Recently, at an event in New York, Apple updated its iPad Pro line giving it an iPhone X type design language with edge to edge screen doing away with the home button. Apple also finally updated the popular Macbook Air and Mac Mini lines after years of neglecting them.

The iPad Pro was the star of the event and it was quite unsurprising to see Apple promote it as a device that can replace your laptops. Apple has been doing this ever since it introduced the iPad Pro lineup.

Whether or not it can truly replace your computer depends on who you talk to. Some say it can and some say it can't. In my own opinion, it still has a long way to go before it can do that.

That is not to say that one can't imagine Apple evolving the iPad within the next few years with hardware and software updates that would make it the ultimate laptop killer, ushering in a new age of computing.

Marriage of iPad and Macbook?

To be able to replace a laptop, the iPad would need to be as powerful in terms of hardware and as versatile in terms of software. Right now, it is well on its way to achieve the first one but is lagging behind on the latter.

The new A12X chip inside the new iPad Pros is a beast. Apple is really doing a great job designing highly powerful and efficient chips that are at least a year or two ahead of competition and the same trend is set to continue for years to come.

This has got some people to even speculate that Apple may replace the Intel chips inside its Mac lineup with its own A-series chips that have become so popular recently. In fact, Apple says that the new iPad Pros are faster than 92% of portable PCs sold between June 2017 and June 2018.

So, sooner or later, Apple may be looking at integrating its mobile processors into its laptops. But what if they maybe focusing on a bigger picture and actually marry the iPad and Macbook into a single super device?

The Perfect Device?

A lot of people have been talking for years about the possibility of either a touchscreen Mac OR bringing macOS to iPad. Apple has flat out denied these claims but they have misled the public before too. So, that could still happen.

The iPad Pro lineup will get really fast and capable of handling a more powerful and versatile operating system than iOS, which could most likely be macOS. Or it could be that Apple might introduce an entirely new OS that has the best elements of iOS and macOS.

They are even rumoured to be working on a highly secretive project codenamed 'Star' which could result in such a hybrid device. The way Apple has been promoting the iPad Pros as laptop replacements, I think we will soon get that perfect hybrid device in a couple years or so.

What do you think? Could the iPad, powered by macOS or a similar powerful OS, become a laptop killer and finally get the masses to switch over, as has been predicted for so long now?


Image Credit for thumbnail: 9to5mac.com