iPad Pro Why does the iPad Not have its own OS ?

[KohPhiPhi]

I have been saying this for a long time: in order for the iPad Pro to be any close of becoming a feasible laptop replacement of any sort, it needs its own beefed up iOS Pro: something halfway through between iOS and MacOS

It makes zero sense than a 12.9" device and a 4.7" device share the same iOS. The iPad Pro's glorious screen and powerful internals are ridiculously underutilized as it is, and that is a shame

 

[Channan]

I have been saying this for a long time: in order for the iPad Pro to be any close of becoming a feasible laptop replacement of any sort, it needs its own beefed up iOS Pro: something halfway through between iOS and MacOS

It makes zero sense than a 12.9" device and a 4.7" device share the same iOS. The iPad Pro's glorious screen and powerful internals are ridiculously underutilized as it is, and that is a shame

It makes perfect sense that the iPad and iPhone share the same OS, more so than having separate operating systems.

Any feature Apple added to the iPad could easily be added to the iPhone also. The solution is not to give the iPad features the iPhone doesn't have. It's to give the iPad and iPhone both features that they don't currently have.

 

[throAU]

I have been saying this for a long time: in order for the iPad Pro to be any close of becoming a feasible laptop replacement of any sort, it needs its own beefed up iOS Pro: something halfway through between iOS and MacOS

It makes zero sense than a 12.9" device and a 4.7" device share the same iOS. The iPad Pro's glorious screen and powerful internals are ridiculously underutilized as it is, and that is a shame

This does not require a whole new OS.

What features do you want?

I'll bet that:

- none of them require a new OS
- some of them are not going to be implemented by design (security, mostly), not due to limitations of iOS.

 

[Channan]

What Apple needs to do is focus more on the iPad's UI to take advantage of the larger displays where the iPad doesn't feel like a blown up iPhone, in particular the home screen, Notification Center, and Control Center. Control Center became absolutely ridiculous on the iPad on iOS 10.

 

[KohPhiPhi]

This does not require a whole new OS.

What features do you want?

I'll bet that:

- none of them require a new OS
- some of them are not going to be implemented by design (security, mostly), not due to limitations of iOS.

First and foremost, a file management/access system. That is the #1 reason as of why the iPad is not a realistic laptop replacement.
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It makes perfect sense that the iPad and iPhone share the same OS, more so than having separate operating systems.

Any feature Apple added to the iPad could easily be added to the iPhone also. The solution is not to give the iPad features the iPhone doesn't have. It's to give the iPad and iPhone both features that they don't currently have.

So you reckon that a device you interact with through a 4.7" screen should have the same UI and finctionality than a device you interact with through a 12.9" screen?

Ok then, in that case the iPad Pro will remain nothing but a blown out iPhone. Seems like a wasted chance to me /shurg

 

[bensisko]

First and foremost, a file management/access system. That is the #1 reason as of why the iPad is not a realistic laptop replacement.

Really? The #1 reason people can't use an iPad as a laptop replacement is because they can't move files around? I would have thought it might be more powerful apps but I guess people really need to be able to move files into folders to be "Pro".

By the way, there are 3rd party apps that let you do this, not to mention iCloud Drive. Enjoy.

So you reckon that a device you interact with through a 4.7" screen should have the same UI and finctionality than a device you interact with through a 12.9" screen?

Ok then, in that case the iPad Pro will remain nothing but a blown out iPhone. Seems like a wasted chance to me /shurg

I'm pretty sure Channan is agreeing the UI needs tweaks. Let's see if there's a way to prove that... maybe a quote...

What Apple needs to do is focus more on the iPad's UI to take advantage of the larger displays where the iPad doesn't feel like a blown up iPhone, in particular the home screen, Notification Center, and Control Center. Control Center became absolutely ridiculous on the iPad on iOS 10.

That'll do!
Yes, the UI could stand some tweaking but that doesn't mean you need an entirely new OS (or even an entirely new UI - just an adjusted one).

 

[Channan]

So you reckon that a device you interact with through a 4.7" screen should have the same UI and finctionality than a device you interact with through a 12.9" screen?

Ok then, in that case the iPad Pro will remain nothing but a blown out iPhone. Seems like a wasted chance to me /shurg

I don't recall ever saying the iPad should have the same UI as the iPhone. Actually, I addressed this in the post directly above yours. A different UI does not require a different OS.

Now, let's talk about features. You said the #1 reason people can't replace their laptops with an iPad is a user accessible file system. If we pretend that's true and Apple did add that to the iPad, why should that be exclusive to the iPad when it was already designed for iOS? It's simply a matter of tweaking the UI to adapt to different display sizes.

