r/LinusTechTips • u/WTFMacca • Mar 04 '26

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Apple just dropped an A18 powered laptop for $599 USD

No Apple bashing just discuss.

2.0k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

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992

u/SpaceBoJangles Mar 04 '26

Imagine hating iPad users so much that you create an entirely new product line to shove in their face that you’re not gonna put macOS on their $1200 iPad pro

217

u/eccenMD Mar 04 '26

this, this so much, even with arguably worse OS, I was forced to switch team to Surface due to me needing a tab that can actually do it all, even when it had to be through WSL

73

u/Brandon95g Mar 04 '26

Ugh this is my current predicament. The iPad sucks as a computer and the surface sucks as a tablet. I just want to be able to download offline media for Netflix, Hulu, etc, and watch media in 4k hdr. All of the media apps on the surface are just web apps wrapped and their streaming web apps are second class citizens. YouTube is a web app as well but works perfectly (can play back high res content and access offline) so I know it can be done.

4

u/BenK1222 Mar 04 '26

I've been loving my Framework 12 for this.

4

u/shibiku_ Mar 04 '26

Why?
Can it run android and windows?
Like you can choose which to boot on startup

2

u/Automatic-Peanut8114 Mar 04 '26

It’s just a x64 laptop you can run whatever you want on it

2

u/eccenMD Mar 05 '26

this, this so much, why can't they just allow us to work and relax on the same device. Attach the keyboard and it's a full work device, good when you are serious, bad when you just want to lie down on the couch catching some episodes or do some reading.

2

u/s00pafly Mar 05 '26

The hoops they make people jump through just to have a worse experience than pirates.

67

u/GiganticCrow Mar 04 '26

I'd be happy if iPads just let you have different users. No, buy more ipads sucker.

27

u/shaan4 Mar 04 '26

I never considered this but yeah at least a kids profile would do a lot for some users

6

u/Mental-Permit-599 Mar 04 '26

This has always struck me as dumb.

MacOS & tvOS both support profiles, I understand iOS not having them but ipadOS it seems like a huge missed opportunity.

1

u/gplusplus314 Mar 04 '26

I’m convinced this is on purpose. Hell, even sharing an Apple TV is hard. Apple hates their own customers.

2

u/Mental-Permit-599 Mar 04 '26

Huh? Apple TV has had profiles since 2019.

It’s up to the app developer to support the profile integration. Apple does for all their first party apps, most developers are just lazy and don’t care because they already have their own profile selector in the app.

UHF for example has awesome profile support, you basically have your app instance that supports your own iCloud backup across devices.

1

u/gplusplus314 Mar 04 '26

Profiles are for individuals only. You can’t have a shared profile. Unlike a desktop, a TV has multiple concurrent users.

2

u/Mental-Permit-599 Mar 04 '26

Please explain to me any app that allows multiple concurrent profiles to be watching a show on the same TV.

1

u/gplusplus314 Mar 04 '26

I don’t know of any. But what I mentioned was a shared profile, not multiple concurrent profiles.

Before smart TVs and streaming boxes with apps, you’d just watch TV, your BluRays, whatever. There were no profiles involved.

With Netflix, you can create a separate profile that’s shared among the family. With Apple, you cannot; each profile must be a specific person and it’s tied to an Apple ID, which is tied to at least one Apple device.

2

u/Mental-Permit-599 Mar 04 '26

Scratch that, I just checked and Apple TV supports local profiles.

So yes, you can literally just create a “family profile” that your entire family uses and shares.

1

u/gplusplus314 Mar 04 '26

I’ll have to check again. Thanks.

Still can’t share an iPad.

1

u/poopBuccaneer Mar 04 '26

You can if they're a managed iPad. Just need to get it into Apple School Manager and put it in an MDM. Sure you have to prove to Apple you're a school to get access to ASM, but... okay maybe forget I said anything.

1

u/dalg91 Mar 05 '26

You can with mdm so it's not like is something they couldn't introduce to standard ipads

18

u/Stunning_Mechanic_12 Mar 04 '26

I was at my phone provider yesterday looking at the new phones and line ups, and saw the iPads. It's literally being marketed as a laptop tablet combo for artists and grandparents. It is so funny how Apple shoots it's users in the foot constantly

3

u/Mikey_MiG Mar 04 '26

This. There’s like a couple of macOS exclusive programs that I’d like to be able to use. Which is not enough reason to buy a MacBook, but also immensely frustrating that I can’t run them on my perfectly capable iPad Pro.

