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iPad Pro Does the iPad Pro make sense anymore?
- Thread starter ian87w
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My high school - we had those 33 Mhz computers with the TURBO buttons to make them go 66 Mhz. We used the smaller hard floppies - some of the old computer's floppy drives could only read floppies that they wrote due to alignment issues so you had to always make sure to get that specific computer if it wrote your floppy.
(late 90s early 2000s). Yep, always had to have a few floppies just in case.
I do remember, as a kid, that printer paper that you had to tear the sides off of with the loud dot matrix printers. Also my dad would recruit me to help those multi-disk massive floppy installs on the 286? 386? machines - I'd sit there and wait for him to tell me to go and I'd pop out the disk and put the next one in. That was a lot of fun.
(late 90s early 2000s). Yep, always had to have a few floppies just in case.
I do remember, as a kid, that printer paper that you had to tear the sides off of with the loud dot matrix printers. Also my dad would recruit me to help those multi-disk massive floppy installs on the 286? 386? machines - I'd sit there and wait for him to tell me to go and I'd pop out the disk and put the next one in. That was a lot of fun.
I remember being in elementary school in the early 80's and we used TRS-80's and Apple II's to learn computer skills. Thats why I look at an iPad or an M1 Mac and I just say "wow".
I think they had 95 on those things. We used Microsoft Visual C++ 5.0/6.0 if I remember right. I must be old cuz I can't really remember! LOL
In the Venn diagram of iPad Pro and MacBook uses, I think there's now much more overlap than there was prior to the M1 Macs. Now that those exist, a lot of the hardware advantages iPad Pro had (battery life, lack of heat) have become a bit of a wash.
At the same time, there will always be people who strongly prefer one or the other. I'm firmly in the Mac camp, personally, because I like the form factor of a laptop and the flexibility of MacOS. If I had a desire for a touch screen (I don't) or didn't care about having a good, built in keyboard (I do) then maybe it would be different.
But having two really nice hardware platforms like this is really an "everybody wins" kind of scenario.
At the same time, there will always be people who strongly prefer one or the other. I'm firmly in the Mac camp, personally, because I like the form factor of a laptop and the flexibility of MacOS. If I had a desire for a touch screen (I don't) or didn't care about having a good, built in keyboard (I do) then maybe it would be different.
But having two really nice hardware platforms like this is really an "everybody wins" kind of scenario.
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lol - we weren't even allowed the use of calculators when I started college in '71. They were too expensive for widespread use so they presented an unfair advantage for well-to-do students. Portable devices were something we saw on Star Trek.
As a massive trekkie, I approve.
He used to be one of us... you know. Still missing Locutus.
I think that for people who is trying to use their iPad Pro like a laptop, such as with Magic Keyboard..etc, an M1 Macbook could definitely make more sense.
But for people who use their device only for media consumption, tablet gaming or for artists who always use their pencil..etc, there is no doubt that the iPad Pro wins in this domain especially practicality wise. Then again there will always be some exceptions who will need to use Photoshop to make the drawings because may be they are used to that workflow or because they have some tools or plug-ins in photoshop that they can not leave without, or for those who need a bigger screen such as a Wacom Cintiq, but for the majority, iPad Pro is a better choice, from my point of view.
For students who use their device for notetaking, I think that both can be a viable solution but iPad / iPad Pro may be a better choice if they need to draw diagrams or take notes in mathetmic classes..etc as well writing mathematical equations on an iPad with Apple Pencil can still be more like the traditional paper and pen way.
So in my opinion, someone who is doubting if the M1 Macbooks is a better choice than an iPad Pro is someone who is using their iPads like laptops or else, such doubt, would never arise.
I think you are missing out on people that just want one device. When the iPad Pro and Mac M1 are practically running identical hardware, the only difference is form factors and software.
MacOS beats iPadOS easily if we are talking about ‘advanced’ use cases. iPad easily beats Mac on form factors as it has the flexibility to be anything - tablet, magic keyboard, Bluetooth keyboard/mouse with screen.
