The Hardware Overlap: Why Apple's iPad and Mac Ecosystem is More Than Just a Convenience

It's no wonder that people began to assume that Apple would bring more software features over from the Mac to the iPad. Things like real external monitor support, pro-level Mac apps, support for multiple users, and more capable file management and multitasking were all assumed to be next on the list. And with the M1 chip, it no longer appeared like there was a technical reason why these Mac features couldn't cross over to also be enjoyed by iPad users.

This begs the question: without a technical barrier, does Apple have a good rational, logical, or philosophical reason for not bringing these features to the iPad? Or are they just trying to make people buy more than one device? Steve Jobs famously said that if there's going to be a third category of device, it has to be better at certain tasks. And with an iPad even an iPad Pro to be able to do some things better than a laptop, it can't be a laptop.

It's worth noting that out there in the big old wide world, there are people who enjoy getting by with just a Mac or just an iPad. But it's also true that owning both a Mac and an iPad can be better than owning either one as long as a person is willing to pay for those benefits. Apple's mantra has never been to produce the cheapest thing; they're not trying to be a cheap laptop, but rather the best one available.

At WWDC, Apple debuted macOS Monterey, which came with a really interesting feature called Universal Control. This counts as at least one interesting reason to have both a Mac and an iPad on the same desk. With Universal Control, you can set an iPad down next to a Mac, move the Mac cursor over to the side of the screen, and it'll jump over to the Mac. You can control both devices with one keyboard and mouse, and you can also drag and drop files between the two without needing email, Dropbox, or AirDrop.

This is a game-changer for anyone who owns both a Mac and an iPad. They can take advantage of Procreate, an excellent iPad-only app that really makes use of the Apple Pencil, and they can also take advantage of Final Cut Pro, a Mac-only app. Personally, I'm excited to try out Universal Control, but I've already been loving Sidecar, which allows me to get myself in the right headspace for creating.

So, what's changed? I traded out my ultrawide setup for a dual MacBook Pro and iPad Pro setup, and it's been a revelation. I can focus on writing with Jarvis open on the Mac, and then detach the iPad to make some handwritten notes using its paper-like screen protector. I can reference those handwritten notes while still having Jarvis open, feeling like I literally have everything I need right at my fingertips.

The kicker is that I can pack this setup up and take it with me, recreating it literally anywhere. This is not something I can do with my ultrawide, which is stuck in one place. If money talks, Apple's iPad business has clearly shown that the consumers are voting with their wallets to let Apple know that they still see room for a third category of devices.

As long as that's the case, I wouldn't be in a rush to expect Apple to turn the iPad Pro into anything other than the best tablet in the world. It's more than just about convenience; it's about creating an ecosystem where users can get the most out of their devices. And with Universal Control and Sidecar leading the way, it's clear that Apple is committed to making this happen.

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In Conclusion...

It's clear that Apple's iPad and Mac ecosystem is more than just about convenience; it's about creating an experience where users can get the most out of their devices. With Universal Control, Sidecar, and other features leading the way, it's no wonder that owners are clamoring for more integration between these two devices.

As we move forward into the future, one thing is certain: Apple will continue to push the boundaries of what's possible with technology, making it clear that their vision for a seamless ecosystem is still very much alive and well. Whether you're an iPad enthusiast or a Mac aficionado, there's no denying that owning both is a game-changer.

