Apple is selling its new iPad Pro as a premium laptop replacement, but the tablet falls short of that goal due to one glaring omission: the MacOS operating system. The iPad Pro still only runs mobile iOS, which means it has limited capabilities for anyone looking to work with multiple files or apps.
A video uploaded this weekend by Luna Display, which makes hardware and software for using iPads as a second display, shows an appealing alternative to the iOS-only iPad. In the promo, the company is using a new iPad Pro as the touch-sensitive main display for a Mac Mini. That means all of MacOS on an iPad Pro; you can even write using the Apple Pencil.
The Luna Display adapter is being used in the video to stream the new Mac Mini’s output to the iPad Pro over wifi, meaning the iPad can even be used away from the Mac Mini itself.
If you have the $2,145 needed to acquire the lowest-specification Mac Mini, an iPad Pro, a keyboard case, a Pencil, and a Luna Display adapter, it’s an idyllic setup. Use your Mac with a portable, touchscreen display throughout your house, and just carry that screen out with you when you’re on the go.
At this point it’s clear—sad, but clear—that Apple isn’t going to put MacOS on an iPad Pro. Luna Display’s video offers a vision of a world where Apple instead listened to its customers, and didn’t rely on third-party device manufacturers to provide the most basic of computing options.