Hear that? It’s the sound of Mac fans. No, not your shiny new M1 Mac’s fans—chances are, you’ll never hear those—but rather, the sound of excitement rippling through the Mac community. This is something big. Really big. Now, I’m only 33, but someday when I go full fuddy-duddy I will speak of this: the great Intel/Apple Silicon transition. The beginning of a new era at Apple.

All that sounds dramatic, of course, but it’s interesting to trace all of the different paths that led us to this point. The A-Series chips, the introduction of Metal, rapid machine learning gains, the gradually degrading repairability scores as components became more integrated, the Secure Enclave, a new super fast emulation layer, new unified memory architecture, and 5nm process… years and years of work have now come to fruition with the first Apple Silicon chips for Mac. And our minds are blown.

Suddenly, we’re handed a thin, entry-level fanless laptop that performs better than almost every other Mac computer out there, and a low-end MacBook Pro and Mac Mini that make current Mac Pro owners sweat and clutch their wheels. So many questions abound. What new hardware designs will these gains make possible? What on earth does Apple have in store for its high-end Macs? Will anyone else even be able to compete? It’s an exciting time to be a Mac lover, but, surprise: this post isn’t really about the Mac. It’s about the iPad.

There’s no question that Apple has struggled to craft a cohesive, compelling narrative for the iPad. For a long time, there seemed to be a distinct lack of product vision. Everyone likes to speculate over what role Steve Jobs ultimately intended the iPad to have in people’s lives, but not only is that pointless, it’s also irrelevant. We don’t need Steve to tell us what the iPad is good for. We know what it’s good for, and we can easily imagine what it could be good for, if only Apple would set it free.

Just as Apple left us with great expectations for its Pro Mac line-up, the latest iPad Air also raises the bar in new and interesting ways. The Air served as sort of an appetizer for the new M1 chips, while also receiving a generous trickle-down of features from the iPad Pro, including USB-C and support for the latest keyboard and Pencil accessories. There have been rumors of new mini-LED displays for the next-gen iPad Pros, but it’s going to take a lot more than new display tech to set the Pros apart.

Francisco Tolmasky (@tolmasky) recently tweeted:

“A sad but inescapable conclusion from the impressive launch of the M1 is just how much Apple squandered the potential of the iPad. The iPad has had amazing performance for awhile, so why is the M1 a game changer? Because it’s finally in a machine we can actually do things on.”

Francisco is right: Power and performance aren’t the bottleneck for iPad, and haven’t been for some time. So if raw power isn’t enough, and new display tech isn’t enough, where does the iPad go from here? Will it be abandoned once more, lagging behind the Mac in terms of innovation, or will Apple continue to debut its latest tech in this form factor? Is it headed toward functional parity with the Mac or will it always be hamstrung by Apple’s strict App Store policies and seemingly inconsistent investment in iPadOS?

It’s clear that Apple wants the iPad Pro to be a device that a wide variety of professionals can use to get work done. And since so many people use web apps for their work, the introduction of “desktop” Safari for iPad was an important step toward that goal. The Magic Keyboard and trackpad was another step.

Here are ten more steps I believe Apple could and should take to help nudge the iPad into this exciting next era of computing.

1. Give the iPad Pro another port. Two USB 4.0 ports would be lovely.
2. Adopt a landscape-first mindset. Rotate the Apple logo on the back and move the iPad’s front-facing camera on the side beneath the Apple Pencil charger to better reflect how most people actually use their iPad Pros.
3. Introduce Gatekeeper and app notarization for iOS. The process of side-loading apps should not be as simple as downloading them from the App Store. Bury it in Settings, make it slightly convoluted, whatever: just have an officially-sanctioned way of doing it.
4. Ruthlessly purge the App Store Guidelines of anything that prevents the iPad from serving as a development machine. Every kind of development from web to games should be possible on an iPad. And speaking of games—emulators should be allowed, too.
5. Release a suite of professional first-party apps at premium prices. If someone can edit 4K videos in Final Cut on their M1 MacBook Air, they should be able to edit 4K videos in Final Cut on their iPad Pro. I refuse to believe that these pro apps can’t be re-imagined and optimized for a touch experience. If Apple leads the way in developing premium software for iPad, others will follow.
6. Make it possible to write, release, and install plug-ins (if appropriate) for the aforementioned first party apps.
7. Bring App Library to the iPad and allow widgets to be positioned anywhere on the Home Screen. This isn’t groundbreaking, it just annoys the heck out of me.
8. Release a new keyboard + trackpad case accessory that allows the iPad to be used in tablet mode without removing it from the case.
9. Introduce Time Machine backups for iPadOS.
10. 5G, ofc.

In the end, fostering a vibrant community of iPad app developers can only stand to benefit the Mac (and vice-versa).

