Apple won't kill iPadOS

On the upcoming AppleInsider Podcast, William and I discuss what it would mean to merge iPad and Mac. It's a tough question because I don't want to immediately dismiss the idea as a bad one.

You'll have to listen to the discussion there for more on that, but I did want to share my thoughts on whether or not iPadOS will stick around. I may have mentioned it in my post on toaster-fridge MacBooks, but I wanted a more direct response to Matt Birchler's "Apple Will Kill iPadOS" piece.

I could simply say "NO" and move on, but this is a tough one for me. If Apple were to come out and say "macOS can now run on iPadOS with the flip of a switch," I'm not sure I'd be upset.

But to lose iPadOS would be to lose the very thing that makes the platform special. I love that it is a new interaction paradigm that isn't tied to some ancient idea of what computers should look like.

Sure, iPadOS looks closer to the classic windowing and menu bar system of old than ever, but it's still distinct.

iPadOS and macOS need to stand apart

What separates iPadOS and macOS most is how software is installed and communicates. iPadOS is built like iOS in that apps are siloed and information sharing is handled via specific APIs.

It's not that it doesn't work that way on Mac, it's just a different system that started closed and worked to be more open. iPadOS launched as a closed system that has had to open over time. macOS, on the other hand, had to work to be more closed, but still offers things like installing apps from outside of the App Store.

So, because of that, there are situations that are possible on Mac that aren't on iPad. This is by design, though some call it an artificial limitation. I expect it's more complicated than that.

Sure, I want my iPad to have a universal clipboard app or something like Screenshot X. I hope Apple provides the opportunity for that at some point, but the way the operating system is designed, they're just not possible today.

However, the answer, at least for me, isn't simply bringing macOS to iPad. I think that would signal a failure on Apple's part. A sign that the company backed itself into a corner and just couldn't make iPadOS work.

Instead, I believe that Apple should continue to work towards making iPadOS more functional.

The people that say they want iPadOS and macOS to merge, or for iPadOS to die, are the ones with specific needs not met by iPadOS. They are impatient and don't want to have to wait for their pet feature to arrive on iPad, if it ever does.

Instead, they want a shortcut.

Apple isn't going to take the easy way out

I suppose that begs the question of why iPadOS exists in the first place. The answer is simple, though I suppose it's easy to forget the further we get from the start.

Apple started development of the iPad back around 2005 when Steve Jobs was annoyed by some Microsoft guy bragging about tablets. That project gave us the iPhone, though Apple never quit developing its tablet.

The basis of the operating system for that tablet, then iPhone, was Mac OS X. When iPad was revealed, it ran the identical version of iOS, just blown up to tablet size.

Some argue that Apple didn't need iPadOS, that the company should have pivoted to macOS on the iPad at the time. That's revisionist history, I think, because at the time the iPad didn't even have an external keyboard or cursor support. That conversation came later.

The reason iPadOS was forked from iOS was simply to ensure two teams could target their respective devices. The two operating systems are incredibly similar, even to this day, but iPadOS stands alone with its windowing systems and background task management.

It is because iPad started as a "big iPhone" and evolved into the iPad Pro platform that exists today that iPadOS exists. The touch-first interface gaining cursor support helped make it into a more serious work platform.

I believe that Apple sees iPadOS as some kind of challenge to overcome. It could take the easy route and just shove macOS poorly into its tablets, or it could make something wholly new and unique compared to its competitors.

So no, I don't think it makes sense to bring macOS to iPad, merge it with iPadOS, or kill off the platform entirely. I like that iPadOS can represent something new and different, and each year that we get some new features is a victory for users.

If macOS works better for you, then use a Mac. I personally prefer iPadOS, so I'll be sticking with iPad for now. In the future, I expect visionOS will be the one to watch.