Apple brought its iPad tablet a little closer to Mac computers at the last WWDC, announcing new features for its iPadOS 17 software that add better multitasking functions, among many other functions, but could iPadOS have the same functions as MacOS?
The new changes to the iPad represent another key change to the device, with the aim of advancing the "professional" skills of tablets Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC),. While Apple has added power and capabilities to its iPads, the software has been criticized by many reviewers for not offering enough functionality. Let's see it!
Apple appears ready to answer many of those concerns with its latest software. Some features, such as collaboratively sharing documents through Messages, are extensions of the new sharing features.
FaceTime calls while work on a shared document more easily, and work while keeping FaceTime open. It seems like a step toward virtual collaborative work solutions for Apple, similar to what Google and Microsoft already use.
Apple also has a collaborative workspace app called Freeform, which works like a giant whiteboard, and guest collaborators can start adding things at the same time, or modify them.
iPad OS closer to MacOS every day
iPadOS also aims to make better use of more advanced iPads that feature one of Apple's M chips. The Cupertino guys also aim to add more desktop features to the apps: some with customizable toolbars, and the Files app It looks like it's finally becoming a little more versatile for file management.
iPads are getting optimal screen scaling, to create a larger feel, allowing for more screen real estate with apps open. There's also a resizing of windows, along with support for external displays. Stage Manager is also on iPadOS. The result is windows that can overlap and be of different sizes, just like a Mac.
And the external displays function as additional screen real estate rather than just mirroring the iPad. The feature is limited it's true, but that's a lot more than what was available before. There is also, finally, a weather application.
iPad as your main desktop device
But what's stopping iPadOS from becoming the mainstream operating system? It's an iPad. Not everyone wants a tablet that can become a half-baked laptop through accessories, some of them somewhat cumbersome. A large part of people just want a laptop that you can simply open, and that is fully functional on its own, without third-party accessories, and the truth is that Apple MacBooks are small, light and portable, so it is difficult to compete with them. Also adding certain ways of working with it, which are comfortable, being able to stably put the MacBook on your lap or on your lap, and work without problems.
Currently, only the Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro has real working capacity, because it has a surface that sits in your lap, and the weight of the iPad is balanced by hanging a rigid hinge above the keyboard. But it has two main drawbacks: there is no room for a row of function (F) keys, and the size of the trackpad is on par with laptops from 15 years ago, it is tiny.
The Magic Keyboard Folio for the regular iPad has room for a row of function keys, but at the cost of lapability, like the Microsoft Surface Pro, because it has a kickstand that can move back, and because the bottom and top (keyboard and iPad) are not connected by a rigid hinge.
For the iPad to replace a MacBook for most people, it needs to offer all the features of a laptop, including an equivalent keyboard and full-size trackpad.
Would the creation of an iPad and MacBooK hybrid be possible?
Laptops like the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio or the HP Elite Folio show how hybrid devices can be more stylish. Like the Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro, the screen can be pulled forward and can also be folded completely flat, so the keyboard and trackpad are protected. Since the screen here is just a screen, its weight distribution is perfectly lapable.
Of course, these devices are still mainly a laptop, but they are also very suitable for use as a tablet, and could probably be built as thick as the iPad Pro between the two halves of the Magic Keyboard when closed.
A hybrid device is the future of MacBooks for most people. Just as the iPad possesses an uncompromising tablet form factor with compatibility capability (+ keyboard and trackpad), the hybrid device would have an uncompromising laptop form factor with a compromised tablet feature, for those who prefer a variant of this type.
Most importantly, both devices would run the same modern operating system, allowing developers to reach the vast majority of all users by developing their apps for a single platform, which is not currently the case. And people who prefer the laptop form factor wouldn't be faced with a completely different operating system.
Taking the pressure off macOS
But what will become of macOS? It will always be the computer for the rest of us. Because it can do things that iPadOS will never do, but that's still necessary, and that's the key point. But there will only be a small percentage of people who need the openness and legacy compatibility of macOS. Everyone else will be used to the closeness and order of a modern operating system like iPadOS.
And with iPadOS being the primary operating system, there's no pressure on macOS to modernize.
