MacBook Neo and How the iPad Could Be
The iPad should be radically (though obviously) touch-only. No keyboards. No pointers. No mice. No trackpads. Just your disgusting fingers flopping over the screen and mooshing into icons. It should not have any window’d modes. Each app should fill the whole screen and only the whole screen. […] iPadOS shouldn’t be anything like Windows or macOS or Linux, it shouldn’t be iOS made big, it should be only like iPadOS — a singular thing of finger-poking joy.
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These kinds of workflow paper cuts are everywhere on the iPad. In terms of power, that original iPad Pro is still pretty much all the iPad you could ever want or need. I’m sure there are a few of you doing more with your iPads than the original Pro could deliver, but I’m not sure there’re many. Almost anything that doesn’t involve the Apple Pencil (Procreate being one of the true killer apps, the app that may have sold more iPads to creative professionals than anything else) could be done better on a MacBook. Even email feels better on a MacBook.
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This sense of iPad “not working” has only grown in the past two years with the explosion of LLMs and tools like Claude Code. macOS is the place to run the things because macOS is malleable and its constituent parts fungible, it’s able to embody the role of tool by trusting the user to be an adult.
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You’d think that Apple would have seen the launch of the M1 as a clear moment to maximally delineate between MacBooks and iPad. But no, Apple got weird. Some kind of internal velocity set in motion perhaps years ago by an errant project manager continued to push the company into fuzzy software spaces. For instead of making iPadOS more iPad-focused — a touch-only wonderland of touch-computing joy — they began to make it more like fake macOS. […] And each time we’d peek — a few times a year or so — our hearts fell a little in dismay to see how far they’d strayed, how utterly uninteresting it all was, how much it was trying to be “macOS lite” but somehow, mostly, worse. […] Slowly, then quickly, those of us on macOS felt squeezed in the opposite direction.
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I just love the idea that the specificity of our tools should be radically clear.
Later this year, the MacBook Pro is expected to undergo one of its most significant transformations ever with a touchscreen OLED display. At around the same time, the iPhone Fold will bring a tablet-sized screen to Apple’s handset for the first time.
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However, while Apple’s laptops and tablets have been largely evolving along parallel lines, they’re now seemingly en route to an intersection. The looming strategy shift suggests that Apple is thinking differently behind the scenes. iPads and MacBooks are actively borrowing hardware and software features from each other, and, at this pace, they could realistically become a single product within a few generations.
Similar to how the iPhone rendered the iPod redundant, Apple’s upcoming touchscreen products appear to be starting to dig the iPad’s grave.
Most authors who write articles like this simply don’t understand how iPads are actually used in a productive environment and what makes people who use them as their main machine really like them. I have both mac and my iPad pro and mostly I live on my iPad pro. What I need the iPad for would not be solved by a touchscreen mac. The MacBook Neo is not truly competition for the iPad because they’re different tools and anybody buying a Neo to replace their iPad wasn’t using the right tool to begin with. The less expensive iPad compared to a Mac made some people pick the wrong tool for cost reasons, so in that sense it looks like competition. And in that sense it looks like the Neo is the shiny new object dislodging the iPad. The question might be how many people who bought an iPad really wanted a mac and what does that do to the iPad market? That is an open question but not for the reasons pundits typically write about.
The Neo Taught Me I Never Needed an iPad
Don’t get me wrong, I still really enjoy my iPad and understand why it’s a great tool for so many people. However, for most of my daily activities, the NEO is all I need. I don’t play games or draw on it; I mainly use it for social media and watching videos. Occasionally, I need to do more computer-based tasks like typing emails, writing word documents, or creating Excel sheets, which are much easier with a keyboard. Up until now, an iPad was the only option for me because of its price. I wouldn’t spend $1000+ on a laptop for just a few tasks every now and then, but with my educational discount, the MacBook at $599 finally made sense. When I first got the NEO, I was a bit skeptical about how often I’d actually use it, but I’ve found myself using it more than the iPad.
I have been really thinking about the place of the iPad now that the new $599 MacBook Neo has been replaced. I have seen countless videos and articles saying some version of “Why would you even buy an iPad anymore? Just get the Neo”. I think that this sentiment is both right and also very wrong.
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I predict, and I hope this bears out, that as time goes on, the iPad will be looked at as less of a laptop, and more of an iPad again. Let’s let the iPad just be an iPad again. Because iPads are awesome! They’re great for drawing, journaling, reading, shopping, entertainment, gaming, lounging around with, and the list goes on and on. An iPad is an awesome “tablet computer”, it doesn’t need to be an awesome laptop. The iPad as a third device, slotted in between the smartphone and the laptop, is where it excels.
