New iPad Air, powered by M4

Post by raw_anon_1111 » Tue, Mar 03, 2026, 5:06 AM UTC

Jeremy1026 wrote: post #536

lossyalgo wrote: post #517

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you being sarcastic? Why would anyone need 2 TVs, much less every person in the house?

I'm not being sarcastic. And I really don't think my household is that far above average. We have three "living room" type areas. One in each bedroom. One in my office. One in my wife's office. I'd wager the American average is >1 per person in the house. Edit: Looks like there is some research to suggest that Number of TVs > Number of People in Household. 2.93 TVs to 2.54 people. https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/more-…

Post by raw_anon_1111 » Tue, Mar 03, 2026, 5:15 AM UTC

ewoodrich wrote: post #275

tsycho wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree that this would be an awesome feature, and it would also significantly enhance iPads' value for me. That said, having worked on account/identity systems at another FAANG, I think that the commenters saying that Apple is holding this back purely to sell more iPads are underestimating the complexity of this feature. This is not a feature that you just bolt on to the top. It will require a significant ground up…

Shared iPad overview Shared iPad allows more than one user to sign in to an iPad. The iPad needs to be supervised before Shared iPad can be used. Shared iPad can be used not only in education but also in business. Multiple users can use the iPad, and the user experiences can be personal even though the devices are shared. Shared iPad requires a device management service and Managed Apple Accounts that an organization…

Post by raw_anon_1111 » Tue, Mar 03, 2026, 5:20 AM UTC

btucker wrote: post #219

moolcool wrote: post #214

The iPad would go from a never-buy to a buy-right-away for me, if they added user profiles. It'd be a nice thing to have on your coffee table, where anyone in the household can pick it up and be logged into all of their stuff. Windows XP had this feature. Chromebooks have this feature. It's inexcusable that such an expensive gadget can only have one user.

I am convinced they’ve done research that says they would sell a meaningfully smaller number of units if they added this feature. Sigh…

Post by halapro » Tue, Mar 03, 2026, 5:36 AM UTC

cj wrote: post #109

halapro wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in Asia and I see all students using iPads instead of laptops. The limitations of the OS are really not felt by the general public. Whatever you listed doesn't even make sense to them, they buy things based on what they can afford. Every iPad works the same to them.

You're not wrong, but I hate the idea of an entire generation growing up without ever using a full powered computer. (Full powered is the wrong word, more like fully capable computer) We have an entire generation who only knows how to interact with "usability optimized" interfaces with zero friction and zero learning curve. Not knowing how to use a regular computer creates a barrier to entry for programming and other…

Post by spear » Tue, Mar 03, 2026, 5:44 AM UTC

troad wrote: post #541

xattt wrote: post #443

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Multiuser is already baked in iOS-adjacent operating systems. tvOS offers user profiles on power on.

Perhaps someone who's more versed in Apple tech can weigh in, but my limited understanding is that tvOS' users are mostly an illusion - the current user is just a flag exposed to running apps, and each app decides on its own what (if anything) they do with that information. There's no system-level separation of data or permissions for different users. (In my experience, most non-Apple apps just seem to ignore user pr…