Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. “The iPad has class leading hardware, but we’re just waiting for software that takes advantage of <insert name of chip>”. No matter what changes and improvements Apple makes to iPadOS, they are still not enough to make proper use of the hardware. I come across this idea so frequently on social media, more so since the M4 iPad Pros were released. The idea got me thinking….what’s does “taking advantage of the hardware” really mean?

MacOS…obviously

Easy answer….the iPad should run or be able to run macOS via virtualization. That would be clearly taking advantage of the hardware.

But would it really?

Looking at the supported devices for macOS 14 shows me it can run on as old of a machine as the MacBook Air, on Intel, from 2018. That machine has a relatively paltry dual core Core i5 processor. So is macOS really taking advantage of the hardware if it runs on something that slow and (arguably) ancient? Seems like the operating system may not be as heavy as some imply.

Before the call for macOS got so loud, the argument was that getting iPad to run Apple’s pro apps, specifically Final Cut Pro, would absolutely take advantage of the hardware. Well, Apple did finally bring a very capable version of Final Cut to iPadOS, but that didn’t count because it doesn’t have all of the capabilities of the macOS version. Same with Logic Pro. Okay, fair enough. But before those apps were released, iPadOS got DaVinci Resolve, which to my understanding, is much closer to its laptop counterpart in functionality. Nope, still not enough.

Making iPad Sweat

When iPads are reviewed, and I’m thinking more the Pro and Air models here, the reviewer generally notes that no matter what they throw at the machine, it doesn’t slow down or break a sweat. And that’s almost always presented as a bad thing. That the hardware is somehow being wasted. Compare that to when Apple Silicon migrated from iPad to the Mac. What did the reviews look like? “OMG, no matter what I throw at this thing, it doesn’t break a sweat! Its amazing! This thing is a beast!” Weird, huh?

Sometimes I get the feeling that people won’t be satisfied until they find some task that brings the device to its knees. Which to me, seems like the opposite of “taking advantage of the hardware”. Maybe we should consider the possibility that the fact that an iPad remains so responsive and usable for so long is the software taking advantage of the hardware? People can keep and use their iPad for five years or more, like a Mac, which would seem to imply that the additional headroom gained by using more powerful chips keeps the device in active use for longer.

What do I think “taking advantage” of the hardware looks like?

Okay, so I’m intentionally being a little dense for the sake of this post. And, to be clear, Apple said up front that the display engine on the M4 and improved thermals were needed for this iPad to even exist. That’s how the iPad Pro is taking advantage of the M4.

What most people generally mean when they say “taking advantage of the hardware” (assuming they don’t just mean macOS) is that they want iPad and iPadOS to be able to do more. To have less restrictions and allow them to run as many of whatever kind of apps they want. And that’s a point I think we can all agree on. iPad should do more.

Stage Manager is a good start on improved multitasking when connected to a keyboard/mouse and external display, but removing the four app per Stage limitation would go a long way to giving iPad Pro more capability. Improving background process capabilities would also help, with something like Activity Monitor for users to be able to tell what background tasks may be slowing down their machines. But that tool would only surface in Stage Manager. Apple still has to balance keeping iPad an easy to use computer for the majority, while providing additional capability for those that want it. Stage Manager provides the company a great way to provide that separation.

While everyone has a different definition of what it would look like for the iPad to “take advantage” of its hardware, we should consider that maybe….just maybe…it already is. It just might not be what you think it should look like.

I’d love to hear your ideas of what the iPad taking advantage of its hardware would look like. Leave a comment here or reach out on Threads or Mastodon (going try to actually be active here).