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I don’t believe for a second that the new MacBook Neo is going to kill the iPad. Rather, I think the MacBook Neo may kill the mainstream desire to make the iPad a laptop replacement.
I think the iPad is an amazing thing when its allowed to breathe its own air, and the MacBook Neo might just let it have that chance.
Apple never really took a definitive decision with the iPad, so they kept changing course and approach. They kept throwing stuff at it, at this iPad that kept becoming a jack of an increasing number of trades, while being a master at very few of them, comparatively. They built an increasingly higher tower of ‘stuff the iPad can potentially do’ over the inadequate foundation that iOS/iPadOS was and is. They thought that the problem was solvable by throwing faster and faster CPUs at it, while the actual work should have been done on the operating system front. There are still things a Newton MessagePad 2100 with a 162MHz ARM processor can do better than an M5 iPad Pro because NewtonOS is a better-designed OS for the device it runs on than iPadOS is on the iPad.
They also thought that remaining vague enough about the iPad’s core purpose was a good strategy, perhaps to buy time or to avoid taking a defining direction for the iPad that couldn’t be easily reversed. Apple’s way of remaining vague was perfectly epitomised by the phrase, We can’t wait to see what you’ll do with it. Like, here’s this obscenely powerful slab of glass and aluminium, do with it whatever you wish.
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First Apple tried to make iOS and iPadOS more complex because the iPad needed to be a more sophisticated device than an iPhone, but apparently there’s a ceiling after which complicating iPadOS makes the whole system unintuitive, with increasing discoverability issues, and the insurmountable obstacle that is a touch interface — and a touch interface can only do so much.
So, when the complication of iPadOS didn’t go very far, the natural next step for Apple was simplifying Mac OS.
The iPad’s external display support is underrated.
I connected my iPad to a Studio Display and ran Workbench. Now my headless Mac mini (back in Minneapolis) is running full-screen on a 27" display in Ohio.
Remote Mac on a Studio Display through an iPad. Pretty wild. 🤯
Alex Reframe (translated):
Apple really needs to put macOS on the iPad. Not a lite version, macOS adapted for the iPad.
Here I tested it with the screen mirroring from the Mac mini, the screen adapted and touch works. It’s absolutely amazing!
At most, being able to switch from iPadOS to a version with macOS capabilities depending on the user’s needs and what they’re looking for.
Meanwhile, the redesigned MacBook Pro will likely offer a slimmer shell and OLED touchscreen, bringing its form factor closer to an iPad Pro. That’s not to mention that Apple code has revealed in the past that the company is testing 5G-enabled MacBooks, so the overhauled model could potentially pack an in-house cellular modem, too.
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If the touchscreen Pro is successful, it’s almost certain to expand to the Air and the Neo, making it even harder to justify buying an entry-level iPad.
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The same goes for the iPad mini, which is in danger of being eclipsed by the iPhone Fold. For one, iPadOS is increasingly gaining desktop-like features that make more sense on larger screens. And those who want a small book-like tablet will surely opt for an iPhone Fold instead, which is expected to cost roughly what you’d pay for a mini and an iPhone Pro.
Apple has reportedly abandoned plans for a foldable “iPad Ultra” following years of disappointing sales performance for the iPad Pro.
The next step for Apple seems clear to me: make an iPad Neo and lock up the tablet market. Give us a brightly coloured £200/$200ish full-sized tablet, with Apple’s peerless handle on the whole software and hardware pipeline, and its impressive custom silicon operation.
Previously:
- John Ternus Replaces Tim Cook
- macOS Post–MacBook Neo
- iPadOS Post–MacBook Neo
- An Ultralight MacBook and Other Apple Silicon Roads Not Taken
- “No” Part 2
- iPadOS 26 Announced
- The State of iPadOS in 2024
- System Settings
- Galaxy Unpacked 2019
Update (2026-05-05): Steve Troughton-Smith:
The idea that we can rewind the clock to when developers cared enough to make high-quality unique iPad apps like Push Pop Press did is a complete fantasy. If you push the reset button on iPad today, developers aren't remotely in the mood to rebuild the kind of unique, bespoke app ecosystem the device had before iOS 7 and the last big reset. If iPad were invented today, it would have a fate much more similar to Vision Pro than anybody wants to think about.
iOS 7 effectively wiped out iPad app development. For years after that release, developers were hands-full redesigning for flat design and then flexible layouts. Custom iPad app designs fell by the wayside, and eventually all the unique apps on the platform were replaced with scaled phone apps.
