“Reports are circulating that Apple is preparing to unveil a larger, enterprise and power-user focused (and undoubtedly more expensive) iPad called the iPad Pro,” Adrian Kingsley-Hughes writes for ZDNet.
“I’m done with the iPad. I went through a few incarnations, but as soon as I upgraded to the iPhone 6 Plus, my iPad became a paperweight on my desk,” Kingsley-Hughes writes. “I don’t see the need for an iPad any more — regular, mini, or pro — but what I do carry around with me is my MacBook Pro, so if Apple were to come out with an OS X tablet, I’d be all over it.”
“Look at what Apple’s MacBook brings to the table… Just remove the physical keyboard and add a touchscreen display and ‘BOOM!’ you have a tablet,” Kingsley-Hughes writes. “Sure, OS X would need some work to make it touch-ready, but Apple has been working towards making OS X look and feel — and work — more like iOS during recent years… So, who’s with me in wanting an OS X tablet?”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: No, but this brings to mind a question we asked last October about a theoretical “MacPad” – Anyone in the market for a 12.9-inch device that’s an OS X-powered MacBook when docked with its keyboard base and an iOS-powered iPad when undocked?
SEE ALSO:
MacPad: Apple’s 12.9-inch MacBook/iPad may offer OS X and iOS operating systems, rumors claim – October 7, 2014
Apple’s ‘iPad Pro’ a larger model, or a laptop/tablet ‘MacPad’ hybrid? – April 16, 2014
MacPad? Apple patent application reveals hybrid MacBook+iPad details – April 4, 2013
Apple’s big secret: The iOS MacBook? – March 22, 2013
Mmmmm ….. Yeah
This is precisely what Steve Jobs said “NO” to. Mac OS X is not designed for tablet use and it would be a complicated, lowered quality interactive use.
I have used Windows on a tablet. It’s not enjoyable. It’s a bit of a hassle. As many of you know from me, keyboards on touch screens suck.
A Mac Book with removable saucer screen section ala ST:TNG I think that’s a big yes, for many. Certainly would assuage those whiny souls who want an OS X tablet. I prefer my MBP myself when OS X’ing just as I love my iPad for media consumption. How anyone can be “bored” with an iPad is beyond me. They just “aren’t using it right.” 🙂
My idea for this is that it’s an iPad, and when you attach a keyboard the UI changes to OS X (as default behavior that could of course be customized). The apps would be either native to one OS, or could work universally sharing the same locally stored data across both.
Universal app support between an iPad Pro’s iOS and OS X would also hopefully drive developers to make more Mac apps, so they can take advantage of the integration between the two.
With how tiny they were able to make the new 12″ MacBooks, they could easily fit all the same features (even the USB-C port) into an iPad Pro.
I want a hybrid tablet too!
The only problem is that TC is too lazy and incompetent to innovate anything, much less the iPad.
He thinks a giant iPad with two apps running at the same time and a stylus will allow him to charge 30 to 40 percent more, as well as turn around the iPad’s fortune.
He is wrong, because most folks are looking for a long awaited and much delayed merging of iOS and OSX. Unless it runs OSX or they rewrite iOS to have a true file system and better networking capabilities.
Do you hear that Cook… do your job for once or watch the iPad continue to freefall!
If Apple continues to let this clown run the show he will completely destroy this company, mark my words!
You’re not alone, I’ve also found a lot of disappointment in Apple lately. It was hard to admit at first, but there are just so many easy to see things I want from Apple that they never seem to deliver. Where is my gaming-optimized Mac Pro? Where is my retina 5K Thunderbolt Display? Why did they wait for iPad Air 2 to finally deliver Touch ID as something they spoke so highly of that you wouldn’t want to run iOS without after the announcement of iPhone 5s? Where is the next generation of innovative technology (VR/AR)?
