iPad Pro The iPad PRO is finally PRO.

[sparksd]

I use Microsoft Excel a lot. I could never use it on my iPad Pro because it doesn’t support macros or creating pivot tables. Is there a reason for this? Is it an iOS limitation or Microsoft not wanting to put in the effort for feature parity with the desktop version?

I think MS would rather you bought a Surface & Windows for a full Office experience (Word on iOS has similar limitations).

 

[kinghenry]

Anyone know when the review embargo ends?

 

[jonnyb098]

If they don’t add a macOS option next month then all hope is lost

It’s never gonna happen. Get over it. The charm of the iPad is that ITS NOT A MAC

 

[jonnyb098]

Anyone know when the review embargo ends?

I’d guess Monday or Tuesday just before the Wednesday launch. Then reviewers probably just got their to play with over the weekend.

 

[gsal]

Either give us Mac OS as a boot option when using the Magic Keyboard or make iPad OS as capable as Mac OS. I’d prefer they do the latter.

 

[jonnyb098]

iPad doesn’t need macOS but Apple has done a terrible job explaining why iPad Pro exists. I get the feeling even Apple doesn’t really know why it exists. It also feel like Apple views iPad as competition for Mac. It shouldn’t. The competition is Windows/Android. So long as someone is buying a Mac or an iPad Apple should be happy. And the new 13” iPad Pro is more expensive than the 13” MacBook Air so the bean counters shouldn’t care either.

Indeed Apple has really lost the narrative on iPads. It’s a great device. They just don’t have a story with it much anymore.

 

[bcortens]

Indeed Apple has really lost the narrative on iPads. It’s a great device. They just don’t have a story with it much anymore.

If they can lift a few more of the restrictions (XPC, background task limits) they can really start pushing the “it’s our most flexible device” angle

 

[The Clark]

If they can lift a few more of the restrictions (XPC, background task limits) they can really start pushing the “it’s our most flexible device” angle

But those changes are deeply rooted within the OS and would likely require a massive overhaul.

 

[gtmead09]

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.

 

[Delgibbons]

I agree ipadOS is fine as a tablet (touch) OS, but I think the complaints are partly coming from Apple’s somewhat unclear positioning of the iPad Pro as a potential laptop replacement.

I think people have a point: there are many ways in which ipadOS is much more restrictive than a desktop platform: Apps can only operate in a walled garden (both their distribution and execution), access to the hardware is more limited, access to the file system is more limited, ability to automate tasks is more limited, ability to multitask is more limited, and the list goes on. If Apple doesn’t think those things are suitable for an iPad it is fine, but then I would agree with others that their marketing (and arguably pricing) is misrepresenting the device capabilities.

Having said that I don’t think people asking for macOS are being realistic. In its current form, macOS simply isn’t designed for a tablet form factor so the switch between tablet mode and “laptop” mode would be a very poor UX (basically 2 different OSs). IMO the more “Pro” feature set should rather come from an expansion of ipad OS which would be closing the feature gaps with macOS while taking into consideration the hybrid laptop/tablet experience which Apple is trying to sell and allow for seamless switching between the two modes.

Yeah allowing virtualisation and jit on the pro models; adding Xcode…. That makes it much more useful.

Instead of spitefully blocking Apple silicon virtualisation from iPadOS 15 or whatever it was.

 

[Delgibbons]

It’s not a professional device. You cannot use your own otf fonts without tricks and en masse systemwide. Adobe CC does not work, which still is 80% of our daily work. No dev mode in safari. Logic Pro unable to use AU like native instruments. Not nearly enough ports. File management is a frggng nightmare compared to Forklift on the Mac. The simplest things take forever. Basically the iPad is a computer for people who don’t like computers. Thus it will never replace the MBP, which has become almost equal to the Studio.

But it would be nice and sensible that with the keyboard attached, MacOS usage becomes an option. The hardware is basically a downgraded MBA and it would be nice to be on the road and have a 13-inches-laptop at hand. Without having to resort to JumpDesktop etc.

On the other hand, touch and pencil open up different possibilities. Writing, painting, manipulating directly and intuitively on the screen with multiple touch points. Final Cut and Logic, Procreate and Good Notes give a glimpse of the amazing UX boost of a more natural interface using your hands to create. Imagine working with Slate and Ash Spectre without Keyboard or MIDI interface. Imagine rotoscope with a pencil.

The way forward is to bring the best of both worlds together in devices that are bridging the gaps between MBP and iPP. This is a great step forward (and as always not big enough), let’s hope the next iPadOS will be another step forward instead of watered-down iOS with 1-year-latency.

Oh 100%. Photoshop is such a pita on my m1 iPad Pro, no reason it shouldn’t have the desktop feature set. That’s adobe’s fault of course!

Lightroom is pretty damn good though, having said that.

