its clear Apple has observed & is thinking long and hard about the problem. They waited 5 years (2015-2020) to introduce trackpad support to the iPadPro & I’m clear (1) they weren’t going to do it half-ass and (2) they wanted developers to spend a full decade (2010-2020) envisioning & rooting themselves in what “touch first” iPad apps are & look like. Now we have a vibrant set of iOS apps not trying to be like their desktop counterparts (ok some are guilty and def not the norm)
I don’t see Apple giving up these guns. They say the MacBook and iPadOS will always be different and I believe them. Sure, it may make sense to merge hardware 5-10 years from now. I think it’s important to Apple to figure out with developers what the hell it means to bring iOS apps to macOS 11 - to an operating system that is “mouse first” and “windowed first”
I have a feeling Apple may intentionally delay bringing touch screens to Mac (believe me, I’m first in line for a touchscreen Apple Silicon mac!) just to ensure Apple and developers understand what this hybrid paradigm is & how to tweak macOS 11 to handle it.
Then, it will make sense to backport apps from macOS to iPadOS and they can’t be in a rush. again, while I am impatient for Xcode on my iPadPro, it probably will be a good 3-5 years & expect to just get a new MacBook in the meantime & not a deal breaker for me.
Meanwhile, plenty of game developers will really put the portability of apps in the Apple ecosystem to the test and we’ll get our answers as to whether Apple plays their cards right divvying up mouse vs touch (and technically the AR game) over the next decade!
