All iPads iPadOS Really Needs Its "Mac OS X" Release

[yabeweb]

OI will def be in the minority, but I do not want OS X on an iPad.
I like iPad for what it is, it replaces the productivity i used to do on a laptop and while not for everyone is a nice device for work.
People insist buying a tablet and use it the way the use a computer, that’s the main issue.

You have to adapt to a different workflow, to embrace the fact that it is not a computer, it’s def tricky at the beginning and it is not without issue, but once you get to use it as a tablet, it can be very rewarding.

I don’t have a pencil so i do nto use that part of the deal, but I am sure it would be great…..if i knew how to draw.
There are plenty of devices and portable ones for OS X, I don’t want the iPad to become one, I like iPad OS, it needs more polishing and some more features, but i don’t want OS X in my iPad.

I use an M2 iPad 11 Pro.

 

[Chancha]

DING DING DING!!! You nailed my point! I don't want a macOS/iPadOS hybrid. I want an iPadOS that actually takes advantage of the fact that the iPad Air and iPad Pro use the same computing guts as what you find in MacBook Airs and two-Thunderbolt-ports models of MacBook Pro. The same OS that I'd find acceptable the 10th Generation iPad and the 6th Generation iPad mini is not an OS I currently find acceptable on the fifth generation iPad Air nor the third or fourth generation 11-inch iPad Pros. And it's REALLY not an OS I currently find acceptable on the 5th and 6th Generation 12.9-inch iPad Pros.

iPadOS is a content consumption and simple computing OS first and foremost. The iPad Pro is not designed nor marketed to be just for those things in the way that the standard model iPad is nor in the way that the iPad mini is at its core. Hell, I'm still not entirely sure why the iPad Air now has M-series chips (though I'm not about to look that gifthorse in the mouth; though I totally will lump it in with the iPad Pro in saying that iPadOS could stand to be more advanced on it).

But most people, particularly iPad users probably didn't go through the OS X transition and have no idea what is meant by your thread question. You can see almost all replies center around just porting macOS to the iPad or not. That's why I thought you were being intentionally vague, because as it stands, the question probably drove more response than otherwise, lol.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

OI will def be in the minority, but I do not want OS X on an iPad.
I like iPad for what it is, it replaces the productivity i used to do on a laptop and while not for everyone is a nice device for work.
People insist buying a tablet and use it the way the use a computer, that’s the main issue.

You have to adapt to a different workflow, to embrace the fact that it is not a computer, it’s def tricky at the beginning and it is not without issue, but once you get to use it as a tablet, it can be very rewarding.

I don’t have a pencil so i do nto use that part of the deal, but I am sure it would be great…..if i knew how to draw.
There are plenty of devices and portable ones for OS X, I don’t want the iPad to become one, I like iPad OS, it needs more polishing and some more features, but i don’t want OS X in my iPad.

I use an M2 iPad 11 Pro.

Then Apple needs to quit turning it into one with the Magic Keyboard with Trackpad (in fact the new one is supposedly going to be even more laptop-like). Look if they add enough true functionality to iPadOS that developers can start making real desktop functional equivalency to their apps, then great!

But there is a shortcut through this process, and it involves just adding Mac to the iPad Pro/Ultra. Those that want iPadOS can have it exactly the same way. They can keep their hard-earned workflows. And I would get what I want. A marriage of the best hardware with the best OS.

 

[prospervic]

OI will def be in the minority, but I do not want OS X on an iPad.
I like iPad for what it is, it replaces the productivity i used to do on a laptop and while not for everyone is a nice device for work.
People insist buying a tablet and use it the way the use a computer, that’s the main issue.

You might in the minority on this thread, but not out there in the real world. Tim Cook is largely at fault for people trying to use an iPad as their only computer. Right at the launch of the first iPad Pro, he started giving interviews stating “why would you ever buy a PC?“

Even more problematic was Apples’s Marketing. Naming the product “iPad Pro“ was a huge mistake as this gave consumers a completely wrong impression about what this device could do and should be used for. I’m not the first to say that Apple should’ve called it “iPad Studio,“ a name which would’ve better indicated that it had a different use case than, and capabilities beyond, a traditional computer.

