I can see the light on the horizon. In the near future I’m carrying just an iPad around, and it’s my full everyday computer. The Macbook becomes a distant memory.
Apple hasn’t made my ultimate fantasy true yet, but with iPadOS 26 it comes closer than ever.. The newest operating system for iPads, expected to officially debut this fall, is now available to try in a public beta. It adds Mac-like features galore including a new multitasking mode, flexible windows, little window-sizing buttons that can snap things into formation, menu bars, even a Preview app. The little mouse icon you get in keyboard-and-trackpad mode is now like a Mac arrow, too. It’s a lot to take in and try.
I generally like all the changes Apple’s made on iPadOS 26, and while I normally recommend people skip public betas and just get the final version in the fall,the changes this time are probably worth trying now if you’re at all interested in Mac-ifying your iPad.
I’m using the iPad as a Mac replacement to write and even file this article now, and it has its ups and downs.
Menu Bars (sort of) replicate menus on the Mac
Apps now have pull-down menus in iPadOS 26 that can show a whole bunch of actions that were previously hidden, or relegated to icons, gestures and obscure keyboard shortcuts. Apple auto-populates menu bars for existing iPad apps with all the keyboard shortcut actions in that app, plus a general set of actions that are consistent across apps.
I love the change.: Menu bars hide until you scroll over them with a mouse cursor with keyboard/trackpad, or pull them down with your finger. They don’t get in the way. The nested list of extra functions is easier for me to browse than guessing at whatever user interface magic trick I was supposed to know in that app and forgot.
For writing — like this story — it makes using the iPad feel even more laptop-like. But, as I expect in beta software, some apps aren’t working perfectly with menu bars yet. Google Docs is currently acting weird, for instance. Also, on iPad, Google tries to force you to launch into its Docs standalone app rather than write in-browser. That’s a taste of the strangeness that still lurks in iPadOS 26, and hopefully gets fixed by the fall launch.
Windows are far more flexible
Thanks to new sets of colored dots in the upper left of each window, which mirror what’s already on Macs, you can minimize/maximize/resize iPad windows a lot more fluidly. Tiling options pop up in the same way they do on Macs, and any window can be dragged around and resized. The window size freedom also seems more flexible. Before, the UI would try to bounce you back to certain size options. There are still minimums to how much you can shrink the width and length of apps, but it feels better.
You can also keep stacking and layering windows as much as you’d like within your particular iPad’s limits. Apple’s been somewhat vague on this aspect, but more powerful iPads can simultaneously layer more apps. On an M1 11-inch iPad Air, I simultaneously had 11 apps open and going without it stopping me. I didn’t see any signs of limits ahead. Yes, my small screen started to feel like an impossibly layered clutter, and I had no way of seeing everything at once unless I swiped up with three fingers to see icons of all my open apps, but it was still serious multitasking.
The layout and design of certain apps still isn’t ideal for all this new screen sizing. I find some apps still have way too much empty space or large mobile-friendly icons, and I wish they’d shrink to more laptop-style layouts to fit the new possibilities. Google’s Docs app is a prime example.
Safari still isn’t quite the same as Mac browser
I still find working in-browser on an iPad to be a weird experience. iPads are more about apps, just like the iPhone. Also, web pages aren’t always going to load or function the same on an iPad as on a Mac. Sometimes they do, and sometimes they don’t. My work CMS, where I produce this and other articles, works mostly fine in iPadOS Safari, but not on Google’s Chrome iPadOS browser. Some in-browser tools don’t load or work the same. It’s still a bit hit and miss, and even though it’s gotten better, I feel a lot more comfortable with a Mac’s fully functional browsers.
Other apps may vary, too
That’s the biggest ongoing challenge with living your life on an iPad vs a Mac: the app libraries are literally different. Apple’s been improving the crossflow feel between both, and the Files browser on iPad now shows folders and stackable views in ways that feel more Mac-like. But dragging and dropping files can still feel weird depending on how an app is prepped to handle it. Dragging photos into browsers doesn’t feel the same as on a Mac, for instance. It’s close, but a little different.
Pro apps on iPads still need to evolve. Apple has a subscription-based version of its Final Cut and Logic Pro apps on iPad while you can fully buy the versions on Mac. Some art tools on iPad exceed what Macs can do, but other graphics or coding tools are likely to still feel better on Macs. I don’t live in those realms much. For my life, I’m more of a writer and editor living in CMS and with a bunch of work apps.
I can get things done on the iPad now better than before, but there are some uncanny moments. That’s why I’m still using a Mac for work after this. In fact, jumping back onto my M2 MacBook Air after using the M1 iPad Air, it feels like a fresh jump in a pool where everything just works a lot more fluidly. iPadOS 26 is definitely not the same thing as a Mac, but it’s trying.
But I’m ready to bridge, and I hope iPadOS 26 is part of that bridge. Try it out, but as good as the improvements are, it’s not all there yet.
