So, so many fans have begged Apple to finally make a MacBook convertible. Hell, most would be satisfied if Apple put a touchscreen on a Mac. Now TF International Securities’s premier Apple supply chain analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, claims the long-awaited MacBook Pro with a rumored rich and vibrant OLED display—which could arrive in 2026—might be reborn as the first touchscreen Mac. So, what do we make of the new iPadOS 26 now that it proposes to let you operate your iPad much like a MacBook?
iPadOS 26
This is the best version of iPad ever thanks to better app tiling. It still won’t beet a Mac or PC for productivity.
Pros
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App tiling is mostly seamless -
New options for accessing files -
Finally shows what high-powered iPads can do
Cons
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Glitchy external monitor support -
Rounded corners limit app size
Until Apple officially announces a MacBook with a screen that you can tap and swipe on, the iPad will remain Apple’s one and only large-display touchscreen. For 15 years, the iPad was constrained by Apple’s ancient understanding of who uses tablets and why. iPadOS 26 changes everything, except for the limitations imposed by the hardware itself. Even with layered windows with easy tiling to present all your apps at once, it can’t replace your Mac, touchscreen or not. But don’t fret. The iPad was a functional secondary workhorse before the update. Now it can be your go-to when the Mac just won’t cut it.
A glassier and classier iPad
Apple took its sweet time getting to this point. If you’re keen to reminisce, the first iPad launched in 2010. Older versions of iPadOS relied on the understanding that the screens were too small to have more than two apps running at a time. The reliance on Split View from 2015’s release of iOS 9 (the software didn’t get renamed to iPadOS until 2019) eventually led to the introduction of Stage Manager in 2022, which created a carousel for quickly swapping between apps. Even as the iPads received M-series chips and gained Apple’s first large OLED displays, the tablet was left as its own ecosystem, best described as a big-screen iPhone. Apple has put more emphasis on the chips contained inside iPads, with the 2024 iPad Pro M4 and the rumored M5 iPad Pro coming down the pike. If the devices are reaching closer to laptop-level performance, then shouldn’t they be able to handle laptop-level tasks?
See Apple iPad at Amazon
iPadOS 26 is the most options-heavy software for iPads yet. The first thing you’ll notice is the update to the Liquid Glass look. Love it or hate it, the transparent, layered effect isn’t nearly as intrusive on iPad as on iPhone. For the sake of usability, you can now swipe up from the bottom of the screen to see all your open apps and app combos. Compared to before, now you can have as many apps sitting on top of each other as you want. The menu bar now slides down from the top of the screen for accessing app settings. You can either flick an app to either side of the screen when you want them side by side. Apple also brought in the Fill & Arrange feature on Mac, which lets you easily tile apps into three rectangles or a 4 x 4 grid.
The new UI grants far more options to be flexible with an iPad in tow. For instance, your downloads are now accessible from the dock with the press of an arrow button. Both iPhone and iPad now have access to Preview, which means you’ll have a quick and dirty way to mark up PDFs (made even easier with Apple Pencil support).
Even a 13-inch iPad will be constrained by the large bezels and rounded corners. The windowed apps maintain that same rounded look, which leaves precious real estate unusable on most apps. The limited view is exacerbated by iPadOS 26, which still only supports up to one external display. The new software update still has trouble moving windows between the two screens. I encountered a distressing glitch where my Chrome browser bounced back and forth between the iPad and my monitor, like the app got drunk and couldn’t find its way home.
Multitasking is easier, but far from Mac levels
Mobile apps aren’t designed in a way that makes them able to replace the streamlined versions on Mac. Take Google Docs, for example. Merely setting your cursor in the right place or highlighting a few words in a sentence will have me balling my fists in silent rage. Using the Magic Keyboard accessory with the more now pointier and more precise cursor doesn’t always help, either. And that’s if you can get the apps you want on iPad. Just remember, we didn’t have an official calculator app on Apple tablets until last year. It took until September 2025 to get an official Instagram app on iPad. There’s no GeForce Now app for dedicated game streaming on iPad, which means you’re stuck with the browser version.
Apple-made apps can shrink down to a fraction of the screen size and still remain functional. An app like the new Games launcher will still let you scroll through your Apple Arcade or your other games. It’s a similar story with Apple Music, Notes, and many of the third-party apps I tested, like Slack, Google Docs, Instagram, and YouTube. Still, working on an iPad will feel more restrictive than any laptop, Apple-made or otherwise. Some apps don’t allow you to resize them however you please. Netflix, for instance, wants to either exist in a thin, iPhone-esque aspect ratio or a larger screen to fit most of the laptop’s width. Apps like Netflix won’t play well with Apple’s flick-to-tile feature, either. Of course, things could always get better if and when developers update their apps for better iPadOS 26 optimization.
Trying to multitask on a display as small as 13 inches with large, rounded bezels isn’t stellar, but let’s be honest, it’s not much better on a 14- or 16-inch laptop screen, either. The external monitor restrictions, not to mention the lack of ports, will be what keeps most users from pretending their iPad can be their main workstation. So maybe you shouldn’t treat the iPad as your one and only computer.
What is the iPad good for now?
The iPad Pro with M4 used to be more powerful than it needed to be, considering the limitations of iPadOS. Now that users are free to maneuver their apps around, that power can enhance the versatility of running multiple apps—plus my normal 20+ Chrome tabs—at once. I normally work on a MacBook Pro screen hooked up to a 34-inch ultrawide monitor. The iPad is a perfect third screen for me and my work habits. It’s a personal device, one that’s great for showing my social feeds. That and the iPad Pro’s beautiful tandem OLED display are my only distractions from workborne drudgery. I don’t want it to be my work device.
We’ve been waiting years for the touchscreen OLED MacBook, so long that it has us imagining Apple would have turned its iPads into a Microsoft Surface Pro-like device. But Apple has hated that idea. Apple CEO Tim Cook made it clear in 2012 when he said, “products are about tradeoffs, and you begin to make tradeoffs to the point where what you have left doesn’t please anyone… You can converge a toaster and a refrigerator, but those things are probably not going to be pleasing to the user.” The iPad was not designed to be your one device. It’s too specialized for that. Now, with iPadOS 26, it’s just a better tablet.
See Apple iPad at Amazon
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