iPad as a laptop replacement

[DeepIn2U]

With Universal Clipboard & iCloud sync I use my iPad and iPhone together a lot, e.g research on the phone, copying text passages to iPad.

What I really miss is a backup solution like Time Machine. I’ve gone paperless for over a decade, and wouldn’t want to lose all the scanned documents. Playing around with (manually and periodically) copying files from iCloud to OneDrive, but that’s clunky and misses some data (like contacts…). So I’ll keep my Mac mini for backup purposes for the moment. Have a work issued windows machine for non-personal computing.

Yeah windows is still a non ecosystem, very legacy without Android partnership with Samsung device specifically.

OneDrive should have a setting on iPadOS to auto sync your media/content. Look into that.

You may have to use Outlook for iOS to sync your contacts into the windows work PC (if you’ve signed in using the same account that you have access to via Exchange Online (O365). Again you’ll look into settings for contacts sync. A word of caution: since your windows world is managed by your work place it’s possible when you leave the exit process is to purge your content and contacts, it’s possible that May purge all contacts including sync personal contacts (if sync is no directional), personally I’d keep them separate as some business May not allow you to export internal business contacts nor retrieve why is synced. Always remember ideas and content you’ve submitted to the business is considered property of the business.

 

[Isamilis]

iPad as a laptop replacement is something I've been pondering for years now. Since I received the iPad 2, I've attempted to use the iPad for as much as I could. But in 2022, I'm reaching a more despondent perspective. The iPad's place in my device line up is something that's been weighing heavily on my mind these past weeks as I've considered my technological needs. For me, I think I've given up on the idea that the iPad can or should be a laptop replacement.

Let me begin by saying I bought the iPad Pro 12.9 2020 to be my laptop replacement. With the Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard, my belief was this could be everything I envisaged when I first used iPad 2. I really gave it a go, but limitations kept coming up. I can work within those limitations, but since owning an iMac 24-inch, I'm increasingly choosing not to.

WWDC 2021 changed my enthusiasm around what the iPad could be. I think that was the turning point for me. I left with the impression that Apple have every intention of making the iPad a supplement to the Mac, and will keep iPad OS limited in functionality. Similar to how the Apple Watch is a supplemental accessory to the iPhone is how I'm now seeing the iPad. I'm not expecting big things this year at WWDC either.

What is the iPad great at? That's the question I've been asking myself these past few days as I'm reassessing how I complete my work and how I use technology. For me, I see the iPad as having three core functions in my lifestyle.

1. It's a great second screen for my iMac with Sidecar.
2. It's a great drawing tablet for my business needs.
3. I have to travel to business meetings and to see my girlfriend - during those periods of travel, it's a great productivity device (albeit with a limited experience compared to Mac).

Given the functions I just listed, I can still justify the iPad Pro 12.9 and Apple Pencil. Being an amazing drawing tool, the iPad brings a lot of revenue into my business by empowering me to create. Equally, trying to address those three individual core functions separately would cost more than an iPad Pro 12.9. In that sense, iPad still has tremendous value to me. I'm just no longer trying to make it my everything device.

A side note: whilst I can justify the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, I can't see myself ever buying the Magic Keyboard ever again. Using Universal Control over the past few days, I regret my Magic Keyboard purchase more than I already did. My perspective is that accessory is far too overpriced and I'd never consider buying another one given my current needs. Universal Control also reaffirms my view that Apple sees iPad as a supplemental accessory to the Mac.

MK functionality replaced by Universal Control is understandable if it stay docked most of the time. The case may be different if MK+iPad are used as portable mini laptop.

 

[XIO[-]OIX]

iPad OS limited in functionality

How would you like Apple to improve the functionality of iPadOS?
I am 99,99% happy with the iPadOS. I would like some things to get a bit better - like more powerfull files app (fi. I cant view folder size), and.. now than I think about it that might be it.