My annoyance is the fact that these two devices are pretty much going to be running the same hardware, but because of operating systems, I either have to pick both devices or choose between flexible form factor or a more open OS. In this day and age, I don’t want to choose, theres no technical reason to. As far as I see it, I’ll continue to avoid purchasing either until Apple changes one of the devices, or comes out with a completely new line.
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That's exactly the camp I'm in--people who only want one of the two. My company gives me a new MacBook Pro every 4 or 5 years, but I don't like doing personal stuff on it if I can help it. So I like to have one personally owned "big screen" device too. I don't need both my own Mac and my own iPad, especially after getting the 12 Pro Max.
So for the last few years, my personally owned big screen device has been an iPad Pro, with my work Mac filling in for those niche use cases where I can't do something in iPadOS. Those have been few and far between, but they do still exist. But this is also where I got myself a bit boxed in to a corner with the iPad. As iPadOS got better and better and better, I started leaning more and more heavily on my iPad Pro to be my laptop, which eventually involved buying the larger 12.9" model and the Magic Keyboard for it. And what I ended up with was a thicker, heavier, more expensive iPad with half the battery life and power of the M1 MBA.
I look at it as a good problem to have. I absolutely ADORE the iPad. I LOVE working in iPadOS. So for a new Mac lineup to make me even consider giving it up, those new Macs have to be pretty freaking great. These M1 chips are that good where after a couple of weeks of weighing my options, I came to the conclusion that what I really needed was a MacBook after all. It's kind of a no brainer. Haven't regretted my decision yet. We'll see if that remains the case as time goes on.
To a certain point I get what you mean but even before, when Mac computers were running on Intel chips and iPads running with Ax chips with comparable performance, I guess that the same issue was always available. I mean, before, I do not think that people wanted to buy iPad Pro or Mac because it is more performant than the other one, but instead, software and the use case has been the reason for the given choice.
I can see why you could expect iPad to run Mac OS or similar software since they offer very similar chips and performance. But afterall, I don’t think that Apple is to blame there as for them, it is two different lines of product. One of them is a full computer/laptop with a full system whereas the other one is a Tablet with certain pro cabalities. Even tho today they are offering Magic Keyboard and may be some computer replacement advertisements (I do not know if Apple officially advertised it as such, but I am saying it in case) , but at the end, iPad is a tablet, a companion for their full fledge computers or only device for whose needs can be adressed with such device. It is the similar case in Android area. Whereas on Windows area, there are 2 in 1 laptops such as Surface..etc but on those cases, tablet experience is too compromised. I had a Surface Book, it was a wonderful device and sometimes I was using it in Tablet Mode, but I should admit that the tablet experience was nowhere near the experience of an iPad.
So i think that, apart than the wish to keep the two lines seperate with the software, also the usability may be compromised with Mac OS in iPads, turnings them more into laptops rather than tablets. They could give it a dual boot capability, but then that would canabilise the sales of Macbook Air. So till then, I guess that we are stuck into two devices, until more pro apps can come to iPad Pro that may adress all the needs of more users to go iPad Pro only. Tho, I doubt that it is what Apple wants, as they would like to sell their Macs as well.
The ones who just want one device will still have to pick. Nothing has changed other that the MacBook has a better chip now and can run iOS apps- of which most have a native Mac app or are better in a browser.
So at the end of the day that’s really all there is. Want touch and pencil input? Prefer the traditional notebook? Options for both still exist.
Well you said exactly what I have been trying to say in a much shorter way, thanks! :=)
Even more importantly, you can splurge on one and get entry level of the other if you really feel the need to have both. For me though, that's where the M1 system throws a wrench in things too--I got the entry level $999 model of the MacBook Air, but still got one of the fastest machines in the lineup. For most of the things I do, it's not going to perform any better or worse than the M1 MacBook Pro.
Still love iPads though. And still have 3 in my house that I can use if I'm really getting the itch.
Nice to read experiences similar to mine in college... makes me feel less old...
As far as I am concerned, I went to college in 1997 and it was there that I first went online with Windows 95 (I had a Windows 3.11 pc at home, but had internet at home only later when I got a pentium 3 in 1999, same year of my first mobile phone...)
