Does iPadOS 26 steer the iPad in the wrong direction?
My longtime colleague Harry McCracken has a new piece about the future of the iPad at Fast Company that is definitely worth your consideration:
As someone who’s used an iPad as my main computer for almost 14 years, I can’t join the chorus of unbridled enthusiasm for iPadOS 26’s embrace of Mac conventions such as floating, overlapping windows and a menu bar at the top of the screen. Apple may well be making the right decision to please the largest pool of people who want to get work done on its tablet. But it’s also moving decisively away from some of the philosophies that attracted me to the platform in the first place, and I’m trepidatious about where that might lead.
Harry is (quite rightfully, I think!) concerned about what it means for the future trajectory of the iPad, especially since the Mac already exists. I think iPadOS 26 is looking great, but asking what this means for Apple’s overall product philosophy is an absolutely fair question—and I’m not sure even Apple is entirely sure where it’s going.