It takes two, baby

We had hopes. We had dreams. 

Apple stuffed its new iPad Pro with the highest-end hardware. An M1 chip, just like in the Mac line. Eight, or even sixteen (!) gigs of RAM, depending on your configuration. A brilliant new XDR Liquid Retina display in the 12.9 inch model. 

This would be the year, surely, that Apple removed the software restrictor plate and let the iPad realize it’s full potential. A glorious and massive iPadOS update was coming at WWDC. Had to be.

No. 

No pro apps, like Final Cut Pro, were announced for the iPad Pro. Multitasking is still limited. True monitor support is missing. Third party apps can’t even take advantage of all that spacious new RAM, because apps are capped at 5GB. 

Our dreams of the iPad as the One Device were shattered again. 

Not only that, but Apple doubled down on the need for both a Mac and an iPad. Craig Federighi’s best feature demo, Universal Control, requires both an iPad and a Mac to work:

It wasn’t enough to dash our one-device dreams. Apple actively dunked on the One Devicers, creating an admittedly cool way to control both a Mac and an iPad from the same keyboard and mouse or trackpad. 

Two devices, side by side. Just how Apple wants it.

It’s not neglect. It’s strategy. 

Some feel iPadOS is neglected by Apple—hamstrung by a lack of emphasis and focus to make it a more flexible and powerful platform. 

But it’s not neglect. This is strategy. Two devices complementing each other, Mac and iPad, joyfully co-occupying both your desk space and your credit card statement. 

We have to let go, iPad One Devicers. It’s never going to happen. Even as the Mac and iPad become more alike in some ways—the Mac gets Shortcuts, for example—Apple ensures they remain functionally separate. 

There has been much talk about the App Store and Apple’s “walled garden,” which forces users to stay inside it’s ecosystem. But Apple builds other walls, too. Sturdy walls that keep the iPad away from the Mac’s flexibility and functionality, ensuring one product line never cannibalizes the other.

All is not lost

iPadOS will bring useful new features. Enhanced Notes. Better, if not more powerful, multitasking. Continuity is a useful feature with some of that Apple magic. FaceTime, Safari, notifications, and the home screen all get deep and useful updates.

So the iPad remains the best Creator Computer. It’s just not ready to walk alone. And it’s unlikely it ever will.