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iPad The iPad is not for traditional Mac users
- Thread starter Retskrad
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You are confirming what I said: Apple does not have a technology development plan, it has a financial development plan.
And that’s why Apple’s best product today is its stock instead of any of its products.
And I have known “someone” of products, in 30 years that I am a customer.
I do agree with what you say and I have said something similar myself in the past. But these arguments should not be used to say that people should not make hypothesis on what Apple could do in the future.
As for M1 exclusive software features, there are rumors about it, I have mentioned it elsewhere (basically multitasking with windowed apps). It would piss off owners of 2018 and 2020 iPad pros, myself included, but I don't think this would prevent Apple from doing it.
Absolutely. Some naive Apple fanboys believe Apple would do anything they can for them. Apple does what's financially best for Apple first, both hardware-wise and software-wise. Fortunately often it's good for their customers too. But not always. And there are many examples of that
I hate when posters use fake and inflammatory headlines. Especially when it a personal expression and simply untrue.
The post says nothing to support the headline.
Been a Mac user since ‘87. Still use my desktop 19.9” iPP and an iPad Mini 5. They all live and work together beautifully in my computing world.
Don’t make blanket statements.
That's what it sounds like. Honestly, your analogy is perfectly fine. Different tools for different tasks.
Although, I personally sidestep comments like that by pointing out that that you could in theory hit your local walking trail and listen to music from your MacBook Pro in your hand but it's not very practical. Same thing with the iPhone, you could write your next fantasy novel in Pages on your iPhone with just your thumbs but it's not practical.
I generally get this vibe that there are a lot of folks who want "one device to rule them all" and would be happy if Apple just fused the iPad, iPhone, and Mac into an Apple Pad or something that is an macOS based iPad that can make and receive phone calls from a SIM card. Even though I don't think that would ever work very well.
Agreed, it sounds like people would only buy an iPad as a traditional computer replacement instead of in addition to it. Which itself should not prevent people from wishing to do more things with their iPads, especially the pros, including desktop-like things. Which doesn't mean they would not continue to use desktops, laptops and iPads anyway...
Exactly the myth of one device is an illusion, except for simple needs, in which case, a smartphone is generally the preferred one device. As I said above, however, this should not prevent people from wishing they could "shift" to the iPad some of the things they currently do on their laptop/desktop and are either impossible or too inconvenient to do on iPadOS at the moment
Oh, true. Because while I love my iPad, there's definitely many improvements that could be made to iPadOS.
Yes.
Because it doesn't properly represent the situation. The limits on what an iPad can do are wholly artificial. To use your analogy, both devices are trucks, but the iPad-truck has had its bed welded over so that it doesn't cannibalize sales of the other truck.
At this point they have to I think regardless of the reactions of owners of older devices.
While I definitely understand (especially for 2020 owners), in order to move forward you'll always end up disappointing some people.
And it's not like those iPads suddenly become unusable.
… Innovation didn’t stifle because Jobs and Ive aren’t at Apple anymore ?
Why was there innovation (at Apple) in the first place? Because some people saw opportunities, markets and solutions where others didn’t. These opportunities have been mostly used and passed, the markets are well known and the solutions aren’t necessarily timely anymore. But all of them are definitely not new.
Look, you say Apple doesn’t know where to go anymore. That’s obviously not true. Look at M1, AR glasses or their Titan project (rumours).
And if there were (significant) different ways to go, you better believe that their competition (Samsung, Google, Huawei mostly) would go those ways. But they don’t. Cause there are none.
And you’re talking about times when stuff still could be new. Those have passed as well.
The iPhone will never be invented or introduced again. Nor the iPad.
Or Apple Watch. Or iPod. Or GUI. Or Mouse.
Times change. So should your expectations.
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Which is rather stupid. Apple should always favor ipad sales. It’s much more profitable. Throwing macOS on an iPad is a nobrainer.
I'm not even saying they need to put MacOS on iPads, but they could still make iPadOS a more capable operating system while keeping some semblance of differentiation in the way each OS does things.
Why draw the line with the M1? It’s not like it’s a different architecture from Ax chips.
Surely it is different and more capable.