You feel like the iPhone is holding the iPad back but it's not. All the features you want for the iPad to be able to replace a laptop are not being added deliberately.

 

[Hym tix]

iPad absolutely needs optimized features for the larger screen size. (And no, it doesn't require a new OS to address UI-related issues). There are so many ways that the screen space on iPad is poorly used, it really is ridiculous. It was less noticable/annoying on the 9.7" screen, but it is especially frustrating on iPad Pro 12.9. The iPad experience could be so much more than it is.

 

[KohPhiPhi]

You feel like the iPhone is holding the iPad back but it's not. All the features you want for the iPad to be able to replace a laptop are not being added deliberately.

Of course it is deliberate, and that is precisely why the iPad Pro cannot feasibly become a laptop replacement: it is being deliberately held back by Apple, by forcing it to use the same OS as a phone. As such, it is effectively nothing but an iPhone with a large screen. Can a 4.7" iPhone be, realistically, a laptop replacement? Nop. And neither can a 12.9" iPhone. It is not about the hardware, it is about the software (or rather the OS governing the software).

Now, let's talk about features. You said the #1 reason people can't replace their laptops with an iPad is a user accessible file system. If we pretend that's true and Apple did add that to the iPad, why should that be exclusive to the iPad when it was already designed for iOS? It's simply a matter of tweaking the UI to adapt to different display sizes.

Should a urban utilitarian car and a pick-up truck use the same engine? What is the point in buying a 3-ton pick-up truck if it's powered by a gimp 4-cylinder eco-engine?

If you use the same OS for both an iPhone 4.7" and an iPad Pro 12.9", the latter wont benefit from its superior hardware, since the OS needs to accommodate its performance and feature scope to the minimum common denominator (meaning the iPhone). Therefore, the powerful iPad Pro will always be underutilized.

Look, I dont mean to debate semantics. My point is that, as it is, the iPad is awesome for content consumption but very limiting for content creation and content management. The bottom line is this: You believe that a custom UI for the iPad Pro would do the trick, whereas I believe that a beefier OS would also be required.

 

[subjonas]

Of course it is deliberate, and that is precisely why the iPad Pro cannot feasibly become a laptop replacement: it is being deliberately held back by Apple, by forcing it to use the same OS as a phone. As such, it is effectively nothing but an iPhone with a large screen. Can a 4.7" iPhone be, realistically, a laptop replacement? Nop. And neither can a 12.9" iPhone. It is not about the hardware, it is about the software (or rather the OS governing the software).



Should a urban utilitarian car and a pick-up truck use the same engine? What is the point in buying a 3-ton pick-up truck if it's powered by a gimp 4-cylinder eco-engine?

If you use the same OS for both an iPhone 4.7" and an iPad Pro 12.9", the latter wont benefit from its superior hardware, since the OS needs to accommodate its performance and feature scope to the minimum common denominator (meaning the iPhone). Therefore, the powerful iPad Pro will always be underutilized.

Look, I dont mean to debate semantics. My point is that, as it is, the iPad is awesome for content consumption but very limiting for content creation and content management. The bottom line is this: You believe that a custom UI for the iPad Pro would do the trick, whereas I believe that a beefier OS would also be required.

Not sure about your lowest common denominator argument. iPhone hardware is pretty powerful. Only slightly less powerful than iPP but comparable, especially with the 9.7". Enough with generalities, what specific features for the iPad OS are you talking about that you think require so much power that the iPhone might have trouble handling it?

I see that "iPad is nothing more than a big iPhone" statement a lot. Is the iPhone not a pretty powerful computer, only limited by its screen size? In other words, why isn't the statement ever: wow the iPhone is a small iPad! Judge it by its size, do you?

 

[Arzach]

I agree that is needed some specilized OS to the iPad Pro, not necessarily a hole new OS. Alongside the file management system, to replace a laptop as Pro users, we need the iPad Pro to run some hardcore softwares; 3D softwares (Maya, 3D Max, zBrush), full desktop Adobe Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere) and others audio producing/video editing softwares. Maybe the iPad Pro with iOS is satisfying some "softcore pro-users" (sorry for using this term), but to creators in general, it's ridiculous to pay so much in something that will need another Mac to "run" softwares like these (here in Brazil the price of any Apple product is completely abusing, usually the double of the price in US. One dollar here is like R$3. In any Apple Store here the 12.9 is almost R$7000...You can't even imagine how inaccessible it is in general). For me, another problem in this iPad is that 4gb of RAM for running hardcore softwares (like the ones I commented) will be too little. My MBP already suffers with low-RAM (8gb) with only one or two .PSD files opened (+iTunes and some Safari tabs)...
We definitely need some really PRO upgrades to really call this big iPhone a Pro laptop replacement...

