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MBX

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 14, 2006
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How come none of these cool hackers were able to get MacOS installed on a M1 iPad Pro yet?

Wouldn’t it be easy now that it’s the same CPU architecture?
 

MBX

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 14, 2006
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If it is easy why don't you give it a shot and report back?

Careful not to estimate the difficulty of a task whose scope you're unfamiliar with.

I didn’t say it’s easy. I assumed it’s now much easier.

Also I’m no hacker/ programmer so alas I can’t do it :)
 

Ludatyk

macrumors 603
May 27, 2012
5,963
5,131
Texas
I didn’t say it’s easy. I assumed it’s now much easier.

Also I’m no hacker/ programmer so alas I can’t do it :)
Well, it’s a lot more to it. It’s a reason why Apple is claimed a walled garden and why companies like Epic is taking them to court due to how tight they keep their platform.

Even jailbreaking has seen a huge decline since Apple has done incredibly well making sure hacking methods are closed. The only way macOS will be added to iPadOS is if Apple choosing to, until then… you can always use VNC to access macOS.
 
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MBX

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 14, 2006
2,030
817
Well, it’s a lot more to it. It’s a reason why Apple is claimed a walled garden and why companies like Epic is taking them to court due to how tight they keep their platform.

Even jailbreaking has seen a huge decline since Apple has done incredibly well making sure hacking methods are closed. The only way macOS will be added to iPadOS is if Apple choosing to, until then… you can always use VNC to access macOS.

I did not mean MacOS added to iPadOS but added as a dual boot option to the iPad Pro’s via some jailbreak.
 
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Ludatyk

macrumors 603
May 27, 2012
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I did not mean MacOS added to iPadOS but added as a dual boot option to the iPad Pro’s via some jailbreak.
As I recall.. that’s never been possible. I know your thinking.. ”hey, they both share an M1 chip meaning macOS can be ported over to an M1 iPP." But I think the M1 chip is to make it easier for developers to build apps for both macOS and iPadOS not to merge operating systems.
 

LogicalApex

macrumors 65816
Nov 13, 2015
1,463
2,320
PA, USA
I didn’t say it’s easy. I assumed it’s now much easier.

Also I’m no hacker/ programmer so alas I can’t do it :)

Yeah, that was my point :)

Just because it looks easier from the outside doesn’t mean that is the case. As there are a lot of technical details that can increase the complexity. Tech is a lot like an iceberg. What you see above the surface is only a tiny fraction of what is underneath. So you can’t judge the size of an iceberg purely from what you see up top. Neither can you with tech.

Or said another way, it is like asking “Why can’t I just put BMW iDrive in my Toyota Camry? They are both cars and have screens”…
 

007p

macrumors 6502a
Mar 7, 2012
992
662
I've been out of the loop for a while and am by no means an expert...but...

In order to do what you are suggesting requires a special kind of expolit. There would need to be a bootrom exploit, or maybe ever so slightly higher up the chain if you are lucky, that specifically works on the M1 processor.
Basically, you need an exploit that allows you to gain access to the absolute lowest levels of the boot process. You can't install or dual boot to another OS with your 'standard' jailbreak, these exploit iOS (software level) rather than at the hardware level which would be needed to boot an entire OS.

These type of exploits are incredibly rare, I think in terms of bootrom exploits there have only been two (publically well used/released). iPhone X / A11 is the current latest CPU that has a bootrom exploit.

And this is just to get yourself into a postion to start what it is you want to do, this isn't even going down the route of all the technical pieces that would be involved in order get MacOS running. Yes some of it may be quicker due to similarity in chip designs but theres still a mountain of work required before you even get to MacOS.

At best in the short term, you might be able to jailbreak and run MacOS ontop of iOS but this isn't what you are asking for. Running MacOS ontop of iOS would naturally take a performance hit too.

I fully expect that someday we will see what you are asking for, but its going to be a long way into the future. These types of exploits are incredibly hard to find - and in some cases aren't even things you can go hunting for anymore as the usual holes have long since been patched.
There is also the fact that what you are asking for would essentially compromise the security of all iPad pros and Macs released in the last year or so - and it wouldn't be patchable by some software update. This would obviously be pretty bad for Apple if nothing else ? . It's also highly unlikely to be released into the wild given the monetary value of such a thing as well ;)
 
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TiggrToo

macrumors 601
Aug 24, 2017
4,205
8,838
How come none of these cool hackers were able to get MacOS installed on a M1 iPad Pro yet?

Wouldn’t it be easy now that it’s the same CPU architecture?
No. It wouldn't.

Jailbreaking is at a much higher lever than replacing the entire kernel.

The source to Big Sur etc. is 100% closed so someone would have to recreating it and remove every last security check the Mac based OS does to ensure its running on a valid platform.

It's hard enough these days for Hackingtosh to get it right with the newer operating systems and they have low level access to the hosting device.

Imagine trying to do that where you only have partial access to an Intel box. And where no-one has yet done this before.
 
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Cape Dave

macrumors 68020
Nov 16, 2012
2,389
1,700
Northeast
I've been out of the loop for a while and am by no means an expert...but...

In order to do what you are suggesting requires a special kind of expolit. There would need to be a bootrom exploit, or maybe ever so slightly higher up the chain if you are lucky, that specifically works on the M1 processor.
Basically, you need an exploit that allows you to gain access to the absolute lowest levels of the boot process. You can't install or dual boot to another OS with your 'standard' jailbreak, these exploit iOS (software level) rather than at the hardware level which would be needed to boot an entire OS.

