iPad as a laptop replacement

[secretk]

I get that feeling, when I am contemplating what the next logical upgrade from my 2018 iPad Pro would be (similar to my 5k iMac). An iPad Air would primarily be for the M1 chip, but is otherwise a downgrade in every other aspect (screen, speakers, camera). The Pro is pricey, and the M2 chip doesn't seem any better than the M1 (it might eventually?).

Yep, it would be difficult to decide for sure. I actually recently upgraded from 2018 iPad Pro 11 inch to M2 iPad Pro 11 inch. I would not say that it is a must and everyone has to do to it but I do get some improvements - mostly in RAM management. The 2018 has just 4 GB RAM and this was just not enough for me. I historically have issues with this with iOS/iPadOS so no surprise there. My browsing in Safari would be quite often disturbed - sites crashes/reloads, sometimes sites do not load fully (for example Reddit).

Another thing is that I had 400 GB stuff in my 2018 iPad and iPad Air with 256 GB just would not be enough to fit that.

 

[Beefbowl]

I’ve been making heavy use of the iPad recently, it even provided the impetus to finally move my documents folder up to iCloud. Hopefully I don’t regret that later.

Ran into a couple of shortcomings compared to my Mac, hopefully Apple will address them at some point but I thought I would mention them here in case anyone has suggestions.

1) No Smart Album functionality in Photos. I don’t use Smart Albums a ton but I have one that is basically “If something is not in an Album, it goes in here” so I can find stray photos and put them somewhere appropriate.

2) No way to import music into the iTunes app on the iPad as far as I can find. Does iTunes Match let you add mp3s etc through a web interface, or is this something where it goes iTunes on Mac -> iTunes Match -> iTunes on iPad?

 

[CharlesShaw]

I’ve been making heavy use of the iPad recently, it even provided the impetus to finally move my documents folder up to iCloud. Hopefully I don’t regret that later.

Ran into a couple of shortcomings compared to my Mac, hopefully Apple will address them at some point but I thought I would mention them here in case anyone has suggestions.

1) No Smart Album functionality in Photos. I don’t use Smart Albums a ton but I have one that is basically “If something is not in an Album, it goes in here” so I can find stray photos and put them somewhere appropriate.

2) No way to import music into the iTunes app on the iPad as far as I can find. Does iTunes Match let you add mp3s etc through a web interface, or is this something where it goes iTunes on Mac -> iTunes Match -> iTunes on iPad?

If you don’t mind using the Mac to maintain the photo album(s), and replacing what is on the iPad with what you select to be synced, you could sync it with the iPad the ol—fashioned “iTunes” way with a cable (the settings and options show up in Finder after you connect the iPad to the Mac).

The same goes for music, if you don’t mind having to maintain the playlists or whatever on the Mac.

 

[Shirasaki]

I’ve been making heavy use of the iPad recently, it even provided the impetus to finally move my documents folder up to iCloud. Hopefully I don’t regret that later.

Something to keep in mind: iCloud is essentially a cloud drive. Everything happens in that drive gets synced across all other devices. It is not a substitute to proper data backup. Also, unwanted change in one side can ruin everywhere else, unless you want the same copy of file appear exactly as it is everywhere.

 

[Beefbowl]

Something to keep in mind: iCloud is essentially a cloud drive. Everything happens in that drive gets synced across all other devices. It is not a substitute to proper data backup. Also, unwanted change in one side can ruin everywhere else, unless you want the same copy of file appear exactly as it is everywhere.

Oh, I have it set to keep everything locally on my Mac, and then that gets backed up via Time Machine* to a RAID 5 volume on a Synology NAS, and that volume gets backed up every Sunday to an external drive connected to the NAS. I have a few levels of redundancy. The NAS also emails me every week to let me know when backups have run and with drive health.

The NAS backup drive is set to not accessible across the network, which is my defense against being hit by a cryptolocker.

It's not exactly 3 2 1 but I've covered most of my bases.


* I admit I am just assuming that Time Machine backs up ~/Library/Mobile Documents. I should confirm that.