Many of you may not believe it yet, but VR and AR headsets are about to disrupt the entire internet. When websites start offering a more immersive experience in a virtual 3D world, and you can walk around Facebook to see your friends, or shop in a virtual physical store instead of a flat archaic website, when the digital world takes a full paradigm shift forward, if Apple can’t do it then it will be left behind or playing catch up.
I suspect that in 2016 VR will begin its baby steps into changing the world just as much as iPhone did in 2007. It’s been nearly a decade, it’s time again, and this time Apple is not leading the way.
“most folks are looking for a long awaited and much delayed merging of iOS and OSX”
Most folks with money are looking for “something cool to buy”. Most folks also own iOS devices, so if the “cool” thing runs iOS, it just gets that much cooler.
A MacPad would be fantastic. Much better than an iPad.
My idea is a chip implanted in your head controlled by your thoughts. And then you get a tattoo keyboard on your forearm for data entry using special tattoo ink using liquid metal.
Were you guys serious? I thought we were just making shit up. Sorry.
Re:MDN take – Even if Apple does not implement this, you can do it with AstroPad, and it works GREAT for photoshop on the go. The larger iPad would make it better for sure, but I use it now with a MB Air and an iPad 3 and love it
NO NO NO !!!!
WE DO NOT WANT AN APPLE SURFACE !!!
Didn’t we learn anything from the Windows 8 debacle?
One OS does not serve both touchscreen and full power desktop user needs. A hybrid becomes the WORST of all worlds.
STOP DUMBING DOWN OS X.
(…and yes, i know that all caps is shouting. I am shouting because the idea that Apple should chase after the Microsoft Surface is the stupidest thing Apple could possibly do.)
Nothing on this planet beats the Surface tablet!
Apple has been old and passé for at least 8 years now!
Apple still hasn’t innovated in a decade!
You want the best of everything, one name and one name only, it is MICROSOFT.
In the meantime, I will fully enjoy all the technology of the future available from Microsoft today will you Apple fannies sit and wait on your big fat buns.
Keep whining!
🙂 🙂 🙂
I watch my clients try to do basic things on their homunculus underpowered 2 in 1 PCs and they are constantly confused whether to touch the screen, use the keyboard, etc. Apple is not going to do BAD USER INTERFACE.
also I don’t mind if people touch my iPad but, as a graphic designing, if you get fingerprints on my monitor – I lose my mind, so no thank you to touch OS X unless the screen is self-cleaning.
You are on to something. Apple needs to develop the iSwiffer!! It will automatically clean and disinfect your touchscreen like a rear window wiper on your minivan. I’m sure they are waiting to perfect the iSwiffer technology first, and then they will come out with the Tablet/Computer/Desktop/Mobile/Wireless/Cabled/TV/Radio/Autonomous Car that I read about. It’s all over seekingalpha. Those guys know things that no one else has ever heard of. My go to source for reliable info.
Trust me when I say that Apple has their own idea of what a hybrid should be and are working on it. They just aren’t going to release it prematurely like the competition. A series chips are nearly if not already PC powerful. They will not compromise on form factor (e.g, weight, etc.). One day we will dock and it’s an OS X and then release and its the perfect tablet. From a business perspective, the day this happens will be the end of Microsoft because Apple will have the cost advantage of not having to pay $300 for an Intel processor and be able to deliver the BEST mobile AND desktop experience at a price (all-in) hovering around $1000 and STILL make their 40%+ margins. Windows PC users who just manage basic documents, etc. will flock to the 2-for-1 deal in the millions and the $300 billion PC market will all Apple’s. Android won’t be able to compete for obvious reasons (one of which is they have NO desktop OS). This is the path to $1 trillion dollar market cap and beyond. It’s coming and when it’s released you’ll understand why they waited. Invest now.
What am I missing? Why would anyone want to use an interface designed for a keyboard and mouse on a touchscreen? Makes no sense.
Are the people advocating this recent converts to the Mac from the Windows world and they just don’t get it? Really bad idea and Apple won’t do it.
Sooner or later it will happen.
The lack of file system on ios is a seriously inconveniant… And lack of full fledged apps.
