Just watched MacOS shouldn't be on iPad

[Linkion]

Here we go, an internet user has some opinions to voice.

I just watched the MAC address video and I would like to point some things out that stood out to me.
but to begin with, yes, iPad OS has the benefit of have much greater touch support and is purpose built for it rather than macOS.

 

However iPad OS has some flaws that can be solved by just using macOS, for example,

• the file system which was highlighted in the video is much more operable on macOS.
• the external display issues, also seen in the video, which is basically an issue with Apple in general since some issues also exist on MacOS.
• but there is also external device support. When the video went to go talk about how the iPad is gonna be used in the color room,
  notice how they took out all the dedicated equipment with dials for color correction?

You probably heard them say it but here, https://youtu.be/sQ_L5naHFsU?t=240

Ed said "that doesn't work either," which is quite a major issue since those are Blackmagic products that were purpose built for color correction.

Now what's the issue with that? And how does it relate to MacOS being on iPad?
Well, iPad OS, as I'm speculating, doesn't support many hardware devices, and the devices that they do support only work with the app specifically made for those devices.

That however is not an issue with MacOS since there are already drivers and programs that can communicate with external devices.
 

Also, if apple were to use instead MacOS on iPad, it would open the door to natively support touchscreens on MacOS.

Alex's dream of touchscreens on Macbooks would be fulfilled.

 

Anyway, that's my two cents.

[m37]

appl ei think can detect the internals of the system probably only letting it run an m1 device, so maybe the m1 iPad, but for things like display issue there is an app called duet where yoiu can use a second device as a monitor, idk if that helps but iv used a Chromebook as a second monitor with it

[jaslion]

Basically we need another macbook touch. The old rebuilt ones were lowkey epic

[hishnash]

16 hours ago, Linkion said:

• the file system which was highlighted in the video is much more operable on macOS.

The file system itself is the same as macOS, what you mean is the file browser and yes that needs a lot of work. But if you put macOS on iPad it would have just the same set of issues and the Finder macOS right now would be very bad for touch, it would be impossible to use without the pencil unless you wanted to accidentally delete and move stuff around all the time... so what they would do is minimal effort.. aka just use the iPadOS file browser (yes the code would just run on macOS without issue enough of the underlying OS is there). 
 

16 hours ago, Linkion said:

but there is also external device support. When the video went to go talk about how the iPad is gonna be used in the color room,

This is a driver issue, the driver framework in fact existing on iPadOS and it is the same apis as macOS so the hardware vendors for these parts could ship these drivers (USB/TB devices) for iPad but they can be bothered just like non of the big software vendors (Google, MS) can be bothered to properly support iPadOS, as while there are lots of iPads being sold almost all of them are just used for content consumption so the market is very small.


in general the idea that macOS running on iPad would suddenly mean macOS gets re-writen and all the apps that make people want macOS on iPad will be re-write for touch is absurd.  re-writing an app for touch is a massive effort, and most of the time is not writing code it is spending time with paper and whiteboards figuring out what a good UX will be.  I you have a complex app then doing a good touch first UI will take many many years. I would not be surprised if there have been Resovle prototypes in the works for the last 10 years since the iPad was announced so as to get to a point they are happy to ship and the reason is not technical it is UX is so different.

[Sauron]

I don't really use either but wouldn't the problems you highlight be better addressed by simply adding those features to iOS? Besides, if you need/want macos you can just use a macbook... and if you want a touchscreen, well, maybe a better question to ask is "why doesn't Apple sell any touch screen macbooks" rather than "why don't ipads run macos"

[maplepants]

On 2/4/2023 at 7:53 PM, Linkion said:

but there is also external device support. When the video went to go talk about how the iPad is gonna be used in the color room,
notice how they took out all the dedicated equipment with dials for color correction?

My read of that segment was that these controls were replaced with the Apple Pencil, which Ed liked better.

 

On 2/4/2023 at 7:53 PM, Linkion said:

Also, if apple were to use instead MacOS on iPad, it would open the door to natively support touchscreens on MacOS.

I don't think it would. I think it would just kill the market for high end iPad apps (what little of it there is).

 

I think your post, and the Mac Address video, fall into a common trap when talking about the iPad which is to talk about it like the latest and greatest iPad Pro is the only iPad.  Sure the files app seems like it could do more on an M2, but iPadOS 16 also runs on the 5th Gen iPad and it's A9 SOC with 2GB of RAM.

 

It's much more important for the iPad brand that the low end entry level iPad runs smoothly than it is to write an all new Finder / Files app for the M2 iPad Pro. Part of why the Android tablet experience is so garbage, is that the OS doesn't run great on low end hardware nor does it take full advantage of high end hardware. By contrast, you could buy a used iPad 5th gen for 200€ and get a way better experience than any 200€ Android tablet or 200€ laptop would offer. That's a big part of the iPad brand. 

 

My personal iPad is a base model 7th gen that I bought at launch, and is still excellent for reading comic books and regular ebooks, watching Plex and YouTube, browsing the web, and RSS. Since the display is nice and colour accurate I've also used it for extremely light photo editing in the Photos app. My nearly 4 year old iPad is better now than the Nvidia Shield K1 Android tablet it replaced ever was. The app selection is so much better it's hard to even compare, and the OS and system apps just run way better.

 

The compromises Apple makes in terms of capabilities for the M2 iPad are to the benefit of keeping iOS running on older devices and I think that's the right call.

[rikitikitavi]

On 2/4/2023 at 10:53 AM, Linkion said:

However iPad OS has some flaws that can be solved by just using macOS, for example

Most if not all flaws can be simply solved by better apps, both from Apple and 3rd party. For example, a better file managing app adapted for the touch-first interface either by default or with an 'extended' view.

 

I believe a lot of people say macOS and iPadOS but actually mean their respective UI - so when connecting to the external monitor and using kb/touchpad/mouse, they want to experience the flexibility of a desktop OS and not the fullscreen awkwardness of a touchscreen-first interface.