I honestly have not found a website I cannot access with my iPad. Everything works fine even though it's a touchscreen. Everything loads up and functions like it did on my MacBook.
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iPad Pro Has anyone taken them plunge and replaced their MacBook with an iPad?
- Thread starter tomthumb17
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I honestly have not found a website I cannot access with my iPad. Everything works fine even though it's a touchscreen. Everything loads up and functions like it did on my MacBook.
I have to keep a 'proper' computer around for my choice of education and profession (cyber security). I did however, for a period of about 3 months, attempt to use it as my only machine. It was mostly okay.
Even now it's not that I couldn't necessarily make do but a lot of things become more laborious using an iPad and time is money. I think I'd still need at least a work issue PC to make it work. So I might as well keep the MacBook Pro around.
However for personal use including my 'semi-pro' writing and general education it remains my favorite device. It's easy. It's fast. It's insanely portable. There's very little I can think of, especially as far as hardware is concerned, that I'd change. A few software improvements and I likely could use it for my work.
So away from work, it has replaced my MBP, which sits on the desk to charge.
Even now it's not that I couldn't necessarily make do but a lot of things become more laborious using an iPad and time is money. I think I'd still need at least a work issue PC to make it work. So I might as well keep the MacBook Pro around.
However for personal use including my 'semi-pro' writing and general education it remains my favorite device. It's easy. It's fast. It's insanely portable. There's very little I can think of, especially as far as hardware is concerned, that I'd change. A few software improvements and I likely could use it for my work.
So away from work, it has replaced my MBP, which sits on the desk to charge.
Insightful, thank you.
What applications/tasks are you using for work? And why was this (tablet environment) not as productive as a laptop?
For your setup, would having a mouse interface make this a more manageable workflow?
Day to day, I'm mostly using Microsoft Remote Desktop. So really I just need whatever I use to do that effectively (since I can access everything I need through a Windows environment just fine obviously and Cisco web solutions are great). Nothing I do is particularly intensive. It's mostly monitoring, SQL, and MDM stuff.
And you really hit the nail on the head as to what makes using the iPad a problem for this kind of work. It's the lack of a mouse. Tap. Tap. Tap and hold. Tap. It's not fun. The app is otherwise fine.
I mentioned in a similar thread a while back that I think a tiny AppleTV-esque trackpad in place the arrow keys on the Smart Keyboard would probably solve my only real issues with using it or just support for a bluetooth mouse in this case.
Ah, we are in the exact same boat. My workflow also is predominantly the RD Client app from Microsoft. That is my only gripe, and why I am still on a Mac laptop.
If you have the ability to use Citrix, apparently the X1 mouse they make works wonders. I can't really be bothered to set up another environment just for external access, though.
Not sure if it may help, but just as a reference:
My work also involves being behind a desk (Windows too).
Last week I purchased an iPad Pro 12.9 model and even though I still didn´t have time to fully play with it, I´m really happy with the purchase.
I mainly use it for photo editing, drawing and the usual web-browser, mail and so on.
Coming from a laggy, slow and old Toshiba, this is what I noticed:
- Impressive battery live (since I travel quite a lot, this was a must have).
- No heat, no fan noise.
- Fast as hell.
- Sharp screen (photos look amazing).
- Portable and light (it´s just a flat screen).
Of course there are things that should improve, I think they will address some of them with iOS 11.
Cheers!
Thank you for the feedback. In terms of performance and battery life, what is your typical usage scenario and what are the most notable observations?
For example, I sometimes use my iPad 2 for travel with work. My workflow is via Windows RDP, then to the applications that I use most. I note that battery life drains quickly on a cell/3G/4G connection when compared to WiFi, and multitasking. I can expect 8 hours of use per day in these conditions, which I find quite reasonable. Brightness is generally around 50%, unless I am outdoors (rare for the working day).
What would you say your experience has been?
My model is only wifi and I´ve just tried it at home at night, meaning brightness is high.
I´ve been downloading apps, importing photos, editing and sharing them, browsing the net, playing with multitasking, Facetime (Airplay with Apple TV), listening some music with Spotfy, left the iPad in sleep mode for a day and I didn´t even care about battery.
I don´t have exact figures, but maybe all was about 20% drain (?).
I don´t have that much apps installed, also I use the web page and not the app for whatever service.
This may have an impact on battery life too.
I got a really good impression on battery life when updating videos on Infuse and then Airplay them on Apple TV.
These are my initial impressions, maybe someone with more usage time can give you exact numbers.
This is excellent feedback, thank you kindly Bosatsu!
Very promising.
Have you tried out the split screen feature yet for apps? I hear that is very useful.
I´ve just play for a while.