… so Apple will make profit without developing any new technology?
That’s a reach and you should know it.
If you know anything about the market and competition you’d know they are forced to develop new or improved technologies.
The M1 didn’t just happen either. Nor did the new MBP’s…
Surely, there is the Studio Display, but I hope that was an exception.
I am seeing the usual iPad os and needing more pro apps articles. We see this every year.
I’m not sure apple could do enough to make it more capable to where I would use it for work. Imo it’s trying to make it into something (that still falls way too short) I won’t have any use for so why beg for this?
Instead I want more of what I use it for. Entertainment. Drawing. Notes. Games (especially hdr ones). Not aaa games but games suited for iPad and touch but more eye candy.
If anything pro it’s make it more useful in combination with a Mac. But again I’d still want ability to use macOS on an iPad. That’s the most pro thing they could do.
Except that the Mac and the iPad are not both trucks. Comparing the Mac to a truck and the iPad to a sedan is referencing how they are designed very different on a hardware level. When you buy an iPad, it's software and hardware is designed with the understanding you don't have a keyboard and mouse or even the Apple Pencil. A lot of the iPad's limitations are from it's form factor. The iPad has only one port, and depending on the iPad between 3-4 buttons and sometimes a toggle switch.
Compared to the Mac, where even the Mac Mini requires a keyboard and mouse and the software is designed with a keyboard and mouse meaning it's less restricted because you literally have 100+ buttons, a precise pointer tool with a wheel or a trackpad, plus ports to plug in other input devices like music devices/mics/drawing tablets/whatever.
Not denying the iPad is lacking in some ways but the form factor of the Mac and iPad is a very big difference that isn't just Apple trying to prevent the iPad from cannibalizing the Mac.
Probably because of RAM. Once you allow to run 4-5 apps or more at the same time, in addition to the OS, 4GB RAM might not be enough, especially for some RAM hungry apps...
Except for the ones Apple will happily sell you, or if you have a mouse or keyboard at home already, right? Right? The wonders of switchable or expandable input methods means that this isn't actually a limiting factor.
No, they're not. You can use other input methods on an iPad today. Input isn't the limiting factor.
You can do all of that with an iPad too. This is a moot point.
No, it's not. They don't have to take away the iPad's existing features and interaction paradigm in order to add new stuff. Computers are very, very capable and Apple could very easily add new abilities to iPadOS without breaking what's already there. Like I said, the limitations are artificial.
the fact that the iPad is a touch first device does not prevent Apple from giving it additional options that would require a keyboard, and now all iPads but the mini have first party keyboard options.
Mind you, options. Like a desktop mode that can be optionally enabled. Or even optional MacOS, but that would never happen because Apple does not think it's in their interest.
Come to think about it, maybe I should ask for examples of limitations everyone is talking about. I usually hear the standard walled garden discussion, but seeing as I have both an iPad and a Mac (plus a DIY gaming PC) I don't feel like I'm lacking any features and even when I'm not using my Mac for anything at the time, I don't feel limited by my iPad.
Like sure, it would be nice if I could install some Mac games on my iPad. But outside of really small complaints I can't actually think of limitations of the iPad.
Like sure, it would be nice if I could install some Mac games on my iPad. But outside of really small complaints I can't actually think of limitations of the iPad.
The problem is conceptual. When they hear ”Proffesional”, a lot of people think like this:
Moving upwards in this hierarchy is extremely difficult with a touch-based OS. Since the threshold for a lot of people is low, an iPad can replace a PC for a lot of them (even a phone, and no one asks why the iPhone doesn’t become a Mac). It even improves a bit by each generation, but that’s not the main point.
The iPad excels in fields that are outside this hierarchy (even create them), such as construction, medical, flight, illustration… which are as profesional as the ones mentioned above. That’s why some of you see LiDAR as a gimmicky, when it really opens up much more proffesional oportunities (in AR) than, let’s say, DeX.
But I’m surprised that we’re still discussing things like “is Apple going to bring macOS to iPad” when, like it or not, they’ve been clear about their concept since 2010. And that’s a core value of Apple: what’s not on a product is as important as what is included.