Edit: I just looked at my Time Machine settings and I'm actually alternating backups between a local drive and the NAS. I may have been a little paranoid when I configured this.

 

[Shirasaki]

Oh, I have it set to keep everything locally on my Mac, and then that gets backed up via Time Machine* to a RAID 5 volume on a Synology NAS, and that volume gets backed up every Sunday to an external drive connected to the NAS. I have a few levels of redundancy. The NAS also emails me every week to let me know when backups have run and with drive health.

The NAS backup drive is set to not accessible across the network, which is my defense against being hit by a cryptolocker.

It's not exactly 3 2 1 but I've covered most of my bases.


* I admit I am just assuming that Time Machine backs up ~/Library/Mobile Documents. I should confirm that.

Edit: I just looked at my Time Machine settings and I'm actually alternating backups between a local drive and the NAS. I may have been a little paranoid when I configured this.

That’s an amazing backup system I wish I could have one day, give that much of my data is irreplaceable.

 

[grmlin]

That’s an amazing backup system I wish I could have one day, give that much of my data is irreplaceable.

If you don't own a NAS you can always run a cloud backup service locally on your Mac. I used Crashplan (in the past) and Backblaze (very affordable) for many years before I bought a NAS later (that stores backups into my google drive).

I don't think that this is possible on an iPad though so I use iCloud there :/

 

[Beefbowl]

That’s an amazing backup system I wish I could have one day, give that much of my data is irreplaceable.

You could get pretty close for not too much money. Synology has a 2-bay NAS that I see online for AU $235 and then you'd need drives to put in it and an external drive to back it up to. That gives you RAID 1 (mirroring) instead of RAID 5 (striping) but you still have tolerance against a drive failing.

Unfortunately as grmlin pointed out there's no way to back up an iPad directly. I'm already noticing that one drawback to buying the 1 TB version of the IPP is that the backups are starting to eat into that 2TB iCloud Drive plan.

 

[Abazigal]

It’s the middle of the week, and the MVP for today’s lecture was stage manager, plus visual lookup from my iPhone.

I guess I will have to eat my words about not finding any use for stage manager. Used it today to toggle between Notes, MindNode and Files app.

For context, we were assigned an article to read prior to today’s lecture. So last night, I read the article imac (stored in OneDrive), while jotting down the key points in MindNode in the form of a mind map. Today, I was referring to them both. At the same time, the slides used by the lecturer were pretty wordy, so this time, I used my iphone to copy the text on the projector screen via the camera app, then pasted them in notes (which then synced over to the notes app on my ipad). For some reason, the iCloud copy and paste function wasn’t working. Could be a wifi thing.

Though it got a bit draggy at times; that’s where you saw me debating with other people in some threads elsewhere.

Some other observations:

Freeform sucks up a ton of battery life and heated up my ipad noticeably. It was also quite laggy and even froze from time to time, maybe because the file grew quite big over time? I don’t think I will be using it much after this week until Apple optimises it further.

The files app gets a bad rep here for not being a real file manager, but it seemed to suffice for many people using ipads. They downloaded the pdf notes into the files app, then annotated on it directly.

Okay, I should go back to prepping for tomorrow.

 

[secretk]

It’s the middle of the week, and the MVP for today’s lecture was stage manager, plus visual lookup from my iPhone.

Interesting and surprising for me. I still have not found usage for Stage Manager so thanks for sharing your experience!

I guess I will have to eat my words about not finding any use for stage manager. Used it today to toggle between Notes, MindNode and Files app.

For context, we were assigned an article to read prior to today’s lecture. So last night, I read the article imac (stored in OneDrive), while jotting down the key points in MindNode in the form of a mind map. Today, I was referring to them both. At the same time, the slides used by the lecturer were pretty wordy, so this time, I used my iphone to copy the text on the projector screen via the camera app, then pasted them in notes (which then synced over to the notes app on my ipad). For some reason, the iCloud copy and paste function wasn’t working. Could be a wifi thing.

Though it got a bit draggy at times; that’s where you saw me debating with other people in some threads elsewhere.

