Craig Federighi explains why iPad shouldn’t run macOS, more in new interview

iPadOS 26 is in many ways the major update that iPad power users have been asking for. And in a new interview at MacStories, software chief Craig Federighi explains why the iPad shouldn’t run macOS, how iPadOS 26 came to fruition, and more.

New interview covers iPadOS 26, macOS on iPad, and more

Federico Viticci, who has long pushed the iPad to its limits, sat down with Craig Federighi at WWDC for an interview about all things iPadOS 26.

The full interview has been published here as part of a larger story containing Viticci’s initial takes on the new iPad software.

There are a lot of highlights in the full piece, but here are just a couple I want to highlight.

Some vocal iPad users have called on Apple to bring macOS to the iPad. But in a year where Apple has focused on unifying the platforms, that didn’t happen.

Why not?

“We don’t want to create a boat car or, you know, a spork”, Federighi begins. Seeing the confused look on my face, he continues: “I don’t know if you have those in Italy. Someone said, “If a spoon’s great, a fork’s great, then let’s combine them into a single utensil, right?” It turns out it’s not a good spoon and it’s not a good fork. It’s a bad idea. And so we don’t want to build sporks”. […]

Federighi tells me that “absolute consistency would be to optimize for nothing” when I ask him about how Apple weighs the idea of consistent design across platforms against the fact that, according to them, each device in their lineup has its own reason to be. “We want consistency where it makes sense, but we tailor these experiences to each device”, he adds.

I don’t need to ask Federighi the perennial question of running macOS on the iPad, since he goes there on his own. “I don’t think the iPad should run macOS, but I think the iPad can be inspired by elements of the Mac”, Federighi tells me. “I think the Mac can be inspired by elements of iPad, and I think that that’s happened a great deal”.

In other words, Apple believes that bringing macOS to the iPad would mean forfeiting the unique reason each product exists separately. I can’t say I disagree.

On the topic of why iPadOS 26’s powerful windowing and multitasking features took so long, Federighi named a variety of factors:

• performance constraints in the iPad’s early days
• the value of power users’ feedback over the years
• and a hesitance to add Mac-like features from the start that might detract from the iPad’s real essence

Speaking of the iPad’s essence, Federighi gives a great answer when Viticci asks, “What is an iPad in 2025?”

Be sure to check out the full article at MacStories to get the answer.

What are your takeaways from Federighi’s iPad remarks? Let us know in the comments.

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