I think Apple is actually in between a bit of a rock and a hard place with putting MacOS on iPad

[Android Sophia]

Unless things have changed lately, Stage Manager is the only way to do real window management* on iPadOS and it's a disaster. It's so confusing and is doesn't even approach the efficiency of a desktop OS.



*I suppose your setup can work well enough with split view, slide over, and picture in picture, but that's not real window management with arbitrary resizing and moving windows around. Stage Manager seems to be Apple's attempt at this in iPadOS and I just hate it.

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I did say casual experience. You won't get anything too serious done on it, unfortunately.

But yeah, there's not much in the way of proper window management. Stage Manager does allow for some degree of windows management if you figure out how it works (I like it! I might be the only one...) , and you can do split view and side view which are fine for two applications at least. But anything more than that and it's not really all that effective.

It's unfortunate too. I have made use of Sidecar to pull up MacOS on my iPad, and it's perfectly functional even on that small screen with things like Mission Control. Also just very useful if you want to shove Teams or something on there while you work.

EDIT:

Here's an example of an iPad Air plugged into a Dell 16:9 monitor. You can do some degree of windows management this way. It's not really ideal, but it's not terrible for casual use, especially considering you can have one or two windows on the iPad itself too for around four or five at a time. But if you just have the iPad itself, then windows management is borderline non-existent without Stage Manager and kinda not ideal with it. :(

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[Masterz1337]

I think MacOS needs to be looked at now more as an App you can run on your iPad or Vision Pro. The hardware is there on those to run it at low performance for when you need it. It would never be as good as a dedicated laptop or desktop, but would be a great way to expand those devices when paired with a mouse and keyboard while also allowing them to fully function with their own intended UIs for their hardware in general use cases.

 

[MrKlaw]

isn't stage manager partly limited becuase ipad apps aren't designed to be any shape or size - only certain sizes based on different ipads (and perhaps fallback to iphone size?). I'm ok with that if some apps were more likely to support full screen mode better when connected to an external monitor.

 

[Rotkehle]

iPadOS just needs a better Filemanager. I use my iPad regularly in a kind of professional environment and that the only thing that slows me down.

 

[Shadow]

Like I've said for years, if Apple manages this, I'll buy one ASAP. The appeal of having both in one would be amazing. I gave my iPad Pro 10.5" away to a sibling because I mainly used it as a laptop. I realized it wasn't a very good laptop and moved on to a M1 MBA. I do miss having some of the iPad touchscreen usage and apps, however, and would love to switch between them on the fly on the same device.

And nah, I don't want both at the same time, I just want one device that can do everything.

Anyone who says MacOS should be on iPad means with the Magic Keyboard attached. And if they don't, they should!

Now that the Magic Keyboard has a function row, it's even more compelling.

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Yeah, that's how I always saw it. Similar (or hell, the same) to how Dex works on Samsung tablets. Attach the keyboard/trackpad and it goes into Mac OS automatically, then when you detach it goes back to iPad OS. Or you can manually do it, but it wouldn't be a good experience and it would state that.

Biggest issue is they'd have to completely open up iPad OS for this to work correctly. That means alternate ways to get apps, and a bunch of other changes they would have to do. Basically, revamp iOS. MacOS would suck being closed off, it just wouldn't work for a multitude of reasons.

I think they'd have to rebrand the device and call it something else like a MacPad or something less dumb.

 

[PixelGames]

uh no. you're wrong about everything.

 

[boris_feinbrand]

Ipad OS is a cumbersome POS if you need anything more than surface level interactions with your files.
It's only reason for still existing is to gatekeep the ipad apps and to keep desktop apps off the device so people need to buy/subscribe to inferior apps.

 

[345]

do what they do on MacOS only in reverse.

- On MacOS you can run ipad/iphone apps in a window

- On IpadOS, let us run MacOS apps in a window (or full screen)

Even if only select apps, hopefully that'd mean we get a decent enough number to bridge a lot of the gap people currently perceive. I don't think we need the full OS necessarily if that was an option. Other than finder getting an overhaul

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the problem with this is it'd inevitably be mac app store-only apps, and a lot of what makes the mac more flexible is the stuff outside that.

i'd take it though, sure. full macOS is never gonna happen

 

[Jonnax]

uh no. you're wrong about everything.