So, if you haven't already, consider joining the conversation on social media using the hashtag #AppleEcosystem. Share your thoughts, ask questions, and let Apple know what you think should come next in this incredible journey.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey it's chris i put this video together using a hybrid macbook and ipad sidecar setup with jarvis my ai writing assistant open on the mac and my research and notes open over on the ipad it's a powerful setup and i want you to remember it because it's gonna figure prominently later in this video but first here's an interesting conundrum the m1 ipad pro is undisputedly the best tablet ever created and yet there are some apple fans who feel disappointed by what it can do how is that possible maybe apple's marketing has left people a little confused as to what an ipad is what is a computer or your idea of a computer or a tablet or a pro tablet or maybe we as consumers have simply read apple wrong maybe we thought that apple was building us the mobile primary device of our dreams and kind of developed unrealistic expectations as for what an ipad pro should do all right now follow me here in recent years the ipad pro and macbook lineups have come to overlap enough that we've come to expect more overlap every time a new ipad pro is launched even so both devices still remain distinct because you can still say there's an ipad pro and there's a macbook and there's still certain tasks that are only doable on either one device or the other so yes there is a lot of overlap between the devices but why isn't there more in fact lots of people have been asking why seemingly obvious features aren't being borrowed from the mac and given to the ipad pro we're at the point where it's almost become fashionable to ask why apple seemingly won't let the ipad pro become even more pro it feels like the only thing holding this ipad back is apple protecting the max a little bit to paraphrase linus sebastian's logic apple is a company that can spend nearly 20 billion dollars a year on r and d clearly they have the resources to bring any existing mac feature to the ipad pro therefore when seemingly obvious features don't show up it must be because apple decided not to include them not that apple couldn't include them to truly understand what apple's trying to do with the ipad pro we got to go back to 2010 to the launch of the very first ipad steve jobs last great keynote but before we do let me just remind you if you're liking this video why not hit subscribe everybody uses a laptop and or a smartphone and the question has arisen lately is there room for a third category of device in the middle steve knew that apple couldn't just make a new device and hope people were going to buy it that new device had to actually serve a purpose if there's going to be a third category of device it's going to have to be better at these kinds of tasks than a laptop or a smartphone otherwise it has no reason for being meaning it had to handle the key tablet tasks better than a high-end expensive laptop on one end and it also had to be more compelling than a cheap netbook on the other the problem is netbooks aren't better at anything they they're slow they have low quality displays and they run clunky old pc software so when you think about an ipad you think mobile fast high quality touch screen experience basically the opposite of something like a chromebook that's the essence of the ipad now fast forward five years to 2015 to the launch of the first ipad pro the first ipad pro was still a mobile fast high quality touch screen experience except it got even faster and had an even better display it launched alongside the first apple pencil in a smart keyboard and that keyboard really did a lot to move the ipad pro in a more mac-like direction by now in 2021 we've seen a total of five ipad pros and with just one exception they've all improved upon that core ipad experience mobile fast high quality touch screen experience by doing two things adding a faster chip and somehow improving the display if you pay attention to the intro video for the m1 ipad pro you'll notice that the m1 chip and the liquid retina hdr display are the headline features they're the first two to be shown as the ipad pro's matured it's picked up some features that you're not going to find on a mac face id lidar a more advanced apple pencil 5g center stage and home screen widgets among other things and these are the kinds of features that help the ipad pro stand out at the same time there's been some mac hand-me-downs as well usbc and thunderbolt trackpad and mouse support for example and these are the kinds of features that do nothing but blur the line between the two different devices but when the overlap really went into overdrive was when the ipad pro got the m1 chip the same chip found inside four different macs the m1 is a component that isn't just mac like it's mac identical with this level of hardware overlap it's no wonder that people began to assume apple would bring more software features over from the mac to the ipad things like real external monitor support pro level mac apps support for multiple users and more capable file management and multitasking why because with the m1 it no longer appeared like there was a technical reason why these mac features couldn't cross the divide to also be enjoyed by ipad users which then begs the question without a technical barrier does apple have a good rational logical or philosophical reason or are they just you know a business trying to make people buy more than one device when steve introduced that first ipad he said it had to have a purpose if there's going to be a third category of device it's going to have to be better at these kinds of tasks and for an ipad even an ipad pro to be able to do some things better than a laptop it can't be a laptop because then it could only ever be the same never different much less better here we are today over a decade since the first ipad launched and apple still offers phones tablets and laptops and i don't think they ever envisioned somebody owning just one back in the day steve slide never said here's three options pick one just like owning an iphone doesn't preclude you from owning a mac owning a mac doesn't preclude you from owning an ipad or vice versa even if