We begged apple to make the iPad more like a mac, they finally listened and it ruined the whole thing. The worst part? There’s no setting that fixes it.

This used to be one of my favorite devices to use, especially for productivity, but to understand how we got here, you have to understand what we lost.

If you would prefer to watch the video version that is available here.

How did this happen?

For years the iPad experience barely changed and that was the point.

I was once a beloved “power user” of the iPad. I used it every morning to check stock prices, watch youtube live streams and listen to podcasts while working, especially during covid. It was the perfect desk companion and went everywhere with me.

At that time my MacBook was strapped to my desk and the iPad handled my portable computing needs well enough.

Apple introduced multitasking in iPadOS 15.

Multitasking included split view, slide over and the ability to enter full screen apps with gestures.

It was as easy as dragging an app onto the left side and dragging another app out of the dock onto the right side.

Slide over was one of my favorite features to keep iMessage hidden out of the way while I was working.

I was working on the iPad Air 4 with the magic keyboard. It was the first time that I had something that was close to being able to be a laptop for me.

Then Apple we got through version 16, 17 and 18 largely it was still the same iPad experience I knew and loved.

This was a good thing.

For 4 years I used the iPad the same way. It was a great portable writing tool, I loved managing tasks in Todoist, writing in Apple Notes, playing games on the couch and being productive on the iPad.

That wained when I bought my M2 Max Mac studio which became my main productivity and work machine, but I carried the iPad with me everywhere.

Then iPadOS 26 comes out, I did a draft of my first thoughts but I canned it at the time. I thought “its not that bad, I will give it time”. The time is not I guess, because my initial impressions turned out to be right.

I think the interface is slick, contrary to a lot of complaints I see online, I have no qualms with Liquid Glass.

The changes to Multi-tasking however is the thing that ruined the whole iPad experience for me.

I loved side-by-side and slide over, which Apple initially removed, and the internet brought out their pitchforks and Apple walked that change back in a future update, thank goodness.

But the damage was done in my opinion.

There are now three modes on the iPad. Full screen apps, windowed and stage manger.

Full screen apps is pretty self explanatory, like an iPhone, one app on screen at a time. Probably best for an iPad mini.

On the 11” or 13” models, especially the Pro this would just feel silly.

Windowed mode, behaves more like a mac. Apps can be in windows or full screen.

You get a little round thing in the bottom corner of the app that is supposed to indicate that you can resize the app into a window.

It is not intuitive that you can click and drag the window at the top as well.

The stoplight buttons work just like a mac but are rather annoying to use.

Stage manager, I don’t use it or understand it, but you can setup multiple stages with pre-determined apps in predetermined places.

I might have to give stage manager a chance just to learn what it is all about. I always thought the 11” screen was too small for more than 2 apps on the screen at a time anyways which is one of the reasons I preferred the old multitasking style.

This is fundamentally where the iPad experience has gone sour for me.

It is finicky to move windows to the right locations and the keyboard shortcuts are unintuitive to learn. As a long time iPad user and someone who uses magnet/raycast on the mac for window management I still haven’t memorized them or gotten used to them and I am growing tired of having to tap the stoplight button to put the window in the right space.

I found out recently that you can kind of drag and throw the window to the left and right, also not intuitive at all and you have to get the gesture just right for it to work properly. Not to mention the strange behavior now that everything is a window, you can have multiple instances of the same app up, it has become a nightmare to move between applications and actually get anything done.

I even somehow had a specific apple note up, but no way to get back to the main Apple Notes window to navigate to a different note. Wild.

I made a post on threads about how windowed mode has ruined the iPad and a lot of people told me to just turn it off.

THAT’S NOT THE POINT!

I want to be able to use apps side by side on the iPad, but I don’t want to fuss about with windows that barely work right.

Turning it off is a worse iPad experience.

Leaving it on is a worse iPad experience for someone like me who has been using the iPad as a productivity device for years.

No matter which way I slice it, I get a worse experience.

When I’m done using the iPad nowadays I am left with this feeling like I have no idea how to use this technology and that I would have been better off picking up my Mac instead.

The iPad is objectively as close to a Mac as it has ever gotten, but I’ve never been this frustrated by a product trying to pretend to be something it is not.

You have finder and can put folders in docks, you have decent I/O now with thunderbolt support on the iPad Pros and the ability to connect it to a monitor and use it like a computer.

Because of this the iPad has lost some of its soul. That quirky “giant iPhone with a pencil” feeling that was made great by the combination of having a touch interface and a sturdy keyboard and Apple trackpad.

It has become less fun and less unique as Apple continues to blur the lines, almost living up to their “what is a computer?” ad from years ago.

Something that cemented this for me recently was my excursion trying the 13” M5 iPad Pro.

The excitement was back! A great screen, lightweight package, great for typing and gaming on the couch or at a desk, but too many apps are not optimized for the iPad, including Notion and others that I was testing at the time.

I sought out the better app options and more prevalent development community of the Mac once again.

At the end of my return window I couldn’t keep it. Multitasking and multi-window support was a big part of that and in the weeks after returning the 13” my iPad usage tanked.

I didn’t feel compelled to grab it anymore, when I was faster and had a better experience working on my MacBook Pro, even though it was not that comfortable of an experience on the couch.

I’m once again left sitting here with this M4 iPad Pro wondering why I even have it?

The pencil is cool, but I don’t use it enough.

The compactness is cool, but it sits in a keyboard case 90% of the time that makes a bag too heavy to lug around with a MacBook.

The first party apps are great, but they are also great on the Mac.

Support for quick notes and my favorite Apple Notes features are here, but I’m starting to understand people who buy iPads mainly as a consumption device.

What used to be one of my top devices for productivity has fallen down the ranks to play Runescape and watch youtube videos.

Which is too bad.

There is place in the Apple lineup for a touch screen Mac and I wonder if that will all but eliminate the need for me to have an iPad in the first place.

Let me know what you think in the comments, how are you using the iPad and has windowed mode ruined the iPad for you too?

That’s it for this time, be sure to get subscribed for more Apple Tech and Productivity articles.

Until next time.

Later!