Update (2026-05-06): Warner Crocker:
I use an iPad as a tool in my work as a theatre practitioner. I’m on my feet with a script on my iPad, using an Apple Pencil to take notes. If I need to do keyboard work in the rehearsal room, I plop the iPad on a Magic Keyboard, do the keyboard related task, then pop the iPad off again and get back on my feet. When I’m back in my digs, I mostly work on a Mac. Apple’s ecosystem makes this all possible. When it works well.
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The current lineup serves me well. Frankly, I can’t imagine any changes Apple could make that would alter how I work.
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Craig Mod argues that “the specificity of our tools should be radically clear.” I buy the argument, but extending the discussion I’ll say it’s better to have more capability than less. Most users don’t touch anywhere near what even the most limited devices can offer.
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Moving on, and with the “What’s a Computer?” miscues behind us, Apple’s current challenge and our headaches stem more from Apple trying to meld its operating systems into some sort of grand cohesive vision that feels the same across all of its devices. Admirable. But ultimately flawed in the same way that each different computing device Apple sells is as different as any two users who use that same device.
18 Comments RSS · Twitter · Mastodon
I would argue the largest problems with the iPad are:
1. It is locked down -> The software ecosystem cannot grow and explore the way the Mac ecosystem can.
2. Apple's urge to simplify UI -> Liquid glass breaks fundamentals of good UI design and many other recent rewrites even on macOS involve simplification of the UI and removal of features.
3. Third party devs building baby versions of their apps or versions that have most of the features but hide everything behind a menu.
I think 1 is key, the Mac is powerful because it is free to be opened up, people like John Gruber pretend that the iPad would be ruined by being open but I disagree. People underestimate the possibility of progressive disclosure of complexity to provide both a streamlined, beautiful, iPad 18 style UI that is clean and super-easy to use while also using progressively hidden settings that can add complexity to the UI to make it more powerful.
I also think that the idea that "let the iPad be an iPad" crowd are wrong because I think they have given up trying to imagine better UI since Apple decided to give up on ease of use.
I can't work on my iPad because it is locked down and Apple refuses to build Xcode for it.
Honestly with liquid glass and the general direction of Apple the last few years (and the kowtowing to the orange menace) I'm personally only still in the "community" because I still have most of my Apple products, if nothing changes in the next 2-3 years I won't be buying anymore personal Apple devices and haven't bought anything for the last 2 years.
The iPad is not a laptop. Do not try to make it one.
And this "Almost anything...could be done better on a MacBook" is unmitigated poppycock and balderdash, at a similar level to the Blackberry fans who suggested that the iPhone needed a hardware keyboard.
The only thing iPads do better than Macs are things that benefit from stylus input like art programs, and those a crippled on some iPads because of how limited memory is.
“In terms of power, that original iPad Pro is still pretty much all the iPad you could ever want or need.”
I own an original, 9.7" iPad Pro, and it's been a couple or more years since its power was enough. Any website not heavily optimized makes it crawl, and most apps also suffer to open and work properly.
@Benjamin it's like I refused to buy Apple laptops during the Butterfly Keyboard era.
@Total: indeed. I bought the keyboard cover for the first iPad Pro, never used it and stopped buying them. That said, the real superpower of the iPad is Portrait Mode, where you get more precious vertical space, which is why I am enraged at Apple putting the camera on the long side. If the M5 iPad Pro were not the only model that has a matte display available as an option, I would have stayed on my M1.
@gildarts
> The only thing iPads do better than Macs are things that benefit from stylus input like art programs, and those a crippled on some iPads because of how limited memory is.
Yup, the sad truth is, an iPad Pro with a pencil is a less good art-making device, because of how nerfed the OS is, than a Mac with a Wacom Cintiq, or Xencelabs Pen Display as its (only) screen. And that's the most damning part of the iPad's ultimate failure; it's worse at the thing it's supposed to be best at.
Personally, I would prefer an iPad Pro with macOS mode that had *no* finger touch for driving the UI, aside from the equivalent of it accepting trackpad gestures (zoom, pan etc), and the pencil required for all the interaction currently done with a mouse.
iOS is childproofed computing. iOS squanders the hardware potential of a device to make it harder to fuck up. That's the trade. iPad makes this the most obvious.
