I am unable to consider after 16 years the iPad nonetheless has today 1 downside

In lots of respects, I really like iPads. The primary one I ever purchased was the much-maligned third-gen model, however I appreciated it sufficient to put money into the first- and second-gen iPad Airs. My day by day driver in the mean time is the 2020 11-inch iPad Professional, which is maintaining with iPadOS 26 surprisingly effectively regardless of being the last-ever Professional to characteristic an A-series processor.

It is beginning to present its age, nevertheless, and I spotted that for the primary time in over a decade, I am significantly contemplating ditching iPads fully. Apple is not making an awesome use case for individuals like me, or possibly even the general public at massive, and it might even have undermined its argument additional by introducing the MacBook Neo. Complaints about Apple’s aimlessness are not educational — it may manifest in actual gross sales numbers.

Seeing the forest for the bushes

What Apple is getting mistaken (in the mean time)

On a {hardware} stage, iPads are undeniably spectacular inside the boundaries Apple units for itself. Any mannequin you decide up may have a vivid and colourful display screen, typically beating many laptops on the market. iPadOS’s contact interface is so intuitive that toddlers can decide it up. Efficiency-wise, Apple is knocking it out of the park — the M-series chips within the Air and Professional are so highly effective that 4K video modifying and lightweight 3D gaming are nearly trivial. Heck, even the A16 processor within the entry-level iPad is greater than the common individual wants.

The primary downside is that there simply aren’t that many apps that benefit from the Air or Professional, at the least not when in comparison with what’s accessible for Macs and Home windows PCs. If you have to get one thing productive executed, it is all too simple to run right into a scenario the place there are just one or two apps — if any — which can be legitimately value utilizing. And do not get me began on gaming. Whereas there are some absolute classics accessible on the iPad, corresponding to Balatro and Stardew Valley, Apple appears to have given up on attracting builders with blockbuster 3D video games that are not stay service titles, filled with microtransactions, like Genshin Impression.

On the root of this iPadOS. Being primarily based on iOS for the iPhone, it is closely sandboxed, that means that apps typically cannot speak to one another with out particular frameworks, a lot much less modify the OS. That limits the scope of apps, even after years of Apple steadily addressing deficiencies. Home windows and macOS are way more liberal with what they permit — which does pose safety dangers, but in addition implies that for those who’re an influence person, an iPad is not for you.

Typically, if you do discover an iPad app you need, it may well really feel like a lesser expertise subsequent to its desktop options. I would use the iPad variations of Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom in a pinch — if I returned to professional images, nevertheless, I might nonetheless insist on a desktop pc to get critical processing executed. Related issues might be stated in regards to the Microsoft 365 suite, and even Apple’s personal Ultimate Minimize Professional.

A few of this stems from the constraints of the shape issue. Though iPads have supported mice, keyboards, and trackpads for years at this level, builders cannot assume that customers may have any of them, since Apple would not bundle a Magic Keyboard and even an Apple Pencil. All the pieces is designed to work together with your large fingers, which limits what number of controls can match onscreen. Selecting an 11-inch iPad as a substitute of a 13-inch one makes issues worse, particularly if you wish to try multitasking.

Talking of which, Apple remains to be struggling to get multitasking the place it must be. iPadOS 26 was an enormous step ahead in some areas, as an illustration permitting extra home windows with higher management over positioning and sizing — nevertheless it’s nonetheless awkward subsequent to a Mac or PC. There are conspicuous flaws too, like sizing buttons overlapping with different controls, and apps failing to scale correctly. Some customers have been so upset when Apple eliminated Slide Over home windows that it was persuaded to cobble collectively an impromptu alternative.

The online results of all the things is a product that struggles to justify its existence. It does excel at some duties, like illustration and notetaking — nevertheless it sits in a wierd middleground, neither as moveable as an iPhone nor as versatile as a Mac. It is solely value shopping for as an leisure system, or in case your workflow occurs to align with accessible apps and the vagaries of iPadOS.

The MacBook Neo dilemma

Apple stumbles into what individuals really need

Credit score: Apple

On one stage, the Neo should not be a giant deal. Spec-wise, it is caught with an A18 Professional chip — the identical one in my iPhone 16 Pro — in addition to 8GB of RAM and USB 3.0. Even an older MacBook Air can blow it out of the water.

The true hype surrounds its $599 value level. That is solely $50 greater than the bottom iPad Air, and but you get such luxuries as a keyboard, a trackpad, and crucial one in every of all, macOS. Which means entry to all of the apps you may want, with no arbitrary restrictions on what they will do. You will run into efficiency limits, definitely, however reviewers have demonstrated that the Neo can deal with 4K video modifying with out a lot bother.

It is such an excellent deal that it is promoting out. As of mid-April 2026, for those who order one from Apple’s US on-line retailer, you will not get yours till someday in Could. DigiTimes claims that the product has been so wildly profitable that Apple is now aiming to ship 10 million items this yr, up from 5 to six million.

I am tempted to affix the group if my price range permits. It merely would not make sense to decide on an iPad Air or Professional in case your use case entails any form of critical productiveness with no stylus. In truth, that is been my biggest grievance about my present iPad — even when I upgraded to a 13-inch mannequin with a Magic Keyboard, I would nonetheless be lacking some apps, and interface quirks would gradual me down. Conversely, all I would need to do with a Neo is re-acclimate to utilizing Macs on daily basis as a substitute of often.

The last word query, then, is whether or not Apple will acknowledge the Neo’s success for what it’s: a signpost. Many consumers simply need an affordable pc that may deal with all of the necessities — and but till lately, Apple has been unwilling to both unleash iPadOS or make a less expensive laptop computer. It is even repeatedly stated that it refuses to fuse the Mac and iPad. Now, its hand could have been pressured. It is both going to need to make a greater case for its costlier iPads, or danger cannibalizing their gross sales. I suppose we’ll get a glimpse of which means issues are headed when Apple broadcasts its second-quarter gross sales numbers on April 30.