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bcortens

macrumors 65816
Aug 16, 2007
1,324
1,796
Canada
If they could bring the file management to the iPad it would solve a lot of problems for me. Using the share button is cumbersome to find the right options. Give me file / open, file / save like a Mac and it would make the experience much better in my opinion. Give me a finder experience for viewing my files.
This is mostly on the apps, you already have the option to save files to the file System in many of apples own apps and if third party apps aren’t adopting the file management APIs you want that’s not apples fault.
 

bcortens

macrumors 65816
Aug 16, 2007
1,324
1,796
Canada
“The new M4 iPad Pro would allow me to do nothing more...” than a 2018 model? Hyperbole I’m sure. Apple‘s Pro Apps require an M series chip. A12 doesn’t cut it, to be sure. AAA games require M series, I read somewhere Im sure of it. Other features like Stage manager w/an external monitor requires an M series chip. That’s just off the top. WWDC will only widen that chasm between M series and non M series. Soooooo yea…
Edit, misread your post - delete me
 
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Rogifan

macrumors Penryn
Nov 14, 2011
24,733
32,196
I think MS would rather you bought a Surface & Windows for a full Office experience (Word on iOS has similar limitations).
Well that’s my question…are there software limitations that don’t allow Microsoft to make Excel on iPad more full fledged or is it Microsoft intentionally gimping it because they want you to use Windows. I’m not really buying that because if Microsoft is getting an O365 subscription I doubt they care whether you’re using it on Windows or not.
 

rehkram

macrumors 6502a
May 7, 2018
853
1,191
upstate NY
Making macOS- and iPadOS functionality co-exist on existing devices would, IMO, result in a spaghetti code nightmare, with all that entails for the user, i.e. bugs and general weirdness.

Thinking outside of the box, to do it right, you'd have to go back to first principals. By this I mean initiating a completely new design project. I'm talking about both hardware, firmware and a new OS to run on it. This would also require its own fully understood project mission statement.

Providing compatibility with existing apps, both OEM & 3rd party, would be, um, "a challenge".

Such a project would require so much focus and energy that, once the marketing- and financial dept heads (not to mention the shareholders) heard about it, whoever is CEO at that point would need to be a mighty charismatic visionary to be able to overcome the internal inertia required to even get the show on the road.

I'm not saying it can't happen. But it's not in the category of "hey, it's just a quick mod"! :)
 
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stinksroundhere

macrumors regular
May 10, 2024
235
343
Making macOS and iPadOS co-exist on existing devices would, IMO, result in a spaghetti code nightmare, with all that entails for the user, i.e. bugs and general weirdness.

Would be a mess. They have different system and user directory structures.

macOS as a system uses a lot more resources too. Like 3 times more memory just for the system.

macOS apps are mostly using more resources too.

And iPad isn't a Mac so you can't even start to call an OS installed on it 'macOS'.

It's just so odd that people ask for things like that but then it's the internet and people say things online that they would not say in real life. In real life if you talk sense to people they just say yeah true. On the internet if you talk sense to people they fight you.

Apple's intention is to make macOS as efficient as iPadOS not vice versa. That is going to take a long time because there is a lot of old software to support. We already saw the beginnings of it with application saved states and document auto saving. The system footprint stuff will come later.
 

polyphenol

macrumors 68020
Sep 9, 2020
2,136
2,609
Wales
Despite all the calls for macOS on iPad, I really don't want that! At least, not for now.

My health service's app does not run on macOS. And browser access is no longer available.

My bank's app does not run on macOS. And the bank seems desperate for me to use their app than browser access - despite that still working for now.

My iPad Pro allows me to use these two apps - both of which are important to me - on a screen larger than a phone. Which makes using them much more agreeable. And they can use faceID.

A better world would see both apps work fine on macOS - and still have a browser option for both. And if macOS were to hit iPad, I'd want it to somehow allow switching - maybe choose whether to run macOS and iPadOS, or some mechanism which makes it look like iPadOS to these apps.

But I'd also like these apps to run on my desktop macOS.
 
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PaperMag

Suspended
May 13, 2023
220
383
Spot on. I have a 12.9in 2018 iPad Pro. The new M4 iPad Pro would allow me to do nothing more. Absolutely nothing.
"Good morning! The new M4 iPad Pro with new Apple Pencil Pro and new Magic Keyboard will drain your account 4x faster than ever before."

Can your 2018 iPad Pro do that?

I rest my case.
 