It might be usefull to have floating windows - but not on the iPad itself as 11” screen is too small - but floating windows when connected to an external display. Something like Samsung DEX has. So, I think this might be the biggest way I can see iPadOS can expand, and I would welcome it. Basically for iPad to become a “full MacOS”** when connected to an external display. **not really full MacOS as I like the simplicity of iPadOS better, but, floating windows could make sense on a big display. I am not 100% sure this is what I want - again, because I like the simplicity of iPadOS, but maybe as an option / addition…

But other than these two things - which are more a welcome addition than a dealbreaker, I dont see iPadOS limiting my usage in any way.

How would you like iPadOS to improve, and what do you find lacking / limited in functionality about iPadOS?

 

[sparksd]

... Always remember ideas and content you’ve submitted to the business is considered property of the business.

I'm retired now but I never used personal devices for work purposes. All of our notes, correspondence, and engineering notebooks were considered proprietary and owned by the company (rightly so). At the end of a program, all such material had to be turned in for archiving.

 

[Arctic Moose]

I'm retired now but I never used personal devices for work purposes.

For some companies BYOD is the only option, and at many more it is certainly both accepted and supported.

 

[sparksd]

For some companies BYOD is the only option, and at many more it is certainly both accepted and supported.

For a while, it was allowable but then there was some leakage requiring the total cleaning of some personal devices and that was the end of using them.

 

[BhaveshUK]

How would you like Apple to improve the functionality of iPadOS?
I am 99,99% happy with the iPadOS. I would like some things to get a bit better - like more powerfull files app (fi. I cant view folder size), and.. now than I think about it that might be it.

It might be usefull to have floating windows - but not on the iPad itself as 11” screen is too small - but floating windows when connected to an external display. Something like Samsung DEX has. So, I think this might be the biggest way I can see iPadOS can expand, and I would welcome it. Basically for iPad to become a “full MacOS”** when connected to an external display. **not really full MacOS as I like the simplicity of iPadOS better, but, floating windows could make sense on a big display. I am not 100% sure this is what I want - again, because I like the simplicity of iPadOS, but maybe as an option / addition…

But other than these two things - which are more a welcome addition than a dealbreaker, I dont see iPadOS limiting my usage in any way.

How would you like iPadOS to improve, and what do you find lacking / limited in functionality about iPadOS?

Great question.

As mentioned in my original post, I can work within the limitations of iPad OS, but owning an iMac means I'm no longer choosing to. I think the main thing when I think about your question is friction and reliability. Running a business, I'm currently at a stage in my life where I'm working longer hours than when I was in a 9-5 role. As you can imagine, any chance to save time means a lot to me, and the iMac lets me get from point A to B quicker. If I solely relied on iPad, I'd be working longer hours than I already am because certain tasks take longer to complete on iPad or I would have to double check my work because of reliability concerns.

Whilst I'm despondent in my belief that Apple have no intention of making the iPad a full replacement for my computing needs, that doesn't mean I don't love the iPad. Actually, since the iPad 2, iPad has been one of my favourite device to use. But starting my business meant I just couldn't use it as my only device.

Improvements I'd like to see:

• App feature parity. One thing I've noticed is that many developers have created apps that lack features compare to their desktop counterparts. This is even the case with Apple's own apps. My ideal scenario is to retain the amazing touch based experience of the iPad apps without having to be limited in what I can achieve because features are missing. I think this is one of the main limitations I come across with iPad. There are many times where I have to wait to get back to the iMac to complete something small because the feature was missing on iPad in an app.

• The browser situation. Safari on iPad doesn't work as well as it does on the Mac. Extensions don't feel reliable or like their desktop counterparts. Moreover, iPad OS purposely and artificially limits other browsers by forcing them to use WebKit rendering to avoid giving Apple competition. What that means is when I come across an issue like being unable to fill in an online form, I can't just download another web browser. This issue affected me just the other day and you can read more about why I take such issue with the browser situation here.

