All iPads No evolution or revolution for iPadOS 18

[Abazigal]

Another thing to keep in mind is that knowing how long many people hold on to their iPads for (5-7 years easily), you want an overpowered processor today in order to be able to handle subsequent years of software updates.

Another thing to note is that an M2 iPad Air may not get as many years of updates as the M4 iPad Pro, though it’s also cheaper, which makes it less painful to upgrade.

I purchased my M4 iPad Pro knowing very well what it can do and what I intend to do with it, and I look forward to it working well for the next half a decade.

 

[FrozenDarkness]

Can you identify just one frame or comment in that ad where the iPad is shown doing “Mac” stuff? Everything shown in that ad is something that an iPad does — and nothing that the “iPad needs to be more functional, more Mac-like, or run macOS“ tribe are demanding is even hinted at in that ad. This defense for blaming Apple for iPad as Mac fixation is hollow.

I never said iPad needs to support MacOS.

What this ad is saying is all you need is an iPad. This person doesn't even know what a computer is anymore. What I contend with is iPad can't be your only device.

Like I said, the gap between iPadOS today and "macOS on iPad" is WIIIIIIDDDDEEEE. Just the features iPad OS promises are not super functional. No file system that people like to use. Sharesheet is painful. You can't backup an Ipad without a computer. Mouse support is next to crap. External monitor support is barebones. Limited drive formatting features to say work with an external hard drive. There are fundamental things broken with ipad OS that has nothing to do with macos and limit your ability to tell me with a straight face, you can get by as a professional with only an ipad.

 

[Jamie0003]

I, for one, am glad for not being gullible and keeping my M2 iPP. Will likely get rid of the larger one and hold on to the 11 for portability. As it stands for me, like it did, iPad OS is simply a glorified iOS.

I mean…..Apple got you either way lol

 

[FrozenDarkness]

What point were you making with this again? It IS a computer. It can be a lot of user’s main computer aside from their iphone. Hell, my daughter is using one for her college courses. Nothing they said was wrong.

I’ve seen this same cringey crap for more than a decade in these forums. People buy an ipad over and over again just to complain about things they know it doesn’t do when they should have just bought a regular laptop all along and buying one again spending $2k on it on some “idea” that maybe a single WWDC keynote will completely change the device is just a silly idea. We have enough history. We have enough information to know what this device is and isn’t.

throughout this post, we pointed to many things that keep it from being a logical prosumer only computer. NOT MACOS. a computer. it's not our fault you choose to ignore it. glad your daughter enjoys her ipad.

By the way feel free to also not respond to this topic. What's more cringey? people on macrumors tlaking about being disappointed that their favorite company didn't do much for iPad OS? Or coming into a topic thinking they know better than others and talk down on them?

Oh by the way, expecting apple to announce something for ipadOS on WWDC is literally what every tech person in the industry was expecting. look up any ipad review. look up most commentary on ipad os post WWDC. Acting like this is some forum-specific complaining is just largely ignorant.

 

[Delgibbons]

Making music will continue to be great. KorgGadget, KB-1, AUM, Animoog Z, Logic and more will all continue to be as great as they have been. iPad is an awesome piece of machine. Especially the Airs.

Yeah Logic Pro is bloody brilliant, and Cubasis is decent apart from the lack of tempo track 🤦🏻 weird that Final Cut iPad is….not very pro in comparison to the job they did with iPad Logic - yet I can run Logic on my iPad Mini 5 and not Final Cut!

Audiolayer is a superb sampler too, I’ve converted most of my Giga and non encrypted Kontakt libraries to it and store them all on iCloud for on demand download 😂 all it’s missing is legato.

If Kontakt had an auv3 version that would be killer for orchestral stuff, but given the state Native Instruments are in…. That’s never going to happen.

 

[Delgibbons]

People just need to open the file app and do something basic like move a file

I’ve had some weird bloody pausing/hanging issues in files app occasionally too, as have many many others. Absolute pain in the butt.

 

[aevan]

I, for one, am glad for not being gullible and keeping my M2 iPP. Will likely get rid of the larger one and hold on to the 11 for portability. As it stands for me, like it did, iPad OS is simply a glorified iOS.

Not gullible, and yet, somehow, you bought two devices you apparently dislike.

 

[Delgibbons]

I think you made the right decision. All that hype and talk about rushing the M4 iPads out because the next big OS upgrade would unless the potential of the iPad turned out to be false.

Unless I'm missing something, all of the iPadOS 18's features, including AI, will be available on the M1.

I think my upgrade path from my M1 iPad Pro will be a second hand M2 2tb, eek more life from the Magic Keyboard, then see the lay of the land in a couple years.

 

[erasr]

What did people expect?! I’d love to hear some feedback.

The Pros are amazing. iPad OS is already brilliant.

 

[colmaclean]

Glad to see the 1st-gen 11" Pro is still supported, although there will probably be some features excluded.

Apart from the rather iffy battery life, no reason to upgrade for now...

 

[lsquare]

Glad to see the 1st-gen 11" Pro is still supported, although there will probably be some features excluded.

Apart from the rather iffy battery life, no reason to upgrade for now...

Which feature is excluded? From what I can tell, all iPadOS 18 features, including AI, will be supported on the M1. A lot of people don't realize the M1 also has an NPU. It's just slower than the M4.

 

[lsquare]

I think my upgrade path from my M1 iPad Pro will be a second hand M2 2tb, eek more life from the Magic Keyboard, then see the lay of the land in a couple years.