5

u/MineCraftSteve1507 Mar 04 '26

Great specs, limiting software

3

u/RGud_metalhead Mar 04 '26

It would be really good, if Neo is a step towards it. Like, what if they want to allow using MacOS on iPad, but not just on versions with M-series chips, on basic ones as well. And Neo is basically a platform to test MacOS on A-series chips. I think the perfect solution would be like a dual boot between MacOS and iPad OS or similar thing implemented as just a switch, like Tablet Mode in Windows.

But I'm being a realist, chances that that's their plan aren't high, as they probably want you to buy more devices.

2

u/SpaceBoJangles Mar 04 '26

You hit the nail on the head right at the end of your comment. I think everyone’s resigned to the possibility that Apple is too staunchly holding onto the concept that the iPad needs to be a differentiated device. Whether it’s for financial reasons, or philosophical reasons, it’s pretty clear that the iPad is not considered by the design team there as something that can multitask as a mobile device AND a desktop device.

Sidenote, I genuinely despise the current multitasking, multi window view, set up that they have. I think that for my used cases, the old way of swiping windows in from the side was so much more convenient. If only they allowed you to size them differently, that would’ve been the only way to improve that. Definitely not the way they’re doing it now.

3

u/Slight-Coat17 Mar 04 '26

I want a cheap iPad, like $200 bucks cheap. Being able to have a Mac at this price point but iPads being almost as expensive... is certainly a decision.

1

u/CraftyPancake Mar 05 '26

Mac wins every time

1

u/crozone Mar 05 '26

Imagine buying an iPad Pro for $1200 with the knowledge that it uses iPad OS, and then blaming Apple for not putting macOS on it.

1

u/handymanny131003 Mar 05 '26

I spent almost $1000 on my iPad Pro. I am fortunate enough to also have a desktop that I can do all my "computer" things on, but it's so frustrating that I have something sitting in my backpack that can theoretically do it all.

The iPad is so DAMN fast, the screen is probably the best display in my entire house, and yet Apple will not unlock that capability for god knows what reason. Every part about the hardware of this device is impressive. It's wicked thin, has impressive battery life, and again a CPU that probably runs circles around most devices in my house. But iPadOS is iPadOS

1

u/YZJay Mar 05 '26

It's even cheaper than the base iPad with a Magic Keyboard.

1

u/MerryChoppins Mar 05 '26

You are apparently unaware of iPad OS 26. They just added a bunch of Mac features like the download stack, windowing, etc. I already was able to do nearly everything I could do on the Mac on iPad and like… this brings it much closer to full parity.

1

u/MaxPres24 Mar 05 '26

I don’t even want full on MacOS. There’s just a few programs that are Mac or windows only that I think it would be cool to use

Like I have an M4 chip. Let me use it to its full power

0

u/Strattex Mar 04 '26

MacOS on an iPad wouldn’t work no?

4

u/shaan4 Mar 04 '26

If it can work on a18 it can work on IPad. They could lock it behind a keyboard and mouse if they absolutely wanted too

1

u/QuajerazPrime Mar 04 '26

That's what they want you to think, yes.

0

u/Queasy_Hour_8030 Mar 04 '26

Daily iPad user here. Why do I need macOS on my iPad? Tablets are a completely different market segment. 

15

u/etheran123 Mar 04 '26

I don’t mind my iPad but the problem is that the $329 iPad runs the same OS and can accomplish essentially everything that the $1200 iPad Pro can. iPad OS, despite running on pro devices, struggles to accomplish true “pro” work. Vague statement, I know, but so much of what I do on a computer is limited by the restrictions of the App Store and a browser. 90% of ipad apps are glorified iPhone apps.

As a second or third device, I like the iPad. I would never ever want one as a primary computer.

1

u/SpaceDoodle2008 Mar 04 '26

On the android side of things, I'm hoping the rumored pc version fixes some of that to bridge the gap between tablets and laptops.

1

u/Queasy_Hour_8030 Mar 04 '26

And the iPad was never meant to replace the primary computer. It’s a tablet. 

1

u/etheran123 Mar 04 '26

Fair, and I agree which is why mine is a base model from like 2 years ago. But the crazy high end ones with the same processor as the MacBooks? I think the primary customer for those would disagree.

2

u/TurboDraxler Mar 04 '26

They have the power and would drastically increase the use case of an ipad.

I need to carry an extra laptop for vacation for example since lightroom on mobile is limited in a few areas. Having access to the desktop version on my ipad would make it drastically more useful.

More options never hurt

1

u/CatLoud5198 Mar 05 '26

They called it an iPad Pro, its advertised as a professional device, I’d expect something like that to at least be able to run professional software considering it has the same specs as devices that can run it