Welcome to our hebdomadary Apple Breakfast column , which includes all the Apple news program you neglect last week in a handy raciness - sized roundup . We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it goes corking with a Monday morning cup of java or tea , but it ’s nerveless if you want to give it a read during lunch or dinner party hours too .
The problem child
We ’ve had a week now to endure Apple ’s latest pronouncements at theWWDC keynote , and sometimes a little distance can be helpful . The febrile atmosphere of an Apple hype - fest can be fun , but it does n’t exactly lend itself to a sense of perspective .
A few days along , the impression remains that Apple had alotto talk about , and has come up with some seriously substantial software system update for 2024 . I havemixed feelingsabout the Gen AI element of Apple Intelligence , but iOS 18 is undeniably a momentous release , conflate long - requested customization pick with big , risky innovations . macOS Sequoia , too , was able to back up the long - term hopes of Apple Intelligence with a brilliantly appealing new feature ( iPhone Mirroring ) and atiled port layoutthat seems both squeamish - looking and convenient .
But what about iPadOS 18 ? This seemed well short of a home run . Unlike the poor omit Apple Watch , the iPaddoesget to be part of the nerveless Apple Intelligence gang , but that ’s not going to be here at all for a while and may not function well for longer still . The other OSes managed to cancel this with more contiguous benefit , but the iPad get very little other than Calculator , an app it should have had more than a decade ago .
Granted , the Math Notes feature article is so honest that Calculator for the iPad might just beworth that ridiculous wait . But a newsbreak of splendor like this just makes it all the more frustrating that Apple has n’t promote the iPad past what it was back in 2010 .
Is the iPad a high - end creative tool ? Is it a laptop replacement for business users , or a note - taker for multitude in hospital and building sites ? Or is it what it ’s overwhelmingly used as mighty now , which is a humble - end , second - booting web surfer for users to mess around with on the lounge while someone else determine Netflix on the big television ? Apple can endeavor to impinge on all of these different market by selling multiple hardware variations ( albeit at the jeopardy of making the purchasing decisionintimidatingly complex ) but it will keep happen up against the cardinal job that the operating organisation is n’t desirable for more advanced applications .
If Apple wants the iPad to put back the MacBook , it require to bring iPadOS nigher to macOS in scope and organizational complex body part . It ’s not like the software department at Cupertino has n’t tried : legion multitasking features and modes have been added to iPadOS over the years . But we ’re still at a point where doing two thing at the same sentence is a wad more of a tussle on an iPad than it would be on a Mac , and as long as that ’s the shell , you ca n’t expect it to take off as a mainstream laptop computer replacement .
Conversely , turning iPadOS into a sophisticated screen background - style O will cringe the iPad ’s prayer for its current userbase , by taking away the simple tone that they value . And there ’s no easy path to make both groups happy .
iPadOS gained less than the other big Apple platforms this year , but it involve more . Whereas customer know what the iPhone and Mac are for , the iPad is drifting around in commercial-grade limbo , and something basal was require to turn it around : not the uncalled-for increase of a laughably overpowered M4 chip , but a afterthought of the software platform itself . And as exciting as WWDC 2024 was , it did n’t offer any real reply to the iPad question .
Foundry
Apple’siOS 18announcements leave us one persuasion : Steve Jobs wouldnever have permit this .
Apple Intelligenceis nice , butApple Lazinessis my jam .
As always , Appledoes its best workinside itswalled garden .
Apple IntelligenceisSherlock and Watsonall over again .
Apple’ssmartest novel featuresleave the Intelligence behind .
When it comes toiPhone customization , Apple is finallyletting you have it your way – kinda .
Forget the harmless “ Crush ” ad . Apple’sAI announcementsrevealedreal disrespect for creatives .
TheiPad ’s young Calculatoractually might have beenworth the 14 - year postponement .
Apple just sent abunch of devicesintoobsolescence .
Everything Apple announcedin itsjam - packed WWDC keynote .
Podcast of the week
On this episode of the Macworld Podcast , we plunk deep into the highlight from Apple’sWorldwide Developers Conference . What will it be like to use Apple Intelligence , and what tolerate out with iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia ?
you may catch every sequence of the Macworld Podcast onSpotify , Soundcloud , thePodcasts app , orour own site .
Software updates, bugs, and problems
iOS 18 : Thebiggest new featurescoming to your iPhone this dusk .
iOS 18:5 delicious little featuresthat did n’t make the WWDC keynote .
Butthese featureswon’t be partof Io 18 when it found this downfall .
macOS SequoiaintroducesiPhone Mirroring , Tiled port , and AI features .
watchOS 11brings a raft ofnew apps and featuresto the Apple Watch .
Thesethree featureswillmake your AirPods betterthis fall .
VisionOS 2will countenance you turn any flat photointo a spatial one , and also brings big Mac Virtual Display enhancements .
little but welcomedApple TV and Home updatesarecoming this descent .