 

[bcortens]

Then Apple needs to quit turning it into one with the Magic Keyboard with Trackpad (in fact the new one is supposedly going to be even more laptop-like). Look if they add enough true functionality to iPadOS that developers can start making real desktop functional equivalency to their apps, then great!

But there is a shortcut through this process, and it involves just adding Mac to the iPad Pro/Ultra. Those that want iPadOS can have it exactly the same way. They can keep their hard-earned workflows. And I would get what I want. A marriage of the best hardware with the best OS.

The Magic Keyboard is in no way an attempt to make the iPad into a Mac. The Magic Keyboard is fantastic way to input text and use the iPad more like a laptop, but it is still an iPad. Which is fantastic without turning into a Mac.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

The Magic Keyboard is in no way an attempt to make the iPad into a Mac. The Magic Keyboard is fantastic way to input text and use the iPad more like a laptop, but it is still an iPad. Which is fantastic without turning into a Mac.

I disagree, but that's fine. We don't have to agree on everything. I think when the next one makes it even more of a laptop, it will be apparent.

 

[yabeweb]

Then Apple needs to quit turning it into one with the Magic Keyboard with Trackpad (in fact the new one is supposedly going to be even more laptop-like). Look if they add enough true functionality to iPadOS that developers can start making real desktop functional equivalency to their apps, then great!

But there is a shortcut through this process, and it involves just adding Mac to the iPad Pro/Ultra. Those that want iPadOS can have it exactly the same way. They can keep their hard-earned workflows. And I would get what I want. A marriage of the best hardware with the best OS.

Well i like the keyboard as it makes using it easier in certain condition, it is not a must have add on but can help people that write a lot (you don’t need a computer for that). I do not use the Keyboard that much, only if i know I need to write a lot, and even with the keyboard, i still do not see it as a computer in a traditional way.

The mouse is a nice touch as when in the keyboard it is natural to use the mouse instead of the touch.

The keyboard is not a must have, so I don’t see the reason to remove it completely.

Developer are already making pro apps without changing the OS, Final Cut, Affinity, DaVinci and many other are available and work fine on a tablet

Pro Creato is also a pro app which relies on the tablet being a tablet rather than a laptop.

Thing id, people buy stuff without researching what they need, we should not blame the iPad for that not Apple, but people buying stuff thinking it will work as they want and not how it is supposed to.

 

[yabeweb]

You might in the minority on this thread, but not out there in the real world. Tim Cook is largely at fault for people trying to use an iPad as their only computer. Right at the launch of the first iPad Pro, he started giving interviews stating “why would you ever buy a PC?“

Even more problematic was Apples’s Marketing. Naming the product “iPad Pro“ was a huge mistake as this gave consumers a completely wrong impression about what this device could do and should be used for. I’m not the first to say that Apple should’ve called it “iPad Studio,“ a name which would’ve better indicated that it had a different use case than, and capabilities beyond, a traditional computer

A consumer buying a pro makes little sense in itself, calling it studio would not changer perception in that sense i guess.
as I said before, blame people for buying things they do not do research on rather than The iPad itself.

It would be like people buying a Mac Pro because it is pro and then use it to browse the web.

 

[bcortens]

A consumer buying a pro makes little sense in itself, calling it studio would not changer perception in that sense i guess.
as I said before, blame people for buying things they do not do research on rather than The iPad itself.

It would be like people buying a Mac Pro because it is pro and then use it to browse the web.

I don't think Apple really means anything by the word "Pro" other than better than the other ones.

I mean, you can't use the iPhone Pro as a Mac either, that doesn't mean it isn't better than the standard iPhone. The MacBook Pro isn't really capable of any different categories of app compared to the MacBook Air, it just does things faster and better.

This naming convention seems to keep tripping people up and I don't know why.
The iPad Pro is just a better version of the iPad, the word Pro doesn't imply the non-pro models cannot do pro things or that the Pro models are only for Pro things.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

As a "for instance," I have two offices at home. One in a work shed and my normal one in my house. They have slightly overlapping networks with different names. For my iPad, I have to manually switch the network to the other named one using "control center" and there really isn't a shortcut to that as the shortcut can only disable and re-enable the wifi interface.

