Have you seen the MacPad by Federico Viticci of MacStories.net? He achieves it with zero actual hacks, and only 1 custom Shortcut. It lets the iPad be an iPad by default, but also act as a Mac display at the press of a shortcut. As long as your files are in iCloud, it appears to furnishes forth a seamless experience. https://www.macstories.net/stories/macpad-how-i-created-the-...
The iPad is a "pro machine" or a "personal computer" when 17Lands[1] is usable on the device. Having article after article try to pantomime the details of what Apple is missing here is futile. Not only is Apple not listening, even implementing 100% of your personal wishlist isn't enough.
[1]: https://www.17lands.com/ - 17Lands is a website that tracks win-loss (and other) data in MtG: Arena games by installing a small program that reads logs from the game itself. It's the perfect example of the iPad's failings: it's too esoteric for Apple to provide directly and covers the kind of program extensibility needed to make hardware pro-usable.
An app like this, that interoperates non-consentually with another app to modify or augment its behavior, is complete anathema to Apple's desired model of computing. In their view app developers have more right to control how your iPad operates than you do. Of course, Apple themselves have more control than app developers (and you), but don't worry, Apple will use their position to make sure that only good developers take control of your iPad!
That's why the iPad isn't a personal computer. It's a computer that Apple lets you use, for purposes they approve of, only if they get paid a percentage of any commercial transaction that happens on the device.
It's a nice reader and portable second display, though.
They were setting the goalposts for a “pro” computer, though, not a personal one.
I mean this is a site for programmers. Surely everyone here has the experience of bumping their head on annoying IT-approved vendor-supported software limitations, right? It could be a pro device where your company locks down everything inside an Apple provided framework. They could even (since they are going to need to put together the plumbing for this anyway to comply with EU) have an internal IT department provided company store.
People here want iPad libre. I want that too. I don’t think that’s what Apple means by pro, though.
From the parent's description it sounds like it just parses log files, doesn't seem like it would augment the behavior of the app generating the logs at all. Curious to know more about why something like that isn't possible on ipadOS though.
In this specific case it's because the log file (if the iPad version of MtGA even generates a "file" for its logs as such) exists in a location only accessible to the app, not to the user or other apps. And the iPadOS model means that there is no way to reach into that app's data to convince it to cough up the data you want.
> An app like this, that interoperates non-consentually with another app to modify or augment its behavior, is complete anathema to Apple's desired model of computing.
And yet, 17Lands works on a Mac!
> Of course, Apple themselves have more control than app developers (and you), but don't worry, Apple will use their position to make sure that only good developers take control of your iPad!
I don’t really know what pro means I guess, but generally I’d expect professional apps to provide some sort of plugin API to integrate with them in an officially supported manner.
Hacking around these sort of barriers is more of a gamer thing I think.
Are people really not seeing Apple's actual plan? They've been giving clues for their future products over a decade.
iPhone 5 introduced swipe-from-the-side gesture -> to make people accustomed to that gesture for future larger screen iPhones.
AR in iPhone -> allowed developers to get used to developing AR apps for Apple Vision Pro.
Apple's Catalyst and ARM chips being on both iPads and Macs - do you follow? We're going to see an iPad-thin computer that is both an iPad and a Mac that will seamlessly switch between these two modes, since the apps will be "adaptable/responsive". Without needing to reload a different OS for each. This is the kind of product that only Apple's vertical integration of hardware and software makes possible. Also, since they've *already* started this plan way long ago. In a way, it's already here, they just need to finish the puzzle.
If that's the plan, they are moving too slowly on it. As this Manifesto thoroughly documents.
They need to make iPad Pro a multi-OS device. Or make the iPad version of iOS a true professional operating system. Right now, they're not showing progress on either front.
No, exactly the example that demonstrate what I mean. These in-house, powerful M silicone allows them to create very thin iPad-like, long battery usage products with the power of a Mac. Can you say the same about the Surface Pro line? Is it as thin with no fans and lasts for 20 hours?
BTW, The thin and light part is very important, actually. If you're going to make a Mac that is also an iPad, it first needs to be an iPad - and that is thin and light to be used by picking up with hands.
Windows 8 tried to live that ethos but failed in almost every way. It tried to mix the different modes of use (iPad & Mac) into one. That's not what I expect Apple will do. It's going to be more like - once you attach a keyboard, you'll be automatically in Mac mode, once you remove it, you will return to iPadOS mode, immediately, seamlessly - since they will be the same OS (that shows up completely differently depending on the mode)
Oh one hand it is annoying that Apple gets credit for inventing things when what they really tend to do is just do a good implementation of an idea that is already being bounced around by other companies.
