iPad Pro with M1 Chip: Apple itself doesn’t want iPads to replace MacBooks

iPad will hardly ever be a complete substitute for MacBook. So what’s the point to pairing iPad Pro with such an industry-leading chip as M1 as the tablet doesn’t need to be any faster to handle signature “tablet tasks”?

The experience of texting, tracking, storing – importing – exporting files on a laptop has been optimized to a level that most alternative solutions tablets provide seem to be far-fetched. In 2021, an iPad Pro bears a close resemblance to a high-end laptop when it comes to appearance, but inherent divergences in their softwares and operating systems have made us hesitate to turn to the iPad for professional video editing, coding or content producing.

Manufacturers have been very determined to make their tablets more versatile than ever, facilitating the tablet use for work by introducing “productivity-boosting” gears and accessories. However, the very similar general experience brought by iPad Pro M1, iPad Pro 2020 and iPad Pro 2018 reflects a true fact: No matter how advanced iPads can become or how insanely fast the chips are, an iPad can hardly replace a MacBook. Ever. If Apple wants iPads to take the place of MacBooks, the incorporation should admit their failure very soon.

But does Apple really want to do such a thing?

If Apple really wanted to renovate the iPad to become the MacBook, things would be very different now. First, assuming that iPads were capable of what MacBooks are, Apple would have two different products occupying two separate production lines, having two distinct shapes, but serving only one customer base. In the worst case, the customers’ options might shift from buying both of them in order to make optimal use of the Apple ecosystem to buying either of them. It is admitted that middle-class individuals can often only afford one of the two items for now, but in such a case when the iPad resembles the MacBook, the desire for the products one doesn’t have yet would be eliminated. A smart business keeps widening its customer bases rather than abridge it, and Apple is (apparently) amongst the smartest businesses, if not the smartest one in the world.

Second, Apple is totally aware of what the iPad is lacking in to take the place of a laptop (as we know it too): the operating system and the screen size. They haven’t made big changes to the aspects, which would mean that the US incorporation is aiming to satisfy the current iPad consumers instead of forcing them to use the iPad in a “MacBook” way.

This viewpoint is justifiable by looking at the iPad’s recent revenue. There has been a jump in this figure since Q2 2020, and in Q1 2021, the iPad’s sales reached its climax since Q4 2015, at $8.4 billion. After 6 years, iPad is regaining its position as a striking money-generating item for Apple, given that it’s been the best tablet around for years. iPadOS has proven to aid content creators in various ways, and the iPad itself has very loyal customers. Apple thus has a sufficient number of reasons to invest in macOS and iPadOS separately. They simply shouldn’t be merged into one, or certain harm could be done to Apple’s overall income.

Finally, Apple has continually claimed that merging iPadOS and macOS would be a mistaken idea, and iPad and MacBook’s coexistence would offer a wider range of item choices for the users. If Apple wanted to sell an iPad running macOS (?), many things have to be done to fit the hardware with the softwares (which are costly), while the iPad’s current price shouldn’t be higher at all. There would be no compensation for Apple after all if they revolutionised one of their core products, so the revolution itself is not worthy.

Opinions that such a merge would offer numerous benefits for the users are self-evident. For instance, a normal user would feel more comfortable using only one operation system, and Apple would only have to develop only one OS accordingly. Apps, games and features would be available on all hardware items at once. However, there is no need for such a change as iOS and iPadOS are nearly similar, and when you know how to use an iPhone, getting used to a MacBook is barely a challenge. The benefit offered by an iPad-Macbook merge or an iPad running macOS is not the benefit we ever yearn for.

This is the dawn of Apple’s M1 chip. Therefore, the iPad Pro M1 is “merely” an item carrying along with it the best tech Apple can integrate into a tablet, a product that boosts the chip and a tablet that consolidates the dominance of iPad over Android counterparts. It isn’t meant to substitute the MacBook at all, and a merge will not happen anytime soon.