Whereas I can create a hotkey shortcut in Alfred to run a terminal command to switch to a specific wifi network.

I guess Apple could just expand iPadOS to allow Terminal but that still wouldn't allow Alfred the freedom it needs API-wise to do what it needs to do.

I mean I guess folks are right, I just need to accept that I will never be able to use the pencil on my Mac, and never be able to use my iPad Pro like my Mac--with programs like Alfred being the true test of this.

It's fine, it just cements that the iPad Pro line is fine for me as long as I buy what came out several generations ago. And I probably just need the 11 next time--maybe even the Air line would work. That is more the price I would pay for a companion device--which for me that is all it will ever be.

Give me a Macbook that can flip 360 and use a pencil on the screen and it would be bye-bye iPad LOL.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I love folks trying to parse what “Pro” means in Apple land

It has no consistently definable meaning.
The best shot at it is…

”Apple slaps Pro on anything they want to charge more for”

 

[TAJones99]

I'm happy with the iPad being what is, I own both MacBook Pro and iPad Pro. iPadOS has to just add more MacOS features that's it.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I'm happy with the iPad being what is, I own both MacBook Pro and iPad Pro. iPadOS has to just add more MacOS features that's it.

So you want it to be more macOS like?

I mean -- at some point, it's more work to maintain two barely different OSes

 

[bcortens]

So you want it to be more macOS like?

I mean -- at some point, it's more work to maintain two barely different OSes

That doesn’t actually follow, a better filesystem on iPadOS doesn’t have to be the same as the mac, but it does Need to fix the bugs that are part of the current iteration.

Improved background app support doesn’t need to be the same as the mac.

Would Mac users would be happy using a version of iPad OS with all the same capabilities as macOS? I don’t think so. As long as the touch-first UI is a priority it makes sense to keep two different platforms around.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Would Mac users would be happy using a version of iPad OS with all the same capabilities as macOS?

Yes - because you're describing the same OS!

They are built on the same underpinnings and, by definition, if they had "all the same capabilities" ... it's then the same OS.

Lots of Mac users would LOVE to be using iPad hardware but getting macOS stuff done - like tons - myself included!
It's been talked about plenty on so many Apple-centric podcasts over the years

 

[bcortens]

Yes - because you're describing the same OS!

I’m not though!

Bringing the capabilities of AppKit (on which most of the legacy macOS features are built) to UIKit Does not mean bringing AppKit to the iPad. It just means that developers could build the same apps for iPadOS and macOS.

If you’ve ever developed an iPad app you’ll know that there are two ways to use Mac Catalyst, the first just essentially brings the iPad UI over (mostly) unchanged. Even this requires some customization though, I have had to make changes to some of the ways views are layed out, changes to spacing, adding more keyboard specific features etc… This stuff isn’t free! The second way of bringing iPad apps to Mac with Catalyst however swaps iPad specific buttons for macOS specific buttons and is even more work! It doesn’t do any scaling work to adapt the iPad UI to the mac so all the spacing and buttons are still sized for touch.

The iPad menu system is not a menu bar but a menu you that appears over the content in the bottom centre. A terminal built using UIKit and built for touch first might not look anything like the macOS terminal.

A version of iPad OS that lets you drag stuff out of apps and to the springboard “desktop” like area might just do so with a folder widgets that you drag items into.

A more capable iPad OS would not use Mission Control but would likely feature an improved stage manager.

The two OS’s might be (nearly) the same underneath (iPadOS would likely never get AppKit) but they would not have the same user interface.

They are built on the same underpinnings and, by definition, if they had "all the same capabilities" ... it's then the same OS.

Lots of Mac users would LOVE to be using iPad hardware but getting macOS stuff done - like tons - myself included!
It's been talked about plenty on so many Apple-centric podcasts over the years

It depends on how you define capabilities, I define that as the ability To accomplish all the same tasks, not necessarily that you can accomplish all the same tasks in exactly the same way.

 

[turbineseaplane]

It depends on how you define capabilities, I define that as the ability To accomplish all the same tasks, not necessarily that you can accomplish all the same tasks in exactly the same way.