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So streaming apps don't limit resolutions and have no HDR support?

 

[haziq]

If you're serious about consuming 4K HDR media, you shouldn't be looking at streaming services to begin with. Even if they all supported those hardware specs for the iPad, you're still getting a subpar offering to what you could get from just ripping your own Blu-Ray discs.

 

[RUFF BEEST]

Ipad OS is a cumbersome POS if you need anything more than surface level interactions with your files.
It's only reason for still existing is to gatekeep the ipad apps and to keep desktop apps off the device so people need to buy/subscribe to inferior apps.

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Yep. What's funny is it took me getting the case + magic keyboard set that tries to turn the iPad it into a laptop to make me realize I hate iOS and the iPad's only use to me was running FaceTime to call my mom and the Apple Pencil support. If my laptops was a Macbook I wouldn't even use the iPad for FaceTime. As soon as this thing comes out with Apple Pencil support I'm fucking done with iPads.

Apple's Work on Touchscreen Macs: What We Know So Far

Some Apple fans have long wanted Apple to combine the functionality of the iPad with the Mac, and it appears that it's finally going to happen....

www.macrumors.com

Otherwise I have laptops, a phone, and a Lenovo Legion Go, and an eReader and a Switch and a Retroid Pocket and an Analogue Pocket and... Yeah, to be honest my iPad just sits there running out of battery most of the time.

 

[Tabs2002]

MacOS isn't the answer. iPadOS needs a major overhaul

 

[MisterSnrub]

Unless its video or music streaming, Apple anything is dogshit when it comes to media

 

[boris_feinbrand]

MacOS isn't the answer. iPadOS needs a major overhaul

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MacOS instantly would open up access to a ton of professional apps. If anything MacOS just needs proper touch and pen support and it instantly would be superior to IpadOS.

 

[Faceless_Caesar]

The correct answer to this is to put macOS on the iPad and sell it with a detachable keyboard and trackpad like a Microsoft surface.
When the keyboard is attached, it runs macOS and a native macOS interface.
When the keyboard is detached, it runs macOS with an iPadOS skin and has iPadOS-themed applications.

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Having used multiple Surface devices in the past, this sounds better on paper than it actually is. The mobile versions of apps are not as functional as their desktop counterparts, especially on Windows, so users may just end up wanting to use the desktop version of Safari with touch instead of the touch version which Apple probably won't allow.

 

[Tony72495]

Unless things have changed lately, Stage Manager is the only way to do real window management* on iPadOS and it's a disaster. It's so confusing and is doesn't even approach the efficiency of a desktop OS.



*I suppose your setup can work well enough with split view, slide over, and picture in picture, but that's not real window management with arbitrary resizing and moving windows around. Stage Manager seems to be Apple's attempt at this in iPadOS and I just hate it.

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To be fair though, even MacOS kind of lacks good window management. The first thing I did on my Macbook was buy Magnet. And then I found out Rectangle existed for free that does the same thing.

 

[Faceless_Caesar]

To be fair though, even MacOS kind of lacks good window management.

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Mission Control and Spaces are a good combo for managing windows on macOS. Nothing Microsoft has on Windows is as polished as this combo of features.

 

[Tony72495]

Mission Control and Spaces are a good combo for managing windows on macOS. Nothing Microsoft has on Windows is as polished as this combo of features.

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Ehhh I still just prefer window grid snapping.

 

[Faceless_Caesar]

Ehhh I still just prefer window grid snapping.

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The great thing about the Mac compared to the iPad is that it's an open platform that you can use in whatever way suits your needs.

 

[julia crawford]

being able to run my own server app on my ipad for whatever light thing i randomly want would be incredible

 

[Blaaaarrggghhh]

I need to run compilers. I tried the terminal app plus SSH in to a server I setup.

Was cute for a minute but came to the realization that it doesn't matter how much more powerful that iPad was anymore when the OS is holding it back.

Airplane wifi down, mobile signal too awful for tethering etc..

 

[nopattern]

So I want to preface this by saying I'm not a tablet person. I appreciate the idea, but outside of drawing/taking notes and other niche uses (doctor's office, etc.) I just can't see why you would want to use an iPad over a MacBook in its current state.

