Apple’s iPad Pro is only a few key steps away from being a killer computer

“I’ve written this story before. For years,” Scott Stein writes for CNET. “I sit on a train, in a coffee shop, at the office, on a plane, at a press conference. The iPad is in my hands. I think: this can be my everything. This could be the One Device. And then, something happens. A disconnect, a workflow break, something that makes me go back to… something else.”

“It’s not the tablet hardware itself that’s the problem,” Stein writes. “The iPad has too long resembled the iPhone, down to its useless grid of apps on the home screen. That may have been helpful in 2010 when people were learning what a tablet was, but those days are gone.”

All-new designs push 11-inch and 12.9-inch Liquid Retina displays to the edges of iPad Pro.
All-new designs push 11-inch and 12.9-inch Liquid Retina displays to the edges of iPad Pro.

 
“Apple revamped iOS for iPads with split screen, an app dock and other ideas a couple of years ago, but that’s not enough. As to what that killer OS could look like? That’s up to Apple,” Stein writes. “But it needs to let the iPad be its own thing. And it should support new inputs and accessories at an OS-wide level, including trackpads, mice, Pencil’s new double-tap commands, and everything USB-C could bring to the table.”

Much more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: If you want it to be considered a “real computer,” Apple, how about Xcode for iOS?

Imagine an “iOS Pro” mode.

Turn on iOS Pro on your iPad Pro
1. Tap Settings > General, and make sure iOS Pro is turned on.
2. There is no step two.

Hey, we can dream, can’t we?

Shouldn’t such a thing already exist? Where would iPad sales be if it did?MacDailyNews, December 29, 2015

The answer isn’t to try to make the iPad into a MacBook. The answer is to provide all the tools possible in iOS for developers to make robust apps that can take advantage of the multi-touch paradigm. — MacDailyNews, May 16, 2017

SEE ALSO:
Apple’s amazingly powerful iPad Pro is a computer from the future, with software from yesterday – November 9, 2018
I can’t put Apple’s new iPad Pro down, but we really need ‘padOS’ – November 8, 2018
What Apple’s iPad Pro enables matters more than what it replaces – November 7, 2018
The Verge reviews the new iPad Pro: Apple’s approach to iOS is holding back powerful hardware in serious ways – November 5, 2018

32 Comments

  1. Although Apple has done a great job with touch navigation, I still work much faster when not having to touch the screen. A Mac with touchpad and key command shortcuts is still a more efficient way to work in my humble opinion. I like my iPad for content consumption and short duration travel where I may not need the heavyweight apps on my Mac.

    1. In certain applications yes..But in others a Huge No.
      Ipad and pencil offers a unique paradigm of interactivity and directness that none of the others remotly can!!
      So its all case/task dependent.

      And NO .. ipad is no longer a content consumption device.. that is an argument of yester yearS.
      Ipad, given the task at hand , is every bit as capable of producing stunning and professional results. In some cases even better and more efficiently and naturaly !
      If one can not do this is because one has not tried to learn the paradigm and exeperiment with some of the amazing new software available for it.

      The only problem holding ipad back is lack of CORE user manageable file sys and an open usb-c port.

      1. Totally agree I can only add that one of the barriers remaining is too great of a reliance still on menus over the far more logical drag and drop, especially between apps and storage options. Cannot get my head around why a touch interface is using menus to the degree it does where drag and drop is so natural and faster than a cursor keyboard based interface for so many tasks expect I ally when even the Mac excelled there in comparison to PCs for so long. Needs to play more to its strengths.

        1. How do you know that? I’ll save you the trouble — you don’t! Just more of the same opinions MINUS FACTS like a lot of your irresponsible posts lately. Scott Forstall leaving Apple was announced October 2012. Pay attention, Scott had absolutely NOTHING to do with the iPad Pro. Tim and team OWN IT and can change it ANYTIME. But when your are a clueless beancounter CEO, this is what we put up with. TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE! …

      2. “In certain applications yes..But in others a Huge No.”

        Name ONE “Huge No.” I have plenty of time to wait for an answer.

        When you compare a fully loaded iPad Pro with pencil and a fully loaded 2013 Mac Pro its not even a contest. A totally laughable exercise like comparing a Ford Fiesta to a Maserati. …

  2. The iPad will never replace a regular computer.

    Until you can open 2 files in the Same Application. For example Pages and Numbers. You need to be able to open two files in Pages in Split Screen. So you can cross reference 2 Or More files in the “Same” Application.
    Shame on Apple…..
    Notability beat you to it. Two Files open at the same time in the same Application.

