Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
Apple typically free a novel variant of its products every twelvemonth , but 2023 was different . That was the first yr Apple did not release any new updates across the entireiPadlineup .
We ’re now a duo of months into 2024 , and it ’s rumored thatApple could be dropping new iPad models this month — as ahead of time as this coming Monday or Tuesday . After all , a newM3 MacBook Airjust come up out , so by nature , we should bear young iPads after not having any update last twelvemonth .
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
But young iPads just do n’t turn on me any longer . In fact , it ’s beenyearssince I ’ve wish about the iPad . Here ’s why — and how I hope Apple can interchange my nous .
iPadOS is still limited
My large problem with the iPad lineup is that it runs iPadOS . Even with the legion update Apple has made over the years , it ’s still just a translation of Io that ’s been stretch across a bigger presentation with some multitasking tricks shake off in . In the past , I ’ve seek to use an iPad Pro as a refilling for a laptop and do all of my oeuvre on it . This was always a misfortunate experience that I could never put up with .
certainly , Apple has ameliorate iPadOS 17,such as the rework version of Stage Manager . But for me , my work flow often includes having to economize prototype , rename and resize them , foreground or magnify parts in images , upload them to WordPress , and reference multiple web browser window while writing in my textual matter editor . That ’s all cumbersome to do on an iPad , regardless of the model . All this is easier for me to do on my 27 - column inch iMac .
I ’ve given up on bring serious work done with an iPad . The only understanding I would potentially apply an iPad for body of work is to write a draft of an clause because it ’s still the near for beguilement - free writing . But when it comes to rename and resizing single file , converting them , and other task , I ’d rather just do that on my computing gadget . It ’s easy , faster , and more sleek .
Some multitude can do all of their work with just an iPad , and that ’s great for them ! But for my work flow , it makes more sense for me to do it all on a reckoner . And unless Apple has a drastic overhaul plan for iPadOS 18 , I do n’t see that changing any time shortly .
Apple has been coasting for years
But it ’s not just the software . It ’s very clear that Apple has been coasting along on the achiever of the iPad , largely because there just are n’t that many greatAndroid alternatives . With a few exception , most Android tablet are n’t deserving your clock time , which is why the iPad stay one of thebest tabletsthat you could buy .
While Android tablets do the job for those who buy them , the trouble is that Android has even worse tablet optimisation , particularly when it come in to third - party apps . There ’s also the repeated takings of sluggish performance , especially with the unnumbered cheaper options that are uncommitted .
This has been a problem for yr , and Google has never full resolved its issues with tablets . Without much competition , Apple has been able to coast along with the iPad and iPadOS to the point where it ’s no longer exciting for me .
Unlike theiPhone , which often has to catch up to the competition , the iPad and its package just sense a bit stagnant . It ’s that peculiar home between a smartphone and a computer that , at least for me , feel increasingly unneeded in my daily life .
The iPad has become too messy
When Steve Jobs announced the first iPad in 2010 , matter were simple — there was just one poser . Right now , Apple is selling six different iPad poser infivedifferent sizes : iPad mini , 9th - contemporaries iPad , 10th - contemporaries iPad , iPad Air , 11 - inch iPad Pro , and 12.9 - inch iPad Pro .
Not only that , but the lineup uses five different processors , two different buck ports , and a mishmash of accessories with specific compatibility . Three interlingual rendition of the Apple Pencil are now being sold , too . In brusque , it ’s a mussiness .
hearsay have been suggesting that Apple will set in motion a larger 12.9 - inch iPad Air in accession to the stock 10.9 - column inch size that it presently has . The iPad Pro will reportedly have somewhat larger displays , move to 13 inch and 11.1 inch .
This could have something to do with the possibility of the iPad Pro models going with a full OLED presentation rather than LCD and miniskirt - lead , while the Air still uses an LCD display . But still , do we really need another size add to the iPad Air ? A new size for the mid - reach iPad Air just seems unneeded and complicates an already messy card as is .
Furthermore , with the limitation of iPadOS itself , does one iPadreallydo something better than another one , at least for most people ? There are exceptions , of track , like diagrammatically intensive apps and game that would be best on an iPad Pro . But does it really weigh when you ’re just using an iPad to devour cognitive content , check e-mail , browse the web , and do other basic tasks ?
I ’m curious to see what Apple does with its novel iPads , and I hope it can change my mind . But give how the iPad family has been handled over the last few years , I ’m not holding my hint .