It’s simple: people love their iPads. They love them so much they wish they could do even more with them. The new M1 Macs should give iPad fans reason to be excited; now that we’ve seen hints of what future Macs can be, it’s time for the iPad to reassert itself—to remind us once again who it’s for, and what makes it special.

In other words: Your move, iPad.

About 3 years ago I wrote a post about the very real possibility that my current 2016 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar could in fact be my last Mac. I paid ~$2600 for it at the time, and two years later purchased an 12.9″ iPad Pro that I absolutely fell in love with. My reasoning then was that this MacBook would likely work just fine through at least 2021, and by that time I could do all of my work on an iPad Pro.

Now, it doesn’t look like Xcode for iPad is coming anytime soon. And while my MacBook Pro does still work fine, there’s a “Service Recommended” warning for its battery, and its infamous butterfly keyboard has lasted so long without breaking that it actually makes me a bit nervous.

As I watched Apple’s “One More Thing” event on Tuesday, I found myself really drawn to the new M1 MacBook Air. Light, portable, quiet, fast. No new design, no fun new colors, but plenty of beefy benchmarks. There’s a part of me that feels like if I want to be a member of the developer community, I should always be interested in the most powerful “pro” machine I can get. With rumors of new 14″ and 16″ MacBook Pros with better displays and even more impressive capabilities, I should just wait, right?

And yet. As I reread my post about gravitating toward iPad, I realized that I really do use my MacBook Pro almost exclusively for running Xcode (and occasionally for messing with the CSS in my WordPress template). When it comes to blogging, or photo editing, or designing icons and graphics in Affinity Designer: I prefer my iPad Pro.

If I trade in my current MacBook Pro, I could get a new MacBook Air with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive for around $1150. If we subtract that from the price I paid for my computer 4 years ago, that leaves $1449 I could spend on an arguably more compelling new iPad Pro someday AND I’d also have a faster, lighter laptop with better battery life than the one I have now (albeit with fewer ports).

Additionally, when I think of all of the things “missing” from the new Apple Silicon MacBooks: things like mini-LED displays, FaceID, touch screens, ProMotion, 5G, etc… I mean, that’s basically describing a next-gen iPad Pro, just without macOS.

The last piece of the puzzle is the Touch Bar: the new MacBook Air doesn’t have one. I don’t hate the Touch Bar like many folks do, but I don’t use it too terribly much. I like having emoji handy, but the new Air has a function button for opening up the emoji picker, so I don’t really think I’d miss it.

So then. Since I already tend to be an enthusiastic early adopter (Swift and SwiftUI 1.0, baby!), I think I’ve talked myself into ordering a new MacBook Air, and perhaps upgrading my iPad Pro at some point (maybe next year, maybe 2022). I’m going to wait a bit longer for some reviews to come out before I pull the trigger, but writing this post helped me think through my current situation and decide what I want my future tech setup to be. How about you? Are you going to order a new MacBook or Mac mini, or wait for the higher-end Macs?

I’ve long been a member of the S Club—the “tock” cycle of biennial iPhone upgrades. My first iPhone was the 4s, after which I diligently upgraded every two years to the 5s, 6s, and finally the iPhone X. After that, I was thrown onto a different rotation when I decided to join the iPhone Upgrade Program and purchase the iPhone 11 Pro. Now, for the first time, I’m sending my phone back after only a year instead of keeping it and handing it down to my husband.

I’ve always thought of the “S” models as being inherently cooler than their number-only counterparts. Every time I upgraded my phone, it got dramatically better. The iPhone 4s had an 8 megapixel camera, took 1080p video, and came with Siri. The 5s got the A7 chip and TouchID, and the 6s brought 3D Touch, a 12 megapixel camera, 4K video, and Live Photos. There was something exciting about being on that particular cycle and I find myself feeling the loss of that this year. I’m upgrading my phone, but I’m not pumped about it.

In the end, of course, that’s fine. What a first-world problem to have, right? Being bored with a yearly upgrade to my phone…sheesh. In the end, I’ll gain a slightly larger screen, slightly improved camera, cool magnetic case, and a lovely shade of blue.

Still, I’m left with a strange feeling after watching Tuesday’s iPhone event. It just seemed…off. The 5G marketing bonanza felt forced and nonsensical. Apple knows 5G doesn’t matter to most people, or at least, they should. The whole thing had a vibe of “we didn’t get to make the phone we wanted to make this year due to time, supply chain, and technological constraints but by golly we have to sell phones this year or our shareholders will eat us so HERE’S SOME 5G.”

That flavor of enthusiastic marketing jibberish in lieu of a compelling product story leaves a bad taste in my mouth. In contrast, the presentation of the HomePod mini was very good, and the iPhone 12 mini suitcase gag was cute and funny. The presenters did a great job despite the 5G bologna, and the transitions were slick af. Lots of good stuff there, only to be soured by the near constant presence of Verizon (and I say that as a content Verizon customer).

