Apple Refuses to Set iPad Pro Free (Premium)

I've written a lot about the iPad lately, inspired by the release of the M4-based iPad Pro, updated iPad Air, and price-reduced iPad 10th generation one month ago. In Thinking About iPad (Premium), I argued that Apple's strategy for this product, so clear under Steve Jobs, is now a muddled mess of too many models, none of which are optimized for non-consumption tasks. And in Completely Misunderstanding What’s Wrong with the iPad (Premium), I responded to those who believe that Apple should simply bring macOS to its iPad Pro line when what it really needs is an "iPad Pro OS" for iPad Pro that can finally realize the platform's post-PC promises.

Inherent to that latter conversation was the notion that Apple might actually fix what ails the iPad, or at least the iPad Pro, this year: After all, it announces OS updates at its annual WWDC conference each June. And that conference just got underway today with a keynote detailing Apple's AI strategy and its 2024 OS updates for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and more.

Did Apple announce anything that addresses the very real concerns we have with the iPad Pro, devices that currently feature Apple's fastest chips while being hamstrung by purposefully limited OS?

In a word, no.

"Our next release, iPadOS 18, starts with features you saw [earlier in the keynote] on iOS, like new ways to personalize your home screen, customize Control Center, and relive special moments in the Photos app," Apple senior vice president Craig Federighi said during Monday's WWDC 2024 keynote. This sounds like a bad start if you're interested in Pro-level OS features, but even these minor advances are notable: iPadOS is, of course, based on iOS, and Apple often makes iPad users wait one year before bringing key new iOS features to the iPad. So these advances are actually arriving much earlier than is usually the case.

iPadOS 18 also delivers on improvements to the Apple Pencil experience, which is great for student or professional notetakers, artists, and some other creators, but does nothing to address the core multitasking features I envision for iPad Pro.

"Apps are fundamental to the iPad experience," Federighi continued, and while I was worried that he was shifting past the OS, this bit is interesting. "In iPadOS 18, we're making them even better, starting with a new floating tab bar [which] works in [many built-in] apps across the system." This tab bar, while seemingly a minor update, morphs into the sidebar in apps as needed, and you can customize it to display the tabs you access the most.

"We've also made it easier to browse your documents in apps like Pages, Keynote, Numbers, and Swift Playgrounds, giving each app a distinct new look." This feature, called Document Browser, is basically just a new visual look for browsing documents in an app, and it uses a tab bar to switch between Recents, Shared, and Browse. And could go some ways to eliminating–or at least reducing–the need for Apple's meh Files...