Apple is reportedly working a new hybrid “MacPad” device that will combine the features of an iPad with a MacBook while making use of a 20-inch folding display.
Ariel Zilber for The New York Post:
The Cupertino, California-based company is reportedly considering two options for its new “iPad-MacBook hybrid”. One possibility is that it could feature a single foldable screen that is attached to a physical keyboard.
But Apple appears to be leaning toward a second design, in which half of the new device’s display would serve as a virtual keyboard and a trackpad, according to Bloomberg, which cited Ross Young of Display Supply Chain Consultants…
[The device] is expected to be released sometime in 2026, the same year that the iPhone maker is reportedly set to roll out its much-anticipated electric car.
MacDailyNews Take: Ah, the MacPad rears its pretty head once again. Depending on the iteration, it’s an interesting idea, if we don’t say so ourselves:
Here’s an idea: Apple could sell iPad Pros as they do now, and for those wanting a “Mac,” Apple could sell them the macOS-powered display-less keyboard/trackpad/cpu/RAM/SSD/battery base unit. Attach your iPad for the display and off you go, you Mac-headed truck driver! Plus, you get to use the iPad’s battery, too, extending battery life to provide a truly all-day battery for portable Mac users. Detach the display and you get your iOS-powered iPad back, same as always.
Too outside the box? We’d love to be able to take our iPad Pro, mate it with this theoretical Mac base unit, and turn it into a portable Mac. Right now, we carry iPad Pros and MacBooks in our backpacks. Guess what’s redundant? Right, the displays. We don’t need to carry two screens on the road. The iPad Pro’s screen would do just fine, thanks.
Buy the Mac base on its own (for those who already have 12.9-inch iPad Pros) or buy it as part of a package (get a new 12.9-inch iPad Pro at a nice discount when you buy it with the Mac base). Imagine if Apple had unveiled this headless MacBook that you use with your iPad at their iPad event last fall. How many more 12-inch iPad Pro sales would such a product have generated? Enough to return iPad to unit sales growth, we bet. And, how many more Macs would have been sold, too?
— MacDailyNews, January 7, 2017
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MDN’s old take idea can be better know… iPad Pro uses the same M1 processor as Macs now. When iPad is connected to ANY supported keyboard and mouse/trackpad (including Bluetooth), it switches automatically to Mac mode. It’s running iPadOS, but with a Mac interface. After all, the world’s best interface for computer with keyboard and mouse (or equivalent) is in MacOS. In Mac mode, the screen can show optional “function bar” along bottom of screen (that mouse cursor cannot enter), if keyboard lacks f-keys, the only part of screen that remains touch-sensitive in Mac mode. If user prefers the somewhat kludgy interface with the ball cursor and touch screen, they can choose to stay in iPad mode with keyboard/mouse connected.
I wonder if macPadOS will come out, or if it’s called something else?