iPad If you have a Macbook, iPhone, and an iPad ... what do you use the iPad for?

[Jack Neill]

I have 2 11" pros and an Air 3. I do very little with them besides charge them up and then slowly let them die as they sit on the desk from inactivity.. Once they are dead I pick them up use them for about 2 min realize iPadOS is a joke and then charge them back up so they can die again..

 

[jldesutter83]

I just traded my MacBook Pro (2019) in to Best Buy for a gift card and got the iPad Magic Keyboard to go with the iPad Pro I just got from my husband fro Christmas. I rarely used the MacBook and I only bought it back in 2019 because the job I was working wouldn’t allow us to use our phones or the touch screen iPods and I had to use an older one and needed iTunes to sync it. (I no longer work at that place, thank goodness) I thought I would use the MacBook to edit photos on more often but I used my iPhone or iPad that I had at the time more. My plan now is to edit photos on the iPad Pro and using the Apple Pencil will be an added perk.

 

[Skeptical.me]

MacBook Air M2 for the 8-5 life.

iPhone and iPad for all else. In other words, when I retire, I will no longer use a MacBook.

I wonder if you'd get the same lopsided response in any of the non-iPad discussion groups ...

True, there might be a bit of a bias here but the reasons people are giving for their preferences for the iPad are good, helps me to feel reassured that I've made a good purchase.

 

[sjsharksfan12]

I will use it for reading, but I use it to browse the web and watch media while I'm in bed. It's a nice little device.

 

[Anappleaday29]

Live timing for my motorsports events.

Oh, and sometimes a payment terminal

 

[cwosigns]

I have a MacBook Pro from my company that I use for work, but don’t own a personal computer. I can do everything on my M1 iPad Pro, Magic Keyboard, and LG UltraFine display.

 

[russell_314]

Three different devices for different purposes. Only you know what your needs and workflow require. Here's mine. I'm sure I'm leaving something out.

iPhone: I use this as my phone and my main device when I'm away from home. It's main advantage is portability and I can fit it in my pocket. It's capable of almost anything my iPad or MacBook can do but not nearly as well.

iPad Air: I use this mainly for content consumption like watching movies and videos plus light web browsing. It's advantage over the iPhone is a significantly larger screen. This is the device I spend the most time watching YouTube videos or Amazon prime, Paramount+ etc. It's much easier to hold and carry than my MacBook Air. It's small and light so I can carry it in a bag and also more likely to survive a drop on carpet if I get careless. It doesn't go out as much as my iPhone that I take everywhere but it goes out quite a bit.

MacBook Air: This comes out what I really need to get work done. It has a physical keyboard so even with reply to a post like this I feel it's much easier. I can use an on screen keyboard but it's always easier to have an actual keyboard. When I want to type out Pages or Numbers docs or anything that requres a lot of detailed input I'll stick with the MacBook. I also use it for paying bills or checking my banking because IDK why. Maybe I just feel it's a more "serious" device. I sometimes watch YouTube videos on it but that's usually when I'm also doing something else. Otherwise it's just easier to use the iPad. I rarely take it out because most of the time there's nothing I need to do on it that can't wait till I get home.

 

[Alex Cai]

iPad: Note taking using pencil, use Offscreen for getting paper based work done, use as mac’s sidecar display (extremely useful), play piano tutorials on YouTube and set it on the music stand, gaming , best YouTube device, standoff2, some drawing using procreate.

 

[Mr. Awesome]

For me:
iPhone is communication, some light web browsing, and keeping up with stuff on the go.
iPad is note-taking, sheet music, and some light productivity, along with web browsing and media.
Mac is for coding and/or when I really need to be focused and productive.

 

[Farrellcollie]

I prefer using my iPad rather than my phone for most reading, teaching, note taking, game playing, video watching, and even zoom meetings if I don't have my macbook with me. I probably use my phone less than either of the other two. I use the MacBook to type longer documents on and other for work. I pretty much just use the phone for texts and phone calls and a few other things like podcast/music streaming while I walk the dogs or drive- the breakdown would probably be for me 40% iPad, 40% MacBook, and 20% phone.

 

[ndouglas]

I use my mini 6th gen as mainly as my digital notebook for work and it excels at that purpose. Being able to search my handwritten notes as if they were typed text is a revolution for me. The iPad also gives me easy access to my work email and apps while I am in meetings without me having to haul around the brick of a laptop they gave me. At home I use my iPad for web surfing, ebook reading, FaceTiming with family, and light texting and emailing.

My MacBook is for photo editing, graphic design, and anything that requires multitasking or longer typing. I’ve tried the iPad Pro route and, for me at least, hooking up a keyboard to an iPad pretty much defeats the purpose. At that point I’d rather have my MacBook. iPadOS can do pretty much everything macOS can. But it isn’t nearly as efficient at it. That’s also why I chose the mini. It can be held in tablet mode comfortably pretty much forever.