Obviously, with the slip screen, the bigger the scree, the better.
I´ve been reading tons of feedback regarding this function: they should improve it (select which apps appear on the list and so on).
It´s a powerful function and you´ll be using more or less depending on your work.
I still need time to dig into it, but being able to have Procreate on one side and a reference image on the other it´s really helpful.
Not sure if you can drag and drop between screens.
Makes sense. I had not heard if it is possible to drag and drop, but they do 'interact' with each other. Up to the individual developers to build in compatibility.
Reading through the technical specifications - my iPad 2 is more or less (within 100g) the same weight as the 12.9" iPad Pro. This really came as a surprise to me. It seems like a viable option, the 12.9" iPad.
http://marvel.com/insider just stopped rendering properly on my Air 2 after I updated to iOS 10.3.1.
I have two-factor authentication enabled for PayPal and in select cases, I could not pay for ebay purchases on the iPad.
Interesting thread. I have been experimenting with this for a while because 90% of my computer work can be done on iPad. My business is in education technology so there are elements that I need to do that cannot be done on iPad. They include:
- Editing my website in Weebly (their app is rubbish and it's not ideal in browsers such as Safari or Puffin)
- Screen recording which can be done by side loading an app but there are too many security concerns for me.
I've looked at getting a MacBook 12 inch but wouldn't use half the stuff on it as mainly use iPad. At the moment I am experimenting with a Mac mini connected to Ethernet and jump desktop on IPad with Cisco X1 mouse and it works very very well. The only issue I am having is the Mac's display settings can't be configured to suit iPad screen so it doesn't fit properly.
- Editing my website in Weebly (their app is rubbish and it's not ideal in browsers such as Safari or Puffin)
- Screen recording which can be done by side loading an app but there are too many security concerns for me.
I've looked at getting a MacBook 12 inch but wouldn't use half the stuff on it as mainly use iPad. At the moment I am experimenting with a Mac mini connected to Ethernet and jump desktop on IPad with Cisco X1 mouse and it works very very well. The only issue I am having is the Mac's display settings can't be configured to suit iPad screen so it doesn't fit properly.
I'd love to use only an iPad and iPhone for my computer usage. I really don't need it for work at all, only personal usage, but I still couldn't get past certain things. Whether it be downloading a plex media server update or making a change to my iTunes library, there was just always certain aspects that would require me to bring out my MacBook. I am still optimistic although I have been hoping for iPad software improvements for years. We'll see what iOS11 brings.
Its been a while since I was a full time student. I think for many liberal arts, communications and business students the iPad with a bluetooth keyboard is all that is needed. There are many students that are putting themselves through school and trying to not to go into debt. so the iPad will do.
I think the student would accomplish things more quickly and easily with a full fledged laptop and it would be better investment and they should wait until they are self sufficient to buy a tablet.
Ugh. Add slideshows on IGN to the list of webpages that don't play nice with the iPad.
I had the same problem until I hooked up a display to the Mac mini and after that I could use a much higher resolution, even when the display got plugged out! It just didn't persist after booting
But having said that, the standard non-display-screen-resolution of a Mac mini is much better than a 3k screen which makes the letters so small I can't read them anymore.
I did investigate this at some stage. From memory, when there is no display, there is a 'software driver' that will be used for the display/graphics. This is lower quality than a hardware chip obviously. I kind of got used to it after so many yearsI had the same problem until I hooked up a display to the Mac mini and after that I could use a much higher resolution, even when the display got plugged out! It just didn't persist after booting
But having said that, the standard non-display-screen-resolution of a Mac mini is much better than a 3k screen which makes the letters so small I can't read them anymore.
I had the same problem until I hooked up a display to the Mac mini and after that I could use a much higher resolution, even when the display got plugged out! It just didn't persist after booting
But having said that, the standard non-display-screen-resolution of a Mac mini is much better than a 3k screen which makes the letters so small I can't read them anymore.
I found a free app on Mac App Store that gives more display configurations which solved the problem. Mac fits IPad screen perfectly now.I had the same problem until I hooked up a display to the Mac mini and after that I could use a much higher resolution, even when the display got plugged out! It just didn't persist after booting
But having said that, the standard non-display-screen-resolution of a Mac mini is much better than a 3k screen which makes the letters so small I can't read them anymore.
I tried to replace my laptops with my iPad. It worked out for a short while then I found I needed a lightweight Windows Computer for work. I even sold my Quad Core Thinkpad's and wish I had one again. So I bought a Thinkpad X220 on eBay for work and for VM's. Besides that I use my Mac Mini at home and use my iPad for for media and studying in bed. iPad Pro is a sweet device but I still feel the need for a dedicated laptop and desktop at home.