4 ms·

Apple Finally Destroyed Steve Jobs’ Vision of the iPad. Good

14 points by CharlesW 1y ago

jljljl 1y ago
The ability to switch modes is going to be important. I'm on the latest iPadOS beta, and when I'm using it to do work across multiple apps the new macOS like window management is amazing. When I'm just trying to read a book, watch a movie, or do some other focused activity, it's mostly annoying.
- Hamuko 1y ago
  It doesn't have a toggle in the quick switch in Control Center like Stage Manager on current iPadOS?
Ken_At_EM 1y ago
Great, take a step further. The future is docking your phone, probably ultimately wirelessly, and have a keyboard, mouse and multi monitor, why not a solid voice interface at the same time? What Apple has done with these mobile processors is insane. The M-series MacBooks were the first laptop I ever owned that felt like a Desktop, no compromise to go mobile. Sure, you'll have to make a bunch of thermal/size compromises for the phone form factor but given wall power as a daily driver it is far more than enough for email, teams, web browsing, even development.
- starik36 1y ago
  Windows Phone had this very feature back in the day. You just connected the phone to the PC via USB, and magically, you had a desktop environment.
  - Ancapistani 1y ago
    My Motorola Atrix had this years before that, even.
wrs 1y ago
I only ever activate the iPad multitasking features by accident, and then I don’t know how to get out of Split View or hidden Safari windows or whatever other weird thing I’ve triggered. So I’m looking forward to this mode switch that goes back to 2012. I have a fully tricked out MacBook for work, I don’t need to work on my iPad. I’m totally happy in an armchair like Steve.
- neilalexander 1y ago
  The windowed mode is indeed optional and can be turned off in the Settings or Control Center.
drag0s 1y ago
https://archive.ph/VlDtG https://archive.ph/VlDtG
garyclarke27 1y ago
Steve Jobs duly listed browsing the web, dealing with email, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, reading ebooks, and enjoying photos. Coincidentally, those were the exact things the iPad was really good at. Agreed * Except Music * I have loved having many iPads, but the speakers have always been terrible and they point the wrong way - about time this was fixed.
- drcongo 1y ago
  I have the 13" M4 iPad Pro and the speakers on it are incredible.
vunderba 1y ago
I was always under the impression that the reason they seemingly crippled the iPad Pros from functioning as full-fledged computers was to prevent it from cannibalizing MacBook sales. That's why the latest iPads, with their M4 processors, always felt like overkill for what you could realistically use the device for. I've got an old iPad Pro 10.5 that's 8 years old at this point, and it still works perfectly for my use cases (drawing tablet with Procreate, GarageBand, watching YouTube, etc.).
- Daedren 1y ago
  They were never crippled, there were just no apps making use of that performance at that point, their vision's still the same as it is today IMO. Now there's a lot of pretty good apps for video editing, CAD, etc. Of course we computer enthusiasts feel the iPad is still restricted in a lot of ways, but a lot of younger consumers genuinely want the iPad experience, which is why I presume this new feature can be toggled on and off, and why we're probably never getting macOS on an iPad.
  - kalleboo 1y ago
    They were crippled in terms of multitasking. You edit a video in Final Cut for iPad, go to export it, it takes 15 minutes. You can't even leave Final Cut to reply to an email while it's working, that interrupts the export.
throw0101c 1y ago
> Cupertino has done the thing it swore it never would: turn its tablet into a full-blown window-wrangling, compromise-abandoning computer. Contra: I (and my senior mom) would like to have a simple device with a simple interface. If I wanted to use a 'real' computer I would use a real computer. At the very least there should be a "simple mode" switch where the behaviour can be toggled.
- frizlab 1y ago
  AFAIK, there is (for now at least).
  - throw0101c 1y ago
    > AFAIK, there is (for now at least). What is the path with-in Settings that I can find this toggle?
    - frizlab 1y ago
      Settings -> Multitasking & Gestures From there you can choose whether you want to use fullscreen apps (traditional iPad), Stage Manager (weird thing they added a few years ago) or Windowed Apps.