I will say, it’s getting harder and harder for me to imagine where cellular phones even go from here. If the new iPhones had gotten ProMotion displays and Touch ID sensors this year…like…what is even next? Maybe I’m just out of the loop, but I can’t even begin to envision the “next” thing.

I’m SO stoked for Apple Silicon Macs, though. Particularly laptops.

I hope they have 5G.

iOS launch days are always a little bit like Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory contest. Millions of developers throw their apps—er—hats in the ring, hoping that some combination of skill and pure dumb luck will score them a golden ticket to the top of the charts. And just like in Willy Wonka, sometimes the App Store winners aren’t exactly the best apps (think scammy subscription apps that try to trick users, or casual games weighed down by IAPs, etc.).

This year, though, us indies got to see our very own Charlie Bucket—er—David Smith, find his golden ticket with his excellent widget-customizing app, Widgetsmith. A viral TikTok video showing how to make your iPhone home screen “aesthetic AF” catapulted Widgetsmith to the top of the Top Free chart.

I’m speechless. I genuinely never thought I’d ever see this. There is literally too much happening right now for my brain to keep up. pic.twitter.com/JZlu8i9pjB

— David Smith (@_DavidSmith) September 19, 2020

Meanwhile, Brian Mueller, creator of everyone’s favorite snarky weather app, CARROT Weather, hit #1 on the Top Paid chart. Honestly, it was so much fun seeing everyone celebrating their well-deserved features on various App Store lists. In fact, for a moment, it almost felt like indie developers in general were on top of the world.

Of course, there’s another side to the whole iOS 14 launch story, and it’s one fraught with frustration, sadness, and disappointment. Despite submitting our apps the night before iOS 14 launched (with only a few hours’ notice!), developers like Charlie Chapman, Majid Jabrayilov, Arno Appenzeller and myself ended up stuck in a review queue nightmare that delayed our own launches.

Would I have made a lot of money if YarnBuddy had been featured? No, probably not. But it certainly would have been fun—something to celebrate and be proud of. And heck, maybe I’d even rake in enough to be able to upgrade a few of my devices this fall.

It was against this backdrop of emotions, and after seeing several frustrated tweets from my fellow developers, that I came across a short tweet by Matt Ronge.

Getting featured by Apple is not a long term marketing strategy.

— Matt Ronge (@mronge) September 18, 2020

Matt is absolutely right, of course. However, the unfortunate timing of his tweet appearing in my timeline made it feel a bit like a subtweet (even though I knew it wasn’t). I quoted his tweet and noted that while it was true, hope is all an indie developer has when their marketing budget is effectively zero dollars. This sparked some further conversation, which then led to the latest episode of Release Notes with Charles Perry and Joe Cieplinski. I listened to the episode on my drive to Costco this morning and really enjoyed it. In particular, I liked how Joe and Charles touched on the fact that not all indies are in the same situation or even have the same goals, so there isn’t really a “one-size-fits-all” marketing strategy.

I’ve listened to quite a few episodes of Release Notes and from what I’ve gathered, the most important part of marketing is finding your audience—like, literally figuring out where your audience hangs out, not just identifying who is a part of it. Charles markets his services to accountants and tax consultants, and he has found ways to get directly in touch with that audience.

My audience is knitters and crocheters. As the guys mentioned in the podcast, that’s actually a pretty enormous, sprawled out community. There are yarn shops, clubs, magazines, small blogs and YouTube channels, pattern creators, Etsy shops, and two major online communities: Ravelry and Reddit. I like to crochet, but I’ve never really felt the need to be a part of a community, so I don’t have a presence in either of those two main spaces. However, I now see that a presence is necessary in order for me to promote YarnBuddy without running afoul of community guidelines.

I don’t want my presence to be inauthentic, either. It has to be genuine. And so it will take time. I can’t afford to advertise anywhere, so I guess my next steps, aside from becoming a part of the communities, will be to continue trying to reach out to bloggers and other websites in the fiber arts space with promo codes. Any other suggestions are welcome!

One last thing I want to note is that for some developers, myself included, even this kind of “free” marketing is nearly unfeasible. For busy students, folks with demanding day jobs, stay-at-home parents (or PIPS: Parents in Pandemics)… there is just no time to become involved in communities or reach out to lists of bloggers and publications that will very likely ignore you. Advertising takes money, not time. Reaching out to folks takes time, not money. If you don’t have either, you hope for Apple to feature you. I think it was maybe Joe that said that hoping for a feature feels like desperation. It absolutely is. These are desperate times, y’all.

For now, my grand indie dreams for this fall have been dashed (that feels like too strong of a word…maybe “muted”?). However, my smaller, more reasonable goal of gaining 20 subscribers by the end of the year is going swimmingly. I’m currently at 17 subs and 11 lifetime purchases, and reviews are generally good.

If you’d like to help get me all the way to my goal, please let your knitting/crocheting friends know about YarnBuddy. It’s free to try, and I think they’ll like it. ?