The launch of the first-generation iPad dates back to April 2010. It sold three million units in just 80 days, decimated the netbook market, and the entire "tablet" universe was forced to chase its success. Even so, Apple made some striking design decisions with the iPad, starting with the lack of Flash support (problematic in 2010) and the absence of an official calculator app. Almost 14 years later, the iPad still doesn't have a calculator. What's the problem?
The calculator is a basic resource for any device, whether portable or desktop. In fact, it is quite common to find it as a "programming exercise", and generally, the user doesn't pay much attention to it. However, there is a rather curious situation: The iPad does not have a calculator. Now, some might think I'm crazy, since the iPhone, Apple Watch, and Macs all have their calculators. But the iPad remains an exception, even with the latest version of iOS installed. Why?
Why doesn't the iPad have an official calculator?
The folks at Apple Explained explain in this 2021 video that Scott Forstall (head of software development for the iPad, and especially the skeuomorphism of its interface) had a meeting with Steve Jobs a month before the official launch. At that time, the calculator app on the iPad was just a scaled-up version of the one on the iPhone. Jobs immediately asked where the new design for the calculator was, because the current one "was horrible". Forstall explained that there was no new design, and that the iPad would hit the market with that solution. Jobs completely opposed it. Forstall tried to convince him, but didn't get much: either create a new design for the calculator, or remove the app. With only weeks on the calendar, Forstall took the second option.
Now, some might think this is an exaggerated problem, since the App Store has a huge number of calculators that fill that gap, but that wasn't the first time Jobs clashed with a calculator: the original design for the Macintosh also looked terrible to him. Chris Espinosa, its original creator (and Apple's longest-tenured employee to date), developed multiple versions, but none convinced him. The solution? Create a graphical environment so that the 'boss' could define every possible visual aspect.
What is the most recent official answer? Jobs died in 2011, and the company has made some decisions that he would definitely have rejected (e.g., Apple Pencil), but the calculator on the iPad is still conspicuously absent. The best reference came through Marques Brownlee, who interviewed Craig Federighi (senior vice president of Software Engineering at Apple) a couple of years ago. Basically, Federighi said the goal is to create something different in that space, and that it won't happen until they get a grand design that astonishes users.
The video concludes by exploring the conservative philosophy Apple maintains for its designs. For example, Copy & Paste support came much later than Android, and app libraries didn't appear until iOS 14. You can also say the same about the company in general, which tends to reject the possibility of mega-acquisitions, and stays away from hypes like artificial intelligence. One thing is certain: it has worked very well for them.
Sources: Apple Explained, Hackaday
