The real reason why the iPad doesn't have a native calculator

If you're a big Apple fan, you've probably seen the calculator app is ubiquitous across all of its gadgets.

However, there's one Apple device that's missing the basic calculator app which is the iPad.

But, why? If they can squeeze a calculator onto a watch, why not on a device that's bigger than a smartphone?

Well, there's an interesting story behind it.

Unlike other Apple products, the iPad has no calculator / NurPhoto / Contributor

When the iPad was first developed, software developer Scott Forstall developed the iOS calculator app to be a 'scaled-up version' that's displayed on the iPhone.

However, a month before the product's release, former CEO Steve Jobs stated that the calculator design looked 'awful'. As a result, he ordered for the shipment to be pulled, saying: 'We're not shipping that.'

Despite Forstall trying to convince Jobs to keep the design, he was given an ultimatum: either Forstall redesigns the whole calculator from scratch to 'make it look good on the iPad display', or it would be scrapped altogether.

Forstall knew he couldn't build a new design in time and so, the iPad launched without a calculator.

iPad owners have to resort to downloading one from third-party apps which isn't always ideal, especially if you don't wish to be bombarded with ads.

To this day, even with Steve Jobs' absence from the company, the iPad still does not provide an Apple calculator.

Apple is known to prioritise product design and user experience, but could it be overthinking something as simple and practical as a calculator?

Apple won't release a calculator on the iPad until it's exceptional / DeFodi Images News / Contributor

Tech YouTuber MKBHD - also known as Marques Brownlee - interviewed Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering at Apple, about the missing feature.

Federighi explained: 'There are some things that we have not done because, to do it, we would want to do something really distinctly great in that space.

'I think it's obviously easy to create a calculator app but [..] we want to do it when we can do it really well.'

He also pointed out that there are thousands of other great calculator options on the App Store for users to choose from.

Despite the iPad being around since 2010, over a decade later, there's still no integrated calculator.

It seems Apple is in no rush to develop a ground-breaking calculator design anytime soon either as they're not actively creating one. So, when Apple does - maybe - eventually launch one, we can expect it to look nothing short of perfection.