iPad The iPad is not for traditional Mac users

[AlumaMac]

It seems like the 11 inch MacBook Air or 12 inch MacBook would work much better for you.

Nope. A 15" MacBook Air would be ideal or a mythical hybrid OS iPad.

For now, I try and consume more on my iPad (but even then there are limitation) and leave the real work for my desktop.

 

[cnnyy20p]

People just want touch screen Mac.

 

[Robert.Walter]

so, lets make something quite clear - I dont want iPad to be more Mac like.

I would HATE IT if iPad became more Mac Like. I would hate it so much I would probably stop using the ipad and go back to the Mac / Windows. And there are lots of people like me. That is not to say iPadOS doesn’t have a lot to improve - it does - it has wayyy much to improve still. There are plenty of things that could be better - and especially when it comes to third-party software - we need more Pro apps, and full featured powerful apps. Some are already here, but others need to follow suit.

As for the iPadOS - I firmly believe its superior to MacOS not inferior. Its still not as feature packed or mature as MacOS is, but that is to be expected. What it lacks in maturity it provides with sophistication. iPadOS is by far the most sophisticated personal computing OS in existence today, in my humble opinion. What do I mean by this? How can it be ‘most sophisticated’ when it doesn’t have even basic features like - looking at folder size in Files App or formatting a usb drive (was this added?). Well, iPadOS may lack some tools like these, but it has incredible integration across the OS (so many ways for apps to talk to eachother), it has incredible security *(each app is sandboxed basically), it has really smart system wide features like ‘Shortcuts’ App, Share sheet, urls and app Apis (this is almost linux from 80s like), it has incredible app catalogue - and amazing Installing / Uninstalling / even offloading features, it has a wast variety of widgets, and it has completely new and unique memory management - where apps have ‘states‘ and can - depending on the state be chosen to be pre-warmed by the system / refreshed in background / active / not active but in memory / unloaded - and so on. Apps get apis to say what and how to transition these states so could save data and so on. Think about how great it is that iPad can hold literally infinite programs ‘open’ whilst the system itself decides if an app should be given more memory should have memory taken or closed and so on. think about ‘pre warming’ of apps! What an incredible concept! Or think about background running time , where app is given an opportunity to do some background housekeeping - but only when the OS decides its time to do so. And all this is there to make your device work snappier / quicker / use less battery and do more with its cpu. Think about this too - you never need to quit apps, yet the app in the foreground gets 100, or close to 100% CPU power! This is unheard of in the PC world, but in fact makes more sense than the PC way - since - in most cases - you want your app in the foreground to have all the resources for yourself - since you are working in it now.

And I could go on and on. iPadOS - in my mind - and by these examples - is way more sophisticated than MacOS, and iPads time is only yet to come.


/// We do need more people to realize this - and by more people mostly I mean more Pro tool developers - so more pro tools would come to iPad too.

Lighten up Francis (and use more paragraph breaks.)

Making the iPad more Mac like doesn’t mean making it less iPad like.

There’s no reason there can’t be a toggle to make it mir one or the other or granular settings to make certain features more or less in one direction or the other.

 

[Robert.Walter]

I think we will see this convergence once apple gets foldable display tech into production.

 

[VaruLV]

I want proper multi tasking, external display support and macOS apps running on M1 iPads, just like ipadOS apps can be run on macOS.
Technically it would easy for Apple to implement, however, it could eat either into Mac sales people choosing iPads over Macs or simply sticking to iPads in the future instead of using iPad+Mac combos like many do these days and simply ditching their Macs when its time to upgrade.

 

[Digitalguy]

It seems like the 11 inch MacBook Air or 12 inch MacBook would work much better for you.

I see a lot of people using super expensive large screen tablets and then adding expensive $300 keyboards to them. The form factor turns out to be very similar to a small MacBook, so I wonder if some of those people would be better off buying the MacBook for most of their work and if necessary buying a lower end tablet for when they just want tablet use.

I have had the 11.6 for years and was tempted by the 12in but there were too many issues and I finally gave up. The problem with the 11.6 is that it does not have 16GB RAM... and to be honest the screen resolution is trash....
So for my on the go use I have gone with a Samsung 13in laptop that is even lighter than the 12in Macbook, full hd, 16GB RAM, ports, but battery life was never great and is terrible now after almost 5 years and it tends to overheat under load.
I would love a 2 pounds M1/M2 laptop, hope it's in the making.... Another thing I would love is cellular, but Apple is stubborly leaving it as an iPad only feature for some reason.

I will wait and for this summer I think I'll bring my M1 mac mini and my iPad pro 11 with MK on holiday (and use it with either universal control or duet / luna display)

If Apple cannot come up with an ultralight Macbook or cannot at least offer cellular, I think I'll get a thinkpad nano with cellular at some point to replace my samsung....

Of course if iPad pro had MacOS I'd by the 16GB RAM cellular model, as I want my iPad pro anyway, not just a laptop, but that's never gonna happen.

 

[XIO[-]OIX]

People just want touch screen Mac.

lots of people here - yes.

