Apple’s product strategy is simpler than you think

It’s everything but the hardware

Every year, like clockwork around WWDC time, the tech press asks the same questions: Is Apple FINALLY Adding macOS to the iPad? Are Touchscreen Macs a Bad Idea? To be fair, The real reasons Apple won't put macOS on the iPad has some solid points, especially around the App Store ecosystem, but I think their conclusion misses the point entierly.

[..] I don't think iPadOS should get thrown out, there are people who are really happy with it. But when I used it for complex tasks it made me feel like 'Man, I wish I was using a real computer!' [...] One day, your iPad might even feel like you're using a real laptop, and on that day you can ask yourself 'oh wait, why didn't I just buy a laptop?

The assumption is always the same and the answer is simple, but often drowned out by technical speculation or wishful thinking from power users. It’s not because they can’t. I am pretty confident there are iPads running macOS and touchscreen MacBooks prototypes somewhere deep inside Apple Park. They’ve tested them and could probably hold a keynote tomorrow to announce their release. The reason they don’t ship them is clarity.

Right now, if you want a touchscreen device, you get an iPad. If you want a traditional computer, you get a Mac. That’s a clean, understandable split. Blur that line, and it all becomes messy for users, developers, and Apple’s product strategy.

For users

You can order a Dell XPS 13 today with a choice of three displays: QHD+ (2560x1600 120Hz, with touch), 3K (OLED 2880x1800 60Hz, with touch) or FHD+ (1920x1080 120Hz, non-touch). They all look exactly the same. Without checking, I challenge you to guess which one is the most expensive. Or just which one you would buy if you were on the market for such a device. Take a look at the Microsoft Surface lineup: a 13" Surface Pro and a 13" Surface Laptop side by side. Both full computers, same size, same touchscreen. You have to dig through spec sheets and marketing jargon to figure out which one’s right for you. How can any company bring clarity to that kind of confusion?

Walk into an Apple Store today, and you see a table lined with iPads, and another with MacBooks. Now imagine the chaos of a lineup that tries to offer everything. You walk in and see:

• An iPad (with a choice of iPadOS or macOS)
• A MacBook (with a choice of non-touch or touch display)

Even if absolutely nothing changes in the Macbook lineup, just having a regular Macbook Air next to an iPad running macOS is already a massive dent in clarity. Which one do you buy? Who are they for? What are the price tiers? What is compatible with what? This isn’t product choice, it’s confusion, the kind we already see in today’s iPad lineup, where Apple sells multiple keyboards and pencils that are only compatible with certain models. That kind of fragmentation is exactly what Apple tries to avoid by keeping the lines clean.

For developers

Let’s say Apple did put macOS on the iPad. That’s not just a chip-level change: every macOS developer would have to rethink touch input, finger-friendly UI, and accessibility on a screen with no hover state. People often overlook that an iPad supports three distinct input types (trackpad or mouse, pencil, and finger), all with very different properties, expectations and behaviors. That’s not a minor tweak, but a complete UX overhaul.

Apple would face the same dilemma Microsoft did with Windows: when they tried to unify tablets and PCs with Windows 8, they built a touch-first interface awkward for mouse and keyboard users. The result? Confused users, frustrated developers, and a decade of 2-in-1 devices that never quite worked. The Tablet mode introduced in Windows 10 and quietly deprecated in Windows 11 says it all.

Either macOS stays as-is and touch is a gimmick, or the entire OS must adapt, and that’s a huge tradeoff.

Know when to say no

With iPadOS 26, reviews seem to agree on the fact that Apple “just decided to make it more of a Mac", exactly like they've been saying for the past five years. There’s marginally better multitasking, reworked floating elements, new customization tools. Some tech reviewers ask for more but most of them are thrilled. Job done.

The thing is, Apple knows how to give just enough features to make the headlines, while still keeping the line clear. If it were only up to them and not to the reviewers' pressure, I’d bet they’d keep iPadOS and macOS as far apart as possible, instead of bringing them closer.

You almost have to think about it backwards: don't focus on problem you solve by doing something, and instead, think about all the problems you avoid by not doing this exact same thing. Even though they’re perfectly capable of doing it, Apple likely has more reasons not to blend their product lines than to do it.

I can think of a million tech products born from companies asking “can we do it?” without ever stopping to ask if they should. The tech press often frames Apple as stubborn or behind, but maybe it’s the press that's being stubborn, asking for the two platforms to merge, year after year without missing a beat. Maybe Apple's discipline comes from asking the right questions in the right order: they know they can, and they just say “no” when asked if they should.