These type of exploits are incredibly rare, I think in terms of bootrom exploits there have only been two (publically well used/released). iPhone X / A11 is the current latest CPU that has a bootrom exploit.

And this is just to get yourself into a postion to start what it is you want to do, this isn't even going down the route of all the technical pieces that would be involved in order get MacOS running. Yes some of it may be quicker due to similarity in chip designs but theres still a mountain of work required before you even get to MacOS.

At best in the short term, you might be able to jailbreak and run MacOS ontop of iOS but this isn't what you are asking for. Running MacOS ontop of iOS would naturally take a performance hit too.

I fully expect that someday we will see what you are asking for, but its going to be a long way into the future. These types of exploits are incredibly hard to find - and in some cases aren't even things you can go hunting for anymore as the usual holes have long since been patched.
There is also the fact that what you are asking for would essentially compromise the security of all iPad pros and Macs released in the last year or so - and it wouldn't be patchable by some software update. This would obviously be pretty bad for Apple if nothing else ? . It's also highly unlikely to be released into the wild given the monetary value of such a thing as well ;)
If Apple themselves wanted to do it, could they do it easily and quickly?
 

_yesman_

macrumors newbie
Mar 22, 2020
16
10
Running macOS - meaning the OS itself - on an iPad isn’t ever going to happen, not until they’re merged down the road. A more reasonable ask is running macOS apps on the iPad. That’s what we really want, right? It should be entirely possible since iPadOS is a fork of macOS. The opposite is already possible, so I imagine it’s a trivial matter to make it work.
 
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sparksd

macrumors G3
Jun 7, 2015
9,996
34,288
Seattle WA
Running macOS - meaning the OS itself - on an iPad isn’t ever going to happen, not until they’re merged down the road. A more reasonable ask is running macOS apps on the iPad. That’s what we really want, right? It should be entirely possible since iPadOS is a fork of macOS. The opposite is already possible, so I imagine it’s a trivial matter to make it work.

Possible? Yes. Trivial? Not necessarily. And it leads to a separate configuration fork that needs to be tested and maintained over time. The question is whether the ROI is adequate - it always comes down to money and available development resources.
 

seek3r

macrumors 68030
Aug 16, 2010
2,561
3,772
How come none of these cool hackers were able to get MacOS installed on a M1 iPad Pro yet?

Wouldn’t it be easy now that it’s the same CPU architecture?
In terms of other OSs I'd actually bet we'll see Asahi linux on it before MacOS, but we'll see :)
 

seek3r

macrumors 68030
Aug 16, 2010
2,561
3,772
Running macOS - meaning the OS itself - on an iPad isn’t ever going to happen, not until they’re merged down the road. A more reasonable ask is running macOS apps on the iPad. That’s what we really want, right? It should be entirely possible since iPadOS is a fork of macOS. The opposite is already possible, so I imagine it’s a trivial matter to make it work.
If it were running iPadOS and MacOS Apps what you're basically talking about at that point is userland tools and locked down access to system files, beyond that it would be the same kernel, same core stack, and implementing the same core APIs. It would basically be "MacOS: locked down edition" at that point
 

Global_traveler

macrumors member
Aug 24, 2020
58
30
How come none of these cool hackers were able to get MacOS installed on a M1 iPad Pro yet?

Wouldn’t it be easy now that it’s the same CPU architecture?
If you want to run MAC OS on an iPad, you can just use Luna Display. For example, my Mac Mini, in my home office, has the Luna widget plugged in to a USB port. I can sit in my recliner in another room and use the iPad touch screen to execute the transactions on the Mini. Uses my home WiFi. True, it’s not the same as what many would like, but to me there’s no difference. It’s also the only way to use Mac OS with a touch screen that I know of, without buying more expensive equipment. Just a thought.
 

chevyboy60013

macrumors 6502
Sep 18, 2021
457
242
How come none of these cool hackers were able to get MacOS installed on a M1 iPad Pro yet?

Wouldn’t it be easy now that it’s the same CPU architecture?
iPadOS is a completely different file system, plus a touch based system, so wouldn’t be easy to do, plus would likely kill their actual Mac systems.
 

iPadified

macrumors 68020
Apr 25, 2017
2,014
2,257
iPadOS is a completely different file system, plus a touch based system, so wouldn’t be easy to do, plus would likely kill their actual Mac systems.
Are you sure the file system is fundamentally different? Is it not APFS in both cases? Granted, the files app and Finder work slightly different and iPadOS is app centered compared to MacOS document centered.
 

SoldOnApple

macrumors 65816
Jul 20, 2011
1,282
2,187
The 12.9 inch iPad Pro with the keyboard trackpad already feels like a Mac when using it, other than it feeling very top heavy in your lap. I'm guessing at the moment if Apple were to try and put the Mac on the iPad that it would be a subpar Mac experience, because the processing power isn't quite enough. iPad Pro M1 is only just recently capable of running multiple apps on the screen at the same time, so running the essential Mac apps like the Adobe suite will be too much.

In a few years the processing power will be there to do it. But why would Apple want Mac running on an iPad at all? I think Apple would rather Adobe make full fat versions of their apps for iPad itself. Over time iPad will start replicating the Mac in terms of apps and features, but Apple will keep the Mac around partly because it was Steve Jobs' baby and also because Mac will remain a tool that will do whatever we want it to, whereas iPad will be a pure walled garden experience where nothing can possiblie go wrong.
 
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