 

[Digitalguy]

I think we will see this convergence once apple gets foldable display tech into production.

That might be the solution. If Apple can make it expensive enough that it would cost more than buying a Macbook with similar specs and an iPad pro together, that would make economic sense for them and we could finally have our device, at least those of us who can afford spending several thousands dollars for it....

 

[Digitalguy]

People just want touch screen Mac.

I am not even asking for that much, I just want Apple to let the damn Sidecar have touchscreen and trackpad support (and sound, while we are at it...)

 

[XIO[-]OIX]

I am not even asking for that much, I just want Apple to let the damn Sidecar have touchscreen and trackpad support (and sound, while we are at it...)

I have an idea. Why not a hackintosh touchscreen laptop with MacOS?
thats what most people here want.

And I get it I really do. In fact, my plan was to get a touchscreen laptop and put a hackintosh MacOS on it, but I went for the iPad, — and haven't regretted it at all. it’s a bliss to use.

 

[Charlie Carcinogen]

I have had the 11.6 for years and was tempted by the 12in but there were too many issues and I finally gave up. The problem with the 11.6 is that it does not have 16GB RAM... and to be honest the screen resolution is trash....
So for my on the go use I have gone with a Samsung 13in laptop that is even lighter than the 12in Macbook, full hd, 16GB RAM, ports, but battery life was never great and is terrible now after almost 5 years and it tends to overheat under load.
I would love a 2 pounds M1/M2 laptop, hope it's in the making.... Another thing I would love is cellular, but Apple is stubborly leaving it as an iPad only feature for some reason.

I will wait and for this summer I think I'll bring my M1 mac mini and my iPad pro 11 with MK on holiday (and use it with either universal control or duet / luna display)

If Apple cannot come up with an ultralight Macbook or cannot at least offer cellular, I think I'll get a thinkpad nano with cellular at some point to replace my samsung....

Of course if iPad pro had MacOS I'd by the 16GB RAM cellular model, as I want my iPad pro anyway, not just a laptop, but that's never gonna happen.

I agree with both of your points. I really wish Apple would make an ultralight laptop again. I can’t understand why they don’t. I think a lot of people would love them, especially now that people are becoming more accustomed to taking small notebooks with them everywhere since it’s become so common in school.

If they brought back the 12 inch MacBook with a good processor, more RAM, and a decent keyboard it would be a winner.

I also agree with your other point, for the life of me I can’t understand why they put a cellular chip into a tablet but not a laptop computer.

 

[Ethanmenzel]

After Apple gave the M1 and 16GB RAM to the pro, it was more than fair to expect some big productivity improvement at least for the iPad pro last year. However after last year's disappointement, which followed the previous year one, most people no longer have such high expectations for iPadOS, so the disappointement will not be as big... There will always be happy iPad users, but as a university teacher I can tell you that iPad is way less common than Macs and PCs among students.

Hoping this does not happen to the Macs, then too

 

[Digitalguy]

I have an idea. Why not a hackintosh touchscreen laptop with MacOS?
thats what most people here want.

And I get it I really do. In fact, my plan was to get a touchscreen laptop and put a hackintosh MacOS on it, but I went for the iPad, — and haven't regretted it at all. it’s a bliss to use.

Because I don't care about MacOS, contrary to most people here. I even prefer windows. And on Windows I have a Sidecar equivalent that works with touch, trackpad and sound and it's amazing (I mentioned it last night).
What I want is Apple Silicon, long battery life, quiet and no overheating, while being fast. Does not exist on Windows....

 

[Andrew73875]

Yea, apps like Chunky and VLC does something similar, files that you mostly use in that single app being solely in that app is nice because it does reduce clutter in the file manager.

Yes exactly!

Less user friendly does not mean less efficient.

I was trying to tranfer an mp3 file from an app to another (in order to slow it down). There was no way to share it to the other app

There's clearly something to be improved. But it doesn't mean that this system is not efficient.

It just feels nice not to worry where my photos are located on an iPad. They are in the Photos App and that's enough (or Google Photos app for those who prefer it). Same with music.

And it's also easier for most of the people to understand this logic. I know quite a lot of people who bought an iPad to their grandparents. They were able to use it straightaway in comparison to PC. They didn't need to learn that there are some files which are photos, others are documents and some files are system files and shouldn't be touched. It's just easier and more user friendly.

 

[Digitalguy]

Yes exactly!




There's clearly something to be improved. But it doesn't mean that this system is not efficient.

It just feels nice not to worry where my photos are located on an iPad. They are in the Photos App and that's enough (or Google Photos app for those who prefer it). Same with music.

And it's also easier for most of the people to understand this logic. I know quite a lot of people who bought an iPad to their grandparents. They were able to use it straightaway in comparison to PC. They didn't need to learn that there are some files which are photos, others are documents and some files are system files and shouldn't be touched. It's just easier and more user friendly.

Again, easier yes, more efficient, no. For old people yes. I made the example of my 80-year old mother yesterday.
For people with more sofisticated needs, no. I want to be able to easily open/move file with/to multiple apps, not just the photos app, and a centralized location is more efficient for that.