On the other, Windows 10 has a tablet mode? I knew they tried that with 8, but I thought it was bad enough that even MS would give up.
Putting aside the bugginess of the existing software, this litany of complaints mostly boils down to, “I wish Apple would make the macOS equivalent to the Microsoft Surface.”
This is a wishlist for a device that lets you do literally everything in every way possible that a Mac lets you do, but is simultaneously perfectly adapted to doing all of those things in a completely touch-only format with no downsides, regressions, or compromises.
You're wondering how people that get free review units prior to the general release are recommending that you buy it? Really?
The iPad Pro is exactly the device that Apple wants it to be. It's not for you. Don't buy it. If you need an iPad, get the iPad 10 for $300 and then guiltlessly buy avocado toast every weekend for the rest of the year. You'll be a lot happier.
Sound management is a nightmare... you put some playlist on Music and start to surf the web with Safari only for the music to be interrupted because whatever random web site has a video on auto-play... Seriously?
No Just did the test before posting on my ipad pro to make sure it was still the case. Music + advertisement on Reddit -> no more music (and the same with the autoplay videos on 2 news sites)
Audio in the background does pause for a variety of reasons. But audio does not autoplay in Safari without user intervention. If your ad is auto playing, it is muted.
On Reddit as you need your finger to scroll and a lot of videos are in the way it's almost impossible to scroll without touching one-> the music will stop.
Here it doesn’t autoplay, not even muted. You need to tap on it first.
I’m not saying sound management doesn’t suck on iOS. It does. But the scenario you describe is forbidden by Safari and Chrome on mobile and desktop. Unless I’m misunderstanding something.
Ok yes the video will not play on it's own if you point to the link directly. However this is a news site, and if you click on the main page that link to that article then the video will autoplay. This is a way hundreds of website are using to bypass the no autoplay rules.
I bought the iPad Pro for its brightness as I use it outside with the Litchi app.
But other than that, it has been an extreme disappointment. I don't know what Apple's definition of "Pro" is. I used to think it was video production and photography. But something as basic as an HDR photo merge cannot be done on iPad Pro.
Tangent sorry, but can you give me a quick rundown of the app as a user? I have a Mini 2 and would consider using it, but $25 is a steep price to "try" it...
As things stand the iPad is less a personal computer and more an app slate. It's a device designed to project other people's computing experiences onto a screen. The essence of personal computing is that personal part; building your workflows and experience to suit your preferences and needs. That's what this blog post is asking for, at least in part. The rest of the asks are in the vein of "make this not broken please".
E: I'm not saying that people are wrong to like it as an app slate. Maybe that's what most people want. I just want to distinguish it from a personal computer, which is a tool that lets users write and run applications of their choosing.
The iPad is mirroring the development of the original personal computer.
Bit by bit more tasks can be done on it as well as some new ones that aren't suited to traditional PCs. Just like we see today with phones, laptops, desktops, mainframes and the like - there are already people who can do all of their computing on just one device.
As for the complaints, everything is fair game, but most of the complaints about the iPad seem to be rooted in what it can't do in comparison to a laptop computer, or more specifically macOS. This is often given with the flimsy validation that the product is labelled "pro".
However it seems clear that it has "pro" in the title because it's far more capable than other iPads, not because it is peers to the Mac Pro computer. I also think it's borderline absurd to base an argument on marketing nomenclature. (Especially as there is an iPhone Pro, Airpods Pro etc.)
It seems clear (to me), that in order to make a thin, light, and performant device, that some compromises would need to be made - otherwise why aren't the laptops similarly thin and light. A cursory review of the specs between an iPad Pro and a MacBook Pro tell the story in better detail.
Perhaps one day iPads will have limitless background processing functionality, but there should be no expectation that the iPad of the day would match the functionality of the laptop or desktop of the day.
That doesn't seem to make sense though, as the iPad Pro hardware is completely able to do what the err... macOS-wanters er... want. It's the software side (OS mostly) completely blocking forward progress.
Compare the hardware specs between the iPad and the Laptops.
The laptops have significantly larger batteries and active cooling, while not being as light, thin or running a display against the main heat producing components, while the iPad is thinner than an iPod nano.
But by all means promote a trivially debunked conspiracy theory.
