The iPad and Mac Conundrum

When the iPad launched, it was a simple concept: All the features of iOS, but with a larger screen.  It came in large and small screens.  Like the iPhone, the iPad evolved into several SKUs.  Unlike the iPhone, which kept its scope, the iPad evolved into a device that doesn’t quite know what it is or who it’s for.  Let’s take a look at Apple’s current offerings and take a lot of Apple’s options.

The Entry-Level iPads

There are three entry-level iPads that couldn’t be more different.  The iPad 9 is the last bastion of the original iPad Line complete with the home button.  While it has desktop-like additions to iPadOS, it is clearly a touch-first device.  It is also the most affordable at $329.  Ironically, it's the iPad that makes the most sense.  It is the closest to the iPad’s original vision. The only downside to this product is that its days are certainly numbered it’s been replaced by the iPad 10.

The new iPad 10 completes the transition of the iPad and is the first to truly recognize the evolution from a portrait to a landscape device.  It is essentially an iPad Air 4 with a webcam on the side, a non-laminated display, and a new, MS Surface-like arrangement for the connector at the bottom.  The only, puzzling holdover from the iPad 9 is support for the OG lightning Apple Pencil 1.  They could have either updated the original Pencil or introduced Pencil 2 for all the current iPad SKUs, but they didn’t.

The iPad Mini exists in a world confusingly in between the iPad 10 and the iPad Air with the laminated display, and Pencil 2 support, but at 8.3 inches it is obviously too small for a keyboard and trackpad.   

I would put these three as the consumer iPads.  Despite some confusing traits, they make the most sense in the lineup.  iOS works well for these devices and their users.  iPads are the computers for most users and rightly so.  They deliver all the functionality most consumers need and they’re priced low enough, especially the cellular models on installment plans, where everyone in the family can have their own.  Quite frankly, they are the device of Generation Z.  If this was the iPad line, I don’t think people would be complaining.  It’s what comes next that has people scratching their heads.  

iPad Pro, OS Not So Much

I’m going to be frank here; the hardware in the iPad Air and Pro lines is spot on if not a great value.  The failings in these iPad levels are strictly software related.  With M1 and M2 SoCs, the Air and Pro are Macs in hardware but are hobbled by the iOS underpinnings of ipadOS.  This is very much by design, as Apple artificially differentiates the Mac and iPad in ways that longer make sense.  

While Apple sees the iPad and MacBook as drastically different devices, divergent evolution has brought the two devices closer than ever while retaining their own individual strengths.  For the iPad, it needs to have its power fully unleashed with a fuller operating system than iPad OS, but the Mac also needs to not be held back by 40-year-old computing paradigms.  Specifically, the touch bar was the right idea, but the wrong execution.  The Windows world has shown that limited touch capability on the screen is beneficial as a secondary input device.  It doesn't replace the keyboard and mouse.  Likewise, the keyboard and the mouse are secondary input methods on the iPad.  

Free the iPad… and the Mac

Ironically, Apple could have an easy solution.  The M1/2 iPads and perhaps even the new A14 iPad can run macOS quite easily and under my proposal, they would be.  They would also run iPadOS through virtualization.  The ability to switch between interfaces would exist through Control Center.  Not only would this enhance iPad Pro and Air users, but Mac users who want a more simplified experience would also be served as well.  Remember, iPadOS works quite well with a Keyboard and mouse.  It would also give the iPad the multiple-user support it has solar lacked. 

This would require that Apple make that final push in merging Mac and iPad apps into a single platform as well as adjustments for both OSes form factors.  The fact that a lot of the hardware will now be common simplifies things a bit.  

Unlearn Everything That You Have Learned 

Apple has made incredibly powerful lines of computers, Mac Desktops, Mac Laptops, and iPads.  Now, it just needs to free itself from what was and adapt to what is.  The Mac and iPad have grown so close together, now its time to finish the job and make one fantastic platform.