 

[Charlie Carcinogen]

I agree with Digitalguy. There’s absolutely nothing good about the limitations we have now. I understand Apple wanting to make it easier for grandma, and they could continue doing that. But that doesn’t mean that they can’t have a setting to change to allow us power users to do things differently.

I’ve been in that exact situation where I wanted to use a file from one program in a different one and there was simply no way to do it. It’s 2022 and these tablets are super powerful, there’s no excuse why you can’t do something so basic.

 

[clevins]

Lighten up Francis (and use more paragraph breaks.)

Making the iPad more Mac like doesn’t mean making it less iPad like.

There’s no reason there can’t be a toggle to make it mir one or the other or granular settings to make certain features more or less in one direction or the other.

This kind of hybrid garbage is what Microsoft tried a decade ago and it failed miserably because it's a bad idea and always will be.

1) "Making the iPad more Mac like doesn’t mean making it less iPad like." is a contradiction. Of course a more mac-like version of ipados makes it less purely iPad.

2) A touch UI is great for some things... and poor for others. The reverse is also true. If you want a Mac, buy a Mac. If you want an iPad buy an iPad. 'Hybrid' designs are always, by definition, a compromise and the compromises made will never be perfect. What features should be 'more or less in one direction or the other'? Why are your set the right set?

 

[Andrew73875]

For people with more sofisticated needs, no. I want to be able to easily open/move file with/to multiple apps, not just the photos app, and a centralized location is more efficient for that.

Yes, exactly! That's the point. For those who actually need it, there an iMac, MacBook etc. For those who don't need it, there's an iPad.

iPad's software will become more and more advanced, so it will be able to do more and more things. But the main difference, including the file system will always exist.

And I think it's good. And there's no need to merge them. They are just perfect tools for different workflows.

 

[Digitalguy]

Yes, exactly! That's the point. For those who actually need it, there an iMac, MacBook etc. For those who don't need it, there's an iPad.

iPad's software will become more and more advanced, so it will be able to do more and more things. But the main difference, including the file system will always exist.

And I think it's good. And there's no need to merge them. They are just perfect tools for different workflows.

I have never said they should be merged. On the contrary, I would like them to be there side by side...

 

[clevins]

I agree with both of your points. I really wish Apple would make an ultralight laptop again. I can’t understand why they don’t. I think a lot of people would love them, especially now that people are becoming more accustomed to taking small notebooks with them everywhere since it’s become so common in school.

Air. Macbook Air. And don't tell me that 2.8lbs is somehow burdensome.

Look, I get it... some of you want a 12" Air. Some want 13. Some want 14. But that way lies (SKU) madness and it confuses most buyers. "Wait, now I need to consider the 12" vs the 13"? What are the differences....".

 

[Digitalguy]

Air. Macbook Air. And don't tell me that 2.8lbs is somehow burdensome.

Look, I get it... some of you want a 12" Air. Some want 13. Some want 14. But that way lies (SKU) madness and it confuses most buyers. "Wait, now I need to consider the 12" vs the 13"? What are the differences....".

Except I want both a Mac and and iPad pro.... that adds up... And Apple could easily make a 13in Macbook with the weight of the 12in one now that it has Apple Silicon

 

[Digitalguy]

This kind of hybrid garbage is what Microsoft tried a decade ago and it failed miserably because it's a bad idea and always will be.

1) "Making the iPad more Mac like doesn’t mean making it less iPad like." is a contradiction. Of course a more mac-like version of ipados makes it less purely iPad.

2) A touch UI is great for some things... and poor for others. The reverse is also true. If you want a Mac, buy a Mac. If you want an iPad buy an iPad. 'Hybrid' designs are always, by definition, a compromise and the compromises made will never be perfect. What features should be 'more or less in one direction or the other'? Why are your set the right set?

As I said above, there is no need to merge them, they can co-exist...

 

[clevins]

As I said above, there is no need to merge them, they can co-exist...

They do. Buy a Mac and an iPad.

Except I want both a Mac and and iPad pro.... that adds up... And Apple could easily make a 13in Macbook with the weight of the 12in one now that it has Apple Silicon

This is what nearly sank Apple in the mid-90s... trying to cater to every single market segment's niche. You *want* both of those but you implicitly want it for substantially less than the two cost separately. Presumably because at least one is a nice to have, not a must have.

 

[Digitalguy]

They do. Buy a Mac and an iPad.

I'll buy a new Macbook if Apple makes one that suits me or I'll get at Windows laptop instead.
Anyway, for Apple only buyers, this is the only solution if they want both on the go, not because it's the better one as you think, as I would be much more convinient to have a desktop at home and and iPad that can also run MacOS on the go, but because it's the most profitable for Apple...

 

[Reggaenald]

I am not even asking for that much, I just want Apple to let the damn Sidecar have touchscreen and trackpad support (and sound, while we are at it...)

I’ve heard that it does work with the Apple Pencil, but I’m not sure if it works completely.