts of image editing tasks I need it to do (and, with Apple’s push on AI, it might get even better), but it would be nice to see them put the pressure on Adobe to improve the Photoshop experience on iPadOS. There are some really good apps on iPadOS (and some developers that really try to push the platform forward), it’s just a shame that the industry leading software providers tend to neglect their offerings (in Microsoft’s case, they’d much rather you buy a Surface Pro, while Adobe largely glosses over or discounts the iPad because “it’s a mobile device”). But then, these are the same industry leading software providers who’ve taken a somewhat lackadaisical approach to macOS support for the past 10 to 20 years, even as Apple’s star has risen (Photoshop, despite originating on the Mac, looks absolutely like a PC application these days, and it controls like one, too, for instance). Doesn’t help that they’ve transitioned from making solid upgrades to compel users to upgrade to recurring subscriptions.

 

[Kal Madda]

Great that we agree on the hiding of sales numbers. Reasons are pretty obvious but we leave that to your interpretation. If my products go well, I tend to shout it from the rooftops. They’re probably not disclosing them for the well established observation that users tend to keep their devices for longer these days.
I’m all up for a successful iPad and we shall see what comes out of this years announcement.

Shouting it from the rooftops doesn’t always necessarily entail releasing exact sales numbers. We do see percentages for product categories, and the iPads have generally accounted for a larger percentage of Apple’s revenue than Macs. This last year it didn’t, but that was also because we went a year without any new iPads to upgrade to, so of course sales would be down in that time period. Doesn’t look like iPads are on the decline when looking at the data, unless you assume that a more recent lull in sales (which seems to be obviously caused by lack of new iPads) is a sign of a greater trend, which it doesn’t appear to be, it appears to be an outlier. You can have your opinion, but I think the idea that the iPad is declining is not well substantiated.

 

[kc9hzn]

Shouting it from the rooftops doesn’t always necessarily entail releasing exact sales numbers. We do see percentages for product categories, and the iPads have generally accounted for a larger percentage of Apple’s revenue than Macs. This last year it didn’t, but that was also because we went a year without any new iPads to upgrade to, so of course sales would be down in that time period. Doesn’t look like iPads are on the decline when looking at the data, unless you assume that a more recent lull in sales (which seems to be obviously caused by lack of new iPads) is a sign of a greater trend, which it doesn’t appear to be, it appears to be an outlier. You can have your opinion, but I think the idea that the iPad is declining is not well substantiated.

What’s more is that Apple is unusually transparent about its numbers. Apple only reports on units sold (ie units in the hands of purchasers), while the industry standard focuses on units shipped (ie moved into the sales channel).

 

[iPadified]

Possibly, we know in a few years if AI assistance is really going to help us or change the way we interact with the device. Looked like a promising start in iPadOS 18 though and Apple promised more.

 

[LvO92]

It still feels like an extension of iOS. Apple could have at least improved Stage Manager by adding the traffic light buttons in macOS or even better: have window management internal part of the OS. However, it seems Apple strategy is to keep it the way is to ensure the iPad doesn't cannibalise the sales of its Mac lineup.

 

[CrysisDeu]

Be ready for disappointment on Apple Intelligence

 

[tomtad]

Show me that calculator again

 

[richpjr]

Show me that calculator again

It's revolutionary!

 

[BellSystem]

Yawn. Sounds like someone trying to justify the insane iPad prices.

 

[kc9hzn]

It's revolutionary!

Oh sure, it’s not exclusive to the iPadOS, but the Math Notes feature seems pretty cool. It’ll really shine on the iPad with an Apple Pencil. I understand that it’s even got symbolic calculation, which means that I guess I don’t need my computer algebra system app anymore (might actually give me a reason to use the stock calculator app, even).