 

[iPadDad]

I agree @throAU , either Apple is going to start beefing up iOS for iPad specifically, or there may be a new OS in the works, this is so obvious now in terms of the road forward for iPad and iPad Pro and which ever direction above Apple decide to go, I believe this will be the push many iPad contemplators have been waiting for.

I think something is brewing and I hope it is going to be released in March,

 

[Channan]

Of course it is deliberate, and that is precisely why the iPad Pro cannot feasibly become a laptop replacement: it is being deliberately held back by Apple, by forcing it to use the same OS as a phone.

You obviously don't understand. There is nothing wrong with iOS. Nothing about iOS is holding the iPad back. The features you want in an iPad can easily be added to iOS, but Apple refuses to add them. It's not Apple CAN not add them. It's that they WILL not. You do not need a separate OS to get the features you want in iOS. You simply need Apple to add them to iOS, which they don't want to do.

Should a urban utilitarian car and a pick-up truck use the same engine? What is the point in buying a 3-ton pick-up truck if it's powered by a gimp 4-cylinder eco-engine?

Completely irrelevant analogy as the engine is hardware, not software.

The bottom line is this: You believe that a custom UI for the iPad Pro would do the trick, whereas I believe that a beefier OS would also be required.

That is not what I said. At all.

I said the iPad could use a separate UI over the phone to take advantage of the larger display, whereas a lot of the extra space is wasted by just blowing up elements designed for a much smaller display. I never said or even implied that a new UI is all the iPad needs. I said that's all it needs over the iPhone. Almost any other features added to the iPad can easily be added to the iPhone.

 

[TechZeke]

If Apple could make a "MacPad Pro" that is a full i5 equipped Mac with a nice keyboard cover I would ditch my Surface Pro 4 in 10 nanoseconds.

 

[KohPhiPhi]

You obviously don't understand. There is nothing wrong with iOS. Nothing about iOS is holding the iPad back. The features you want in an iPad can easily be added to iOS, but Apple refuses to add them. It's not Apple CAN not add them. It's that they WILL not. You do not need a separate OS to get the features you want in iOS. You simply need Apple to add them to iOS, which they don't want to do.

Errr dude... I am not sure why you keep on beating that drum... OF COURSE I understand that Apple can-but-wont implement those features, which is why we are having this conversation. Would you stop reiterating the obvious, please?

And I agree with you: there is nothing wrong with iOS... as an iPhone OS. However, as an iPad Pro OS, it is very limiting.

Completely irrelevant analogy as the engine is hardware, not software.

It is not irrelevant if you took 2 seconds to think about it, as it is the EXACT same case scenario: two different cars (devices), with two extremely different sizes and with two different purposes, yet they are both powered by the same engine (OS). As such, and due to the common denominator principle, the larger one will remain underutilized (as it is the case with iPad Pros at the moment).

The iPad Pro carries stronger internals: double the RAM, higher GHZ processor, better screen, more audio channels, etc. If all that is governed by the same engine as the iPhone, then those powerful internals remain underutilized.

I said the iPad could use a separate UI over the phone to take advantage of the larger display, whereas a lot of the extra space is wasted by just blowing up elements designed for a much smaller display. I never said or even implied that a new UI is all the iPad needs. I said that's all it needs over the iPhone. Almost any other features added to the iPad can easily be added to the iPhone.

Again, you are debating semantics and I'm not interested in that debate. Once again, you are reiterating the same thing: you argue that sharing the same OS for both devices (each of them sporting their own custom UI) is the way forward. I argue that iPhones should keep iOS, and iPad Pros should carry an "iOS Pro".

I also believe I have stated my opinion more than clear enough in this thread, so I will bow out of this conversation at this point.

 

[subjonas]

I also believe I have stated my opinion more than clear enough in this thread, so I will bow out of this conversation at this point.

Wait! Before you bow out, I really wanted to know, what specific OS features do you want on the iPad that can't be handled just as well on the iPhone as on the iPad power-wise? Everyone talks about this "more powerful OS" but all they ever use as examples is file system and more icons and widgets on the home screen. I lean toward agreeing with the file system (undecided), but none of the features I've heard are anything that the iPhone couldn't handle--screen real estate wise, yes; power-wise, no. So I'm curious what specific features you have in mind that would give the iPhone trouble. By the way, I think a lot of people get OS confused with applications. If you're talking about iPad needing more robust applications, yes I agree whole heartedly. But that's more on 3rd party developers, not so much Apple. (Although I did hear Apple's app pricing system demotivates developers from bringing powerful apps to iOS)

 

[FeliApple]

What if Apple finds out a way to implement those powerful apps needed for 'Pro work' on iOS and does not (due to reasons stated a million times) implement a file system? I guess the iPad could be a laptop replacement for all but the most demanding. And I don't think that's impossible for Apple either.