In summary, the problem is not that Apple is not progressing in the proffesional range; is that we’re talking about different proffesional ranges. And I work in one of those traditional fields, but I know that a tablet that handles it good is not feasible (tabletPCs have showed it). The Mac Tablet some people want is a much more boring concept and less useful than an iPad.
The iPad excels in fields that are outside this hierarchy (even create them), such as construction, medical, flight, illustration… which are as profesional as the ones mentioned above. That’s why some of you see LiDAR as a gimmicky, when it really opens up much more proffesional oportunities (in AR) than, let’s say, DeX.
But I’m surprised that we’re still discussing things like “is Apple going to bring macOS to iPad” when, like it or not, they’ve been clear about their concept since 2010. And that’s a core value of Apple: what’s not on a product is as important as what is included.
In summary, the problem is not that Apple is not progressing in the proffesional range; is that we’re talking about different proffesional ranges. And I work in one of those traditional fields, but I know that a tablet that handles it good is not feasible (tabletPCs have showed it). The Mac Tablet some people want is a much more boring concept and less useful than an iPad.
Only nerfs want complexity. The majority of users won’t care about it, and if the mass do not react to the limit imposed by apple on ipad os the why do apple need to change it.
There are many things in iPadOS that are limiting that Apple could fix without changing usability.
First let me say I’m typing this on an iPad mini 6 using the onscreen keyboard. So in no way do I dislike the iPad’s simplicity of use. Second I don’t think Apple should turn iPadOS into macOS. The benefits of having two environments with different focus, touch on iPad and high resolution pointing devices on macOS, are very real and highly desirable.
But iPadOS has bizarre limitations that are hard to justify.
I’ve given up on my iPad Pro. I switched to an iPad mini since it fits the limitations of iPadOS better and is more portable and is just as good as the iPad Pro for the uses that iPadOS allows.
First let me say I’m typing this on an iPad mini 6 using the onscreen keyboard. So in no way do I dislike the iPad’s simplicity of use. Second I don’t think Apple should turn iPadOS into macOS. The benefits of having two environments with different focus, touch on iPad and high resolution pointing devices on macOS, are very real and highly desirable.
But iPadOS has bizarre limitations that are hard to justify.
- Camera turns off when switching apps or split screen but audio doesn’t. Why? This severely limits the iPad from being used as a video conference tool.
- You can’t have several audio output streams at the same time. Does this keep the iPad simple in some way? I don’t see why.
- Same for multiple audio inputs. Most users don’t need this but if you do the iPad is a complete non-starter.
- No virtual memory swap. This is transparent to the user. You just get less reloading when low on memory. This just seems like laziness on Apple’s part. The original iOS & iPadOS devices couldn’t support swap because of hardware limitations but those limits have been gone for years. There is no technical reason that swap memory couldn’t be used now.
- Full background multitasking. This one does have some minor usability implications but nothing even as complex as the current iPadOS split screen multitasking. Make it a switch like background app refresh. You can’t use battery as an argument any longer. My M1 MacBook Air has full background multitasking and the battery lasts for dozens of hours.
I’ve given up on my iPad Pro. I switched to an iPad mini since it fits the limitations of iPadOS better and is more portable and is just as good as the iPad Pro for the uses that iPadOS allows.
Just quickly a couple of major ones:
- Extended monitor support (= desktop mode on external monitor)
- Ability to choose default apps by file type in the file apps
- Solving issues with corrupting exfat drives
- Ability to prevent iPadOS for ejecting certains apps from RAM (and/or giving me a low RAM warning if that is necessary)
And some less critical but still useful ones:
- Option to have a more Mac-like dock (with more apps and more recent apps, even if it takes 2 lines in portrait mode)
- Option to have horizontal split screen or even resizable windowed apps
And there there are a couple more but that might be tecnically hard to implement or not really iPadOS features such as
- ability for develop to create a full desktop browsers with extentions like on MacOS or ChromeOS (or Windows)
- improving Sidecar by adding touch, trackpad support (both things work with third party solutions) and sound
(All of the above are possible on (the less powerful) Samung flagships other than the full desktop browser and a MacOS like dock)