Apple needs to complete iPadOS if it wants to keep the iPad Pro afloat

Apple first introduced us to its iPad Pro line back in 2015, at a time when the tablet computer landscape was in a very different place. This was before iOS was forked into a dedicated OS for the iPad, and before mobile chipsets began to give laptop processors a proper run for their money.

A lot has changed for the iPad Pro in only a short period of time — we now have models that ship with the same Apple Silicon found in the MacBook Air, a dedicated windowing mode in the form of Stage Manager, and, yes, even a calculator app.

However, even with these undeniable advancements to the product line, the iPad Pro continues to be a difficult tablet to recommend to all but the most ardent Apple loyalists. Mobile-first hardware is no longer a bottleneck, but iPadOS holds back the iPad from exercising its potential.

Setting the stage (manager) for Pro-level iPads

Initially, the iPad Pro started off on shaky ground

When the very first iPad Pro came to market, I struggled to understand its appeal. It was large and unwieldy, and its pricey bespoke Smart Keyboard accessory felt superfluous to the tablet experience. Most consequentially, the iPad Pro ran a scaled up version of iOS — Apple’s iPhone operating system.

This strategy of a mobile-first software experience played a critical role in cementing tablet computers as a genuine product category. Apple’s decision to ship the original iPad with iOS as opposed to macOS was the right call, in retrospect. The iPad provided a streamlined user interface that made content consumption more pleasing than on either a smartphone or a laptop.

Unfortunately, this interface paradigm simply didn’t scale for productivity-based computing workloads. The company’s arch-rival Microsoft seemingly had a leg up, shipping its own Surface Pro tablets with full-fat Windows and all its desktop OS glory. And so, Apple began to rapidly evolve the iPad Pro experience — until it didn’t.

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All the groundwork has already been laid

Apple needs to take another step of ‘courage’

The iPad Pro’s hardware rapidly evolved — we got thinner, uniform bezels, seriously speedy processors, 120Hz refresh rate displays, Thunderbolt 4 USB-C connectivity, impossibly thin chassis, and much more.

In the intervening time, iPadOS has also evolved, but not nearly to the same extent. Additions such as a native mouse cursor, Stage Manager app windowing, broader USB peripheral support, and more are all appreciated and necessary software improvements. Unfortunately, this rate of innovation has plummeted over the past couple of iPadOS software generations.

This is a problem because Apple has gone 90% of the way to making iPadOS a viable ‘pro’ computing platform, but hasn’t taken the final steps to solidify its commitment to the category. All the groundwork is in place, but small iOS-isms hamper the broader computing experience.

I can only imagine that Apple is dragging its feet for the sake of avoiding MacBook cannibalization, but the end result is distressing: an expensive M4 iPad Pro that can’t play audio from two sources simultaneously. Apple is no stranger to cannibalizing its own products, having wiped its own iPod product line off the map for the sake of the iPhone. The company needs to harness the same ‘courage’ it’s had in previous years, and fix iPadOS once and for all, even if it means stabbing the Mac in the back.

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The iPad Pro just isn’t worth it in 2024

The iPad Air and iPad mini product lines offer far greater value

As it stands, it’s hard to justify dropping top dollar on an iPad Pro. Apple has backed itself into a corner here — the less expensive iPad Air and iPad mini lines successfully fill the content consumption niche, and Apple Silicon-powered MacBooks fill the workstation-on-the-go niche.

There are several small iPadOS tweaks that need addressing in order for the iPad Pro to transcend beyond simply being a showcase piece. Most of these are small and yet consequential: multi-user support, improvements to the file manager app, remappable mouse controls, and better audio input/output controls immediately spring to mind.

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Braden Newell / Pocket-lint

In the long term, Apple appears to be looking towards a mixed reality future for personal computing. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are both incredibly promising and rapidly evolving technologies, but they’re still baking in the oven. The company’s own Vision Pro headset is impressive, but far from mainstream.

In the short-to-medium term, tablet-first computing looks to be a viable solution for most consumers. Google certainly thinks so — the search giant has been busy investing in the Android tablet ecosystem in a big way. More and more people are using mobile devices as their primary computing hardware, as opposed to traditional laptops and desktop PCs.

The iPad Pro is an incredible piece of hardware, possibly Apple’s most flexible product category to date. iPadOS needs to receive some proper attention, in order to get it past the finish line and transform the iPad into a truly pro-level tablet computer.

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