iPad Givin’ up!

[Booji]

For pure productivity apps, this is the right decision. If you were a creator, it might be different.

 

[Yr Blues]

iPad mini 6 for entertainment, ideas, and browsing on the go.

MacBook Pro for work, mostly at home.

iPhone for communicating, maps, & money.

 

[Playfoot]

Well, I tried. One iPad Air 2022 and Logi Combo keyboard later and… I’m out.

I tried to use it as my personal/personal work computer.

It’s just not working. For me the reasons are:

1. The screen is just too small. Even with Stage Manager, I don’t believe that anything less than a 13in screen is feasible for tasks other than media consumption or web browsing—on any computing device (Phones excepted). Using the iPad Air’s 10.9in screen reminds me of using 14in CRT screens back in the day. You’re up against a constant frustration. Some websites don’t even render fully, as they do on a desktop, for example, so website features are truncated or missing.
2. Hand ache. Well done to Logitech for the Combo keyboard and making it feasible at such a small size. But I’m getting severe hand and wrist pain from using the trackpad and to a lesser extent keyboard. Ditto when using the iPad’s touch screen with the keyboard attached. It’s all just too small! Simple as that.
3. Cut down apps. Learning that you can’t even adjust text styles in Microsoft Word on the iPad was a blow. I used Excel today and it feels like an actual retrograde step when it comes to usability. It actually feels like we’re going backwards, rather than making progress here. And there‘s only one actual image editor that offers tools, and that isn’t yet another basic adjust-brightness/saturation-and-apply-filter bollocks.

In most ways I could get by with the iPad for personal and light work tasks. It was a bit like running Linux on the desktop, in that you often have to find ways around limitations, or go around the houses to do something basic. But it could be done.

I’m beyond the return period for Amazon so I’ll be selling both the iPad and Combo keyboard. I’ll keep using my old 2015 MacBook Pro until perhaps the end of the year.

Thank you for sharing. Very detailed. And, I am in agreement with you. Especially for the MS Apps. I often need to use the apps, paid for, as I am not always connected to the web.

Ultimately, I just carry a laptop now.

 

[Mainsail]

I am tapping-out too. The iPad is great for vacation, consumption, and light productivity. But, I find it very frustrating when taking on more complicated tasks that require numerous documents and productivity apps. With almost every new release of iPadOS, I have tried to make it work and it always ends up with me returning to my MBA for the heavy lifting. Anyway, that’s my experience….others may differ.

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.