AppleZulu

greg.edwards69 said:

Whilst I welcome the changes that iPadOS 26 brings, finally freeing it from its iOS-based shackles, it does seem like they are trying to Mac-i-fy the iPad with the additions of a menu bar, pointer, beefed-up Files app, and Expose-style multitasking. At this point, it makes you wonder whether they should just stick MacOS on the damned thing.

Even as they add features to iPadOS that edge it closer to features in macOS, the reason for a line between the two remains. You have to remember that macOS also runs the Mac Pro workstation. The distance between what an iPad needs to be and what a Mac Pro needs to be is too great. An iPad needs to be a touchscreen tablet. A touch UI on a multiscreen workstation is a terrible idea, and so is some sort of bloatware hybrid. A Mac Pro needs to run the beefiest, most memory and processor-intensive programs for things like professional video editing, rendering animation, etc. The OS built for that is not something you should try putting on your iPad mini. 

Consider that iPadOS split off from iOS because the use cases and hardware capabilities of iPads and iPhones had diverged enough to warrant it. The same kind of reasoning is why macOS will likely never land on an iPad. Put another way, why not just have macOS run everything from an iPhone SE to the Mac Pro? The answer is because Apple doesn't usually opt for making everything a little (or a lot) worse just try to be all things to all people. 

charlesn said:

Is it just me (always possible!) or does this roundup make this year's WWDC seem more like "housekeeping" as opposed to some real reno work or getting new furniture? Not that any of the above is bad, not at all, lots of little welcome changes, but it all feels like nibbling at the edges. I mean, when the "big" headline (thus far) is that Apple will use the design language it developed for VisionOS and apply it more broadly across devices, it seems like excitement is in very short supply. 

One thing that is reliably predictable is complaints about "incrementalism" every time Apple does an event to announce software and hardware updates. The incrementalism is a feature, not a bug. There has to be continuity in software upgrades and people who just paid big bucks to buy last year's hardware don't need to be angered because their investment is now obsolete.

danvm said:

AppleZulu said:

There will continue to be a limit on things like multitasking.  iPads are sealed devices with no means to cool the processor.  They can be powerful devices, but there are physical limitations that define their separation from Macs. MacBook Air has passive venting, and as you move up the Mac line you’ll find bigger and bigger fans for dissipation of heat. Apple designs the OS to serve the hardware, and so there will continue to be things that Macs do and iPads don’t do, and vice-versa.

The latest Surface Pro 12 is a sealed, fanless device. And based in the reviews, it has no issues at all with light tasks and multitasking.  I don't think the iPad / iPad Pro would have any issues at all.  

 … so we have this idea keep popping up. While a touchscreen on a notebook sounds fine and dandy (ignoring for a moment the clusterf*** of using touch to control a menu-driven OS), a touchscreen interface on a desktop Mac would be an ergonomic nightmare and orders of magnitude worse on a multi-screen Mac Pro workstation.  And before we start imagining a solution involving the bloatware of alternate user interfaces within the same operating system, let’s just remember that Windows does that for the Surface, and it’s well-proven to be nothing Apple should replicate.

So as you can see, while Apple leans into refinements that bridge the boundaries between product lines, there are actual reasons for the boundaries between product lines. Thus far, Apple has maintained the wisdom not to toss aside their core design principles in order to try to accommodate Apple fan fiction fantasies, and hopefully they will maintain that wisdom well into the future.

That "ergonomic nightmare" you describe is what we have with the iPad and the Magic Keyboard. You don't need to do everything with touch; it's just to complement the trackpad.  

When comparing the Surface and iPad, both have their pros and cons. As a tablet, the iPad is arguably the best on the market, but when it comes to using a device as a laptop or desktop replacement, the Surface stands out. It offers better multitasking, full-featured apps, and multi-monitor support. Plus, Microsoft provides the Surface Dock for a complete desktop experience. Ultimately, both are excellent devices, and the choice depends on how you plan to use them.

The iPad and keyboard are not analogous to the ergonomic noghtmare of a desktop computer with a touchscreen. 

tht said:

Hoping this iPadOS multitasking rumor means unlimited background multitasking has finally made its way to iPadOS.

Stage Manager on iPadOS basically maintained the limitation of 4 simultaneous apps, which you could do with Split View, Slide Over and PiP. The only big improvement was proper external monitor support. 

They should get rid of Stage Manager and have unlimited background multitasking. Use an Expose like UI for switching between apps and windows. Apps that were killed should not appear in the switcher. 

Oh, Terminal.app please. 

And, hopefully this thing about needing to attach a keyboard and mouse to use this UI is wrong. Everything should be doable through touch. 

There will continue to be a limit on things like multitasking.  iPads are sealed devices with no means to cool the processor.  They can be powerful devices, but there are physical limitations that define their separation from Macs. MacBook Air has passive venting, and as you move up the Mac line you’ll find bigger and bigger fans for dissipation of heat. Apple designs the OS to serve the hardware, and so there will continue to be things that Macs do and iPads don’t do, and vice-versa.

I think that the rumored home hub (maybe to be  announced at WWDC?) will yet further extend the life of original HomePods. The hub would be a centralized, powerful processor that can handle the heavy lifting, leaving the HomePods as capable as they’ve always been at playing audio. With no batteries and nothing to wear out, there’s really no need to retire old HomePods.