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richpjr

macrumors 68040
May 9, 2006
3,763
2,594
I can't recall ever seeing an iPad in any board meeting, meeting with executives, contract negotiations or technical meetings with clients. I usually see about a 65-35 split of Windows (mostly Dell) to Apple laptops.
 
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BeatCrazy

macrumors 603
Jul 20, 2011
5,121
4,480
“Big executives” likely don’t have much “work” to do that requires a computer

Ipad is sufficient for referencing and making notes, emails, etc
Truth. The majority of their 'work' is making decisions based on something they're consuming. That's content from emails, presentations, texts/Teams/etc. All things iPad is perfect for. They're not creating pivot tables or editing videos.
 

antiprotest

macrumors 601
Apr 19, 2010
4,348
16,024
Fair enough, but after the meeting, how many of those people, now that they have to DO work, return to their desks and get on their laptops? Do they have to bring their laptops plus their iPads, or do they bring only their iPads? I'm not asserting either way, but it's needed info to make this anecdotal argument based on a tiny sample to be meaningful.
 
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aurora_sect

macrumors 6502
Mar 10, 2022
296
361
I know that for me, information like this is really critical because I can't just read about what devices are capable of and determine whether or not they are suitable for my specific use case. It's so much better just to follow what people on internet forums say is best for everyone. And of course if I ever hope to be a pretty big executive, it is obvious to me now that I'd better choose iPad. Whew.
 

ThailandToo

macrumors 6502a
Apr 18, 2022
692
1,357
If iPad Pro has one killer feature, it's the optional cell. The ability to take and do my work anywhere, no strings attached, is completely unmatched.

Makes me wonder why we haven't seen cell on a MacBook yet.
I didn’t get the cellular on the new iPad Pro as it didn’t have a SIM slot. The reality is it automatically connects to my iPhone for data. So as long as your mobile plan includes data hotspot it’s not an issue. Simple and instant.
 
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EugW

macrumors G5
Jun 18, 2017
14,878
12,855
I didn’t get the cellular on the new iPad Pro as it didn’t have a SIM slot. The reality is it automatically connects to my iPhone for data. So as long as your mobile plan includes data hotspot it’s not an issue. Simple and instant.
Kills the iPhone battery life though.

I know that for me, information like this is really critical because I can't just read about what devices are capable of and determine whether or not they are suitable for my specific use case. It's so much better just to follow what people on internet forums say is best for everyone. And of course if I ever hope to be a pretty big executive, it is obvious to me now that I'd better choose iPad. Whew.
Well, you do you. To be fair to the OP, this isn’t about you. The takeaway that I got from the OP was that a ton of people work just fine with their iPads. “Work” takes on very many forms, and for many people, the iPad is well suited for it, plus iPads have some of their own advantages too. For other people, not so much, but luckily Apple sells Macs as well.
 

Sami13496

macrumors 6502a
Jul 25, 2022
692
1,527
This thread dude 🤡 These iPad threads are becoming more and more cringey 😬 It seems that people are really desperate to prove that iPad can be used for work. Because if it can’t they spent all that money to watch YouTube and Netflix 😱
 

vigilant

macrumors 6502a
Aug 7, 2007
715
288
Nashville, TN
typically in a business meeting, you won't find many apple devices.

Enterprise hasn't been one of Apple's strong suits in a long time. In my company we used to all have Macs, but we in finance have switched to Windows laptops a long time ago (Office 365 is better on Windows) and the rest of the company is slowly transitioning too.

For management and people that mostly need to communicate, take notes and read reports, an iPad Pro is great. Our COO also always uses his iPad Pro. our IT manager uses a Surface pro
Uhhhh… in Enterprise most Developers, and Engineers use Macs and use iPads. Maybe in SMB. But I’d say for easily the last 6ish years easily 70% of the Fortune 500 meetings I’ve had with both management, and operations have been predominately Apple dominated…

Sure, Surfaces show up, but honestly I’d say they may make up ABOUT 10% of the devices seen in meetings?

No disrespect intended, but I’ve been spending the past 12ish years working in the Fortune 500 as customers.
 

cardfan

macrumors 601
Mar 23, 2012
4,431
5,627
This thread dude These iPad threads are becoming more and more cringey It seems that people are really desperate to prove that iPad can be used for work. Because if it can’t they spent all that money to watch YouTube and Netflix

Back when I started my career I brought a palm pilot and calendar/notepad to meetings. Later a treo but didn’t lose the paper for longest time.

