iPads defined the tablet category of computers. Originally launched in 2010 via a memorable Steve Jobs led Keynote, the iPad has grown to become quite versatile.
Key enhancements to the iPad over time include:
- An increase in screen size.
- Enhancements to iOS to make it more fit for purpose for the iPad like overlapping App windows.
- Additions like the Apple Magic Keyboard that adds a trackpad and trackpad pointer for point and click input.
- External monitor support.
- More powerful CPUs and GPUs.
- Addition of Stylus support (the Apple Pencil) including handwriting recognition and pressure sensitivity with a series of Apps available to take advantage of it.
Given how flexible the iPad is, functioning like a laptop or desktop but still being a tablet that can be directly interacted with via multi-touch, for some people, an iPad may be the only computer they need. But can it completely replace a laptop or desktop for everyone? The short answer is, for some people, no.
Here’s the main reasons why the iPad doesn’t completely replace traditional laptops and desktops:
- The iPad doesn’t run macOS or Windows, a full-blown desktop operating system. The difference between macOS/Windows and the computers that run them and iPad and iPadOS is about power and precision: macOS/Windows and the Macs and PCs that run these operating systems are designed for precision input to the degree of 1 pixel (mouse pointer), whereas the iPad and iPadOS are designed for touch with large UI elements to accommodate meaty finger input.
- On power, macOS/Windows also enables virtually unlimited multi-tasking along with software that is designed to take advantage of powerful CPUs and GPUs. The iPad and iPadOS are designed for mobile, battery power use and for devices that are extremely thin and light: iPadOS aggressively limits background processes and multi-threading as a result, and so it needs to, or battery life will fall off of a cliff.
- Even if the iPad were to run something like macOS, it’s limited by its thermal envelope: it’s a thin slate with its internal components sandwiched against its screen. Heat dissipation is an issue, and there’s a reason Apple makes computers with active cooling (fans) and larger heat sinks. On certain comparison benchmark tests, for instance, the iPad tends to run hotter MacBooks under load, and more actively throttles its CPU because of heat. This limits the kind of software that can run on the iPad, and particularly around sustained performance.
- Screen size. While the 13” iPad may be able to be passable in terms of screen size for running macOS or Windows, these operating systems demand larger screens given that they’re user interfaces are designed for precision input: there are typically many user interface elements on screen and they require precise mouse input. Smaller screens, including the 11” iPad and iPad Mini breakdown in such a use case.
Conclusion
While the iPad and iPadOS have evolved substantially since the original launch of the iPad, as Steve Jobs said in an interview in 2010:
When we were an agrarian nation, all cars were trucks, because that’s what you needed on the farm. But as vehicles started to be used in the urban centres, cars got more popular… PCs are going to be like trucks. They’re still going to have a lot of value, but they’re going to be used by one out of X people.
Steve Jobs, 2010
There will continue to be a place for the “trucks” of the computing world. So for those that need to do heavy lifting, they’ll turn to more traditional laptops and desktops. For the rest, the iPad may be the only computer they’ll need.
