The Future Looks Bleak: Why You Won’t Find macOS on Your iPad

Key Takeaways

• iPads benefit from being a closed system.
• Cannibalization is a problem, as putting macOS on iPads could lead Mac users to jump ship to iPads.
• Selective software segregation exists between iPad and Mac apps, which could complicate things if macOS ran on iPads.

Modern iPads and Macs have exactly the same hardware under the hood, and Macs can even run iPad apps, so why not offer macOS as an option on iPad? It seems obvious, right?

iPads Benefit From Being a Closed System

As much as Apple likes to market the iPad as a full-fledged personal computer, it’s still more of an appliance than a true personal computing device. That’s because it’s a closed system where you can only install software sanctioned by Apple. Well, at least for now .

That’s one of the major reasons you want macOS on an iPad in the first place, but with freedom comes the risk of things going royally wrong. An iPad is as reliable as an iPhone or an Apple TV. While I’ve found macOS to be rather solid overall, that doesn’t mean it never goes wrong, and while I’ve never had to reset any of the seven iPads I’ve owned over a decade, I’ve had to push the big red button on my Macs a few times.

In addition, when it comes to apps like games, my iPad behaves more like a console, with games already optimized for it. While my Apple Silicon Mac can be a capable gaming system when paired with the right title, it still needs tweaking.

Cannibalization Is a Problem

Apple is one of the few laptop makers that have yet to produce a model with a touch screen, which seems weird at first give that they make some of the best touch screen devices on the market. However, apart from a few reason you wouldn’t want a touch screen Mac , there’s also the issue of cannibalization and putting macOS on iPad would be another example of that.

Of course, at first it seems that it doesn’t really matter what proportion of Macs or iPads Apple sells, but if you look at how Macs are priced, how much Apple charges to increase RAM, storage, or offer you faster chips, I suspect there’s more profit in them hills. Their iPads are relatively affordable and more than powerful enough to do everything the typical user needs, so current Mac users might jump ship to iPad.

Besides, iPads are incredible companion devices for Macs, especially when using Universal Control or SideCar . So I’m sure Apple would prefer selling you an iPad and a Mac, rather than just an iPad!

Selective Software Segregation

MacOS can run iPad apps natively, as long as the app developer allows it, that is. However, the reverse isn’t true and Apple’s own apps often have significant differences between the iPad and macOS edition. For example GarageBand on iPadOS feels almost like a completely different app than the macOS version.

There are benefits to Apple that come from strictly controlling what software features in apps go to which platform, and that’s another avenue of control that would go away if macOS ran on iPad natively.

MacOS on iPad Might Actually Be Bad

Over the past few years, macOS has received a few updates that bring it more in line with IPadOS, and quite a few macOS-like features have made it to iPad, such as windows in Stage Manager or the dock. However, macOS definitely isn’t optimized for touch-screens and making it touch-compatible to the standards of an iPad would require a major overhaul of the operating system. We all saw how poorly things went with Windows 8 and its attempt to make an interface that covers both touch and pointer input, and I doubt Apple will want to walk that path. Yet another potential reason we haven’t seen a hint of touch-screen Macs!

Also, if ever there is an iPad that can switch to a macOS mode of some sort, it will likely best work with an attached mouse and keyboard, at which point you may as well have a MacBook, or the iPad Magic Keyboard

While I could never say with 100% confidence that something definitely won’t happen, I think the odds of an iPad running macOS ever coming to market are slim to none. I am almost certain an iPad running macOS exists somewhere in the R&D dungeons of Apple, but at best we may one day see a convertible Mac sans iPadOS. Not the dual-booting jack-of-all-trades device you may be dreaming of.

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