iPad’s problem isn’t hardware, and it isn’t software; it’s apps.
And that’s if you can even call it a problem
It’s clear from charts that people aren’t upgrading their iPads as often as investors, and perhaps Apple would like. I would argue that’s not actually as big of a problem as people are making it, but it’s undeniable that unit sales are trending down since 2014. As such, some are starting to call into question the iPad’s future. Others are pushing a narrative that Apple needs to radically change the software. Everyone seems to think that if people aren’t upgrading their iPad every other year, it’s doomed.
The iPad is absolutely the future of computing. If you’re still trying to deny that, you’re yelling at the cloud to get off your lawn. iPad is beautifully simple, due to iOS, while also holding tremendous power under the hood, for those few who actually need and use it. Seriously, have you seen the benchmarks from iPad Pro? It’s more powerful than many Macs in consumers’ hands right now.
So why isn’t everyone using iPad for work? The mainstream tech narrative will tell you it’s because iPad needs a better operating system. It needs terminal, a visible file system, pointers (mouse, trackpad), other things on the springboard besides apps, USB ports, external display hookup, and windows. Notwithstanding the fact that a lot of that list is actually already possible, it’s missing the point. It’s asking for faster horses instead of seeing that the automobile is the future.
People will tell you they can’t use iPad because it can’t do Photoshop, or it can’t write software. These are the people closer to the money — iPad currently absolutely cannot do photoshop in the same way that a Mac can. But why is that the case: is it iPad’s fault or is it the lack of apps?
Look at engineering CAD on the Mac and you’ll see the same problem. Industry standard engineering CAD software, such as Creo and Solidworks, has never been a tool on post-Jobs‘-return Macs. There is not fundamental reason (power, specs, etc) that these applications cannot run on macOS. In fact, they would run excellently on iMacs and MacBook Pro’s, and arguably even better than on most of the machines that PC competitors ship to industry. These companies have simply never bothered to write for Mac, because the perception is that Macs are for artists, which leads to engineers not buying Macs, which reinforces the companies’ idea that they shouldn’t write for Mac.
This same concept applies to iPad. Name anything you fundamentally need to be able to do for work, and I will tell you that’s an app. Common reasons people site for needing a PC rather than iPad: full real photoshop, software development tools, CAD, podcasting, video editing, and file systems. Those are all applications. Yes, even the file system — look at Synology’s DS file or Dropbox for what I mean. All of these additional needs could be accomplished if a third party company made an app for iPad.
Look at the brilliant pro tools that are available: Coda, Pythonista, iMovie, uMake — Design and Sketch in 3D, Shapr3D, Pixelmator, Ferrite Recording Studio, djay Pro, Ulysses, PDF Viewer, the Microsoft Office Suite, OmniFocus, OmniOutliner, Swift Playgrounds, OmniGraffle, Procreate, Linea — The list goes on and on. There are amazing tools on iPad that absolutely can accomplish pro tasks. Now we just need the existing players in the PC market to write software for iPad so that people can better integrate with existing corporate infrastructure — or we need corporate infrastructure to adapt (this is where Apple’s partnership with IBM is going to be really critical in time).
Excellent, pro level apps exist on iPad. They prove that it’s possible for pro apps to work on iPad. Therefore, we know that there is no technical reason why other pro apps cannot exist there either. So, if whatever app you need to get your job done isn’t available on iPad, don’t scream at Apple, push the company making the app to make an iPad version of their app. That’s what will fix iPad’s problem. At this point, nothing Apple can do will fix the problem with iPad without fundamentally breaking what iPad is. But third party apps can.
It’s also important to note why it must be third party apps that lead this charge. Think about it, in the context of tech media’s discontent with Apple’s work on the Mac: at the next event, Apple announces a new CAD suite, and new Photoshop rival, an IDE for iOS, and a pro video editing app, all for iPad. How does tech media take that? They’re not going to be happy, and they’re not going to admit/realize that iPad is clearly the future. They’re going to complain that Apple’s focus is further focused on not the Mac and that they’ve lost their way and are doomed. Apple focusing on iPad hurts their PR from the Mac community. Therefore, they cannot focus on apps themselves. Third parties need to step up (if this happens via Apple collaborating secretly with third party companies, I’m okay with that).
And lastly, as far as upgrade cycles are concerned, iPhone is a product that business has never seen before, and I don’t think will ever see again. The consistent 1–2 year upgrade cycle, out of choice, not necessity, is unprecedented. Computer upgrade cycles run much longer — easily 7–10 years in the Mac world amongst most people (hardcore users are more like 3–5 years). Since the most iPads were sold in 2014, we’re still looking at only 2 years into the cycle. Meanwhile, customer satisfaction with their iPads is at an all time high, of 99%. There are going to be a lot of people upgrading their iPads, when the time comes, and they will buy more expensive tiers of iPad knowing that they will last a long while. We just have to wait to see that upgrade cycle hit.
Lastly, Apple still sells vastly more iPads than Macs, as you can see from the charts below. It’s an infinitely greater business. It only looks bad in comparison to iPhone, which again, is an outlier. So stop worrying about iPad; it’s still the future of computing.