 

[Channan]

Errr dude... I am not sure why you keep on beating that drum... OF COURSE I understand that Apple can-but-wont implement those features, which is why we are having this conversation. Would you stop reiterating the obvious, please?

And I agree with you: there is nothing wrong with iOS... as an iPhone OS. However, as an iPad Pro OS, it is very limiting.

Soooo you know iOS just needs some features that Apple can but won't add, and your solution is a completely different OS? That's good logic. As if that's any more likely than Apple just adding the features you want to iOS.

It is not irrelevant if you took 2 seconds to think about it, as it is the EXACT same case scenario: two different cars (devices), with two extremely different sizes and with two different purposes, yet they are both powered by the same engine (OS). As such, and due to the common denominator principle, the larger one will remain underutilized (as it is the case with iPad Pros at the moment).

Not even close. The engine of a car can be compared to the processor of a computer, but no, not the operating system.

I also believe I have stated my opinion more than clear enough in this thread, so I will bow out of this conversation at this point.

ok

 

[Badrottie]

I was thinking I could be wrong. Take a hard look at Microsoft Windows worked well with PC, Laptop, and Tablets but Apple does not want MacOS to run on iPad because iPad tablets would annihilte Macbook line.

 

[bensisko]

I was thinking I could be wrong. Take a hard look at Microsoft Windows worked well with PC, Laptop, and Tablets but Apple does not want MacOS to run on iPad because iPad tablets would annihilte Macbook line.

No it wouldn't - not even close.
Apple has never been afraid of cannibalization - as long as customers are ditching Apple products for other Apple products.

I have taken a hard look at how Windows works with Desktops, Laptops and Tablets. Windows 10 is amazing on desktops and laptops, but it falls WAY short on tablets (unless you want your tablet experience to be a desktop experience - then it's fantastic!).
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What if Apple finds out a way to implement those powerful apps needed for 'Pro work' on iOS and does not (due to reasons stated a million times) implement a file system? I guess the iPad could be a laptop replacement for all but the most demanding. And I don't think that's impossible for Apple either.

I'm down with that.

It certainly wouldn't be easy - there's a lot of things OS X has that apps rely on that iOS doesn't have (such as graphics processing and other hooks). They would probably have to use some sort of OS X emulator (similar to how Android apps run in ChromeOS and how Microsoft is planning to run x86 apps on AMD).

If Apple can do it without dimishing the iOS experience, it's would be cool!

 

[Channan]

They would probably have to use some sort of OS X emulator (similar to how Android apps run in ChromeOS and how Microsoft is planning to run x86 apps on AMD).

Do you mean ARM?

 

[bensisko]

Do you mean ARM?

I do. =)
It's that "million thoughts at once" kinda day!

 

[Omega Mac]

If iOS is tweaked that it's able to offer/differentiate layout by device iphone or ipad then that's all you need.

I'm not sure that needs a whole new iteration of iOS merely an inclusion in a new release.

However iOSpro sounds obvious as stated by another user already above. Maybe that is the plan.

There is no need for a file system on the touch platforms. Forget about it. It's not in the vision becasue it doesn't need to be.

If handover could move into other software platforms your iDevice becomes an extension of your professional kit.

The typical user doesn't need it but they have it now between their Apple devices thanks to Apple. Let this feature or functionality move to 3rd party software level and everyone is happy.

Suddenly your iPPpro becomes like a client or device extension of your entire computing setup.

You machines act as one even though you may have more than two devices in play, all interacting with each other. I think it's up to the software industry to get with the concept if they have not already begin to move that way.

 

[joeblow7777]

I was thinking I could be wrong. Take a hard look at Microsoft Windows worked well with PC, Laptop, and Tablets but Apple does not want MacOS to run on iPad because iPad tablets would annihilte Macbook line.

Have Windows tablets annihilated laptops?

 

[bensisko]

Have Windows tablets annihilated laptops?

I suppose that's all in how you look at it - touchscreen laptops, 2-in-1s, convertibles have become the norm in "laptop" design. You can still find "pure" laptops, but a large portion of the market has gone away from the traditional laptop only design.