Apple is still considering the iPad as a second-class citizen

The iPad played a relatively large role during Apple’s WWDC 2022 keynote address. The company’s iPadOS 16 is undergoing a lot of changes this fall, including advanced Stage Manager multitasking, resizable and overlapping Windows, and real external display support that lets you expand your desktop instead of mirroring it. Developers are also getting tools to provide more Mac-like apps.

Apparently missing, though, Apple went out of its way to display iOS 16 on the iPhone – a customizable lockscreen style with widgets for things like calendars and fitness apps. The gap is so narrow that at first, I thought I must have missed something. Even the iPad mini has an 8.3-inch screen, which allows for even better widgets than the 6.7-inch iPhone 13 Pro Max.

And while iPad owners are finally getting a native weather app, Apple is still refusing to build a calculator on iPadOS. It’s a basic productivity tool, and almost 12 years in the iPad era is unforgivable.

Sadly, for iPad owners, this is part of a continuing pattern that Apple considers the iPad to be a second-class device, dating back to the first iPad in 2010.

Related: Everything you need to know about iPadOS

The iPad has a bit of a bad history

From the start, the iPad has been plagued by criticism that it is a larger iPhone. There was reason to buy a first-gen iPad, as seen – cheaper than a Mac and much better than a phone for things like video, email and web browsing. But Apple doesn’t seem to know how to separate it, as well as provide more screen space for content.

In fact, Apple initially introduced the iPad as an e-reader just like anything else. This is why Apple Books (né iBooks) were created and why the App Store later got access to in-app subscriptions. The idea was that magazines and newspapers would jump on the platform, sharing revenue with Apple for the benefit of its enticing users. Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. Even Apple has partnered with The Daily, an iPad-exclusive publication that has opened up access to Facebook and Galaxy Tab users for less than two years.

See also: The best Android tablet

Apple’s development has never been completely stable. But there has been a slowdown in the implementation of things that are clearly and widely demanded by consumers, such as Windows multitasking (which only debuted in 2015) or mouse and trackpad support (2020). Cupertino rarely pushes the envelope with the iPad, unlike the iPhone, which is locked in a permanent arms race with flagship Android phones like the Pixel 6 and Galaxy S22.

Coming back to the widgets, they came to the iPhone homescreen with iOS 13 of 2019, but not the iPad until the 2020 iPadOS 14. Even then, Apple jammed a small part of their homescreen, where iPhone owners happily arranged widgets wherever they wanted. .

The problems continue today. While the iPadOS 16 file is set to further enhance the app, for example allowing you to change file extensions, the built-in iPad file system continues to be sandboxed like the iPhone, limiting app interconnection and file management that are not available on Mac and Windows PCs. Arguably, the only reason the File app exists is because iPad owners are vocal about seeking control over their files – you may be able to edit 4K video on an iPad Pro, but copying files and copying files from there is rarely important. An external drive.

Sometimes it feels like the company is shooting at its own feet. Got an Apple Watch? Well, you can’t set it up with an iPad, even if you’re willing to pay for a cellular watch to get data access away from home. There is a fitness app for the iPad, but it wasn’t always there, and now it’s predominant so watch owners can use the Apple Fitness Plus. You still need an iPhone to configure a watch, which is stopping sales from people who like the iPad but don’t have a strong desire to change the smartphone platform.

Read: Your complete guide to Apple Health, Apple Fitness and Apple Fitness Plus

Power user problem

Apple regularly markets the iPad as an alternative to laptops. It promotes their productivity, their standards against Windows machines and is notorious there “What is a computer?” Advertising Since 2017, the company has been out of touch with how people use iPads – or computers. The video was so brutal that Apple removed it from its YouTube channel.

What Apple is missing, of course, is that an iPad cannot be a complete laptop replacement unless it can do everything a laptop can. Programmers should be able to write and compile complete code on their iPad, without resorting to cloud services, as they do today. Artists and designers should be able to run an uncompromising version of the entire Adobe CC suite, not just Photoshop, and everyone should be able to run a desktop-level version of Microsoft Office, or sync local music files directly with an iPhone as if they were iTunes. Was using.

To be fair, at least some of the responsibility rests with third-party developers, and hopefully iPadOS 16 will overcome some of the existing barriers. But we shouldn’t have this conversation in 2022, and that’s behind the fact that Apple has spent so much time building MacOS like the iPad – visual, a notification center and separate media app, among other things – enabling iPads instead of improving the key.

The quick answer is probably cannibalization. Former Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller promised that Macs and iPads would be separated to avoid a settlement for “the least common denominator”, but it is increasingly clear that the iPad is the best when it comes to more Macs. You can do more with a 12.9-inch iPad Pro with a keyboard and mouse than with a bare 10.2-inch standard iPad.

The problem for Apple is that if an iPad could replace a Mac, it could eat up MacBook Air sales. It may even take a bit of a bite from lower-end MacBook Pro sales, as there are people who like to work (or gamble) on an ultra-portable touchscreen tablet, especially with good stylus like the Apple Pencil.

Apple doesn’t try to cripple the iPad as much as it does. This leaves the product in an awkward middle ground, however, where it is more than just a content-using device, but rarely meets its potential. Especially with the so-called Pro models, which offer a larger 120Hz screen, Thunderbolt / USB4 and extended storage options. These glasses help, but they don’t automatically “professional” a tablet. Pro hardware must be matched with pro-quality apps and OS features.

Things like the iPadOS 16 and the magic keyboard suggest that Apple knows where to go. Whatever it is, though, it tends to take a half-step, when it really needs a big overhaul that eventually deals with the iPad as well as its phones and computers.

Read more: The best iPads you can buy