When I moved to Switzerland in 2000 for my second degree we had no internet on campus, only at the University building, and could only afford a laptoop in 2002... By the time iPads were a thing, I was already a University teacher....
Today I use my pro 10.5 as a second minitor for my laptop during classes (well, before classes went online only at least...)
As far as I am concerned, I went to college in 1997 and it was there that I first went online with Windows 95 (I had a Windows 3.11 pc at home, but had internet at home only later when I got a pentium 3 in 1999, same year of my first mobile phone...)
When I moved to Switzerland in 2000 for my second degree we had no internet on campus, only at the University building, and could only afford a laptoop in 2002... By the time iPads were a thing, I was already a University teacher....
Today I use my pro 10.5 as a second minitor for my laptop during classes (well, before classes went online only at least...)
Yeah the air makes more sense than the pro, much more than in the past, for the vast majority of people.
Personally I am wating (well, hoping at least...) for a 12in with M1, to replace my macbook air 11. I want something lighter, not heavier, and my windows laptops are all lighter... I really hope Apple has not abandoned the 12in Macbook...
As for iPad I will keep the ones I have, but before buying a new one I really want to see some serious upgrade...
I was in the fine arts department in college, and our designated computer lab was all Macs. Unfortunately that was during the "bad old days" for Apple. It was before the return of Jobs, a bit before the iMac, before the iPod, etc. macOS was in a pretty sorry state at that point, and I had a Mac eat one of my MAJOR projects somehow. We were using Zip drives on PowerPC models and there was some kind of software compatibility issue or bug or whatever on the computer I was working with. So in class the next day when I needed to present my project, it was just completely corrupted on my Zip disk. (It also could have been the Zip drive/disk itself being wonky, but it was easier for me to blame Apple when I had to explain to my professor what happened.)
So from then up until about 2010, I hated Macs and wouldn't have anything to do with Apple. And then one day I walked into an AT&T store to buy my first smartphone, fully intending it to be something Android. To my right there was an iPhone 4 kiosk on display. I saw that retina display for the first time and it was game over. And now we have at least 2 items, if not more, from every Apple product line in our house.
I was in Europe, and here Macs at University were not a thing at that time... (and even now, Windows dominates).
Growing up with Windows (well technically my first pc was on DOS in 1992...) I didn't see the point of Macs... Yes the macbook air was nice but the Thinkpad X300 was even better if you were ready to spend the $3000 needed to get a macbook air with SSD back then... In 2010 a student of mine showed me an ipad 1st gen I remember saying: man thing is heavy! I got my first tablet in 2012, an Asus Transformer Pad that broke after 1 year and was refunded and then a Windows detachable. It was only in early 2014 that I bought my first iPad, an air 1st gen, once iPad became really light, and what drove me to it was the aspect ratio and the possibility of connecting it to my digital piano to use it with music apps... I didn't use my iPads for much else than for music and PDF reading and annotating until IOS 11 and even more IOS 13 made them so much more useful....
Haha..I've always been a PC person and a pc tweaker before. To this day, I'm still surprised I ended up mostly in the Apple world (aside from PC laptop for work and games..although I don't game on the PC for years now).
My Apple journey began with the iPod touch just to try the iOS apps and games and my mp3 collection. But now I have a few iPhones, iPads, an AirPort Extreme (still the workhouse route at home), and an Apple Watch (finally). The only thing I haven't gotten is a MacBook (but with the Apple Silicon, probably in 2-3 years I'll really consider one).
Exactly. If we are willing to cosplay an iPad to make it "almost a laptop" then why shouldn't we also dress up a Mac to be "also a tablet".
BTW. I think the iPad should continue to exist. It's a tablet running a modified phone OS that is hitting its limits on what it could/should do. But the Mac is at its first phase of redefining itself. Do we really want it to stay this way forever and not ever try anything new? Keep the standard clamshell design for traditional users, but a form factor OPTION that merges the decades of MacOS refinement with the great things about the iPad Pro may actually improve the platform. It worked for the iPad.