Featured Image Credit: NurPhoto / Contributor / Catherine Delahaye / Getty
If you're an Apple fan and you've been using an iPad for long enough, you might have noticed one really weird absence from its lineup of included apps.
Unlike on the iPhone, where it's installed on any new device by default, the iPad doesn't have an official Calculator app - it's just not there, and never has been.
It's almost become a running joke among Apple fans, with everyone baffled by the tech giant's refusal to just add the simple app.
Apple just dropped a May 7th event in my inbox. Livestream. Probably iPad related pic.twitter.com/2MI0IidTQ9
— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) April 23, 2024
Now, though, a report from the expert team at MacRumors suggests that Apple is finally planning to reverse this weird position and add a Calculator app to the iPad at last.
It comes hot on the heels of Apple sending out invites to an online event on May 7, where it is expected to launch new products.
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This event is widely expected to showcase new iPad models, so it makes sense if the Calculator app was then included.
Quite what those iPad models will look like isn't clear, although the common assumption is that we'll get a new iPad Pro powered by the M3 chip that Apple has been putting in laptops for a few months now.
This iPad Pro might well move over to OLED technology for its display, which would see it get even darker blacks and richer colors.
Another strong possibility is a refresh for the iPad Air lineup, which has been static for a little while now and could also get some welcome upgrades (or indeed a price cut).
Coming back to the question of a Calculator app, though, the news that it's probably on the way has been going down really well in certain circles.
In particular, a Reddit post linking to the story on the r/Technology subreddit has been taking off, with the top comment coming in as an unsurprisingly sarcastic one: "Truly we live in an age of wonder."
In fact, you'll struggle to find anyone who isn't at least a little sassy in comment section, with another popular response reading: "Wow they did it so quickly! It took them only 14 years and 3 weeks!"
That's in reference to the original launch date of the iPad in 2010. Rumor has it that Steve Jobs himself had a major hand in the lack of a Calculator app, thinking a scaled-up version on the iPad looked hideously ugly.
