All iPads macOS on iPad

[537635]

I used iPads in the past, but in the last few year not so much. Basically my workflow requiers access to file system and a much higher level of adaptability than ipadOS currently offers.

A few days ago I actually tried Sidecar for the first time on my friends's laptop and iPad combo. Seeing macOS on a 10.5 inch screen in retina resolution, I was simply amazed. M1, decent keyboard and trackpad and this would be a perfect laptop. Easy to connect to external devices (display, keyboard, mouse), fast, portable...

I know it won't happen but this really made me think how wrong the iPad path has been, evolving into these hardware monsters with a crazily dumbed down OS. Or on the other hand how good it would be to revive the Macbook line.

 

[macduke]

I'm hopeful for a macOS Lite of sorts for the iPad Pro at WWDC. Perhaps it will only work when a keyboard and mouse are connected. Perhaps it will be a dedicated mode that you can toggle with Control Center.

All I know is you don't build a beast like the M1 iPad Pro with 16GB of RAM for no reason. I mean, iOS 14 isn't even taking full advantage of the RAM yet. You can do legit work and multitasking with that kind of power. Hope I'm not wrong. I also think Xcode for iPad Pro is coming. Hopefully other Apple Pro apps will follow suit.

 

[pictonic]

I agree the new iPad Pro is apparently overpowered for the current OS. I suspect the problem with putting macOS on iPad is the touch screen. Perhaps could have a virtual iPad, with touch screen capability, running in macOS, without touch? That implies at least physical keyboard and trackpad, i.e. macbook laptop, but with tough touch screen and, maybe separate BT keyboard.

 

[537635]

I agree the new iPad Pro is apparently overpowered for the current OS. I suspect the problem with putting macOS on iPad is the touch screen. Perhaps could have a virtual iPad, with touch screen capability, running in macOS, without touch? That implies at least physical keyboard and trackpad, i.e. macbook laptop, but with tough touch screen and, maybe separate BT keyboard.

I agree, touchscreen on a laptop (in laptop mode) is a gimmick, ergonomically inferior.

But a keyboard and trackpad on ipadOS are similar - greatly inferior to macOS experience.

 

[haruhiko]

I agree, touchscreen on a laptop (in laptop mode) is a gimmick, ergonomically inferior.

But a keyboard and trackpad on ipadOS are similar - greatly inferior to macOS experience.

The good thing is that you can detach the keyboard or don’t use it at all. The beauty of the tablet form factor is that you can use it as a tablet or a laptop*.

For me, the only thing stopping me from using the iPad for remote work is the stupid requirement from my company that antivirus software must be installed before connecting to the company’s VPN (also they need to scan your computer for AV software - impossible due to the security protection of the iPad). And they don’t make any exception for tablets. How can I install any AV software to the iPad?

Otherwise my iPad would have replaced my MacBook Air for remote work.


Also, macOS will not come to the iPad period. Apple is happy to keep the differentiation between the iPad line and MacBook line and don’t want them to kill each other.

So iPad will be a tablet that can sometimes work like a laptop but can’t do everything a laptop can do.

A MacBook will not have the tablet form factor, touchscreen, 5G, cameras, etc etc things that make an iPad uniquely iPad.

 

[pictonic]

Apple will not virtualize iPad, even if technically possible it wouldn't make economic sense considering how popular iPad is.

 

[Ludatyk]

I'm hopeful for a macOS Lite of sorts for the iPad Pro at WWDC. Perhaps it will only work when a keyboard and mouse are connected. Perhaps it will be a dedicated mode that you can toggle with Control Center.

Not sure about macOS Lite, but I would like Apple to take some macOS features macOS it. I came across this Menu Bar and Multitasking concept.

Design Concept: Menu Bar and Multitasking for iPadOS

Imaging what a menu bar for iPadOS would look like When we look at apps like Illustrator, or Affinity Designer or even Procreate on the iPad. They are powerful utility apps that some how struggle with providing a simple, easy to use and understand navigation for their actions. Actions are

blog.viditb.com

I never really known how much Menu Bar would drastically change the iPad until I seen this concept. It would be awesome for the iPad. And their multitasking concept makes sense since majority of these apps have different size classes, iPhone size apps can easily have floating windows.

 

[maflynn]

'm hopeful for a macOS Lite

Yeah it's called iPadOS

 

[gsal]

I wouldn’t want a compromised touch UI on an iPad unless maybe when using an external monitor where it can become more pointer friendly.

 

[SkiHound2]

Strikes me it would have to be a dual boot system or some kind of hybrid. Seems feasible that macOS could be ported to the current iPads pretty easily it would require use of keyboard and a pointing device. Lots of us don't use keyboards and pointing devices on the iPad. To me the iPad is a different device. I think any operating system on the iPad would need to continue to support the touch screen interface. Now it certainly seems feasible an operating system could be developed that supports both. The ram upgrade on the current pros makes it more likely pro apps will get ported to run on ipadOS, but I don't think well see anything like the current version of macOS on an iPad in the near future.

 

[007p]

M1, decent keyboard and trackpad and this would be a perfect laptop. Easy to connect to external devices (display, keyboard, mouse), fast, portable...

This is all I want tbh. I don’t care what they call it if people want to get hung up about ‘an iPad is not a Mac’…

I just want a MacBook that doesn’t have a keyboard attached. I dislike devices with the keyboard fixed to the display. Sure it’s great if you have to work on your laptop (I never would), but for every other situation I hate it. Especially at a desk. When we get into ‘docking’ that just seems like a waste as well, may as well have a desktop that isn’t power/cooling constrained than a laptop at that point.

