Is a Mac a computer or is an iPad a Mac, I thought a Mac was something else .

Mac refers to Apple's line of computers: MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac Pro and Mac Mini.

Jasomi3 wrote:

I had thought a Mac was something totally different than an iPad

Indeed it is.

a Mac is just the software inside an iPad?

Absolutely not.

Macs run a completely different operating system (and applications) than iPads.

What you mean by I’m having all kinds of websites on my iPhone that are designed to throw my searches off I’m seeing double click double verify and more as well is not clear to me. You will want to explain what particular symptoms or behaviors or diagnostics or error messages you are encountering. “Weird things” is not something that can be addressed—every day has “weird things” happening, lately—what those weird things are, what error messages, what diagnostics, details here matter.

The IMEI probably doesn’t do what you think it does. IMEI identifies the cellular device to the cellular network. There are analogs in other networking technologies. Beyond that, the IMEI is not propagated. In this particular forum-question context, there is no reason to post the IMEI information, and there are reasons not to.

If you have VPN client apps, anti-virus apps, “security” apps, ad-blocker apps, or suchlike, remove those, reboot, and try again.

iPhone: smaller touch screen, cellular data and cellphone, shows one app at at a time. No pencil. Most apps will work on both iPhone and iPad. Runs iOS.

iPad: larger touch screen, cellular data, no cellphone, many can show two apps at a time. Pencil. Most apps will work on both iPhone and iPad. Runs iPadOS.

Mac: permits larger and often multiple displays, uses keyboard and trackpads or mice for input, and does not directly provide for touch screens nor Pencil. Multiple users permitted. Allows multiple apps running together, some or all displaying together. Runs macOS.

Apple is transitioning Mac to an internal hardware architecture that is compatible with iPhone and iPad, so upcoming Macs will be able to run iPad and iPhone apps. Don’t expect that iPad or iPhone will run Mac apps, though. Prior to that upcoming architectural transition, Macs cannot run iPad or iPhone apps.

And yes, for those more familiar with the Apple products, I’m definitely glossing over some details here, including but not limited to Sidecar and Pencil, iPod touch, Apple TV, and Watch, and third-party options.