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sparksd

macrumors G3
Jun 7, 2015
9,989
34,244
Seattle WA
"Good morning! The new M4 iPad Pro with new Apple Pencil Pro and new Magic Keyboard will drain your account 4x faster than ever before."

Can your 2018 iPad Pro do that?

I rest my case.

Could you expound on what your case is? If you don't want the new iPad, don't buy it. Pretty simple.
 
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PaperMag

Suspended
May 13, 2023
220
383
Could you expound on what your case is? If you don't want the new iPad, don't buy it. Pretty simple.
My case is, 'Twas a joke in reference to the new iPad Pros being super expensive—with keyboard added—despite its jobs-to-be-done hardly able to compete with a $699 M1 MacBook Air with exception to drawing and a few other niche use cases.' Things will look better when iOS 18 is put onto it, I would hope. It's not worth arguing about. Please put the sword away.
 

sparksd

macrumors G3
Jun 7, 2015
9,989
34,244
Seattle WA
My case is, 'Twas a joke in reference to the new iPad Pros being super expensive despite its jobs-to-be-done hardly able to compete with a $699 M1 MacBook Air with exception to drawing and a few other niche use cases.' Things will look better when iOS 18 is put onto it, I would hope. It's not worth arguing about. Put the sword away.

No sword, your original point wasn't clear.
 

Pezimak

macrumors 68040
May 1, 2021
3,443
3,841
Making macOS- and iPadOS functionality co-exist on existing devices would, IMO, result in a spaghetti code nightmare, with all that entails for the user, i.e. bugs and general weirdness.

Thinking outside of the box, to do it right, you'd have to go back to first principals. By this I mean initiating a completely new design project. I'm talking about both hardware, firmware and a new OS to run on it. This would also require its own fully understood project mission statement.

Providing compatibility with existing apps, both OEM & 3rd party, would be, um, "a challenge".

Such a project would require so much focus and energy that, once the marketing- and financial dept heads (not to mention the shareholders) heard about it, whoever is CEO at that point would need to be a mighty charismatic visionary to be able to overcome the internal inertia required to even get the show on the road.

I'm not saying it can't happen. But it's not in the category of "hey, it's just a quick mod"! :)

Well they say IOS 18 is meant to be a total design overhaul, they don't need to change devices as large touch screens are very adaptable.
I personally don't think I'd want Mac OS on an iPad. But, I would like an iPad OS that has styling a bit like Mac OS, and with some of its features like the file system and putting windows where you want. Hmm I guess that would be easier in say a 15" tablet so would kind off go with your new device design comment.
 

Supermallet

macrumors 68000
Sep 19, 2014
1,982
2,194
I agree that the iPad should never get MacOS, because MacOS is not designed for either touch or a tablet with a totally different thermal envelope and constraints than a laptop. However I think this current situation of getting drips and drabs of additional functionality is also slowly strangling the platform for people whose needs go beyond whatever limited implementation Apple gives us. Take external mouse support, on my Mac if I’m not satisfied with the system setting options for mapping mouse buttons, I can download any number of other programs that let me tailor the mapping to my needs, along with acceleration and momentum, and even to do so on a per app basis. The iPad doesn’t even have the level of mapping that macOS does, it’s so unbelievably limited by comparison, and I cannot download any third party app to help.

And fundamentally that’s the divide between iPad and Mac. On Mac, I can adapt the system to suit my workflow. On iPad, I have to adapt my workflow to suit the system. It’s not useless and some people find incredible utility with the iPad, but many people expect a system to be adaptable to their needs rather than requiring they limit their needs to suit the system.

A few pages back someone said the iPad needs Samsung Dex-like functionality, and I think that’s the answer. For the majority of consumers, the iPad is fine or even great as is. For the rest of us, some kind of “unlimited” version of the OS will be necessary if we want to consider using one as our primary computing device, or even a substantial secondary. This alternate state would NOT be macOS but it would give users the flexibility to adapt the iPad to their needs instead of the other way around.

Shortcuts is the closest we’ve got to this. Not only is it very powerful and leverages APIs, but you can in fact download third party apps that add additional functionality above and beyond what Apple provides. We need to take the Shortcuts philosophy and apply it to the whole system for the users who need it.
 

