What’s a computer? It’s whatever helps me get my work done. I love new ideas for what computers can be, but traditional work tools still win out. For my job, it’s generally a PC or Mac. When I travel, an iPad is often convenient, but it’s not the same, so I often bring both.
The “why not both” approach is exactly what Apple has been pitching with iPads and Macs for years, but Apple has also been adamant that these platforms will never merge. I remember the stage announcement that said as much back in 2018. And back then, I said MacOS and iOS needed to combine.
I’m willing to take the long game here, a game Apple is often playing with its tech. And I’m ready to step a few years down the path and wait for this merge moment to happen. But really, this moment should be happening right now. And it is: I thought the latest iPad Pro was the Mac I wanted in another form, minus the software I was looking for. That software is coming now, but things need to go even further.
Watch this: The One Thing Keeping iPads from Killing the Mac
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iPadOS 26 is a strong sign that the merge is already underway. Lo and behold, the more Mac-like experience is already here if you explore the developer beta. (A public beta is coming this summer, ahead of a fall release, I’d suggest you wait for before downloading.)
While Apple always kept conversations about Macs and iPads very separate, this WWDC, Apple described iPad OS 26 as Mac-like quite a few times. Added support for more windows, a mouse pointer that’s now an arrow and not a large circle, menu bars, a Preview app that shows files just like a Mac does, and folders that can be organized like a Mac — mostly — are some of features that already have me nodding my head in appreciation. With a trackpad/keyboard attached, the iPad can now start feeling even more flexible, able to multitask, and possibly, able to get serious work done efficiently.
What concerns me, though, is it’s still not a Mac. The closer anything gets to an expectation point without fully getting there is a zone that’s ripe for uncanny valley disappointment. When will I use the latest iPadOS 26, get into a flow, and suddenly realize there’s a part of the OS that’s not quite the same as a Mac, and it throws me off? I don’t know yet. Maybe it’ll never happen. But my suspicion is that this new almost-Mac-like iPadOS will still, in some important ways, not be a Mac.
The iPad Pro with the developer beta of iPadOS 26 is already getting so much closer to being a Mac.
It’s so close now. You can finish the job, Apple!
Most iPads and Macs share the same M-series hardware and work with similar-feeling keyboards and trackpads. There’s absolutely no reason I can see why an iPad couldn’t also be a Mac, other than Apple deciding the software should be functionally different. (As for a Mac being an iPad, well, you’d need a touchscreen for that, and you’d need Pencil support, so it would be more complicated.)
Getting all the Mac and iPad apps to be truly cross-compatible across an OS that would recognize both wouldn’t be easy, but Apple can do it. Mac apps had to transition from Intel to ARM-based hardware, and before that from PowerPC to Intel. This time, at least, the hardware is the same…but the goals of the apps are different.
Yet, the missions are converging. Macs and iPads and iPhones and everything else are getting similar visual designs with Liquid Glass and increasingly similar notifications and widgets. I don’t want every single Apple device to work exactly the same, but when it comes to iPads and MacBooks — two product lines designed to be carried around and put in a bag — I feel their overlaps are getting pretty heavy now.
iPad Pro vs MacBook Air side by side in 2024. The convergence is clearly already here.
I don’t think iPads should stop being simple. I agree with Apple: Let the basic iPad flow be the same, and trigger the multi-windowed work mode with the press of a button.
But I don’t want that multi-windowed mode to just approach being a Mac. I want it to absolutely, positively become a Mac. Let me leave my laptop behind. Let the Pro models and a certain line of MacBooks converge.
This convergence is going to be necessary for another reason beyond just budget and packing convenience. If Apple really wants to make future Vision headsets or lighter-weight connected glasses that become essential devices, then it should compress its product line to make room. I could see myself carrying an iPad-slash-MacBook in my bag and a lightweight pair of Vision glasses that work with it. I don’t ever see myself carrying a Vision, an iPad, and a Mac. Something has to give.
As I said, I’m patient. In fact, I’ve waited for these changes — and written about them over and over — for over a decade. I can wait another year, maybe even two, for the next moves. I’m glad the ones I’ve waited forever for have finally arrived, but I still don’t understand why iPad Pros can’t also be Macs. Apple’s latest moves make me more confident of my feelings than ever, but once again, I’m probably going to have to get used to waiting a bit longer one more time.