Which iPad app(s) do you use most, if you don’t mind me asking? Something that continues to limit me with iPad writing is I prefer Textedit for text files for a a lot of purposes on the MacBook, but can’t easily edit them on iPads.

 

[Rainshadow]

I just ordered an iPad Air 5th Gen and someone mentioned that since I have an iPhone and MacBook I probably won't use an iPad that much. But I think I will as an eBook reader, surf social media and read the news.

Don’t listen to them. I have them all. And an awatch. Least used device is the MacBook Pro - outside of work - Including my watch. iPad is my go to. Most comfortable viewing experience for all the items you described.

If you were using it for work - the main use for an iPad for me includes a pencil for artistic stuff… but that doesn’t sound like your focus.

 

[ndouglas]

I have 2 11" pros and an Air 3. I do very little with them besides charge them up and then slowly let them die as they sit on the desk from inactivity.. Once they are dead I pick them up use them for about 2 min realize iPadOS is a joke and then charge them back up so they can die again..

lol wow that’s brutal

 

[rui no onna]

I have 2 11" pros and an Air 3. I do very little with them besides charge them up and then slowly let them die as they sit on the desk from inactivity.. Once they are dead I pick them up use them for about 2 min realize iPadOS is a joke and then charge them back up so they can die again..

Why do you even have 3 fairly recent iPads if you don’t use them?

 

[Skeptical.me]

Don’t listen to them. I have them all. And an awatch. Least used device is the MacBook Pro - outside of work - Including my watch. iPad is my go to. Most comfortable viewing experience for all the items you described.

If you were using it for work - the main use for an iPad for me includes a pencil for artistic stuff… but that doesn’t sound like your focus.

I couldn't draw to save my life lol ... but if I got back to studying again I would like to get an Apple Pencil to take notes, that would be really handy. At the moment I do a lot of reading so the iPad will mainly be for that and social media/youtube.

 

[Pakaku]

Macbook is the main machine, iPad is a sketchbook and backup for some things when the Macbook battery is out. The iPhone is mostly just my music player and a quick way to check Discord.

 

[Zest28]

I use:
- M2 12.9 iPad Pro 2TB 5G as a frisbee for the dog. If the dog runs off with the M2 iPad in his mouth, thanks to 5G I can easily find him.
- M2 MBA: I use this for cooking. I simply run Shadow of the Tombraider and the temps will go to 108 C in no time. Mainly for cooking meat.

 

[lybentius]

I just ordered an iPad Air 5th Gen and someone mentioned that since I have an iPhone and MacBook I probably won't use an iPad that much. But I think I will as an eBook reader, surf social media and read the news.

MacBook Air for work and watching content, and messaging if I'm already on it.

I use the iPad Air 4th Gen for YouTube, movies, and shows.

I use the iPhone for anything and everything.

 

[MajorFubar]

I have an iPad 9 permanently docked to a Sony clock-radio docking station on my bedside cabinet, It replaced an iPad Air 1. Used for reading eBooks, watching YouTube videos, and streaming music while I go to sleep (the sleep timer on the Sony turns the iPad off).

 

[MajorFubar]

I wonder if you'd get the same lopsided response in any of the non-iPad discussion groups ...

Possibly not. OP was just trying to test the water regarding what people commonly use their iPads for when they already have phones and Macs. Which is a good question, and he asked it in the right place. However, treating the results as generally representative is a bit like researching how many men have slept with a prostitute by doing a survey in a brothel.

 

[BhaveshUK]

I view iPad as a supplementary device for my iMac. My main use cases at the moment are:

• A second screen using Sidecar.
• A design tool to create with Apple Pencil.
• My primary device when I am travelling and away from iMac.

 

[MBAir2010]

The MacBook M1 get used a lot
then the Ipad at night and drawing during the day
yesterday the iPhone sat in a pouch in my rusk all day and I missed a call!

how do we figure out daily or weekly  use %?

 

[Skeptical.me]

Possibly not. OP was just trying to test the water regarding what people commonly use their iPads for when they already have phones and Macs. Which is a good question, and he asked it in the right place. However, treating the results as generally representative is a bit like researching how many men have slept with a prostitute by doing a survey in a brothel.

Well, I never thought about it like that, but yes ... that's true lol

 

[Jack Neill]

Why do you even have 3 fairly recent iPads if you don’t use them?

I do use them, just not very much. Air 3 is mine 2 pros are from work. I use the work pro the most when I'm at my desk and don't feel like working and I play angry birds or I will hide in the mothers room and watch TV shows when I don't feel like working.

 

[960design]

I just ordered an iPad Air 5th Gen and someone mentioned that since I have an iPhone and MacBook I probably won't use an iPad that much. But I think I will as an eBook reader, surf social media and read the news.

Second monitor, e-reader, video streaming, hacker news reader, light web surfing...