• Files app. I think this issue has been touched upon. The Files app doesn't feel reliable to me. This is especially prevalent when trying to move files between the iPad and an external hard drive. I can't garauntee all my files are going to move correctly - if at all. With my design apps, especially Affinity Designer, I also feel the way files are managed is not 100% reliable - but that's not fully an Apple issue, and I've sent feedback to Serif before about how they manage files in their iPad apps. The Mac doesn't have any of these issue because Finder is reliable for my workflows. When running a business, I need reliability, and the iPad just doesn't meet that requirement yet.

• Multitasking. I think we're in agreement that we don't want the iPad to turn into the Mac with floating windows. I don't want Apple to just port Mac OS onto the iPad. But I feel multitasking is severely limited on iPad. We have split-screen and slide over which are nice (I'd love slide over on the Mac). However, let's look at certain things like listening to audio - right now I can only listen to one thing. That wouldn't necessarily be an issue except when I go on Safari and a webpage has a video load up it causes my audio to pause. It's frustrating. I also get frustrated because not every app allows split screen or slide over yet. I think Apple need to make that a requirement. For example, when I'm working on Affinity Designer, it doesn't support split screen so I have to use the iMac for reference material. iPad doesn't tell you which apps work in split screen so you have to guess and hope. Once again, there's friction in the process.

• External monitors. I think we can also agree that external monitor support is severely limited right now. It mirrors the iPad screen directly and there are black bars on the side. My ideal is for the external monitor to act as its own display where I can load different apps - using the Affinity Designer multitasking example from earlier, I could have the app open on the iPad and display the reference material on the external monitor. Equally, I'd like the iPad to expand to fill the space on an external monitor rather than show black bars on the side.

• Camera position. I don't know if this is just me but I hate how the camera is positioned on iPad. I believe on the iPad Pro 12.9 the position of the camera should be in landscape position. When I tried using iPad for a remote meeting, I didn't feel confident because of the camera angle. In my mind, it looked like a lack of professionalism, and I've since stopped taking video calls on iPad all together. In addition, when you are in a video call, I don't feel confident I can use split screen or slide over to access the reference material I might need. In some apps it causes the camera to shut off, and once again, that lack of reliability and professionalism meant I've stayed away from taking video calls on the iPad.

• System data. This is a pain point for me with the iPad storage and the reason I stopped using Lumafusion all together. There are days where my System Data is around 90+ gb and I have no way of seeing what is taking up all that space on iPad. I've restarted the iPad from scratch before to try and resolve the issue but it always comes back since running iPad OS 15 last year. For some reason, this is only affecting my iPad and doesn't affect my iPhone or iMac. But I'd like Apple to fix the way it shows storage on all devices to make it easier for the consumer to manage their storage - you also cannot see System Data on Mac yet. The other day I was in a design meeting and the iPad suddenly flagged that I'd run out of storage. But almost all of it was coming from system data. This issue makes me worried about the reliability of using iPad for projects. If Apple gave me more control over my own storage, I'd feel a lot more confident.

 

[prospervic]

• External monitors. I think we can also agree that external monitor support is severely limited right now. It mirrors the iPad screen directly and there are black bars on the side. My ideal is for the external monitor to act as its own display where I can load different apps - using the Affinity Designer multitasking example from earlier, I could have the app open on the iPad and display the reference material on the external monitor. Equally, I'd like the iPad to expand to fill the space on an external monitor rather than show black bars on the side.

• Camera position. I don't know if this is just me but I hate how the camera is positioned on iPad. I believe on the iPad Pro 12.9 the position of the camera should be in landscape position. When I tried using iPad for a remote meeting, I didn't feel confident because of the camera angle. In my mind, it looked like a lack of professionalism, and I've since stopped taking video calls on iPad all together. In addition, when you are in a video call, I don't feel confident I can use split screen or slide over to access the reference material I might need. In some apps it causes the camera to shut off, and once again, that lack of reliability and professionalism meant I've stayed away from taking video calls on the iPad.

