Apple iPads are not the darling tech product they used to be.
What started off as this fascinating idea of a large device with an amazing display that could do everything your iPhone does and more became more synonymous over the years with the thing you give to a child so they'll be quiet.
Apple continues to give the iPads a lot of power. The recently released iPad 11 uses the same processor found on the iPhone 15, has 128GB of storage, and a 10.8-inch LED display. The iPad Pro M4 has power on par with the latest MacBooks. Even the iPad Mini is finding more uses thanks to cloud gaming. Yet they all still have the issue of not being a device to properly replace a laptop or computer.
That notion, however, might finally change with the release of iPadOS 19, as reported by Bloomberg on Sunday.
The new software for the iPad, which should be out later this year, will reportedly be a huge upgrade for the tablet that will focus on productivity, multitasking, and app window management. According to the report, these changes in iPadOS would make the iPad feel more like a Mac.
However, this will not be equivalent to having macOS on an iPad. It's clear that Apple still wants customers to buy an iPad and a MacBook, and not have one device do all the work.
Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Will the iPad get a new life at WWDC?
The next iPadOS will likely get its reveal at the Worldwide Developers Conference starting on June 9. Apple holds this event annually to show off its latest software for its devices, which usually receives its own show in September. This show in the fall is typically when Apple shows off the next iPhone; this year it'll be the iPhone 17 and maybe its new Air variant that is much thinner than previous iPhones.
This year's WWDC could be a big one for Apple. The company is currently struggling to develop its AI.
Last October, Apple launched its Apple Intelligence, which was supposed to incorporate AI into the iPhone ecosystem to summarize texts and do some photo editing. While those features have rolled out, it's done so on a very slow basis. Apple Intelligence has come to other Apple devices, including the Vision Pro VR headset.
Still, the big goal for Apple was to release an overhauled Siri. This change in the assistant was to make it more of a proper AI assistant that could understand requests based on app interactions. These would be tasks such as creating a reminder for an event based on an email conversation or identifying what song you want to play based on texts with a friend.
This new Siri was supposed to debut in the spring, but Apple made the announcement last month that it was being delayed. After a shakeup with the company executives in charge of the effort, the overhauled Siri should be getting a reveal in the fall, and if it does, it will probably be shown along with the iPhone 17.
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