Would you like Apple to be on the current trajectory of making iPadOS more like MacOS through efforts like Stage Manager or simply let the iPad Pro run macOS? I am sure deep someone at Apple in the R&D department has an iPad Pro running MacOS and is loving it and lament that it is not allowed to escape the confines of the laboratory.
Okay, this is just me guessing really hard but I do not think it is out of the realm of possibility given that Apple has a history of doing this kind of thing. Even while Apple was selling Macs running on PowerPC, they had a parallel track of OS development on Intel's X86 chips that went on to do very well. And then of course, while Apple was selling Intel-based Macs, Apple was preparing to move the Macs over to chips developed in house.
And so far, Apple has decided to make iPadOS more, well, iOS-like rather an allow the M1 and M2 iPads run MacOS. All the while, Apple is trying to increase a segment of users who want to only use their iPad Pro as their main computer additional productivity options like Stage Manager. So far, Stage Manager has had a tepid reception at best. It's better we really hold judgement until the third or even fourth iteration before we decide of Apple has finally succeeded or failed in this attempt to give the iPads with M-series chips more parity in terms of productivity with the Macs.
Failing that, Apple could conceivably open up MacOS to the iPad Pro. It would be similar to using a MacBook Air - with limited battery life of course.
You might argue that perhaps Apple would never do that because it would cannibalize MacBook Air sales. It might but I doubt it. The iPad Pro is a very different machine than the MacBook Air when they are running their respective OS. Plus, the MacBook Air has distinct advantages over the iPads. At this point, the only thing good that the iPad Pro would have running MacOS is that, well, it can run iPadOS and MacOS. And even so, as an iPad user, I do not see myself having the need to run MacOS unless there are apps that I need to use that are not available for iPadOS.
What will likely happen is that we will see Apple bring more features like Swift development over to iPadOS and eventually allow developers to code and release apps for the iOS and iPadOS more seamless than it already is available through Playgrounds. We will see select features that professional users needs become available on iPadOS, thereby, negating much of the needs for users to run MacOS on an iPad.
The question for those of us who would like to see more MacOS features or Mac apps ported over to iPadOS is what those features/apps are and when it happens.
No comments:
Post a Comment