iPad as a laptop replacement

[Digitalguy]

That said, we don’t know if Apple will open it up to more models by release time, or if it will remain limited to M1-based devices.

I think there is zero chances. Apple is not the kind of company to not consider client's reactions before taking such decisions. If they did, they considered that the additional sales from upgrades were worth some temporary disappointment. So I don't see any chances of them backtracking and making a stripped down version of Stage Manager for older iPad pros

 

[Tyler O'Bannon]

guys I demand friendship immediately!

I dig it 😎 Just making my point. When someone is talking about replacing a computer with an iPad, they absolutely mean a Mac (or PC, if we can even mention those here 😂).

I would never hold any of this against anyone. People have their opinion and that’s fine by me

 

[babyexercise]

Look like most of the new stuff will be for at least M1 only and non M kind will be out of support very soon, better buy M kind if you need to buy a new iPad.

 

[Tyler O'Bannon]

Look like most of the new stuff will be for at least M1 only and non M kind will be out of support very soon, better buy M kind if you need to buy a new iPad.

Seems like a bigger and bigger divide will occur between M iPads and A iPads. Unless apple has a whole big move under their sleeve.

Hard to imagine a $329 iPad with M1 though. Heck, that would be a huge value proposition.

 

[rui no onna]

Seems like a bigger and bigger divide will occur between M iPads and A iPads. Unless apple has a whole big move under their sleeve.

Hard to imagine a $329 iPad with M1 though. Heck, that would be a huge value proposition.

The 2020 iPad 8th gen had a faster SoC than the 2017 iPad Pro.

 

[babyexercise]

Seems like a bigger and bigger divide will occur between M iPads and A iPads. Unless apple has a whole big move under their sleeve.

Hard to imagine a $329 iPad with M1 though. Heck, that would be a huge value proposition.

They may make different versions of M1 for cheaper range ipad and iphone

 

[Tyler O'Bannon]

The 2020 iPad 8th gen had a faster SoC than the 2017 iPad Pro.

True, but now with M1 and it’s foray into the iPad, it’s a whole nother ball game.

 

[rui no onna]

True, but now with M1 and it’s foray into the iPad, it’s a whole nother ball game.

My point is that tech trickles down eventually.

 

[babyexercise]

True, but now with M1 and it’s foray into the iPad, it’s a whole nother ball game.

It is not really faster than top tier Intel chip, just very energy effective. The main different is coding is totally different so developers don’t want to build two versions, all different Coding for the same app.

 

[Abazigal]

No, there are many of us in this thread that desperately WANT to use the iPad for more, and not have to carry a laptop at all, but CANNOT due to the iPad's (in many cases artificial) limitations.

The next best compromise for me is that while I still lug my school laptop and iPad Pro to work, I can at least leave my laptop at my desk and go into class with just my iPad (and misc other stuff). Every little bit helps. 😬

 

[Digitalguy]

It makes sense, they are doing the same thing with the MacBook Air, iMac and Mac mini only being able to support a single external display. Some say it is a hardware limitation on the base M1/M2 but I think it is Apple pushing to differentiate the Pro and consumer systems. The iBooks and the G3 iMacs could only mirror on an external display so it wouldn't be the first time they have done it.

It's an hardware limitation and a marketing decision at the same time. I have explained it elsewhere and it also helps explain why A12X/Z is not supported by Stage Manager.
M1/M2 can support the 6k pro display and the high res monitor of the laptop (or a 6k + 4k display for the M1 mini), but not 2 6k displays. So instead of saying it can support 2 4k displays or 1 6k one and a 1080p one for instance, Apple just artificially limited to 1 (this limitation can by bypassed with some docks). Similarly the A12X could probably support a 4k display or at least 1440p and the iPad display, but not more. I remember the DTK with A12Z could not support the 5k LG display, but could run 4k monitors. Here you go, Apple prefers to remove support all together if their pro and studio display are not supported (that's what I call setting the bar too high for marketing reasons)

 

[boston04and07]

Lol we can split hairs about this all day long.

When businesses need a fleet of computers for their workforce, nobody comes back with a bunch of iPads for everyone. Period.

Mine did, years ago.

 

[Spock]

Yeah, it's not a hardware limitation. When a $100 Amazon Fire tablet can support true dual display I have a hard time believing that it is the hardware that prevents a $1000 iPad from supporting it.

But even knowing that, I don't mind it. People purchased their device knowing what it could and couldn't do. We all made our purchasing decisions with that knowledge (or at least should have )

Didn't stop me from buying an iBook back in the day and didn't stop me from buying an M1 MacBook Air.

 

[bscheffel]

From my list of "what it would take to dump my MacBook", iPadOS 16 solves #4, #7, #8 (maybe)

1. Can’t add music to my iCloud music library unless bought from iTunes store which doesn’t support Apple’s own ALAC
2. Can only install software available on App Store
3. iPadOS apps don’t have feature parity with desktop version (MS Office, Spotify big examples) - not Apples fault
4. Limited multitasking - no windowed apps
5. Can’t download files in bulk from iCloud Drive and they don’t stay downloaded to iPad. Many times I’ve tried to use a file on plane and it wasn’t downloaded
6. External SSD drive support limited (can’t format a drive)
7. Can’t use external webcam with iPad
8. External display support poor
9. Copy files with Files app is cumbersome - (frequent error copying to cloud provider). No true access to directory structure
10. No ability to put files on your desktop
11. Can’t “save as” when downloading files in safari only “save”
12. No ability to have multiple user accounts on same iPad

 

[Abazigal]

I still don't see what problem windowed apps is supposed to solve precisely, much less Apple's implementation thereof on the iPad. I have watched a couple of YouTube videos on it, and it just seems to give me less workable screen space. Only upside is that I can supposedly switch apps more quickly, but who works that way exactly?