A fair distinction - thank you for clarifying 👍

 

[Rafterman]

I love folks trying to parse what “Pro” means in Apple land

It has no consistently definable meaning.
The best shot at it is…

”Apple slaps Pro on anything they want to charge more for”

Yes, its just a marketing term.

 

[Carrotstick]

I love folks trying to parse what “Pro” means in Apple land

It has no consistently definable meaning.
The best shot at it is…

”Apple slaps Pro on anything they want to charge more for”

Pro in Apple land is more features and more powerful than other lower tier models.

This is true for iPhone, iPad and MacBooks.

Better SoCs, Better screens and better ports.

 

[playtech1]

I fear Apple has hit a dead end with the iPad and agree with OP that it could really use a fundamental reimagining if it's to achieve broader appeal for professional use. But I think to really set the iPad free Apple would have to abandon its strict walled garden App store approach, which I just don't see Apple doing (willingly). I think that forcing the iPad to have an iPhone business model is holding it back to the point where it might kill the platform.

I scroll down the paid apps chart in the iPad App Store and it's mainly some phone-type games, learning materials and some solid art and audio apps that are generally a bit long in the tooth. Devs just don't seem that interested in developing for iPad and ultimately it's the apps that make or break any computing platform.

 

[Alameda]

Then Apple needs to quit turning it into one with the Magic Keyboard with Trackpad (in fact the new one is supposedly going to be even more laptop-like). Look if they add enough true functionality to iPadOS that developers can start making real desktop functional equivalency to their apps, then great!

But there is a shortcut through this process, and it involves just adding Mac to the iPad Pro/Ultra. Those that want iPadOS can have it exactly the same way. They can keep their hard-earned workflows. And I would get what I want. A marriage of the best hardware with the best OS.

TBH, I think the functionality is there. I’m not an expert, but I think the problem is that Apple severely limits what iPad apps can do.

 

[Yebubbleman]

But most people, particularly iPad users probably didn't go through the OS X transition and have no idea what is meant by your thread question. You can see almost all replies center around just porting macOS to the iPad or not. That's why I thought you were being intentionally vague, because as it stands, the question probably drove more response than otherwise, lol.

Fair. I hadn’t considered that there’d be a sizable portion of folks commenting on this that weren’t around for that transition. Though it did seem pretty pivotal in the overall context of the history of computing.

I love folks trying to parse what “Pro” means in Apple land

It has no consistently definable meaning.
The best shot at it is…

”Apple slaps Pro on anything they want to charge more for”

That’s pretty spot on. There have been enough things with “Pro” on them that are not all that high-end, but are marketed to be sold at premiums and to evoke to an otherwise uneducated buyer that this is the version you ought to buy (even if you don’t really need it).

TBH, I think the functionality is there. I’m not an expert, but I think the problem is that Apple severely limits what iPad apps can do.

It’s definitely a software limitation at this point. Unless the M1 (and M2, by extension) is(/are) even further underclocked from what the MacBook Air has, the OS and apps are definitely what’s limited.

 

[Ctrlos]

Whilst I'm not sure iPadOS needs a massive visual UX overhaul it would be nice to see it make better use of space, eliminate repeat interactions and tidy things up. It should also be easier for devs to port Mac apps to iPad. Full-fat AutoCAD and Fusion 360 please.

The desktop should be useable as a desktop. The 'stage' part of Stage Manager is largely superfluous when the swipe-up gesture shows you more windows and desktops. This is better than the sidebar which can only show a limited number. Replace the sidebar with the dashboard, summonable on any app. Add notifications to the same screen and make more use of space like my crappy prototype here:

 

[Rafterman]

I don't think Apple really means anything by the word "Pro" other than better than the other ones.

I mean, you can't use the iPhone Pro as a Mac either, that doesn't mean it isn't better than the standard iPhone. The MacBook Pro isn't really capable of any different categories of app compared to the MacBook Air, it just does things faster and better.

This naming convention seems to keep tripping people up and I don't know why.
The iPad Pro is just a better version of the iPad, the word Pro doesn't imply the non-pro models cannot do pro things or that the Pro models are only for Pro things.

Yep. "Pro" is just a marketing term.

 

[The Game 161]

I just hope the rumoured place icons anywhere also comes to the iPad. would certainly make the UI look so much better and see more of wallpapers.