Now it’s a surface pro but an iPad would be fine as well. Just easier with the surface since everything I use is on it.

I guess the point of thread is the iPad Pro can be used for an organizer at meetings.
 

iPadified

macrumors 68020
Apr 25, 2017
2,014
2,257
“Big executives” likely don’t have much “work” to do that requires a computer

Ipad is sufficient for referencing and making notes, emails, etc
I think the minority actually needs a traditional computer for work and the majority would do fine with iPad. I mean how many are coding, do advanced 3D modelling, video editing and other heavy stuff usually referred to as "real work" at MR? 1% of all workers?

If I analyse my work as an Uni professor, an iPad would be sufficient. The only app that cannot be replaced is Blender but I very rarely use it. Fusion 360>Shapr3D. Octane X exist for iPad so yes, 3D models produced in Shapr3D could be rendered by Octane X. Word is sufficient and even has a Mendely plugin for writing scientific articles! All the admin is Web based and then e-mail, e-mail and e-mail. Presentation/lecturing with Keynotes is better on iPad due to the pencil support. Meetings: iPad with pencil is supreme.
 

Isengardtom

macrumors 65816
Feb 14, 2009
1,345
2,191
Uhhhh… in Enterprise most Developers, and Engineers use Macs and use iPads. Maybe in SMB. But I’d say for easily the last 6ish years easily 70% of the Fortune 500 meetings I’ve had with both management, and operations have been predominately Apple dominated…

Sure, Surfaces show up, but honestly I’d say they may make up ABOUT 10% of the devices seen in meetings?

No disrespect intended, but I’ve been spending the past 12ish years working in the Fortune 500 as customers.
Must be a US thing then, because here in Europe that’s definitely not the case. Macs are more niche than windows machines. We all use Microsoft‘s Office 365 tools, outlook, teams…
 

bluegt

macrumors 6502
Jul 3, 2015
462
487
Interesting views. It depends on the seniority.

Board members + C-Suite: iPad (almost always Pro and w/Keyboard)

They won’t always have these open or even carry them in. The older ones may still have a small notebook.

CSuite -1s
- Surface and/or iPad w/Pencil (in futile attempts to take notes)

Meeting Secretary / Note Taker / Staffer / Minions Supporting above people
- Standard Issue Thinkpad or Dell Laptop
- In tech, maybe a MacBook Pro or Air

(This is for MNCs/Corporates - it won’t apply to government, public service or startups)
 

Isengardtom

macrumors 65816
Feb 14, 2009
1,345
2,191
The whole company used to be Apple for non developers. Unfortunately, (once we grew substantially) a large majority of people coming into the company have not used Apple laptops/IPP previously and it just got boring people unwilling to learn something new, so we transitioned to Windows laptops for most people now (unless they specifically ask for Apple).

A shame really that the vocal minority who lacked professional curiosity ruined it for others, as starting at our company getting a MBP/A was seen as a real treat for people as they got to keep their devices after 3 years.
Exactly the same in mine. it doesn’t help though that Apple does very little to improve their business apps. In finance you really need them And Microsoft doesn’t have full feature parity with Windows, especially for Excel.

That said, I enjoy using Teams, Outlook, SharePoint, onedrive, Microsoft todo a lot on my iPad.
 
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maxolson

macrumors member
Oct 2, 2015
51
128
Ten people were in the meeting...

Five iPad Pros (including two of the most recent M4 models - one 11 inch and 1 13 inch, mine)
4 Windows Laptops
1 Macbook Air

And people claim iPads aren't for work?
The less actual work you do (C-Suite, Executive Suite) the more the iPad can be a work device. If all you do is take calls and send emails, the iPad is fine. For the rest of us doing real work: no way.
 

BanjoDudeAhoy

macrumors 6502a
Aug 3, 2020
921
1,624
[...]and it just got boring people unwilling to learn something new, so we transitioned to Windows laptops for most people now (unless they specifically ask for Apple).