• System data. This is a pain point for me with the iPad storage and the reason I stopped using Lumafusion all together. There are days where my System Data is around 90+ gb and I have no way of seeing what is taking up all that space on iPad. I've restarted the iPad from scratch before to try and resolve the issue but it always comes back since running iPad OS 15 last year. For some reason, this is only affecting my iPad and doesn't affect my iPhone or iMac. But I'd like Apple to fix the way it shows storage on all devices to make it easier for the consumer to manage their storage - you also cannot see System Data on Mac yet. The other day I was in a design meeting and the iPad suddenly flagged that I'd run out of storage. But almost all of it was coming from system data. This issue makes me worried about the reliability of using iPad for projects. If Apple gave me more control over my own storage, I'd feel a lot more confident.

To these I would add Multiple Audio Streams. I should be able to record a podcast with myself and another party joining via FaceTime audio (or Skype, etc.) using the awesome Ferrite app. But iOS’s limitation of monitoring only one audio input at a time makes this impossible.

As for Luma Fusion, I discovered tons of data taking up space in Settings/Storage/Luma Fusion. Also in the Files/On My iPad/Luma Fusion folder. Deleting stuff from these locations makes a world of difference. If you need to keep media for current projects you can always transfer (from the Files app) to an external SSD.

 

[Zazoh]

For some companies BYOD is the only option, and at many more it is certainly both accepted and supported.

Yup. Work for a 200k employee Financial institution. We use BYOD. With safe word cards, vpns, and other authentication you are really using a secure tunnel to access. In fact it is safer than having a corporate device that can end up in the wrong hands. Nothing is saved to the device.

From my iPad, I can then use my HorizonVMWare to connect to a windows VDI at a data center. That way all work data is really “on premise.“

 

[Charlie Carcinogen]

I’m actually a little bothered by the fact that I could easily replace a computer with my iPad except for the fact that there are a few things that the developers won’t allow us to do on an iPad. They have the ability to let us do it, they just choose not to. There are times where I have to stop what I’m doing, get up, go to my computer, turn it on, and use it to do something small that I’m not able to do on the iPad. Once that is done, then I could go back to using the iPad.

I wish they would fix this, it’s not like it would be hard to do, it’s just a choice.

 

[subjonas]

I’m actually a little bothered by the fact that I could easily replace a computer with my iPad except for the fact that there are a few things that the developers won’t allow us to do on an iPad. They have the ability to let us do it, they just choose not to. There are times where I have to stop what I’m doing, get up, go to my computer, turn it on, and use it to do something small that I’m not able to do on the iPad. Once that is done, then I could go back to using the iPad.

I wish they would fix this, it’s not like it would be hard to do, it’s just a choice.

I understand the frustration, but keep in mind that even if Apple added that thing you need, there’s going to be something else that another person needs. So unless the iPad does exactly everything that a Mac does, there‘s always that frustrating one or two more things that someone needs. But regardless of course I hope Apple continues to add functionality.

 

[Charlie Carcinogen]

I understand the frustration, but keep in mind that even if Apple added that thing you need, there’s going to be something else that another person needs. So unless the iPad does exactly everything that a Mac does, there‘s always that frustrating one or two more things that someone needs. But regardless of course I hope Apple continues to add functionality.

More often than not it’s not Apple, it’s another company.

Let me give you an example of what I am talking about. When I go to my bank’s website on a mobile device browser, it forces me to use the mobile app. That’s fine, except for the fact that there are a few setting changes that are not available on the app. So for me to do what I need, I have to go to a normal computer to use the desktop browser to login to my bank’s website and make the change.

The bank has the choice to make the settings available in the mobile app, or allow me to go to their website using a mobile browser, but they don’t do either. And because of that, I still have to own a computer and go use it sometimes.