Buying a high-end iPad is like buying a Lambo that can't go beyond second gear (or to more than one store). All this hardware potential, yet iPadOS couldn't even background export video in FCP until Apple made an exception for themselves. You can't do anything Apple doesn't approve. The cheapest MacBook just doesn't have these problems.
macOS to iOS is "Look what they need to mimic a fraction of our power!" macOS mogs everything-iOS in multitasking, windowing, menus, responsiveness… the basics of interaction.
Take a MacBook. Apply the most restrictive MDM profile possible. Set GateKeeper to App Store only. Make Launchpad your entire Desktop. Replace the keyboard with glass. Your gimped MacBook is still 10x more capable than iPad in almost every scenario.
iPad is only good for: Pencil-first applications, being a remote display, simple full-screen workflows (a register, hand to a customer for signature or approval, a few ruggedized uses). That's it. That's all from its form factor, not from iOS.
Anything based on iOS is fruit from the poison tree.
Whenever I read about the iPad I feel like I slipped into a dimension where we have desktop computers, smartphones and tablets but somehow no one invented the laptop, and so there’s this class of people loudly aching, year after year, for the tablet to become the portable computer of their dreams.
Then I look over at my laptop and say “your machine exists! It’s called a laptop and it’s right here!”
I love my iPad. It’s the most versatile device for reading (and a close second to an e-reader for things an e-reader can easily do). It’s great for drawing in spite of its memory constraints. Hauling a cintiq around isn’t always practical. It’s a terrific notepad that never runs out of pages. It’s a nice second screeen for watching video, a great status board thanks to widgets, a delightful way to look at old photos with others. I use this thing every day and it is just a magnificent companion device for my laptop. That’s how it was pitched back in 2010 and that’s how I’ve used it for the last 16 years.
Why people want to turn it into some bulky monstrosity and fiddle with cramming windows into a tiny screen is just beyond my comprehension when a superior solution to their problems already exists.
@billyok
I very much agree. In fact, when I have to leave home and I know I'll have to do work-related stuff while out and about, I'll always choose my 11" MacBook Air over my iPad (which, with the Logitech Folio keyboard/case, is comically heavier and bulkier than the Air).
@Hammer solid Invincible reference. And highly accurate.
"a singular thing of finger-poking joy."
That's not as fun as it sounds unless all you're doing is watching videos. Which to be fair, the iPad is great at, but Apple never could decide whether it was supposed to be for creation or consumption.
I think they knew, but they really tried to make it a "computer" because they wanted to push the App Store distribution model, that's it.
I think it's helpful to remember that the iPad and Siri were both released at the very end of Jobs's life, and he never got to see them through. Tim Cook didn't know what to do with it, so in Tim Cook style he MBA'd the shit out of it and product segmented it and purposely limited it to protect other income streams, etc etc.
“do with it whatever you wish.”
Whatever you wish except install apps from outside the App Store or develop apps on it or run a third party html engine or use a third party App Store or until recently use a native emulator
> Custom iPad app designs fell by the wayside, and eventually all the unique apps on the platform were replaced with scaled phone apps.
Ya I remember when a "Universal' iPad/iPhone app template gave you two storyboards, one for iPad and for one for iPhone.
It's way worse now. Following Apple's lead developers have become selfish. Everything is about what makes everything "easier" for me. How many screen can I target with a little SwiftUI scribble? How about a little vibe code and I won't even bother reviewing it! Who cares if it sucks?
Maybe devs were always kind of selfish, but Apple didn't encourage it. Now they are just as bad as anyone else.
There was a time when devs were encouraged to design for the target platform. Maybe that died with Jobs.
It used to be:
"Don't use iOS switches on macOS! Use a checkbox." Now look at System Settings, that's a blown up iPhone app. So sad.
Lots of great thoughts here.
To STS' point - I still believe that Jobs and Forstall probably saw the iPad as a magical interactive notebook. Something that could go anywhere and everywhere, and just meld right into the real world. iOS 7 killed that, and we never saw the true potential of the platform or form factor.
I'll also add that I'm not sure that MacOS on the iPad is a good idea. Surprising to see that people are still clinging to it, but look I'm not going to pick an 11" or 13" screen over a 24" iMac or even my 15" MacBook Air. Never. Never ever ever. It's too small to work comfortably on in this day. Hell, I view my 24" iMac as basically one giant iPad anyway, except again, the screen is big enough to be actually useful/productive with.