14 points by CharlesW 1y ago

The ability to switch modes is going to be important. I'm on the latest iPadOS beta, and when I'm using it to do work across multiple apps the new macOS like window management is amazing. When I'm just trying to read a book, watch a movie, or do some other focused activity, it's mostly annoying.

Hamuko 1y ago
It doesn't have a toggle in the quick switch in Control Center like Stage Manager on current iPadOS?

Ken_At_EM 1y ago

Great, take a step further. The future is docking your phone, probably ultimately wirelessly, and have a keyboard, mouse and multi monitor, why not a solid voice interface at the same time? What Apple has done with these mobile processors is insane. The M-series MacBooks were the first laptop I ever owned that felt like a Desktop, no compromise to go mobile. Sure, you'll have to make a bunch of thermal/size compromises for the phone form factor but given wall power as a daily driver it is far more than enough for email, teams, web browsing, even development.

starik36 1y ago
Windows Phone had this very feature back in the day. You just connected the phone to the PC via USB, and magically, you had a desktop environment.
- Ancapistani 1y ago
  My Motorola Atrix had this years before that, even.

wrs 1y ago

I only ever activate the iPad multitasking features by accident, and then I don’t know how to get out of Split View or hidden Safari windows or whatever other weird thing I’ve triggered. So I’m looking forward to this mode switch that goes back to 2012. I have a fully tricked out MacBook for work, I don’t need to work on my iPad. I’m totally happy in an armchair like Steve.

neilalexander 1y ago
The windowed mode is indeed optional and can be turned off in the Settings or Control Center.

drag0s 1y ago

https://archive.ph/VlDtG https://archive.ph/VlDtG

garyclarke27 1y ago

Steve Jobs duly listed browsing the web, dealing with email, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, reading ebooks, and enjoying photos. Coincidentally, those were the exact things the iPad was really good at. Agreed * Except Music * I have loved having many iPads, but the speakers have always been terrible and they point the wrong way - about time this was fixed.

drcongo 1y ago
I have the 13" M4 iPad Pro and the speakers on it are incredible.

vunderba 1y ago

I was always under the impression that the reason they seemingly crippled the iPad Pros from functioning as full-fledged computers was to prevent it from cannibalizing MacBook sales. That's why the latest iPads, with their M4 processors, always felt like overkill for what you could realistically use the device for. I've got an old iPad Pro 10.5 that's 8 years old at this point, and it still works perfectly for my use cases (drawing tablet with Procreate, GarageBand, watching YouTube, etc.).

Daedren 1y ago
They were never crippled, there were just no apps making use of that performance at that point, their vision's still the same as it is today IMO. Now there's a lot of pretty good apps for video editing, CAD, etc. Of course we computer enthusiasts feel the iPad is still restricted in a lot of ways, but a lot of younger consumers genuinely want the iPad experience, which is why I presume this new feature can be toggled on and off, and why we're probably never getting macOS on an iPad.
- kalleboo 1y ago
  They were crippled in terms of multitasking. You edit a video in Final Cut for iPad, go to export it, it takes 15 minutes. You can't even leave Final Cut to reply to an email while it's working, that interrupts the export.

throw0101c 1y ago

> Cupertino has done the thing it swore it never would: turn its tablet into a full-blown window-wrangling, compromise-abandoning computer. Contra: I (and my senior mom) would like to have a simple device with a simple interface. If I wanted to use a 'real' computer I would use a real computer. At the very least there should be a "simple mode" switch where the behaviour can be toggled.

frizlab 1y ago
AFAIK, there is (for now at least).
- throw0101c 1y ago
  > AFAIK, there is (for now at least). What is the path with-in Settings that I can find this toggle?
  - frizlab 1y ago
    Settings -> Multitasking & Gestures From there you can choose whether you want to use fullscreen apps (traditional iPad), Stage Manager (weird thing they added a few years ago) or Windowed Apps.