Earlier this week, Apple launched a new batch of iPad Pro tablets. One of the bigger announcements – and something of a surprise – was the news that Apple had kitted them out with the same M1 chip that’s proved so popular in the latest generation of Mac computers.

The announcement led to a renewal of long-standing speculation that the Mac and iPad product lines will be merged in the long run. (A key plank of this theory is the idea that Apple will release a touchscreen Mac at some point.) But this was promptly denied by Apple marketing manager Greg Joswiak and hardware manager John Ternus in an interview with the Independent.

“We’re pushing to make the best Mac we can make; we’re pushing to make the best iPad we can make,” says Ternus. “And people choose. A lot of people have run both. Some people prefer one versus the other.

“But we’re just going to keep making them better. And we’re not going to get all caught up in, you know, theories around merging or anything like that.”

If you read between the lines, however, it is clear that several Apple professional programs that are currently only available for Mac will be released for the iPad eventually, including Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro.

On 7 June, at this year’s WWDC get-together, we’ll hear more about the medium-term direction of Apple’s macOS and iPadOS platforms. But based on these comments it would be a mistake to expect the two operating systems to follow the same path.

This article originally appeared on Macworld Sweden. Translation by David Price.