In short
- 2021 was the year of MacBooks, let's hope 2022 will be the year of tablets
- iPad Pro is limited only by the operating system
- If they don't update iPad OS they risk producing Pro cardweights
- In 2022 we will see Native apps like Final Cut on iPads with Apple M1 chips
Let's go deeper
Today we start from a wish, a small dream in the drawer that perhaps will finally see the light of day in 2022.
Ever since the first iPad, the young scion in me has always dreamed of a device all-in-one that combined the simplicity of the iPad with the functional complexity of the Macbook, creating the perfect machine, a Ultron-Mac-Pad, with the user experience of the iPad and the professional applications of Mac OS.
In 2021, with theIntroducing the chip M1 in the iPad Pro, Apple played a good prank on us, I remember the online reviews in which EVERYONE said “the real review will come out after the presentation of iPad OS 15".
It was theThe biggest disappointment in recent years that presentation, everyone expected an OS Ex-machina that it could finally bring the iPad closer to the Mac and instead... absolute nothingness.
But, knowing Apple, nothing was done at random. One step at a time, as Microsoft has done with its beautiful - however limited in terms of performance - Surface Pro, our dear Apple will come out of the box a device that can meet the needs of users who, like me, are in the middle between iPad and Mac.
2020, and 2021 to follow, were, after all, the years of MacBooks. Apple introduced the new Apple M1 chips, M1 Pro Ed M1 Max who have literally revolutionized the PC market with the fantastic ones - Although very ugly in my opinion - 14" and 16" MacBook Pro.
But then, why am I iPad Still not convincing?
Main doubts and issues
Let's face it, theiPad Pro current, it's a perfect machine.
Very powerful, versatile and that has nothing to envy compared to the new MacBook Pros. It shares the same processors - and that's all to say - and The 12.9" version even has XDR Liquid Retina display which allows him to enter, with a straight leg, into the workflow of audiovisual professionals.
But what is the Bottleneck? The operating system.
As of today, The biggest problem with iPad Pro - which is not there on the basic iPad, Air or Mini because they are not designed, precisely, for professional needs - is the fact that it does not have truly professional applications.
As much as, for example, Adobe is investing in the development of its iPad apps, The purely functional difference that persists with the desktop versions is evident.
And this is really a shame, considering that the iPad Pro is equipped with an M1 and which starts with 8GB of RAM, has all the prerequisites to run applications worthy of its hardware.
An example? NomadSculpt.
It is an application for organic 3D modeling that has nothing to envy with ZBrush and that, already going from iPad Air a Pro, show your muscles seriously.
I have completely modeled this on us:
And do you know where I had to render the animal? Sul MacBook Air which has nothing less than the M1 chip and 8GB of RAM, the same as the iPad Pro on which I modeled.
So do we confirm the OS limitation? Yes.
Not to mention the obnoxious problem of peripherals, my God. The iPad Pro, to date, still cannot, connected via HDMI to an external monitor, adapt the size of the interface to the screen -.-. It looks square... terrible.
Another major limitation? The Files app that makes even the slightest movement of files from one folder to another cumbersome.
In short, the limitations, desired or not by Apple to differentiate tablets and PCs, are obvious and annoying.
So, what can we expect on the iPad and OS side in 2022?
Speculations about the future of the iPad Pro in 2022
Considering that, to date, not even a year has passed since the launch of the iPad Pro M1, in 2022 I expect, also considering the rumors about iPad OS 16, News on the software side rather than hardware.
- Native app for M1, here we need more information, see you in the next paragraph
- UI redesign, Apple plans to “bring” the realities of iPad and MacBook closer together, creating a visual continuity of the user interface with a redesign of the icons, as already done with Mac OS Monterey
- New widgets, it seems that Apple wants to update the appearance of the lockscreen and what better way than by developing ad hoc widgets?
But enough words, let's take a look at these native apps and what they have to tell us.
Native app for M1, finally I would say
According to online news, this year's main focus could be on Transposing native Mac apps to iPad Pro with M1, in particular of:
- Final Cut Pro
- Logic Pro
- XCode
As mentioned before, one of the biggest shortcomings of the iPad Pro is precisely the absence of applications worthy of the Pro suffix.
With this news, if it turns out to be true, we will finally be able to see the arrival not only of Apple's proprietary apps but, consequently, also of all the rest of our beloved applications for professional productivity.
In the end, if you think about it, the iPhone and iPad applications are already available in the apple store for the new Macbooks with M1.
But then What's stopping Apple and companies from bringing Mac apps back to iPad? The user-experience.
Obviously, considering the tablet's support for the touchscreen, The entire interface must be rethought for combined use between fingers and mouse.
In short, as a UX Designer, I can say that this is no small thing at all.
The UX must be completely rethought by creating interfaces that are as simple in design as they are complex in functionality.
But come on, we are hopeful.
Finally, if everything goes as it should go, we can actually exploit the brute force of these technological trinkets.
Sooner or later the review of the'iPad Pro 11, but that's another story.
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