some people do wish that was the case now it's true that out there in the big old wide world there are people who enjoy getting by with just a mac or just an ipad but it's just as true that owning both a mac and an ipad can be better than owning either or as long as a person is willing to pay for those benefits remember apple's mo has never been to produce the cheapest thing they're not better than a laptop at anything they're just cheaper they're just cheap laptops but it is known for its technological panache now back at wwdc apple debuted mac os monterey which came with a really interesting feature universal control which counts as at least one interesting reason to have both a mac and an ipad on the same desk with universal control you can set an ipad down next to a mac move the mac cursor over to the side of the screen it'll jump over to the mac and you can control both devices with one keyboard and mouse but you can also drag and drop files between the two no email no dropbox no airdrop required and if that's not cool i don't know what is plus a person that owned both could take advantage of procreate an excellent ipad only app that really makes use of that apple pencil and they could also take advantage of final cut pro a mac only app personally i can't wait to try universal control but i'm already loving sidecar to get myself in the right headspace for creating this video i traded out my ultrawide setup for a dual macbook pro and ipad pro setup and to be honest i felt really productive since i was focused on writing i had my favorite writing app jarvis open on the mac i'll link it in the description for you and it was great being able to detach the ipad make some handwritten notes making use of my paper-like screen protector reattach the ipad reference those handwritten notes while still having jarvis open while feeling like i literally had everything i needed right at my fingertips and here's the kicker i can pack this setup up take it with me and recreate it literally anywhere and that's not something that i can do with my ultrawide now would i personally rather have one primary device that's a bit more capable than either my macbook pro or my ipad pro on its own honestly maybe yeah i don't know but at the same time i can't get that quote out of my head that says the whole is greater than the sum of the parts if money talks then soak in the fact that apple's ipad business took in revenues of over 7 billion dollars here recently in july that means the consumers are voting with their wallets to let apple know that they still see room for a third category of devices and as long as that's the case i wouldn't be in a rush to expect apple to turn the ipad pro into anything other than the best tablet in the world oh man that was a little bit different of a video wasn't it let me know what you guys thought it was more of a video essay format and actually i really enjoyed it leave me some feedback also don't forget i've got a podcast i'd love for you to join me on it it's linked up down below and i'm also giving away basically every month i've decided a homepod mini and if you want to enter that the details are also linked up down in the description otherwise make sure you're subscribed so you can catch more of these videos and i'll catch you in the next one laterhey it's chris i put this video together using a hybrid macbook and ipad sidecar setup with jarvis my ai writing assistant open on the mac and my research and notes open over on the ipad it's a powerful setup and i want you to remember it because it's gonna figure prominently later in this video but first here's an interesting conundrum the m1 ipad pro is undisputedly the best tablet ever created and yet there are some apple fans who feel disappointed by what it can do how is that possible maybe apple's marketing has left people a little confused as to what an ipad is what is a computer or your idea of a computer or a tablet or a pro tablet or maybe we as consumers have simply read apple wrong maybe we thought that apple was building us the mobile primary device of our dreams and kind of developed unrealistic expectations as for what an ipad pro should do all right now follow me here in recent years the ipad pro and macbook lineups have come to overlap enough that we've come to expect more overlap every time a new ipad pro is launched even so both devices still remain distinct because you can still say there's an ipad pro and there's a macbook and there's still certain tasks that are only doable on either one device or the other so yes there is a lot of overlap between the devices but why isn't there more in fact lots of people have been asking why seemingly obvious features aren't being borrowed from the mac and given to the ipad pro we're at the point where it's almost become fashionable to ask why apple seemingly won't let the ipad pro become even more pro it feels like the only thing holding this ipad back is apple protecting the max a little bit to paraphrase linus sebastian's logic apple is a company that can spend nearly 20 billion dollars a year on r and d clearly they have the resources to bring any existing mac feature to the ipad pro therefore when seemingly obvious features don't show up it must be because apple decided not to include them not that apple couldn't include them to truly understand what apple's trying to do with the ipad pro we got to go back to 2010 to the launch of the very first ipad steve jobs last great keynote but before we do let me just remind you if you're liking this video why not hit subscribe everybody uses a laptop and or a smartphone and the question has arisen lately is there room for a third category of device in the middle steve knew that apple couldn't just make a new device and hope people were going to buy it that new device had to actually serve a purpose if there's going to be a third category of device it's going to have to be better at these kinds of tasks than a laptop or a smartphone otherwise it has no reason for being meaning it had to handle the key tablet tasks better than a high-end expensive laptop on one end and it also had to be more compelling than a cheap netbook on the other the problem is netbooks aren't better at anything they they're slow they have low quality displays and they run clunky old pc software so when you think about