As i have said many many times.. ( and recieved quite a few 1 star ratings for it)
I want a hybrid device with a scalable adabtable os.
The new macbook proves it can be done and done perfectly and beautifuly !
I get that you want file management capabilities in iOS, which is a perfectly valid desire. I expect Apple will make that capability available at some point.
But I don’t understand what you mean when you say you want a hybrid device. Since underneath the hood iOS and OS X share the same code base, I struggle to understand what you mean. The thought of a hybrid interface strikes me as a horrible idea.
BTW, I’m not the one who down voted you.
By hybrid i mean a laptop type device that allows the the screen to be rotated and folded on keyboard ( several ways , fold back or rotate and fold on keyboatd ) .. And also it allows for screen to be detached….At which point the os will scale down to more of an ios type interface to accommodate the lower horsepower of screen only setup. ( processor and ram )
When attached to the keyboard base.. It will run at full os scale.. Sometging along osx .
Touch interface will be optimized for each adaptation.
Thank you for your more detailed explanation. I understand better whT you are saying. Nevertheless, I’m not sure you fully understand what you are asking for.
1) First, you’re making an misguided assumption that you have to “scale down” the OS simply because you detach a keyboard from a screen and therefore need to save battery power. The current iPad performance is comparable to a dual core i5 from 2013. The difference between iOS and OS X is not about horsepower. It is about having the right GUI for the physical hardware interface.
2) It would be an enormously complex usability problem to solve if you wanted to switch between a mouse/keyboard interface to a touch GUI while a program is active. Yet, anything less than that and you end up with a suboptimal interface that pleases no one. Maybe someday Apple or some other company will figure it out. Microsoft surely hasn’t with their Surface train wreck. This is not a trivial task and one should underestimate the importance of getting it right.
I’ll wait and see. but just yesterday, I was fuming at how both Andy Inhatko and Ben Bajarin were salivating over upcoming Google devices that do just what this article depicts- and how “natural” a mouse and keyboard felt in this newly designed tablet environment- a glimpse into the future. I’d certainly prefer it to come from Apple, not Google, whatever it is. (In fact, I unfollowed Bajarin- he’s becoming more and more of a Google groupie.)
13 inches is way too big for me.😕
Me too. I want an OS X tablet. But… I will take an iPad Pro happily.
I love OS X, iOS -not so much. I’m really hoping this is the case so I can retire my six year old MBPro
Coincidentally, today I just swapped out my last iPad for a Macbook to use as a mobile work station.
Granted, as a Mac user since 1988, you could say I have my biases……but my productivity today is literally not less than 5 times my best day on an iPad.
Why did I ever think that a touch interface could possibly work as smoothly and intuitively as a track pad. NOT EVEN REMOTELY CLOSE.
I did not realize how much time I was spending with work arounds and irritating bugs that just are not there to the same extent as OSX.
Don’t get me wrong, since Apple has mostly abandoned the Human Interface Guidelines that quite literally made them what they are today,(yes literally) it’s not nearly as efficient, logical, and enjoyable as it once was, but I will take it until sanity hopefully returns some day. But in that regard, OSX is light years ahead of iOS. Sorry if you dont believe me, I don’t care.
I enjoyed doing creative work today with little or no irritations that I overlooked on iOS. It’s fun again.
I poured half a glass of pinot grigio in my macbook air. it didn’t like it and i now have a new macbook. I discovered that its more comfortable to use than my iPad and. of course, much faster and more functional.
Apple are rumoured to be removing dashboard – which has more or less fallen by the wayside, though i use it every day. But perhaps they could replace it with iOS app support – and add a touch screen. The macbook is much easier to read in bed or on the sofa – holding the iPad up is a pain. I am overseas right now – i took the macbook and left the iPad at home…
From 20 years of retail sales experience, I can tell you this: Multifunction tablet devices with detachable keyboards sell VERY POORLY.
Apple is very unlikely to go that direction, and I’m pretty sure they won’t.