iPad Pro The thing about M1/iPads - Apple will have to make iPadOS for non "M" iPads for years

[Adelphos33]

Apple will keep releasing regular iPads and iPad Airs for years. The basic iPad OS will have to be compatible with these machines, along with older iPads (which last several years). So while future iPadOS could have M1 only features, the majority of the operating system will always be compatible with lower powered devices. Even things like enhanced external display support will likely be compatible with non M1 iPads like the iPad Air.

What you really want are *apps* that take full advantage of the hardware, which requires Apple to release more "pro" apps and for developers to push more pro apps

 

[007p]

What you really want are *apps* that take full advantage of the hardware, which requires Apple to release more "pro" apps and for developers to push more pro apps

Apps can’t do this though, the operating system is holding them back. 5gb ram limit, no paging, all sandboxed, poor file management, can’t run external code etc etc.

We are even seeing apps no longer being developed for the iPad simply because the OS and Apples locked down rules don’t allow what is needed for these types of apps to truly take advantage of the hardware.

So no, what we need is OS changes first. The decent pro apps will never come if the OS doesn’t change first.

I agree that things will be held back due to the lower models, that’s why I would be in favour of M1 or ‘pro’ specific OS. Heck, that would have been the best part about shoving macOS on it if it meant it was limited to ‘M’ models.

But without OS changes nothing is going to change. It’s still early days, but it seems like iPadOS 15 changes nothing - the problem developers were having with apps today they will still have on iPadOS 15. This is not a ‘well developers just need to make them’ argument, in a lot of cases they just simply can’t unless you fit into Apples narrow window of what is allowed, e.g. video/photo editing apps.

 

[AutomaticApple]

Apps can’t do this though, the operating system is holding them back. 5gb ram limit, no paging, all sandboxed, poor file management, can’t run external code etc etc.

And that won't change until mid-2022, possibly even longer.

 

[dasjati]

Even things like enhanced external display support will likely be compatible with non M1 iPads like the iPad Air.

I don't see why this would be the case? Isn't that an example of a feature that could very easily be cut from devices lacking the necessary processing power? And which iPad Air owner would be upset about that?

 

[Act3]

I don't see why this would be the case? Isn't that an example of a feature that could very easily be cut from devices lacking the necessary processing power? And which iPad Air owner would be upset about that?

exactly , they do it all the time with the iPhones...portrait mode for example with the camera

 

[MNTVJunkie]

I don't understand why people think the M1 is revolutionary for the iPad Pro. It's just the A14X with new "branding". Yes, its super powerful (so is the A14, honestly) but that's about it. Apple had MacOS running on the A12Z, so that clearly wasn't the thing holding MacOS back from the iPad.

Apple didn't take a Mac chip and put it in the iPad, they took an iPad chip and put it in the Mac, and then took it from the Mac and put it back in the iPad. Even if they have to support non-M chips for years, it doesn't matter because they are based on the same architecture as the M chips.

What IS true is that the iPad will have to continue to work on the entry level iPad almost as well as it does on the Pro.

 

[Adelphos33]

I don't understand why people think the M1 is revolutionary for the iPad Pro. It's just the A14X with new "branding". Yes, its super powerful (so is the A14, honestly) but that's about it. Apple had MacOS running on the A12Z, so that clearly wasn't the thing holding MacOS back from the iPad.

Apple didn't take a Mac chip and put it in the iPad, they took an iPad chip and put it in the Mac, and then took it from the Mac and put it back in the iPad. Even if they have to support non-M chips for years, it doesn't matter because they are based on the same architecture as the M chips.

What IS true is that the iPad will have to continue to work on the entry level iPad almost as well as it does on the Pro.

The M1 was revolutionary for the MacBook Air and in many ways MacBook Pro - 2018 and 2020 iPad Pros were *already* dramatically more advanced than the Intel versions of those machines

 

[FrozenDarkness]

This topic title confuses me. Apple has and will continue to make iPad OS for their own SoC. Nothing has changed.