a user shared on Reddit how he managed to install iPadOS on a iPhone 17 Pro Max taking advantage of a security exploit, allowing the phone to benefit from opening multiple windows simultaneously, desktop apps and even support for an external monitor. All to demonstrate how Apple keeps locked capabilities that the iPhone’s own hardware already has.
What has happened. The user, who calls himself ‘TechExpert2910’, has published several tests of your iPhone 17 Pro Max running the iPad operating system. It’s not a simulation or an app: it’s iPadOS running natively. The device features multitasking with floating windows, a full desktop interface when connected to an external monitor, and apps normally only available on iPad. All this without affecting performance, as explained by the hacker himself in his publication.
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The trick behind the hack. The modification takes advantage of an exploit present in iOS 26.1 which tricks the operating system into thinking it is running on an iPad instead of an iPhone. This unlocks features like a landscape home screen, iPad-style app switcher, more items in the Dock, and, most notably, a full system of floating windows and multitasking management. Apple has already patched this vulnerability in the iOS 26.2 beta, confirming that Apple was aware and wanted to put an end to it.
Why it works so well. The key is that iOS and iPadOS share practically all of their code base. “it turns out that iOS has all the iPadOS code (and vice versa; you can, for example, activate Dynamic Island on iPad),” they cited in Wired. They are not different operating systems, but variants of the same software with features enabled or disabled depending on the device.
The iPhone 17 Pro Max comes equipped with the chip A19 Pro and 12 GB of RAM, so it has plenty of power to run iPadOS. Apple boasted so much about this chip at its September event that the company even claimed that it offers “MacBook Pro levels of computing.”
The foldable iPhone hypothesis. There are many who suggest that this hidden capacity could be prepared for the future foldable iPhone that Apple would plan to launch in the future. And of course, it would be very crazy to think that a device with much more screen space would not take advantage of its larger size with functions like those found on an iPad, especially in terms of multitasking.
The debate over Apple’s strategy. The hacker accuses Apple of artificially limiting its devices to force the purchase of more products. The logic makes sense, since Apple has historically prospered by selling a complete ecosystem where each device has its defined space. However, as they point out from Wccftech, this strategy has precedents in Android: Samsung has been offering since 2017 DeXwhich converts mobile phones into desktop computers, without this having necessarily damaged its sales of tablets or laptops.
What does this say about the future?. This experiment demonstrates three things. First: the lines of separation between iPhone, iPad and Mac are increasingly blurred. Second: Apple has the tools ready to offer a desktop mode on iPhone, but chooses not to. And third: all the reports suggest that the first foldable iPhone could have a system very similar to iPadOS, if not the same. Although it seems that we will have to wait to find out first-hand what Apple’s strategy will end up being.
Cover image | TechExpert2910 (Reddit)
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