 

[Delgibbons]

You guys are overthinking it. MacOS already supports iPad/iOS apps, Apple just needs to implement the opposite in iPadOS (that is to say, enable execution of Mac Apps).

Spot on.

 

[DeepSix]

The best feature to me is the 10,000 nits of brightness in SDR content. That blows away the current 600 nuts on the Pro 11.

 

[Shirasaki]

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.

First thing, all upgrades happen in hardware. We have yet to see software side of things.
Second thing, you should’ve known Apple WILL upgrade MacBook processor to newer generation, right? And by then, what can iPad flex? Price point?
And finally, iPadOS is STILL iOS. Wake me up when iPadOS is truly its own rather than a fork of iOS with superficial changes to make it a little bit different From iOS.

 

[iF34R]

Will the 11" have the blurring effect while scrolling on safari, like the M1 11" does?

 

[bob24]

You guys are overthinking it. MacOS already supports iPad/iOS apps, Apple just needs to implement the opposite in iPadOS (that is to say, enable execution of Mac Apps).

iPad and iPhone Apps on MacOS are nice to have. But you can definitely tell they are not running in their native environment and the UX has flaws.

And that’s taking Apps form the simpler OS to the more flexible one.

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.

 

[Sami13496]

We want to have iPadOS in tablet mode and macOS with keyboard/trackpad connected and all at not all the limitations of iPad. There is even no real Chrome and Firefox, no Terminal App, no Xcode, no custom keyboard shortcuts, and 10000s other little things... how do you look at the mail header in iPads Mail app, if you want to check something? Impossible. As long as iPad runs toyOS, it's just a better Netflix device.

Yes but why can’t you just use iPad and Mac? Its 2024 devices are so incredibly thin that is doesn't matter having to carry one or two devices.

 

[sledgehammer89]

Yes but why can’t you just use iPad and Mac? Its 2024 devices are so incredibly thin that is doesn't matter having to carry one or two devices.

There is no reason. iPad with Magic Keyboard includes everything that's needed to use it with macOS. Also I'm lazy to manage 2 devices.

 

[sledgehammer89]

I don't necessarily disagree with you about MacOS, but what do you want to see in the email header?

Mail flow, check if changes on the mail server works (removing/adding header). I also miss network tracing and a firewall like Little Snitch.
Also, Mail.app on iPad/iPhone doesn't support IMAP Idle and even can't run in the background, as nearly every app on iGadgets...

 

[blkjedi954]

What "professional" work can it do now that it couldn't do before?

Well, it does it faster! Just like every other device on the market to its respective functionality, n’est pas?

 

[blkjedi954]

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.

“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…

 

[off3nc3]

“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…

These are unrealistic comparisons since most of the people don't game on these ipads but a minority since the gaming market on the mobile platform barely utilize the M series power processing and we know zero about what will happen during the WWDC event , all money is ipadOS will only get a few more features and that's it.

This device is a powerhouse browsing netflix machine and nothing else no matter how you want to spin it.

 

[gusping]

These are unrealistic comparisons since most of the people don't game on these ipads but a minority since the gaming market on the mobile platform barely utilize the M series power processing and we know zero about what will happen during the WWDC event , all money is ipadOS will only get a few more features and that's it.

This device is a powerhouse browsing netflix machine and nothing else no matter how you want to spin it.

Exactly. I said for my uses. In terms of gaming, I have a gaming pc with a 7800X3D and 4090. I will never ever game on a touch screen device. I want proper Mac OS style apps, not iPad ‘optimised’ apps with half the features missing. Stage manager is a good first step, i will admit. Hopefully Apple continues to improve that in iPad OS 18. There also needs to be deeper system level access for apps and better file management, to name a few. Let’s see what WWDC has in store.

 

[Pezimak]

These are unrealistic comparisons since most of the people don't game on these ipads but a minority since the gaming market on the mobile platform barely utilize the M series power processing and we know zero about what will happen during the WWDC event , all money is ipadOS will only get a few more features and that's it.

This device is a powerhouse browsing netflix machine and nothing else no matter how you want to spin it.

Think you’ll be surprised at how many play games on iPads. And yes that M chip is heavily utilised for some games as they only work on the M chip. Your mind set is very closed on the iPad and what it does and what people use it for, you’ve totally ignored the many many artists who use them for one.

 

[bcortens]

But those changes are deeply rooted within the OS and would likely require a massive overhaul.

They already changed background task limits once in the move from iOS 6 to iOS 7, i strongly suspect that allowing apps to run indefinitely in the background while prompting the ui with push notifications is within the realm of easy to moderately difficult without breaking much if anything.

XPC could be easy to moderate as well because macos and iPadOS share the same core, they can bring the macOS xpc to iPadOS. However I think theyd want to implement more control over the way apps talk to each other so i suspect they would want to do more than this and that would make it a more complicated update. It’s also not as essential.