Cool that it worked. I have to admit I would not have the patience to do this. Once or twice during lecture yes, but if I have to do it more than 5-10 times I would not want to do it.

Some other observations:

Freeform sucks up a ton of battery life and heated up my ipad noticeably. It was also quite laggy and even froze from time to time, maybe because the file grew quite big over time? I don’t think I will be using it much after this week until Apple optimises it further.

The files app gets a bad rep here for not being a real file manager, but it seemed to suffice for many people using ipads. They downloaded the pdf notes into the files app, then annotated on it directly.

Okay, I should go back to prepping for tomorrow.

Interesting observation about Freeform. Not my experience but then again my Freeform boards are not that huge either.

 

[GerritV]

<snip>
Freeform sucks up a ton of battery life and heated up my ipad noticeably. It was also quite laggy and even froze from time to time, maybe because the file grew quite big over time? I don’t think I will be using it much after this week until Apple optimises it further.
<snap>

Yep, I too have noticed the lagging and freezing over here, unfortunately...

 

[sananda]

Update:

I found someone in IT who thought the above situation wasn’t good. He transitioned me to OneDrive which somehow meant that I can now create and edit Word documents (probably Excel and PowerPoint too but I haven’t tried). I still can’t access the corporate file system but apparently that system will soon by read only and we will transferred to SharePoint.

Next stage is to try to persuade the Head of Cyber Security to let me use Notes, Things 3 and iA Writer.

The Head of Cyber Security has decided that I can have the apps I want (Notes, Things 3, iA Writer, Files, Pages & Weather). So let’s see how much of my job I can do on an iPad!

 

[sananda]

I’m now a bit worried that my notes, Pages documents and Things 3 tasks just live on the iPad and aren’t kept anywhere else.

 

[secretk]

I’m now a bit worried that my notes, Pages documents and Things 3 tasks just live on the iPad and aren’t kept anywhere else.

I do not use Things 3 so can't say anything there but I thought that you can configure Pages to store documents in iCloud by default. Can't you do this? Or maybe in another cloud driver that you use at work.

 

[bondr006]

I’m now a bit worried that my notes, Pages documents and Things 3 tasks just live on the iPad and aren’t kept anywhere else.

You can back up apps to iCloud.

Set up iCloud for third-party apps on all your devices

Learn how to set up iCloud for third-party apps on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

support.apple.com

 

[secretk]

You can back up apps to iCloud.

Set up iCloud for third-party apps on all your devices

Learn how to set up iCloud for third-party apps on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

support.apple.com

Yep though I should not configure Apple ID on my work MacBook Pro. So there goes down the drain everything that comes with iCloud . Luckily they use Office 365 so I can at least use OneDrive for storing files.

 

[sananda]

I do not use Things 3 so can't say anything there but I thought that you can configure Pages to store documents in iCloud by default. Can't you do this? Or maybe in another cloud driver that you use at work.

You can back up apps to iCloud.

Set up iCloud for third-party apps on all your devices

Learn how to set up iCloud for third-party apps on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

support.apple.com

I’m don’t think they security people want me to use iCloud. They are all in with OneDrive.

I‘ve copied my Pages documents to a folder in OneDrive and new documents will save there (as long as I have that folder open in Pages when I start a new document).

The IT people have granted permission for Notability to backup to OneDrive.

But Things 3 and Notes look like they only use iCloud. I could ask them to put iTunes on my work PC laptop and backup the iPad but then I’d be failing at laptop replacement!

 

[sananda]

I‘ve copied my Pages documents to a folder in OneDrive and new documents will save there (as long as I have that folder open in Pages when I start a new document).

I didn’t need to do that. I should have just gone to Settings > Pages > Document Storage and selected OneDrive.

 

[Slartibart]

But Things 3 and Notes look like they only use iCloud. I could ask them to put iTunes on my work PC laptop and backup the iPad but then I’d be failing at laptop replacement!

