Few months ago, Federico (macstories.net) wrote about merging macbook hardware with iPad.
Interesting read:
Its been on my mind lately and I am curious what the community thinks…
I certainly find it very interesting…is it practical… perhaps, is it costly… yes…
I regularly use my iPad Pro to log into my mac via Jump app. That works well when I need a mac. This is different slightly because you have a mac on you at all times.
Incredibly interesting to read
Probably the most innovative Mac tech article I have read in a decade
But not really practical
I read this article previously and watched the YouTube video that inspired this move.
I find the idea nothing but waste of money.
+1
If my calculations are correct, my M1 MacBook Air and my 2020 iPad Pro, together weigh 113 grams more than the MacPad. And both still have trade-in value.
As I get older, I have less time for stuff like this. 25 year old me — “Whoa, Cool!”. 45 year old me - “someone has too much time on their hands”
I’m grabbing my pitchfork and lighting a torch on my way to join the other peasants outside Castle Viticci to rail against his assembling this Frankenstein’s monster! 
I think it’s pretty awesome and wish I could make one for myself, but I’m definitely not brave enough to sacrifice my M2 Air. I recently saw someone else made one, but used a second-hand MacBook Air they got cheap because the screen was already broken.
I think we have to remember that this is Federico’s full-time job as a writer. Sure, it’s partly for s**** and giggles, but he’s also experimenting to make a point and come up with content. I think it’s an interesting idea to create a unique perspective, especially when so many are questioning the direction of iPadOS.
I thought it was a neat project. People used to bring in hacks like that at a local tech meetup. It’s a more pessimistic and less creative crowd these days.
The idea and that he got it to work are very interesting. But I don’t expect that I’ll be building one, and I doubt Apple will be, either.
Federico’s MacPad has value, too, even though Apple wouldn’t take it as a trade in.
As I recall, the guy who put a USB-C port in an iPhone X to show it could work sold it for some ridiculous sum.* And the MacPad is much more interesting and innovative, and would be more of a conversation piece for someone with money to burn. A fair number of people fantasize about this sort of device.
* I just waited for the iPhone 15.
I love what he has done, and the article and the podcast episode explaining the process have been well worth the time.
I love what he has done simply because he wanted to see whether he could pull this off mainly using native stuff that’s already built into the iPadOS and macOS (the switching between the two OSes seems to be pretty seamless)—partly to prove a point, partly to create what would be his dream device.
I’m not going to attempt this, nor would I advise anyone to do so, but for a DIY project, if he’s that passionate about both the iPad and (perhaps to a somewhat lesser extent) the Mac, this is an interesting build.
He also mentioned on the podcast that there has been a remark from John Ternus (when they met in London during the iPad Pro launch event there) along the lines of ‘we follow your work’ or similar, which Federico interpreted to mean they have seen the MacPad project. 
Or repair it under warranty/AppleCare. It’s an interesting experiment with an unknown life expectancy.
Of course it has value as a conversation piece, and Federico has a soapbox that allows him to tell the world about it. I don’t.
He can afford to risk one MacBook Air for a project like this, and it has probably already earned him more in sponsorships, website visits, and exposure than the time and money he invested in it.
It’s also certainly a more constructive use of money than YouTubers who either order a bunch of devices only to return them to Apple after only unboxing them (potentially preventing others from getting their hands on the device sooner) or those who intentionally destroy devices in “testing” for views (we already know the electronic stuff will not endure bending particularly well nor will the screens stand up to level 9 hardness scratch test; this is getting old 
).
I agree, and in the US the whole thing would probably be tax deductible. 
I could see one of those people with a collection of Apple devices in a corner of their mansion buying it for a pretty high sum
I’ve come around to the thought that I really wish Apple would just build their version of a Microsoft Surface, which is kinda what Federico did… This is how I think they could pull it off:
I thought it was so cool. Like how do you even think of this as something you could make work?
But that covers a lot of us here! 
Good for him for trying. I wish it weren’t necessary.
Then again, I owned a SurfaceBook2 for 3yrs - during the butterfly keyboard error. I hardly used the tablet functionality.
I admire Fredrico’s willingness to try anything and everything.