    1. That is a very senseless comment.
      A regular desk/lap top computer will never replace a tablet either!
      That comment is equivalent in senselessness as saying an orange will never replace an Apple as food.
      Well an Apple wont replace an Orange either.

      They are two different paradigm intended to be efficient at different tasks. ..
      Read above post.

      I am a firm believer that those making coments of these sorts are older, probably retired people or near retired , involved in to their legacy ways and having a very hard time adapting/accepting change !

      1. @Mack: “The iPad will never replace a regular computer.”

        No amount of Apple fanboy conjecture from you or anyone else will change that fact! It is technologically IMPOSSIBLE. Dabbling in neutered pro software will never replace the pro standards and computer processing firepower. Wake up, fanboy….

      2. “A regular desk/lap top computer will never replace a tablet either!”

        Fair enough, but it doesn’t need to, it already subsumes all it’s functions, and well… you NEED a “regular computer” (PC) to program a tablet or phone. In fact, other than mobility, there is no function of a tablet that a PC can’t do.

        Now, for a special class of PC, the netbook, tablets do perform “better” for the subset of functions they do perform. But fortunately, the netbook is dead, and iPads are nowhere near the price to be competitiors.

        1. “A regular desk/lap top computer will never replace a tablet either!”

          Fair enough, but it doesn’t need to, it already subsumes all it’s functions, and well… you NEED a “regular computer” (PC) to program a tablet or phone. In fact, other than mobility, there is no function of a tablet that a PC can’t do.

          Now, for a special class of PC, the netbook, tablets do perform “better” for the subset of functions they do perform. But fortunately, the netbook is dead, and iPads are nowhere near the price to be competitiors.

          I don’t care who copies who, even if it’s me copying me. I’m crazily cynical like that, even when it’s apples vs oranges.

      3. I am a firm believer that those making coments of these sorts are older, probably retired people or near retired , involved in to their legacy ways and having a very hard time adapting/accepting change !

        I am a firm believer that the person who wrote that comment is a tit.

    1. I agree. Most tech people claim the Microsoft Surface Pro is light years ahead of the iPad Pro because it has all those features you’re asking for. The Surface Pro runs Windows with a real file system and USB-C. Apple will someday get around to doing this, I’m sure but they’re going to push iOS as long as possible.

      I’m not interested in tablets and prefer a MacBook Pro in place of an iPad Pro. I think most people prefer laptops over tablets but that’s just my personal opinion. I can’t say if Apple is really wasting its time with the iPad Pro running iOS but it sure seems that way. I’m no good at predicting the future of devices, so I may be missing what Apple is attempting to do with the iPad Pro in its current form.

      1. This, this, this.

        The article might as well be titled “iPad is missing just one thing – give it a completely new OS like Windows is on the Surface, and it will be a killer computer.”

        (When are Sheeple going to admit that iPad is just a Surface wanna be?)

      2. “I think most people prefer laptops over tablets but that’s just my personal opinion. I can’t say if Apple is really wasting its time with the iPad Pro running iOS but it sure seems that way.”

        Agreed. Pros prefer serious firepower over this fantasy and do not dawdle on iOS. Even if OSX was added and performed better than the Surface the physical limitations remain and seriously unable to compete iwith a Mac or PC Pro.

        “Captain, I can’t change the laws of physics.”

        — Scotty,
        Star Trek, original TV series

    2. No. it is religiously impossible. When iPad will become a computer — touchscreen option will be removed from it according long standing mantra: “No, MacOs does not need a touch screen”

    3. Still quite a few steps short. The iPad is a lightweight portable. The more it is hyped on MDN the more credibility is lost. If all you do is consume light weight social media and surf the web, goody for you. A real computer can do a thousand things more.

      Missing: Accurate text selection for one. A clean screen that isn’t constantly covered with smudges. A 27 inch or greater screen. Real multitasking. Separate wired connections that just work. A real keyboard. Ability to repair or upgrade. A serious GPU. Serious onboard storage. The list is so long, this is the tip of the iceberg

      The iPad will indeed never replace a real personal computer, Mac or Windows.

      1. Smudges, eh? Not that it bears on the larger issues, but surely the solution for smudges lies with those eating finger foods looking into a mirror, rather than anything delivered (or not) from Cupertino?

  3. The vision is that when you plug in your iPad or iPhone into power and displays, it begins to run a desktop friendly OS. Your device connects to mouse and keyboard for desktop control. The horsepower and storage (iCloud) are there. It’s the software storage that holding this up.

    This has been Steve’s vision since the original iPhone was introduced. It just takes time to come together.

Reader Feedback

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.