https://9to5mac.com/2025/06/11/with-ipados-26-apple-has-finally-turned-the-ipad-into-a-computer/
Please read more at the above link
Indeed, I effectively replaced the iPad Pro that was gathering dust in a drawer with a MacBook Air.
But now I’d say it is
To be clear, “not a computer” was never a criticism on my part. When friends asked my advice on which Mac to buy, I quite often listened to what they want to do with it and then recommend an iPad with keyboard. For some use cases, an iPad is actually better than a Mac. Even so, I’ve recommended a MacBook Air way more often than an iPad.
But for me, iPadOS 26 changes everything. With the capabilities the device now has, I don’t see how anyone could convincingly argue that it’s not a computer.
It’s not the right computer for everyone, of course; I’ll be sticking to my MacBooks. But Apple has removed many of the reasons I’d hesitate to recommend the device to someone used to Macs or PCs.
Proper windowing
The biggest change by far is proper windowing. The iPad started as a single-tasking device: one full-screen app at a time. Later, Slide Over and Split View made it possible to work with more than one app at a time, but it was pretty clunky and unintuitive. Stage Manager further improved usability, but for me it was still a poor substitute for the window flexibility you get on a Mac.
But now the iPad works pretty much exactly like a Mac in this respect. You can open multiple apps, then position, size, and overlay each window as you like. There appears to be an upper limit of 12 apps on-screen at any one time, but it’s rare I have more Mac windows actually open, so that seems reasonable enough to me.
Better drag-and-drop and files support
Another huge win is Mac-style drag-and-drop support. Moving content between apps and windows was frankly horrible on an iPad; no more.
Similarly, file-handling was pretty poor on an iPad, but there have been some worthwhile improvements here. You can now drag folders to the dock; label folders with symbols, for quicker identification; set customizable list views; and can assign which app you want to open different file types.
Menubar
Finally, the iPad gets a menubar! From a usability perspective, I don’t think anyone has ever come up with a better UI for accessing features not immediately visible on the surface. Menus don’t just make buried features quicker to use, they also make them more discoverable. That’s been one of my biggest criticisms of power apps on iPad: not only is it hard to figure out how to do certain things, but it’s also hard to determine whether you can do them. A menubar pretty much solves that.
Top comment by Mr.Jack
Liked by 1 people
So many apps that i need are only available on Mac. So nope, it can’t replace it
Diem ‘Richard’ Nguyen
Liên Minh Bảo Hiến Mỹ Gốc Việt
Vietnamese American Conservative Alliance (VACA)
https://freedom-vaca.org/vaca-blog-tieng-viet-nam/