 

[bcortens]

I still don't see what problem windowed apps is supposed to solve precisely, much less Apple's implementation thereof on the iPad. I have watched a couple of YouTube videos on it, and it just seems to give me less workable screen space. Only upside is that I can supposedly switch apps more quickly, but who works that way exactly?

I’ve kind of come around on letting people have overlapping windows if they really want them but I think this implementation is pretty bad. They should have redesigned the main multitasking interface to treat apps as spaces and (with a setting that can be turned off) allow users to resize them within that space.

 

[cthompson94]

I still don't see what problem windowed apps is supposed to solve precisely, much less Apple's implementation thereof on the iPad. I have watched a couple of YouTube videos on it, and it just seems to give me less workable screen space. Only upside is that I can supposedly switch apps more quickly, but who works that way exactly?

I think the stage manager is more for use with a connected external display. It does cut the amount of useable space on the iPad itself, but they just so happen to add full external monitor support to pair with it.

 

[Ludatyk]

I still don't see what problem windowed apps is supposed to solve precisely, much less Apple's implementation thereof on the iPad. I have watched a couple of YouTube videos on it, and it just seems to give me less workable screen space. Only upside is that I can supposedly switch apps more quickly, but who works that way exactly?

As @cthompson94 pointed out… it can be paired with a monitor if you need more workable screen space. But I think the idea of Stage Manager is as you mention to get to apps more quickly, however… it’s to manage your workspace as well. For example... if you working in a Word document and you need to do research.

The apps that you require for research is easily accessible and visible while the Word document is active on the screen. You can then bring in the research apps to resize if need be, perhaps for reference… I believe it’s about giving iPad users more flexibility in their workspace.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Look like finally something useful is coming, does it?

Not if what someone really needs is a Mac. OR, by extension, those that are most comfortable with a Mac.

Apple’s releasing a new MacBook Air next month. While it’ll make a great laptop, it still won’t be able to be a replacement for folks that really need a nice sturdy sledgehammer.

 

[jdb8167]

Keep in mind that the older iPads generally don’t have as much RAM either.

As for replacing iPads every 1-2 years, why would anyone do that, unless they had both the disposable income and some pressing need for it? Is Stage Manager so useful that older iPads are obsolete? If that’s the case, why buy an iPad at all?

That said, we don’t know if Apple will open it up to more models by release time, or if it will remain limited to M1-based devices.

Personally I'm fine with the new iPadOS 16 multitasking/external display features being M1 iPad Pro only. I don't believe that not upgrading the 2018/2020 iPad Pro is a technical issue but I'm used to Apple arbitrarily cutting off features from old devices. In general, it keeps the technology moving forward even if it is a little inconvenient at times.

Unfortunately, the new features aren't enough to entice me to buy a new iPad Pro to replace my A12Z 2020 iPad Pro anyway. Maybe iPadOS 17.

 

[yabeweb]

Look like finally something useful is coming, does it?

Depending on your needs iPads have been laptop replacements for a while.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

To all intents and purposes MacOS can kindof emulate iPadOS. Of course the same cannot be said about iPadOS emulating MacOS but I really believe that it shouldn't.

I think Apple’s going to keep adding these features to macOS such that in the end, for the user looking for an easy to use lightweight email box, there will be little effective difference between the two.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Chance is low, just Apple forces people to buy new iPad even if you have ipad pro 2020.

I hate how Apple forces me to do stuff. Just barging in my home, bringing up the Apple Store in Safari, then forcing me to use Touch ID to purchase things! I wish they’d stop. /s

 

[JamesMay82]

I’d say the average home user can rely on just an iPad. The only really need I have for a laptop now is when I’m doing my business accounts where it’s nice to have a big screen and side by side spreadsheets. Other than that I’m rarely on my iMac or laptop. I bought the Ipad pro 12.9 at Xmas and i still use my phone more for general surfing

having said that, my only concern is for peoples data just living in the cloud, as I prefer to have an external back up as well.

 

[TightLines]

I am not sure why people would expect this type of thing anymore… a laptop and an iPad are two different tools that can co-exist in the same toolbox. The iPad for just the casual sit on the couch browsing and messaging with the capabilities to use some less resource intensive games or apps, etc.. where the laptop itself is built to handle the much more traditional computer tasks. Let Microsoft and Google combine and merge their computer OS with their phone/mobile device OS and leave the MacOS as it is… there is nothing wrong with asking for a little bit of interoperability between the two types of devices, but expecting to run a full blown Adobe Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, and others that are traditionally deigned and optimized for the computer, on the iPad just shouldn’t be expected. Thats like saying people should use a crescent wrench for every nut and bolt, instead of getting a tool more specific to handling the size of the nut/bolts… - I don’t view them improving on the way the iPad improves on the multi-tasking as a move towards anything other than, just improving an existing functionality and experience.