It’s not like the technology isn’t there to allow me to use an iPad for everything, it’s just a choice that companies and developers make.

 

[bondr006]

More often than not it’s not Apple, it’s another company.

Let me give you an example of what I am talking about. When I go to my bank’s website on a mobile device browser, it forces me to use the mobile app. That’s fine, except for the fact that there are a few setting changes that are not available on the app. So for me to do what I need, I have to go to a normal computer to use the desktop browser to login to my bank’s website and make the change.

The bank has the choice to make the settings available in the mobile app, or allow me to go to their website using a mobile browser, but they don’t do either. And because of that, I still have to own a computer and go use it sometimes.

It’s not like the technology isn’t there to allow me to use an iPad for everything, it’s just a choice that companies and developers make.

I realize you are giving an example or making an analogy if you will. With my M1 iPad Pro 11, Safari gives me full desktop webpages automatically. I use very few iPadOS apps nowadays, because I prefer the web page for most of my accounts. I don't know if iPadOS does this only for the iPad Pros or if all the iPads have the ability to display full web pages in Safari.

 

[Charlie Carcinogen]

I realize you are giving an example or making an analogy if you will. With my M1 iPad Pro 11, Safari gives me full desktop webpages automatically. I use very few iPadOS apps nowadays, because I prefer the web page for most of my accounts. I don't know if iPadOS does this only for the iPad Pros or if all the iPads have the ability to display full web pages in Safari.

I have the option to request to display desktop websites in Safari, but that is only a request. It doesn’t force it. It is up to the website itself to determine what they give you.

 

[bondr006]

I have the option to request to display desktop websites in Safari, but that is only a request. It doesn’t force it. It is up to the website itself to determine what they give you.

Like I said, on my iPad Pro, Safari always renders in desktop mode with no action on my part needed. That is one of the things I didn't like about Chrome on my iPad. You always had to request a desktop site.

 

[Charlie Carcinogen]

I just checked in Safari and I have that option turned on. So I assume the issue must be just that the websites I go to aren’t willing to offer a desktop site while the website you go to all are happy to offer it.

 

[bondr006]

I just checked in Safari and I have that option turned on. So I assume the issue must be just that the websites I go to aren’t willing to offer a desktop site while the website you go to all are happy to offer it.

What do you see those websites as on your laptop? They must have desktop versions for people that use laptops or desktops. If it can be seen fully on a laptop or desktop, Safari on my iPad can see it as a desktop version automatically.

 

[Charlie Carcinogen]

What do you see those websites as on your laptop? They must have desktop versions for people that use laptops or desktops. If it can be seen fully on a laptop or desktop, Safari on my iPad can see it as a desktop version automatically.

On desktop they will be the normal desktop version of the website. On my iPad Mini and iPhone 13 Pro Max they will be the mobile version of the website, even if I have the option to request a desktop version turned on.

it might be like you said earlier, your iPad Pro shows the desktop versions while other iPads don’t.

 

[rui no onna]

More often than not it’s not Apple, it’s another company.

Let me give you an example of what I am talking about. When I go to my bank’s website on a mobile device browser, it forces me to use the mobile app. That’s fine, except for the fact that there are a few setting changes that are not available on the app. So for me to do what I need, I have to go to a normal computer to use the desktop browser to login to my bank’s website and make the change.

The bank has the choice to make the settings available in the mobile app, or allow me to go to their website using a mobile browser, but they don’t do either. And because of that, I still have to own a computer and go use it sometimes.

It’s not like the technology isn’t there to allow me to use an iPad for everything, it’s just a choice that companies and developers make.

For me, iPadOS gives me the desktop version on probably 95+% of websites on the 9.7” and bigger iPads.

I get the same issue as you described with getting mobile versions of several websites on the iPad mini. I kinda use my mini as a huge iPhone so for me, it’s less of a problem.