an ipad you think mobile fast high quality touch screen experience basically the opposite of something like a chromebook that's the essence of the ipad now fast forward five years to 2015 to the launch of the first ipad pro the first ipad pro was still a mobile fast high quality touch screen experience except it got even faster and had an even better display it launched alongside the first apple pencil in a smart keyboard and that keyboard really did a lot to move the ipad pro in a more mac-like direction by now in 2021 we've seen a total of five ipad pros and with just one exception they've all improved upon that core ipad experience mobile fast high quality touch screen experience by doing two things adding a faster chip and somehow improving the display if you pay attention to the intro video for the m1 ipad pro you'll notice that the m1 chip and the liquid retina hdr display are the headline features they're the first two to be shown as the ipad pro's matured it's picked up some features that you're not going to find on a mac face id lidar a more advanced apple pencil 5g center stage and home screen widgets among other things and these are the kinds of features that help the ipad pro stand out at the same time there's been some mac hand-me-downs as well usbc and thunderbolt trackpad and mouse support for example and these are the kinds of features that do nothing but blur the line between the two different devices but when the overlap really went into overdrive was when the ipad pro got the m1 chip the same chip found inside four different macs the m1 is a component that isn't just mac like it's mac identical with this level of hardware overlap it's no wonder that people began to assume apple would bring more software features over from the mac to the ipad things like real external monitor support pro level mac apps support for multiple users and more capable file management and multitasking why because with the m1 it no longer appeared like there was a technical reason why these mac features couldn't cross the divide to also be enjoyed by ipad users which then begs the question without a technical barrier does apple have a good rational logical or philosophical reason or are they just you know a business trying to make people buy more than one device when steve introduced that first ipad he said it had to have a purpose if there's going to be a third category of device it's going to have to be better at these kinds of tasks and for an ipad even an ipad pro to be able to do some things better than a laptop it can't be a laptop because then it could only ever be the same never different much less better here we are today over a decade since the first ipad launched and apple still offers phones tablets and laptops and i don't think they ever envisioned somebody owning just one back in the day steve slide never said here's three options pick one just like owning an iphone doesn't preclude you from owning a mac owning a mac doesn't preclude you from owning an ipad or vice versa even if some people do wish that was the case now it's true that out there in the big old wide world there are people who enjoy getting by with just a mac or just an ipad but it's just as true that owning both a mac and an ipad can be better than owning either or as long as a person is willing to pay for those benefits remember apple's mo has never been to produce the cheapest thing they're not better than a laptop at anything they're just cheaper they're just cheap laptops but it is known for its technological panache now back at wwdc apple debuted mac os monterey which came with a really interesting feature universal control which counts as at least one interesting reason to have both a mac and an ipad on the same desk with universal control you can set an ipad down next to a mac move the mac cursor over to the side of the screen it'll jump over to the mac and you can control both devices with one keyboard and mouse but you can also drag and drop files between the two no email no dropbox no airdrop required and if that's not cool i don't know what is plus a person that owned both could take advantage of procreate an excellent ipad only app that really makes use of that apple pencil and they could also take advantage of final cut pro a mac only app personally i can't wait to try universal control but i'm already loving sidecar to get myself in the right headspace for creating this video i traded out my ultrawide setup for a dual macbook pro and ipad pro setup and to be honest i felt really productive since i was focused on writing i had my favorite writing app jarvis open on the mac i'll link it in the description for you and it was great being able to detach the ipad make some handwritten notes making use of my paper-like screen protector reattach the ipad reference those handwritten notes while still having jarvis open while feeling like i literally had everything i needed right at my fingertips and here's the kicker i can pack this setup up take it with me and recreate it literally anywhere and that's not something that i can do with my ultrawide now would i personally rather have one primary device that's a bit more capable than either my macbook pro or my ipad pro on its own honestly maybe yeah i don't know but at the same time i can't get that quote out of my head that says the whole is greater than the sum of the parts if money talks then soak in the fact that apple's ipad business took in revenues of over 7 billion dollars here recently in july that means the consumers are voting with their wallets to let apple know that they still see room for a third category of devices and as long as that's the case i wouldn't be in a rush to expect apple to turn the ipad pro into anything other than the best tablet in the world oh man that was a little bit different of a video wasn't it let me know what you guys thought it was more of a video essay format and actually i really enjoyed it leave me some feedback also don't forget i've got a podcast i'd love for you to join me on it it's linked up down below and i'm also giving away basically every month i've decided a homepod mini and if you want to enter that the details are also linked up down in the description otherwise make sure you're subscribed so you can catch more of these videos and i'll catch you in the next one later\n"