The iPad Pro now uses M1, Apple's homegrown processor that is also in the 21-inch iMac, 13-inch MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and Mac Mini. That's a lot of power, but don't expect the iPad to merge with the Mac line anytime soon.
In an interview with The Independent, Apple hardware lead John Ternus and marketing chief Greg ‘Joz’ Joswiak were steadfast that the two platforms are separate.
"There’s two conflicting stories people like to tell about the iPad and Mac," Joswiak told The Independent. "On the one hand, people say that they are in conflict with each other. That somebody has to decide whether they want a Mac, or they want an iPad. Or people say that we’re merging them into one: that there’s really this grand conspiracy we have, to eliminate the two categories and make them one. And the reality is neither is true. We’re quite proud of the fact that we work really, really hard to create the best products in their respective category."
Indeed, the iPad Pro is far and away better than any other Android tablet. Between the M1 and, if you splurge on a keyboard cover, the iPad Pro can easily handle many workflows with aplomb.
“We don’t think about well, we’re going to limit what this device can do because we don’t want to step on the toes of this [other] one or anything like that,” Ternus said. “We’re pushing to make the best Mac we can make; we’re pushing to make the best iPad we can make. And people choose." He pointed out that some people have both, and that their workflow spans both devices.
But it also highlights what some consider the Mac's biggest weakness: its lack of a touchscreen. Apple has long suggested that the Mac and macOS weren't designed for touch, while critics have bragged about the flexibility some Windows PCs have gained from touch screen options. The iPad, however, is getting its most advanced touchscreen ever, with mini-LED technology with extreme dynamic range borrowed from the desktop Pro Display XDR.
The Mac, as of macOS Big Sur, can run some iOS and iPad OS apps. This doesn't yet go the opposite way, and Apple can't show the same pro apps running on both the iPad and the iMac in stage demos.
Yesterday, The Verge's Monica Chin wrote an op-ed entitled "Put macOS on the iPad, you cowards," suggesting perhaps the ultimate convergence. If you're not going to put touch on the Mac, let users run their Mac apps on the iPad. After all, they share the same processor.
But with rumors of iPadOS 15 getting a significant change, perhaps one differing it more from iOS on the iPhone, it doesn't seem like the Mac and the iPad will become one anytime soon. Or perhaps ever.
"[W]e’re just going to keep making them [the iMac and iPad Pro] better. And we’re not going to get all caught up in, you know, theories around merging or anything like that," Ternus said.