One of my issues even with the bigger iPads is sometimes scripts/dynamic content just don’t work the same in Safari/WebKit. I have to switch to Firefox or Chrome on either Windows or Mac. This usually happens with government websites. Not something I do all the time but very important that it works for the 1-2 times a year that it’s needed.

With that said, even my 8 year old PCs work just fine for those tasks. Hence, I can get away with having an old, inexpensive PC while splurging on the device I use most often (iPads).

 

[Charlie Carcinogen]

For me, iPadOS gives me the desktop version on probably 95+% of websites on the 9.7” and bigger iPads.

I get the same issue as you described with getting mobile versions of several websites on the iPad mini. I kinda use my mini as a huge iPhone so for me, it’s less of a problem.

One of my issues even with the bigger iPads is sometimes scripts/dynamic content just don’t work the same in Safari/WebKit. I have to switch to Firefox or Chrome on either Windows or Mac. This usually happens with government websites. Not something I do all the time but very important that it works for the 1-2 times a year that it’s needed.

With that said, even my 8 year old PCs work just fine for those tasks. Hence, I can get away with having an old, inexpensive PC while splurging on the device I use most often (iPads).

Thank you for the info and confirming that my issue is with my smaller iPad.

 

[subjonas]

More often than not it’s not Apple, it’s another company.

Let me give you an example of what I am talking about. When I go to my bank’s website on a mobile device browser, it forces me to use the mobile app. That’s fine, except for the fact that there are a few setting changes that are not available on the app. So for me to do what I need, I have to go to a normal computer to use the desktop browser to login to my bank’s website and make the change.

The bank has the choice to make the settings available in the mobile app, or allow me to go to their website using a mobile browser, but they don’t do either. And because of that, I still have to own a computer and go use it sometimes.

It’s not like the technology isn’t there to allow me to use an iPad for everything, it’s just a choice that companies and developers make.

Oh I see, you mean third party developers. Yeah I’m not sure what their motivation is for limiting apps and websites viewed from iPads and forcing a desktop desktop website (iPad is supposed to be able to do true desktop sites, but you’re right, occasionally the website still differentiates somehow). If there isn’t some technical limitation to them, I don’t know what it could be. I don’t see why there would be financial motivation.

 

[subjonas]

Thank you for the info and confirming that my issue is with my smaller iPad.

Yeah my smaller iPad doesn’t do desktop websites a lot of times. My 12.9” usually does, but once in awhile it too doesn’t work, but rarely. Of course, some websites don’t work with Safari, so maybe it was that (since all iPad third party browsers are based on Safari as well), can’t remember.

 

[rui no onna]

Oh I see, you mean third party developers. Yeah I’m not sure what their motivation is for limiting apps and websites viewed from iPads and forcing a desktop desktop website (iPad is supposed to be able to do true desktop sites, but you’re right, occasionally the website still differentiates somehow). If there isn’t some technical limitation to them, I don’t know what it could be. I don’t see why there would be financial motivation.

Viewport is probably too small. I couldn’t get desktop Gmail on the iPad mini 6 no matter what I tried.

Web developers are unlikely to be testing on a crap ton of devices so I’m guessing they often base layout on the device’s reported resolution.

 

[subjonas]

Viewport is probably too small. I couldn’t get desktop Gmail on the iPad mini 6 no matter what I tried.

Web developers are unlikely to be testing on a crap ton of devices so I’m guessing they often base layout on the device’s reported resolution.

Same with my Mini, but even on my 12.9” it doesn’t always work. I thought starting a couple iPadOSes ago, the bigger iPads were supposed to be able to do true desktop websites, but I recall running into some websites that still weren’t fully functional. But those were so few and long ago that I can’t remember if it was just isolated issues maybe with Safari compatibility, or if it was possible the site was still able to detect that I wasn’t using a desktop device.

 

[Dealmans]

Mini 6 is shocking for this, websites just look like a bit bigger than my 13 max v full desktop on my 12.9", one reason I sold the mini.