All iPads Does anyone use only an iPad and iPhone and not a laptop or desktop?

[rui no onna]

Likely will always have a desktop. Just bought a Mac Mini M1. iPads just don't have the longevity of Mac desktops. My 2009 Mac Mini is still fully functional and has good performance. The iPad from the same time period (iPad 1 released 2010) is now really totally useless.

In all fairness, that 2009 Mac Mini has around the same CPU performance as the 2014 Air 2. Iirc, Air 2 was around 8x the speed of the iPad 3 so I could imagine just how much worse the A4/256MB RAM OG iPad was. The Air 2 was a turning point for iPad longevity.

With that said, being reliant on batteries is a con for mobile devices longevity-wise versus desktops.

 

[hadleydb]

I’ve been experimenting with Microsoft Edge the last few days. It has a desktop browser setting in it. It hasn’t been a bad experience so far. I know a lot of people hate Microsoft browsers and I usually use safari but I have found I’m using Edge quite a bit. Just my two cents.

 

[Sluchbox]

I’ve been experimenting with Microsoft Edge the last few days. It has a desktop browser setting in it. It hasn’t been a bad experience so far. I know a lot of people hate Microsoft browsers and I usually use safari but I have found I’m using Edge quite a bit. Just my two cents. View attachment 1925981

Have you found any situation where a website will serve the desktop version on the Edge browser when it wouldn’t do it when requesting the desktop version using Safari?

 

[Sluchbox]

Likely will always have a desktop. Just bought a Mac Mini M1. iPads just don't have the longevity of Mac desktops. My 2009 Mac Mini is still fully functional and has good performance. The iPad from the same time period (iPad 1 released 2010) is now really totally useless.

I am happy to get four good years out of a device such as a smart phone or tablet. If I get five years then that is excellent.

I have always typically kept computers for around five years each, but I know you could generally drag those out longer than portable devices.

I don’t know if comparing a computer from 2009 to the original iPad released then is a good indicator of what type of device you should be using today. I guess it’s opinion based, but if something works better for me I wouldn’t mind getting a couple years less use out of it.

 

[Richard8655]

I am happy to get four good years out of a device such as a smart phone or tablet. If I get five years then that is excellent.

I have always typically kept computers for around five years each, but I know you could generally drag those out longer than portable devices.

I don’t know if comparing a computer from 2009 to the original iPad released then is a good indicator of what type of device you should be using today. I guess it’s opinion based, but if something works better for me I wouldn’t mind getting a couple years less use out of it.

In all fairness, that 2009 Mac Mini has around the same CPU performance as the 2014 Air 2. Iirc, Air 2 was around 8x the speed of the iPad 3 so I could imagine just how much worse the A4/256MB RAM OG iPad was. The Air 2 was a turning point for iPad longevity.

With that said, being reliant on batteries is a con for mobile devices longevity-wise versus desktops.

I hear what you're both saying. I think the comparison is based on the premise of this thread. iPad/iPhone without a desktop/laptop. Given that choice, my point is the iPad just doesn't have the longevity of a Mac desktop. And not just batteries, but functionality. Yes, not as as fast but for everyday needs still works fine (in my 2009 case). The 2009 Mac Mini comparison with 2014 Air 2 I think makes the case for desktop longevity usefulness.

But I realize longevity isn't important for many people, and replacing their iPad every 3 years is perfectly fine and normal for them. I also realize everyone has different needs, and mine might be low level in comparison.

 

[rui no onna]

I hear what you're both saying. I think the comparison is based on the premise of this thread. iPad/iPhone without a desktop/laptop. Given that choice, my point is the iPad just doesn't have the longevity of a Mac desktop. And not just batteries, but functionality. Yes, not as as fast but for everyday needs still works fine (in my 2009 case). The 2009 Mac Mini comparison with 2014 Air 2 I think makes the case for desktop longevity usefulness.

But I realize longevity isn't important for many people, and replacing their iPad every 3 years is perfectly fine and normal for them. I also realize everyone has different needs, and mine might be low level in comparison.

My point about longevity is that in 2010, desktops and laptops were already fairly mature while the 2010 iPad was still in its infancy. In the beginning, iPads had a lot of catching up to do in order to match current x86 performance so longevity wasn't good. Now, they've caught up and even the $329 entry level iPad performs faster than $200-300 Windows laptops.

My mom and dad are using an iPad Pro 9.7 (2016) and iPad 5th gen (2017 but with 2015 CPU) respectively, and I just handed down my iPad Pro 12.9 (2017) to my mom. Quite honestly, I expect they can continue using those iPads as long as Apple provides firmware support. Maybe even longer (as long as apps continue to work).

The iPad is a fairly mature platform at this point and the Air 2 received 8 years firmware support. I expect longevity for recent iPads to be more or less on par with computers now (barring battery/device failure).

 

[Sluchbox]

I appreciate everyone’s posts. There’s been lots of great information and perspective from both sides of this.

 

[hadleydb]

Have you found any situation where a website will serve the desktop version on the Edge browser when it wouldn’t do it when requesting the desktop version using Safari?

I haven't noticed this yet. I haven't really ever not had Safari display a mobile website. Maybe because I'm on a 12.9 pro or I don't access any sites that force mobile.

 

[ctjack]

I appreciate everyone’s posts. There’s been lots of great information and perspective from both sides of this.

Just googled your problem out of curiosity. Found out about “puffin” browser, it is the only browser that loaded desktop cnn on my iphone 13 mini. Definitely a keeper, because myself struggled couple of days ago being unable to load my work websites to use desktop.