The Death of iPadOS?

Matt Birchler has taken a big swing, guessing that Apple could be about to kill off iPadOS:

So here's the prediction: Apple will discontinue iPadOS. The regular iPad, iPad mini, and iPad Air will continue to exist, but they will run iOS. … Of course, the iPhone will continue to run iOS, and the iPhone Fold will adopt a more iPad-style layout when the 8" inner screen is exposed.

That leaves the iPad Pro, which I believe will begin shipping with macOS.

I love this idea. My iPad mini basically feels like a big iPhone (classic iPad review from 2010 right there). All the extra stuff like Stage Manager and windowing are completely unnecessary on a small iPad. And the big iPad should just be a touchscreen Mac.

Having iPadOS holds the iPad back. “The software is really limiting on the Pro hardware” is a common refrain in iPad Pro reviews. It would probably help developers too, not having to maintain 3 different app targets to target iPhone, iPad and Mac.

So, this is a really logical idea. But it leaves out the obvious bad press of Apple “killing the iPad”, or “the iPad failing”. I think Apple would be very cautious of this kind of review, and for that reason alone, I think a seismic change like killing off iPadOS feels unlikely.

But that’s another reason I’d love it; for the popcorn.

---

If you liked this article, please consider buying me a coffee to support my writing.