A shame really that the vocal minority who lacked professional curiosity ruined it for others, as starting at our company getting a MBP/A was seen as a real treat for people as they got to keep their devices after 3 years.
The unwillingness to learn something new is something that baffles me.
Maybe I'm just blessed with more curiosity than most, but I started using a MBP largely because I was curious (and fed up with Windows) and I still regularly install Linux distros in VMs just to see how they've developed since I last did it.

I heard a similar story (unwillingness) recently, though - person was given a pretty top of the line MBP for work, said "nah, I want Windows, I'm not using Mac" and got a crappier Windows laptop and was smug about it.
 

BMJT

macrumors regular
Jun 6, 2009
149
37
Bristol, UK
Try doing some actual work like writing a paper on it, rather than some pointless notes that often happen in ‘meetings’.
 

bluegt

macrumors 6502
Jul 3, 2015
462
487
The less actual work you do (C-Suite, Executive Suite) the more the iPad can be a work device. If all you do is take calls and send emails, the iPad is fine. For the rest of us doing real work: no way.
If you tell those people they are not doing real work, you will end up not having any “real work” to do :)
 
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BanjoDudeAhoy

macrumors 6502a
Aug 3, 2020
921
1,624
So many posts about how you can't do real work, actual work, proper work on an iPad.
Mostly without definition what that real, actual, proper work is.

I absolutely agree that not everything can be done on an iPad and that not everyone can use it in their job. I don't think it was ever the point of the iPad to be able to do everything. The introduction of the device made that pretty clear.

But the argument is still odd - who defines what real, actual, proper work is?
Some of the most important stuff I do for my job I do on an iPad. For other stuff I need a pretty beefy computer (a Windows one at that, sadly.)

So maybe it should be "I can't do [my specific job] on the iPad" rather than some generalization?
 
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laptech

macrumors 601
Apr 26, 2013
4,128
4,453
Earth
In business it is not so much the hardware that determines what gets used but the software and many many people in business world use Windows Office, old versions and new versions which work much much better on windows devices/machines than on Apple devices. In the electronics business world that I am in, Surface pro's are king because the people using them are all using Windows Office 365. For networking meetings, Zoom or Windows Teams is the conferencing software that is used and again it is used on windows devices.

From my experience, for the most part, business people that have ipads are doing it more for show than being a functional business tool. Yes I see many people in business world I am in use ipads but it appears to me that they are being used for personal use because every time there is a business meeting or an engineering meeting or a finance meeting (member of finance told me this) out come the surface pro's or windows laptops. Plug in a cable, press a button and there is the person's presentation on the meetings big screen.

I have no doubt that ipads can do all of this but when companies have budgets and they notice windows machines are predominantly a lot cheaper than ipads, the company will opt for the cheaper windows machines regardless if the ipads can do exactly what the windows machines can do.
 

mode11

macrumors 65816
Jul 14, 2015
1,452
1,172
London
If I analyse my work as an Uni professor, an iPad would be sufficient. The only app that cannot be replaced is Blender but I very rarely use it. Fusion 360>Shapr3D. Octane X exist for iPad so yes, 3D models produced in Shapr3D could be rendered by Octane X. Word is sufficient and even has a Mendely plugin for writing scientific articles! All the admin is Web based and then e-mail, e-mail and e-mail. Presentation/lecturing with Keynotes is better on iPad due to the pencil support. Meetings: iPad with pencil is supreme.

Why on earth would you prefer to work on an 11-13" touchscreen (or even a laptop), than a desktop with multiple screens, a proper keyboard and mouse? I get it if you need to get *some* work done on a train, but otherwise it's about 10% as efficient, for the ergonomics alone.

Plus an iPad wouldn't be my first choice for 3D rendering, even if Octane technically exists on it.
 

erasr

macrumors 6502a
Sep 18, 2007
743
644
Executives who don’t know what the **** they are doing on a computer - or have no actual work to do apart from light emailing - generally do suit and use iPad.

In fact, I‘ve always found it quite humorous to see older chaps using small iPads and keyboards.

With that said, I do now feel that all light work, emailing, documents, etc can be done on iPad. I’m on mine right now, on the sofa, because I cba to go to my work desk yet (it’s 9am). Works fine for Teams, emailing, Google Drive etc.

Later I’ll need to do some website work, which really I have to use my MBA M2 for.
 
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