Run MacOS on iPad Pro With This Cool Project (Caveats Apply)
Some iPad users have long wanted the ability to run MacOS directly on their iPad, despite MacOS not being intended nor equipped for touch control whatsoever. Now, thanks to a third party effort, MacOS can indeed run directly on iPad, though there are some major caveats involved here.
First, to run MacOS on iPad, you must have a few select models; iPad Pro M1, iPad Pro M2, or iPad Air M1. Additionally, those specific iPad models must be running iPadOS 16, up to iPadOS 16.3.1 – no later iPadOS version will work. And finally, you must jailbreak the iPad (hence the device and iPadOS specific limitations), which is a software hack that allows for running unofficial software on a device. As for what versions of MacOS are supported, that’s a much broader range that includes macOS Monterey all the way through macOS Golden Gate, though they recommend Ventura through Sequoia. You also can’t sign into iCloud or an Apple ID when using MacOS on an iPad with this method, so the utility is fairly limited. And it appears that MacOS is actually running virtualized atop the jailbroken iPadOS, but virtualization is quite good on the M-series so that’s not necessarily a giant hangup. But, despite those caveats, as for a proof of concept, and cool factor, it’s pretty neat, and a very interesting project.
If all of this interests you, you’re a bit of a tinkerer, and you have the requirements met, check out the Virtual Mac on iPad project page on Github for detailed instructions and resources to get this all working.
This is an incredibly cool project and quite an effort, and some users are sure to really jump for joy over this, while others may shrug and be indifferent.
There are even rumors originating out of China of a touch screen MacBook Pro that could arrive sometime in the next refresh within a year or two, but it’s hard to imagine touch screens becoming the dominant method of interacting with a Mac. Even Steve Jobs famously had some thoughts on touch screen laptops and their ergonomics (see embedded video below).
The ergonomic reality that Jobs referred to is that a keyboard and mouse/trackpad is a more efficient way of interacting with a laptop (or MacOS in general), with much less arm fatigue. But given that many iPad users use it not only in-hand as a touch screen, but also connect their devices to a Magic Keyboard which has both input methods, it’s actually not too crazy of an idea to let iPad users run MacOS if they chose to, now is it? Obviously the iPad hardware itself is more than capable to run MacOS, given that many modern iPad and Macs share the same M-series chips, so the limitation imposed by Apple is perhaps mostly about the not-at-all touch optimized interface of MacOS, compared to the very-touch-friendly interface of iPadOS. So who knows what the future brings? I’d certainly be in favor of letting iPad hardware run MacOS when connected to a Magic Keyboard or external keyboard and display, but I personally do not want the Mac or MacOS compromised in anyway, nor do I want MacOS turned into a touch OS, nor do I want MacOS and iPadOS merged. But that’s me and my opinion. But would I run MacOS on my M3 iPad Air if I could do so officially? Absolutely, I’d probably even use the iPad more if it had MacOS on it when docked. Would I put iPadOS on my Mac? Never!
Are you curious about running MacOS on an iPad? Would you go so far as to jailbreak a very specific iPad model just to run MacOS on the iPad? Have you tried this project yourself? Share your thoughts, experiences, and opinions in the comments below.