I don’t consider myself a very technical person, but (anecdata incoming) for everyone I know, the iPad is inadequate as a personal computer. It is great as an individual media consumption device, but beyond that its capacity is limited at best and nonexistent at worst. Multi - user support, especially for families with kids sharing the “family iPad”, is not supported. A student exporting a video for a school project in iMovie in the background isn’t supported; the app must remain in the foreground at all times. Obviously downloading games from Steam / Epic isn’t (currently) possible. All of these are normal things non-technical people expect out of a “real” computer. Of course, I could very well be wrong, and I am open to evidence to the contrary. But, for what it’s worth, I have never personally known anyone who has taken the iPad seriously beyond the most basic computational needs.
I find it terribly annoying that for years I've almost been able to use an iPad instead of a computer on personal trips. The lack of background app support in particular pushes it over the edge into not quite usable for that, even for cases where I don't need anything else like extensive multitasking or secondary app stores like Steam.
Apple might have delivered a personal computer for the masses, but I don't think it looks like a $1000 tablet that needs $300 worth of add-ons (such as a keyboard) to be used as a personal computer.
I'm not sure who the iPad Pro is supposed to be for, but it ain't "the masses".
I really would love to have the best screen on the planet, heck yes, but with the you-probably-want-this upsells (nano screen along with it's mandatory storage upgrades) this is a $2500 setup. Adding insult to injury is iPadOS existing at such an infantile proto-computing level, as detailed here & elsewhere (ex, yesterday's blog, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40349347).
I don't think it's just the techies. iPad is Apple's least popular hardware line, behind both iPhone, Mac, Apple Watch, and AirPods (maybe still more popular than Apple TV). Seems like it's not made for anyone in particular.
Need a powerful device to take with you everywhere, mainly used for communication and consuming media, buy an iPhone. Want a device for doing actual work, buy a Mac. iPad Pro now has Apple's most powerful processor, but nowhere close to being able to do the job of a less powerful Mac due to software limitations.
I don't think this is right — Mac revenue is slightly higher than iPad but surely Mac ASP is much higher than iPad ASP so I believe iPad unit sales are quite a bit higher than those of the Mac.
Until the apps you depend on force you into an os you can't upgrade into. Its crazy like there are still security updates and devs will pull the plug, and twist the knife cutting off api access for their old software.
Social media (snapchat especially) and rideshare apps are the biggest offenders in my experience. I tried to get an uber on this phone and it wouldn't let me use the old uber version already on it, and wouldn't pull a newer one from the app store from the iOS limitation. I guess they have a mobile website but I didn't think of that, just called a lyft instead.
> people who want to watch videos on the best screen.
Guilty. I bought the first M1 12.9" iPad Pro not because of the M1, but because of the miniLED. Now I have a superb screen anywhere I want it, without worrying about damage like I would with a laptop.
A Windows convertible such as the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 has at least as varied an application library, and the advantage of a real file system, and the possibility of scripting, and a stylus which doesn't need to be kept charged up.
Yes, I think some of the items here are reasonable but some of them (like full virtualization of desktop OS) don’t fit the iPad model. Just get a Mac at that point.
Why would virtualization not fit the iPad model? It's all about isolating apps from each other and from the system, and ensuring that no mucking around can render the system inoperable. Virtualization is the perfect solution to enabling legacy or technical workflows on such a device without compromising the core OS.
Any app can be evicted from memory at any time, requiring a full restart. The VM could be terminated with zero notice, aborting the OS kernel and leaving the filesystem in an arbitrary state. There is no swap on iOS / iPadOS but even if there was you wouldn't want it burning out your soldered-on storage chip.
If the answer is that this VM program is the only one that never gets killed under memory pressure, bear in mind most iPads still have only 8G RAM so the OS will have to get even less than that, not leaving very much for any workflows on either the host or guest from that point on. Even that is still less capable than macOS on the same 8G RAM because at least macOS can use swap.
It's egregious that you can still buy laptops with 8G RAM today, but at least all of that is available to the OS all the time, it doesn't just abort under memory pressure, and it can swap.
Virtualization may make more sense with a different host or guest platform, but in this particular combination, memory will always be a problem. The lack of swap compounds that further. (I'm not sure about memory compression in iOS but you can't exactly rely on that for already-compressed data)
Even if the host and guest share memory to avoid the hard cutoff, there still needs to be a way for the iPad to free up memory on demand, given that it cannot use swap.
Full virtualization would be fantastic for doing web development on iPad. Imagine if iSH didn't have to do the threaded code ROP dance and could just have a full performance ARM64 Linux distro sitting inside of itself.