ProbablyDylan

macrumors 68000
Mar 26, 2024
1,519
2,986
Los Angeles
I’m not sure they can do it at all the other way around. Not only because a lot of those Apps’ UI elements probably wouldn’t work at all on iPadOS, but also because MacOS is less restrictive in terms of how Apps are running and some of the code might just not work at all on iPadOS.

iPadOS is already deviating more and more from iOS with every release. Adding support for MacOS apps would be a massive undertaking, but Apple is no stranger to making such fundamental changes.
 

SiriusA

macrumors newbie
May 10, 2024
2
1
Spot on. I have a 12.9in 2018 iPad Pro. The new M4 iPad Pro would allow me to do nothing more. Absolutely nothing. And given the rumours (or lack of), I suspect we aren't getting much for iPad OS at WWDC. As soon as proper windowing, file management, etc come to the iPad I will drop £1,500 on a new one. Until then, my 2018 iPad is doing just fine.
I think this is dependent on what you do for work. I have a 2018 iPad Pro and use it take measurements and mark up large plan sets. It is incredibly slow in comparison to my employees newer M series iPads doing the same task. It often crashes and overheats. One individuals use case isn’t everyone’s use case. I’m sure there isn’t a big difference writing emails or web browsing.
 
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SiriusA

macrumors newbie
May 10, 2024
2
1
I think this is dependent on what you do for work. I have a 2018 iPad Pro and use it take measurements and mark up large plan sets. It is incredibly slow in comparison to my employees newer M series iPads doing the same task. It often crashes and overheats. One individuals use case isn’t everyone’s use case. I’m sure there isn’t a big difference writing emails or web browsing.
Now I realize this post is probably trolling 😅
 

stinksroundhere

macrumors regular
May 10, 2024
235
343
iPadOS is already deviating more and more from iOS with every release. Adding support for MacOS apps would be a massive undertaking, but Apple is no stranger to making such fundamental changes.

Apple is doing it the other way. Making macOS as efficient as iPadOS and making it easy to port iPadOS apps to macOS.
 

JD2015

macrumors 6502a
Sep 16, 2014
849
526
Well that’s my question…are there software limitations that don’t allow Microsoft to make Excel on iPad more full fledged or is it Microsoft intentionally gimping it because they want you to use Windows. I’m not really buying that because if Microsoft is getting an O365 subscription I doubt they care whether you’re using it on Windows or not.
Microsoft Gimp even the cloud apps (even with a O365 subscription) whatever hardware and Operating system you use. Office apps on android are horrible and even on a Mac they are not the same as windows version.
 

bcortens

macrumors 65816
Aug 16, 2007
1,324
1,796
Canada
To be fair Samsung has had oled for a while and the Apple File System still blows IMO

How is it bad?
In apps that have implemented the modern file system the app lets me easily move the file to a new location, open files from anywhere, and save to anywhere.
Old apps that refuse to adopt the modern file system design do not reflect the state of the OS itself.
You can create a folder hierarchy on your iPad or in iCloud Drive and rename, move and delete files .
 

bob24

macrumors 6502a
Sep 25, 2012
641
641
Dublin, Ireland
iPadOS is already deviating more and more from iOS with every release. Adding support for MacOS apps would be a massive undertaking, but Apple is no stranger to making such fundamental changes.

It wouldn’t just be massive work to try to make the UI translate to iPadOS more or less automatically (no garantee they could do it in a practical manner).

The reason I see as a showstopper is the MacOS gives Apps a lot more freedom in how they are developed, are running, and access system ressources. And it is by design that iPadOS had more restriction, so allowing macOS Apps to run on iPadOS would require to completely change the Apps security and runtime management models in iPads OS. I doubt Apple is willing to do that as all the limitations in iPadOS are very deliberate choices.
 

kp98077

macrumors 601
Oct 26, 2010
4,312
2,764
Whistler, BC
How is it bad?
In apps that have implemented the modern file system the app lets me easily move the file to a new location, open files from anywhere, and save to anywhere.
Old apps that refuse to adopt the modern file system design do not reflect the state of the OS itself.
You can create a folder hierarchy on your iPad or in iCloud Drive and rename, move and delete files .
its just no where similar to the ios/mac or pc.. I personally dont care for it much rather have a laptop..
 

ignatius345

macrumors 604
Aug 20, 2015
7,614
13,025
With all the upgrades the iPad Pro is actually PRO now. Even with an OLED display and a new M4 CPU it can flex 💪 on MacBooks.
As someone who's pining for an ultracompact MacBook, this all kind of chaps my hide. I'm happy for you iPad users, don't get me wrong -- but I would like a piece of hardware this compact and nice in a MacBook form factor running macOS.
 
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