There’s so much more work to be done with iOS, multitasking, and the redefinition of computing for the multitouch era. It’s time for Apple to step up their game and continue pursuing the vision for the future of computing set forth in 2015. We haven’t seen something truly new, bold, and transformational happen on the iPad platform in nearly two years. And amid consistently declining sales, the company’s only “new” hardware after the iPad Pro has been a lower-priced and rebranded iPad Air – a solid entry model, but another adaptation. The first iPad Pro – launched in November 2015 – has lingered without updates, raising questions on the actual need for one of its marquee features – the Smart Connector that only Apple and Logitech have supported so far. iOS 10, while a solid upgrade overall, focused on iPhone users and lifestyle enhancements for iPad users, iOS 10 was a disappointment that failed to build upon iOS 9. A smaller version of the iPad Pro was released in early 2016, though the new device mostly adapted features from the bigger version to a more compact form factor, introducing inconsistencies to the iPad line in the process, such as the True Tone display (still exclusive to the 9.7” iPad Pro). Since late 2015, Apple hasn’t had too much to show for the iPad. In a span of six months, the one-two punch of iOS 9 and iPad Pro redefined the concept of portable computer again, setting Apple on a new path for the iPad ecosystem. Free of dogmas and preconceptions of what an iPad ought to be, iOS 9 fundamentally reinvents what an iPad can become going forward. After too many unimaginative releases, Apple has understood the capabilities of the iPad’s display and its nature of modern portable computer. This year, the iPad is getting the first version of iOS truly made for it. Split View, Slide Over, and Picture in Picture were drastic departures from the classic iPad interaction model that, however, perfectly fit the device. After years of stagnation and uninspired imitation of iPhone interface paradigms, iOS 9 allowed the iPad to explore the true potential of its large canvas for the first time since the original tablet, Apple was creating new iPad-only features rather than adapting them from the iPhone. IOS 9 represented a profound change for Apple’s approach to the iPad. Once heralded as a promising sign of Apple’s renewed commitment to the iPad, iOS 9 has begun to feel like a one-hit wonder.
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