I've had multiple iPads and really tried to give them a fair shot (iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad mini 2nd Gen, iPad 6th gen, iPad mini 6th generation) but I always just end up using my MacBook. Even for "content consumption" I'd rather have my laptop resting on my lap than having to continually hold an iPad at the right position to look at. I understand that everyone is different and there are legitimate uses for tablets, but there aren't any apps or processes on the iPad that are anywhere close to maxing out even an M1, so I'm not sure why an iPad needs an M4 chip.

I also want to say that I disagree with the idea that an iPad is better for media consumption - you have much more control over your media on a Mac. I have heaps of browser extensions to do things like turn off YouTube Shorts and adjust interfaces on media websites to get rid of ads or have things aligned in a way that makes better sense to me.

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Same. I've always struggled to find a use for tablets between already having a smart phone and a macbook. I liked the ipad mini form factor but I found myself constantly trying to rationalize that purchase. I ended up selling it and just resigning to the fact that they werent useful for me.

 

[Tony72495]

Same. I've always struggled to find a use for tablets between already having a smart phone and a macbook. I liked the ipad mini form factor but I found myself constantly trying to rationalize that purchase. I ended up selling it and just resigning to the fact that they werent useful for me.

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Currently I mainly use my iPad as a replacement for my old Kindle that has been dying after like 10 years.

It's not E-ink, sure, but the brown paper theme in the Kindle app is really easy on the eyes, so it was pretty easy to adjust.

 

[Vipershark]

Having used multiple Surface devices in the past, this sounds better on paper than it actually is. The mobile versions of apps are not as functional as their desktop counterparts, especially on Windows, so users may just end up wanting to use the desktop version of Safari with touch instead of the touch version which Apple probably won't allow.

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Then give users the option.
Default to the touch interface when undocked with a user toggle for the desktop interface if they want it.

Touch users can keep using touch and desktop users that want to use that interface with touch input can do so.
Best of both worlds.

This is an Apple problem, not a hardware or usability problem.

 

[Gwarm]

MacOS isn't the answer. iPadOS needs a major overhaul

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Yeah, I don't necessarily need MacOS. I just want a more desktop like experience when I have a keyboard and mouse attached. It's a big reason why I'm looking at the ARM based Surface 10 that should be revealed next week (and also waiting until WDCC to see the update to iPadOS) before making my next purchasing decision.

 

[Veliladon]

iPadOS doesn't need to ditch Springboard. It's a great UI for not having keyboard. It's just that it needs a macOS personality that can be swapped back and forth with Springboard. Put your iPad on a Magic Keyboard? It switches from Springboard to macOS.

 

[disparate]

Mission Control and Spaces are a good combo for managing windows on macOS. Nothing Microsoft has on Windows is as polished as this combo of features.

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MacOS window management is absolutely gutter-tier compared to Windows, what is this? Window snapping and grid sizing out of the box is far, far better without having to rely on third party tools to patch OS gaps. Gaps like how bad finder is too.

 

[MrKlaw]

MacOS window management is absolutely gutter-tier compared to Windows, what is this? Window snapping and grid sizing out of the box is far, far better without having to rely on third party tools to patch OS gaps. Gaps like how bad finder is too.

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I like in MacOS you can nudge windows up against each other and they'll snuggle together nicely without overlapping. Having them line up just right tickles me

 

[Mindwipe]

Where Apple screwed up is in making iPad apps optional on the Mac. Give these companies an out, and they always take it.

As for Mac OS on iPad, it could run in the hyper visor and allow you to jump back and forth.

They won't do it, of course.

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If Apple had tried that there are a bunch of ways to detect what device you are on and just write application logic to break it if you tried to run it on a Mac. Which we absolutely would have done.

Apple did the only practical thing.

Anyway, yeah, everything about the OP is wrong, so that isn't the reason. And you get UHD when you Airplay a stream to an Apple TV because if the stream has Fairplay Streaming DRM applied all it actually does is send the URL and credentials to the Apple TV to fetch the stream itself, so the Apple TV gets the same resolution as if you didn't involve Airplay at all.