For at least 10 years, I wanted an iPad that could be my full-time computer. This feeling is stronger than ever since Apple launched its new fast, beautiful and capable iPads. So, Apple, please make this happen.
I write about an iPad Pro NOW. I work on my iPad. Lots of people do it. It has a great keyboard and trackpad case. A nice and vivid OLED screen. Of course, it’s a computer. But I know that I will inevitably return to my MacBook Air at one point. Maybe later today when I file this story or resolve some notes in Google Drive. My workflow will go backwards.
Why does this happen? Put a MacBook and an iPad Pro with its Magic Keyboard side by side, and you get, to all appearances, two laptops in parallel evolution. They look so similar at first glance that you may not even know which is which.
There are some differences between them. The MacBook has a rear hinge between its keyboard and display, no touchscreen, and more ports. The iPad snaps into a floating keyboard case, has a single port and a touchscreen. But in terms of hardware, I have more difficulty telling you the differences. They both have Apple M series processors: the M2 and M4 respectively. They both have landscape-oriented front cameras for video chats. Am I not looking at two flavors of the same thing?
“Don’t put MacOS on an iPad,” some cry. iPadOS is great, don’t change what makes iPads great. “iPad Pros should already be Macs,” cry others. Microsoft’s Surface Pro has been around for years with full Windows, and Apple still makes us buy two expensive machines when we could only have one.
I’m here to argue, why can’t we have both?
It’s not crazy to want an iPad to be a Mac. With its keyboard on, it’s like I’m looking at something with a long trunk, thick legs and big ears. But many voices, including Apple’s, tell me it’s not an elephant.
Let iPads be iPads
I’m not here to say that an iPad should never be an iPad. My children use iPads. My wife uses an iPad. My mother uses an iPad. My nephews and niece have iPads. Everyone loves iPads. They are fine. And of course, Apple shouldn’t get involved. The iPad runs tons of apps well, it’s versatile, it’s familiar, it’s portable, and it’s a simple device for people who aren’t techies. It’s a good portable TV, game console, browser, sketchbook, and even a good light work machine.
Guard it. Let the iPad continue to improve as chips get better and apps can do more with AI and everything else. This all sounds great. They’re clearly already on that path, and that’s why Apple sells a good amount of them every year – iPads earn Apple an amount close to what the company makes from Macs.
The MacBook Air M2 (left) and iPad Pro 2024 (right). They continue to converge. Let them complete the journey.
But also, whether they are Mac (or close enough)
Now here’s the other part: For iPad Pro models in particular, it should also be Mac.
“Macs too, Scott? You mean dual boot?” This may be a thought that is going through your mind right now.
I don’t know. All I know is that I want to press a button on that Magic Keyboard and my iPad experience suddenly transforms into something indistinguishable from a Mac, or at least so close that it’s the same thing.
Is this confusing? I do not think so. This is just a refinement of what Apple already offers with Stage Manager. Currently, a single tap of an icon (hidden in a drop-down menu) brings up a multitasking mode in which multiple apps can be resized and overlaid on the iPad’s screen as well as a connected external monitor. But this multitasking mode allows a maximum of four applications, regardless of the power or size of the iPad model, as well as four additional applications on a connected monitor, regardless of its size. The size of application positions can be changed, but not as freely as on a Mac.
I want total freedom and lots of apps. I also want Mac apps, which could be enabled somehow if Apple figured it out. The Mac runs iOS apps, and the Mac and iPad Pro models now have the same processors. The iPad Pro actually has a next-generation M-series chip (and a better screen and front-facing camera).
I also want a browser that looks exactly like the Mac’s. It’s not similar at all; the same. I need my workflows in the browser to work, and for them to work with other types of browsers as well.
MacOS doesn’t support touchscreens, you say? Who cares? I work on iPad Pro with a Magic Keyboard connected 95% of the time, and when I do, I almost never touch the screen. The iPad is already adapted to work with trackpads and keyboards, so what’s the difference if I use a Mac app instead?
Putting a touchscreen on a Mac is a more difficult proposition because, yes, MacOS is not touchscreen ready. But you can run a keyboard and trackpad compatible Mac app on an iPad, right? I want this Mac or Mac-like mode to be seamless and become my Pro mode. And for anyone who wants the familiar feel of the iPad? Just press this button and go back.
Also improve the life of my keyboard and pencil
Even if you disagree that the iPad Pro sometimes feels more like a Mac, you can surely agree that Apple hasn’t made life with the Pencil Pro and Magic Keyboard seamless . The iPad Pro in keyboard-tethered mode is very laptop-like in its shape, but it’s not a fun device to use suddenly and spontaneously with a Pencil.
If I want to write notes, draw, or use the Pencil to navigate, it’s difficult to reach the iPad’s floating screen when it’s resting on the Magic Keyboard. It’s a bit wobbly and too high. I want to lower the iPad, resting it on the keyboard, so I can sit back and draw. The Magic Keyboard doesn’t fold this way, or even switch to folio mode, requiring me to take out the iPad and hold it instead.
Why hasn’t Apple solved this geometry yet? I expected the new Magic Keyboard to bend in a new direction to make the Pencil and keyboard flows feel more…well, magical. There’s still time to figure that out with the next release, and if Apple ever makes a touchscreen Mac, it’ll be worth finding out.
I would make my iPad Pro my Mac if I could, consolidate before the next Vision
As I said in my review of the iPad Pro, this device and its hardware could and should easily be my everyday computer, saving me the hassle of buying a MacBook. Apple, of course, says you can already do this. Some people do. Or, Apple suggests, you can buy both and use them together.
But why not have both in one? Cynically, I guess it’s because Apple wants us to buy two devices instead of one. If so, it seems ridiculous. Apple is already planning to consider other future products like the VisionPro, which promises to be a computer that connects to our Macs (and hopefully one day, our iPads and iPhones). I’d be more likely to consider alternative high-end accessories or peripherals if Apple wasn’t already trying to sell me two different types of increasingly similar (but not identical) computers in the iPad Pro and Mac . All these computers can quickly become expensive.
The latest from Microsoft AI-infused Surface range keeps pointing out to me that yes, tablets and laptops can run the same software. Microsoft has never found a good operating system for mobiles and tablets. And so, for better or worse, he continues to use Windows across the board. Apple, however, could have it both ways. The mobile and tablet software is solid, but iPads also need a dose of this desktop OS.
The future of Apple’s computer line is simple, to me, and has been for years and years: iPads and Macs must merge, or become so compatible with each other that they are truly interchangeable. They are closer than ever in 2024, but as Approaches to WWDC With promises of new device-transforming software (and lots of AI), I hope Apple finally takes the plunge to allow high-end iPads to double as Macs. And as always, I don’t expect much.