Flexibility. And I wonder if remote work has altered that balance lately too. Many I suspect now have chiefly desktop computers, except they’re actually laptops plugged into screens. Because there are still some occasions in which you want to be able to take a working computer somewhere else.
But a laptop starts to look like a strangely optimised device for this. Too small to be a powerful desktop and sometimes (if you’ve gotten a beefy one) too big to be comfortably portable. However, a nice desktop machine coupled with a very portable tablet that can, in those few times its necessary, be a productive enough work machine, but also just be the nice portable media machine wherever you want, seems like an ideal pairing for many now. That the ipad absolutely cannot do some things you’d maybe, even just once a decade, need to do on the fly is a show stopper for this pairing.
And so many probably have a laptop used as a desktop most of the time and an ipad used as a kindle most of the time.
When you want to draw something you go to tablet mode and use the pencil. - When the drawing you made needs some editing that iPad software can't do then you switch to mac os mode and finalize the drawing.
Do some programming in mac mode because programming on ipad is extremely limited. - Then when you're done coding you switch to tablet mode and relax with some touch based jigsaw puzzle games.
When you have to use the windows-only programs that work mandates you have to use then you go to mac mode with attached keyboard and run it through parallels. - Then that evening you switch to tablet mode and chill in bed reading a comic book.
Etc etc etc.
All the things that are better done on a mac, and all the things that are better done on an iPad, they all have no reason for existing on separate hardware
The reason is software. Writing good quality software that works on both touch screen and mouse+keyboard is expensive, time-consuming, and tricky to get right. Not only do you need to write apps that work in both mediums, but then you have to write the bridge that transitions between the two modes. Do it wrong and you get Windows 8.
So why bother? Microsoft just kinda allowed touchscreens in laptops, but Windows is still very much a mouse+keyboard-first OS, and touch comes 2nd. For Apple so far, it’s been cheaper (and more profitable) to sell separate devices, write separate apps, and use Continuity/iCloud/Handoff/AirDrop to transfer between devices.
It doesn't have to have software that runs in both. All it needs is a toggle to switch between ipad os mode, and mac os mode. That's literally all it needs. In ipad mode it's just ipad os. In mac mode its just mac os. Mac mode would require a hardware keyboard and pointer device, not touch screen.
I’m pretty sure it can run it considering the M series Macs all run iOS apps. They probably haven’t figured out how to roll it out or they want to squeeze more money by making you buy both.
Well, with macOS there are layers to what the user can do. You can stick to apps (most), or you can open up the terminal and the console and use the machine at a significantly lower level (ie, “hacker” unix/bsd style).
I haven’t used an ipad in ages … but AFAICT It seems slightly dumb that they don’t just open up a similar possibility with the ipad for those who are happy to go there. A mode that is literally just “Laptop” mode … full macOS with mouse cursor and the full functionality. Then when you want to just browse and read etc, hit a button and you’re back to touch based iPadOS. At this point it should really just be a different UI skin.
The reality though, I think, is that it’s about market segregation (ie monopolistic money).
Apple, like Microsoft, Amazon, Google etc are all “IBM-ified”. More about squeezing their well established market positions than doing anything remotely risky or interesting. A fusion ipad/laptop is the sort of thing a younger company would have done by now (with of course microsft having tried that ages ago).
i have 2018 ipad pro, and it’s so frustrating to know that i have what is essentially a pretty powerful computer, and it’s being nerfed by it’s software that barely has any more functionality than ios ☠ apple actually released mac mini devkits that ran on a12z so we know it’s possible to run such software there, they just refuse to do it.
btw, does anyone remember when they said it’s impossible to bring stage manager to 3rd gen ipad pros, and then they actually brought it after user outrage
So many unused iPads around the world collecting dust because they seem super convenient, but in reality kinda suck to use for anything other than streaming.
I did really like it for notes in school… but yeah, now it’s just sitting there. Not cuz it’s old or has performance issues, I’ve just got no use for it. I either use my phone or my laptop.
I really wish Apple would just release the driver source codes for older devices so we can install linux on them. I have an old iPad 2 and its Safari browser is too old to even stream YouTube anymore.
I’m looking forward to checking out the thin design in a store later this week. I won’t buy one cause that’s not the product for me. I have an iPad mini at the sofa for quick one-handed browsing when we pause the tv. My partner gets a snack or goes to the bathroom and it’s the perfect size for a brief distraction, then it goes in a pocket on the side of the sofa arm.
Overkill hardware is OK with me. As long as it meets the need and has good battery life, I’m happy, but I don’t see overkill as a selling point.
My iPhone is absolutely overkill in the CPU department. I never push its capabilities. but I didn’t buy it for the benchmarks. I bought it because it’s a pretty good phone.
Not sure about this pro, but the previous models had kinda lacking battery life in some workloads because the CPU was just too damn powerful (and power hungry)
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