An M1/M2 iPad will make a lot of sense. You won't be overpaying for what you're getting.

 

[NastyMatt]

I bought the M4 iPad based on what it can do, not what it might be able to do or holding out for for what it can do. Never understand those who come on here and moan when WWDC hasn’t turned this device into their niche requirements.

Personally, I am looking forward to the AI integration, it’s a bonus.

 

[BhaveshUK]

People fall into the same vicious cycle every year. Apple releases an incredibly powerful iPad Pro every 18 months, prompting speculation that this will finally be the year the iPad becomes a full laptop replacement.

However, when WWDC rolls around, the iPad still has the same limitations as before. This isn't going to change. Apple prefers the locked-down experience because it generates significant revenue from the App Store. It's one of the main reasons I sold my iPad and haven't looked back.

 

[Abazigal]

Which feature is excluded? From what I can tell, all iPadOS 18 features, including AI, will be supported on the M1. A lot of people don't realize the M1 also has an NPU. It's just slower than the M4.

The first gen 11” iPad Pro is the one with the A12x processor and 4 gb of ram. So it won’t be getting any of the AI features, which appears like it will be rolling out to users in a fairly staggered pace as well.

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

I bought the M4 iPad based on what it can do, not what it might be able to do or holding out for for what it can do. Never understand those who come on here and moan when WWDC hasn’t turned this device into their niche requirements.

Personally, I am looking forward to the AI integration, it’s a bonus.

It's okay to want more out of device. You can enjoy what it does currently but it also doesn't mean you can't wish for more especially when everyone knows the hardware is there.

 

[TracerAnalog]

I think most energy and effort went into focussing on integrating AI stuff in their operating systems. I also think they (like everybody else) aren’t quite sure what impact AI will have on their OS paradigms. Will we use these devices the same way in 5 years time? Is this AI stuf disruptive, or just a cool add on? What rules, laws and government regulations will be put on AI?

My guess: major updates will appear at the earliest in 2026. Next year will be all about enabling features, and solidifying their vision. The iPad is what it is 🤷🏻

 

[Surfsalot]

Same complaints when M1 was released lol

 

[lsquare]

I bought the M4 iPad based on what it can do, not what it might be able to do or holding out for for what it can do. Never understand those who come on here and moan when WWDC hasn’t turned this device into their niche requirements.

Personally, I am looking forward to the AI integration, it’s a bonus.

What can the M4 iPad do that the M1 can't?

 

[lsquare]

The first gen 11” iPad Pro is the one with the A12x processor and 4 gb of ram. So it won’t be getting any of the AI features, which appears like it will be rolling out to users in a fairly staggered pace as well.

Only the non-M processors will have exclusions as I already have mentioned. Everything the M4 has, the M1 will have. Even then, I find the new AI features to be underwhelming. I wouldn't lose sleep even if the M1/M2 doesn't have it. Apple would have been wise to fix Stage Manager, but AI is in vogue at the moment.

 

[lsquare]

It's okay to want more out of device. You can enjoy what it does currently but it also doesn't mean you can't wish for more especially when everyone knows the hardware is there.

100%! I feel like Apple isn't fully taking advantage of the M4's potential. It's unfortunate!

 

[lsquare]

I think most energy and effort went into focussing on integrating AI stuff in their operating systems. I also think they (like everybody else) aren’t quite sure what impact AI will have on their OS paradigms. Will we use these devices the same way in 5 years time? Is this AI stuf disruptive, or just a cool add on? What rules, laws and government regulations will be put on AI?

My guess: major updates will appear at the earliest in 2026. Next year will be all about enabling features, and solidifying their vision. The iPad is what it is 🤷🏻

They say that every year! Apple is just doing AI for the sake of doing AI. None of the AI stuff in iPadOS 18 sounds like a game-changer. Apple would have been better off upgrading Safari and even Stage Manager.

 

[ric22]

After many weeks of frantic wondering...iPadOS 18 landed with a big wet thud.

Literally nothing changed about Stage Manager, multitasking, or Files app, or anything to make it work better.

I wasn't disappointed, because it's what I expect from iPadOS—of course the Apple Intelligence stuff is great, if you're on an iPad that can use it, but basically nothing happened to the iPad in particular other than...a calculator app.

Maybe next year, or maybe never.

Agreed. They once again reminded us that very few of us should attempt to use an iPad as a laptop replacement.

Still not even multiple user accounts 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

A pity for those that bought the ultra-fast but crippled new iPad Pros, on the assumption that the software would FINALLY grow up this year. 😬

 

[iPadified]

Remind me which year it is? It seems like same wishful thinking as after the M1/M2 release. The iPad is designed for other uses cases than the Mac and that will not change.

Perhaps the M4 is overkill but what should Apple have used in the new iPad Pro? The only possibility is the M4 as it is on a cheaper node than M3, M3 and M4 has HW ray tracing so M1/M2 is out of the question and M4 has boosted on chip AI capabilities. What was WWDC about? AI and gaming (raytracing). M4 checks all boxes.

What can the M4 iPad do that the M1 can't?

What can the M3 Mac do that M1 can't?

 

[iPadified]

. Will we use these devices the same way in 5 years time?

I think we saw some seeds of that yesterday. Asking Siri in plain language to fetch a file based on erratic memory of the file name and content is not bad. Yesterday, we saw Siri taking the first step to be an organiser that keeps track of you rather than being a stupid robot that you issue command to.