iPad and Mac don't compete against each other, so buy both says Apple exec
Following reviews saying that iPadOS limitations mean the new iPad Pro can't easily replace a MacBook Pro, Apple insists the two devices are complementary.
The new iPad Pro superimposed on a MacBook Pro screen
In other words, buy both. The issue of iPadOS seemingly not being as capable as the hardware in the iPad Air and iPad Pro, was brought up by all reviews of the new version.
However, Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal got to press an Apple executive about how hampered the iPad Pro feels with iPadOS. And how even though in certain circumstances the new iPad Pro can actually out-perform a MacBook Pro, she says it can't be someone's sole computing device.
"We don't see them as competing devices. We see them as complementary devices," Tom Boger, Apple's vice president of iPad and Mac product marketing, told her.
Specifically, Boger says that in Apple's mind, the iPad "has always been a touch-first device." By contrast, the Mac in all its forms is for what he described as "indirect manipulation," that is working using accessories like a keyboard and trackpad.
Stern pressed Boger about whether Apple will ever change its mind about a touch-screen Mac in some form.
"Oh, I can't say we never change our mind," he replied. There have been rumors about a touchscreen Mac for years.
Boger won't be drawn further and wasn't pressed on a 2022 rumor -- more likely wishful thinking -- that Apple intended to put macOS onto iPads running the M2 processor.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
As time has gone by, all aspects of tablets, from size, power, storage, memory etc have moved forward.
To the point that both kinds of devices can overlap perfectly well. At least on paper.
It's nonsense that a 13" tablet can't be a perfect substitute for a laptop. If keyboards can be added to tablets, touchscreens can be added to Macs. The lame, 'but your arms will get tired' doesn't hold water when plenty of PC laptops have shipped with touchscreens for years without issue and an iPad with a keyboard is using touch. If a 13" tablet plus keyboard works fine for touch, so could a Mac laptop.
That leaves the operating systems as the crunch points. iPadOS needs far better multitasking and file management options. macOS needs touch support so that moving between the two is more seamless. Most people, after prolonged tablet usage will instinctively touch their laptop screens.
With more power, memory and storage on tablets, apps should have the goal of becoming uniform in capacity and not limited to watered down options.
Convergence is the way to go.
I have a Robo & Kala 2-in-1 with the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 on Windows on Arm. The M4 iPad Pros are 2-3x faster for raw performance, but my comparably cheap tablet is far more flexible for casual computing and my use cases as a professional software developer.
I understand iPads are great for many users, but for me Apple's insistence on imposing artificial software restrictions makes it easy to ignore Apple most of the time ... only occasionally hearing about the hardware advancements and thinking "imagine if we could actually make use of that".
Why are you here? If your golf cart computer is as good as you say it is then you Microsoft/Qualcomm will win out but suspect that won't be the case, Microsoft has found the AI hype train and all of their attention will be directed in that direction or in the direction of the Blizzard 69 billion dollars train.
And no Apple putting Mac OS on the iPad is a move that was attempted by Microsoft with the ill-conceived Surface/Hybrid line of computers it didn't work and Apple doesn't need to go down that road of computer misery......
To each their own. If an iPad Pro does everything someone wants/needs, I'm happy for them. I was simply pointing out that there are "golf cart computers" available which are more affordable and more functional for many use cases, so consumers aren't forced to accept Apple's artificial software restrictions intended to force us to buy separate devices.
It's not a Mac. It's an iOS device and it's optimized for touchscreen UX. It makes a huge difference. Ever tried Windows on Surface? It's awkward. It's unnatural. It's clumsy. It's not intuitive and smooth.
Heck, I rarely mulitask on iPadOS even though they do that. I love focusing on a full screen with writing or watching or reading. I create content on a Mac and sometimes my iPad for "wacom" use.
iPadOS is becoming more and more featured but it won't become a MacOS. Never will.
Look, I love Apple, but I must ask that question in response to what they said.
When you have a 16" M1 Max MBP like I do, why in THE world do I need an iPad? I ask this as someone who has purchased more than one iPad in the past.
I am not an artist who needs to draw. I don't need Apple pencil. Therefore, why do I need an iPad which has a smaller screen than my 16" MBP and does less?
I already have an iPhone 15 Pro Max, so it's not like I don't use iOS. And while iPadOS is more capable, macOS is more capable still.
Just as the Apple Watch is really for people who (a) don't mind a thing on their wrist and (b) love to work out, iPad is especially suited for drawing with Apple Pencil, and I've already said I don't do that. And it isn't the best consumption device because as I just said, my 16" MBP has a larger screen. Plus, my MBP has better speakers too.
So this raises the important question of why any 16" MBP owner needs an iPad when they don't draw or otherwise use Apple Pencil.
Apple, give people like me a good reason why I need to also buy an iPad. I just don't see the reason now.
One aspect that rarely gets mentioned in reviews is kids. It's the ideal first computer for kids and they use them all the time for games like Minecraft and Roblox. It's rare these days to hear about kids screaming on a plane and it's because of the iPad. The highest ranked apps in the store are entertainment and kids' games:
https://www.similarweb.com/top-apps/apple/ipad/
If someone doesn't draw, doesn't have young kids, doesn't read news in the bathroom, doesn't go on vacation, doesn't Facetime family or coworkers then the iPad has limited use for them but there are tens of millions of people it is useful for.
Apple sells 2-3x more iPads than Macs so quite a few people are finding a use for them:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/299632/tablet-shipments-apple/