iPadOS 26 Turns the iPad Into a Sort of 'Mac Jr.'

Okay, we’re three (developer) betas in now. The public beta is undoubtedly coming very soon. I feel like I have a good enough sense of iPadOS 26 at this point, and where I think the final builds will end up, to say a few words about it. Namely, the new features that make the iPad operate more like a Mac.

To that end, my key takeaway and thought is sort of a funny one: my god, Apple has made a Mac Jr.

That sounds derisive. And it sort of is! I don’t hate the experience by any means, but it seems sort of funny what Apple has done to iPadOS to avoid letting the iPad boot macOS. It’s now this pretty weird hybrid operating system that feels like it exists between iOS and macOS. It’s still a bit more iOS than macOS, but it’s pretty close to the halfway point with iPadOS 26...

The main problem, I suspect, that I personally am running into in trying to use the new OS is that I’m coming from macOS on the productivity side. That is, when I have work to get done, I’ll basically always grab my MacBook versus my iPad. Part of that has been the limitations and restrictions which Apple is now slowly but surely removing, but part of it is just that I’m used to working on macOS. So I’m clearly biased. Anyone who, say, grew up using an iPad as their primary computing device may feel differently (but only because they don't know any better).

At the same time, I’ve tried to give myself time with iPadOS 26 to learn some new tricks as it were — weeks at this point. In fact, I’m even writing this right now on an iPad Pro with iPadOS 26 installed. And my honest assessment is that it’s just not there yet, at least from a productivity perspective. Yes, even with the windows.

Look, the ability to have an actual windowing system is nice. Yes, you could sort of have one before, but it was restricted by Apple. It’s far less restricted now, but it’s still not nearly as seamless as it is on macOS. It just feels like a paradigm that’s native to that platform whereas it feels sort of bolted on here.

Part of the problem is simply a matter of screen real estate. I’m using an 11" iPad Pro, which is a much smaller screen than the one found on my 13" MacBook Air. But part of that is because iPad apps are built to be full-screen first. In fact, in a weird way, iPhone apps that aren’t tailored for the iPad screen are actually slightly better here because they’re tailored to run at a smaller size.

Now maybe this changes over time as third-party developers tweak their apps to be better suited for iPadOS 26 specifically, but even Apple’s own apps give that funny feeling: that they really want to run full-screen but will put up with your resizing, begrudgingly.

The version of Expose that’s a part of iPadOS 26 is crucial given the small real estate. And it has been getting a bit better with each beta release. But it’s still not quite there yet. And it matters more on this system as well because there’s no concept of 'Spaces' as there are on macOS. I’m constantly reminding myself that I only have this one (tiny) screen to work with, even though my brain does trick me into thinking I’m using a tiny Mac every so often when I have the Magic Keyboard attached.

(It doesn’t help that Apple removed the ability to swipe between apps in the first couple betas and I believe just brought it back. So that’s promising at least.)

I think Apple should steal the concept of Spaces from macOS as well and let you set certain apps to run in certain spatial areas. But that would also require a rethinking of app-switching. But there too, maybe they can borrow from the Mac and make it more of a command-tab thing, reducing the load on the Expose swipe-up in the process. (I realize this probably all reads as if it's written in Latin to people who aren't more intimately familiar with these systems and their shortcuts. But I got you, power users.)

Another thing that constantly breaks my brain: the ability to launch windowed apps on top of full-screen apps. I get why Apple wanted to do this. Again, from a multi-tasking perspective. But it feels almost like a bug. Call me old fashioned, but if there’s an app that’s full screen, you shouldn’t be able to launch another app on top of it, just as is the case on the Mac.

It should open in a new Space – but wait, we don't have Spaces. So I guess it should close the full screen app and launch the new app?

And when an app is full screen, moving the “stoplight” buttons over towards the center, next to the menu bar just isn’t working for me. I feel like that should also be handled as it is with full-screen Mac apps: the toolbar comes down when you hover over the top area. The issue there, of course, is that the iPad already has a different menu bar that’s separate from the app-specific one. But Apple figured out how to make it work on the Mac, they can do it here. I just can’t stand the “stoplight” jumping around as it does now. It's a cognitive load that wears on you.

In general, I'm okay with the "stoplight" area "embiggening" when you hover over it to make it easier to click. But it does make everything one step slower, of course. As does the "closing" of windowed apps themselves if you want to get them off the screen. The animations are just too slow right now, but that's an easy enough tweak that I hope Apple makes.

I can't believe I've made it this far and haven't even remarked on "Liquid Glass" yet. I mean, it's fine. I'm not a hater but I'm also not a lover – the third beta does tone the glassiness down quite a bit, which does seem to help with overall legibility, but also makes the entire OS feel a bit more bland. Mainly, I just think the entire UI feels too big and chunky when trying to use it with a Magic Keyboard connected. Again, this doesn't help the child's toy comparisons. But there's some element of Fisher-Price here in how big some of the UI elements are (because of the need to focus on touch, of course)...

I'm too in the weeds now. This isn't a full review as the full OS isn't fully baked yet. I'm simply trying to convey how I think it will be perceived when iPadOS is out in the wild. And I think that will depend on just how much of a macOS "power user" you are. Those who have been using that OS for a long time will view this as a weird hybrid mix that makes using an iPad as a "computer" feel as if you're using a "Mac Jr." That is, a dumbed-down Mac that almost feels like it was built for a child.

In some ways, maybe that makes sense. The iPad is the first computer that many children use, so a mode that turns it into a simplified Mac might act as a good transition to an actual Mac if and when the time comes to get more work done. Or at least more precise work done. Or even just more multitasking work.

All of this isn't bad, it's just weird. And I'm just not sure it's for me. I had hoped that these changes would make it more viable to leave my MacBook behind more often, especially while traveling. And while I could make it work, it would still mean far more work on my end to do many things that I can just do much faster on a Mac.

A big boy Mac, not the sort of weird hybrid toy Mac that Apple has created.