I’d probably settle with an Apple TV sized Mac mini and an external usb-c display over a laptop ?

 

[AutomaticApple]

I used iPads in the past, but in the last few year not so much. Basically my workflow requiers access to file system and a much higher level of adaptability than ipadOS currently offers.

A few days ago I actually tried Sidecar for the first time on my friends's laptop and iPad combo. Seeing macOS on a 10.5 inch screen in retina resolution, I was simply amazed. M1, decent keyboard and trackpad and this would be a perfect laptop. Easy to connect to external devices (display, keyboard, mouse), fast, portable...

I know it won't happen but this really made me think how wrong the iPad path has been, evolving into these hardware monsters with a crazily dumbed down OS. Or on the other hand how good it would be to revive the Macbook line.

Apple has already (recently) said that macOS will never arrive on the iPad Pro.

 

[007p]

Apple has already (recently) said that macOS will never arrive on the iPad Pro.

Not explicitly to that extent. Unless you have seen/heard a direct quote where they have used those exact words.

They have been very very careful in the way they have worded anything regarding it. Even that giant ‘No.’ on screen didn’t explicitly rule out one OS running on other hardware.

Besides, things change and they can go against whatever they say whenever they want. If they couldn’t, we wouldn’t even have the Apple Pencil.

 

[Ludatyk]

Not explicitly to that extent. Unless you have seen/heard a direct quote where they have used those exact words.

Well, I know the use of never might seem to come off stringent. Apple once said they don't believe in stylus, but we have one on the iPad. They once said phones should be one handed devices, yet... we have large sized phones.

But in this case, macOS serves its purpose on the Mac while iPadOS does the same on the iPad. Apple will certainly take features from each other, but I highly doubt Apple will sell an iPad that runs macOS.

 

[christophermdia]

MacOS will never come to the iPad ... Apple will be adamant on this ... however, that doesn't stop developers from slightly redesigning their current M1 software to take advantage of the touch interface ... I can imagine a full version of Microsoft Office and full version of Photoshop- making its way on to the iPad which will be identical to the desktop MacOS version however with small tweaks to make it touch friendly ... the system will be able to handle it and helps also justify the larger need for storage and memory. its not about making this a MacOS product, but about making the iPad more "Productive".

 

[ian87w]

I'm really not sure why people keep wanting macOS on iPad. A Desktop OS on a tablet just doesn't work. Go ask Microsoft. If people wanted desktop OS on a tablet, Microsoft would've ruled the tablet market by now.

Apple knew this, that's why they made iPad OS as an extension from iOS instead. People having problems with iPads as a "computer" are mostly people who are used to the traditional desktop (me included). However, people coming from smartphones (where smartphones being their first computer instead of a PC), the iPad is the more natural "computer" for them. These new generation have a different concept of computing, and Apple knows they will get an upper hand once these people becomes the majority of the population.

 

[hovscorpion12]

Full MacOS on iPad is not going to happen. It never will. Apple will however continue to improve iPadOS to be a hybrid of sorts to MacOS while keeping iOS in the forefront.

whatever Apple shows off on Monday will either be the biggest jump of iPadOS or the worst. well have to wait and see.

 

[rgeiger97]

Full MacOS on iPad is not going to happen. It never will. Apple will however continue to improve iPadOS to be a hybrid of sorts to MacOS while keeping iOS in the forefront.

whatever Apple shows off on Monday will either be the biggest jump of iPadOS or the worst. well have to wait and see.

This. Apple will never put MacOS straight on the iPad. This is all speculation but they would only tweak iPadOS to make it more 'desktop-like' things like better multitasking, full external display support, and possibly a menu bar or open up more ram to developers.

 

[537635]

I'm really not sure why people keep wanting macOS on iPad. A Desktop OS on a tablet just doesn't work. Go ask Microsoft. If people wanted desktop OS on a tablet, Microsoft would've ruled the tablet market by now.

I agree. It's all about form factor for me. 11 inch laptop, small bezels and M1.

This is why Sidecar on iPad made me think how great this would be.

 

[mr_jomo]

Let's view this from all angles of "does
this make sense":

- does this make sense from a purely
technical point of view: certainly, macOS ran perfectly fine on the A12Z in the devkit and even more so on the M1 macs. An iPad Pro version would essentially be another hardware target like the macBook Air and could be done with minimal touch accomodations or even none through dual-boot.
- does this make sense for part of Apple's user community to have the option to run macOS on iPads: certainly, this threat and many others like it are prof positive.
- does it make sense to "merge" macOS and iPadOS from the entire user community's point of view: certainly not, this threat and many others like it are proof negative
- does it make sense to add more desktop/productivity features to iPadOS: yes, Apple has done so, to general acclaim from this forum, over the last 2-3 years
- does it make financial sense for Apple to support macOS on iPad: unknown, since we've not conducted the market analysis or seen Apple's data. Since Apple hasn't done so yet, a 'neutral' business case is our safest guess. We can argue cannibalization, Surface Pro sales and average sales price of iPads vs macs forever - but we don't have the business numbers.

In summary:
A set of iPad users would appreciate the option to run macOS on iPad, and it's not technical inconceivable. Apple shouldn't merge the two Operating Systems, but continue to add productivity-focused features to iPadOS. Missing hard data, we can only infer that providing the option for macOS on iPad is currently, at best, a 'neutral' business case for Apple.

 

[Isengardtom]

I think the better approach is to have good MacOS features brought over and translated to iPadOS but full MacOS on the iPad (pro) is not happening I think

 

[bluespider]

My solution, use ipad for what it’s good at and my daily driver. When I need more, I just remote desktop (jump desktop) to my iMac - the apple MK is just awesome for handling both.