To synch your new notes taken in Apple Notes via One Drive:

1. add an Outlook-account in the iPadOS/iOS mail app and sign in.
2. enable »Notes« for that in the Account-Settings in Mail.
3. Open Apple Notes. You will find »Outlook« along with »iCloud«.
4. Tap on the Outlook notes folder and compose a new note from the bottom right corner. These Notes will be saved and synched now via OutLook/One Note/One Drive.
5. You can make »Outlook« the default account for creating notes on your iPad (Settings>Notes>Default Account).
   
   That means, it will use iCloud to sync notes between devices. Change the default setting to »Outlook« so that you can easily view them on e.g. OneNote mobile apps and e.g. Sticky Notes on Windows.

Caveat: no Rich Text; you can’t create folders; no tags. The synch occurs for all new notes after setting the above up.

You can probably set up other accounts/services to synch Apple Notes in a similar way - but it’s the weekend and I am to lazy to check. 🤓


EDIT: a quick search related to Things 3 indicates that you could as a workaround
use the iCloud website to enter to-dos into Reminders when on the iPad, and then later on synch these on your Mac or iDevices. But it requires probably much less effort to use One Note alone or together with MS To do and e.g. if required import into Things 3 from there.

 

[GerritV]

<snip>
But Things 3 and Notes look like they only use iCloud. I could ask them to put iTunes on my work PC laptop and backup the iPad but then I’d be failing at laptop replacement!

AFAIK You can set Things 3 to use the Cultured Code storage. Their cloud is way better than iCloud.
But to be able to do that, you'll need to create an account over there.

 

[Neverbepeace]

i can share a my recent experience regarding ipad as a laptop replacement. Found a good deal on a brand new iPad M2 11 model for $650. Found an open box m2 air open box from best buy for $838 that looks brand new. Played and set up both. Any work related tasks I do, any games I play, any video watching I do, anything in general, I always reach for………………

The iPad. Now, I will use the MacBook but only because it’s there. While I love the MacBook and the thinness of it along with the bigger screen, but it feels more antiquated for some reason when I use MacOS. I feel more efficient when using iPadOS. I guess it’s the reason apple is trying to make macOS resemble some parts of iOS/iPadOS. Most of my work is administrative, and browser focused. The iPad handles that with no problem. I recently bought a 27” monitor to replace my aging 2013 iMac. The plan was to dock the MacBook to the monitor. However, I’ve been docking the iPad way more. After test driving both for over a week, I’m leaning towards returning the MacBook, picking up a m2 mini, selling off the 11 iPad Pro and picking up a 12.9 m1 or m2. Which ever one I find a good deal on is the one I’ll get. I guess the moral of this post is to find what works for you, what device do you gravitate towards more that doesn’t prohibit you from doing work. I could just keep the MacBook and dock it to the monitor but I could save a few hundred taking it back and picking up a mac mini. Hope someone finds this useful.

 

[sananda]

To synch your new notes taken in Apple Notes via One Drive

Thank you!

AFAIK You can set Things 3 to use the Cultured Code storage. Their cloud is way better than iCloud.
But to be able to do that, you'll need to create an account over there.

I’m not sure if I’ll be allowed to use the Cultured Code Cloud. I’ve asked so let’s see what they say.

 

[WorldIRC]

My iPad will never be able to access my work-related Enterprise applications natively; however, it does do a fantastic job at remotely accessing my laptop — where I can then access those said apps.

 

[Abazigal]

Another week of lectures and tutorials and here are my observations.

1) A noticeable number of my course mates are unaware of many of the basic functionality of the iPad when it comes to note-taking. I have already demonstrated to quite a few the split-screen feature as well as how to save notes to the Files app (which is now their default file manager app) and annotate on it with the Apple Pencil, as well as how to rotate pages (one of my tutors scanned her readings sideways). However, the files app only lets you rotate one page at a time (I batch-rotated them using the pdf expert app).

Next is to see who hasn't yet updated their iPads to the latest version.

2) Keyboard cases are very popular.

3) I hate that airdrop to everyone is now off by default.

4) There is this reticence to paying for apps (and educators in Singapore are not poorly paid by any measure), which is all the more ironic when they already shelling out $100+ for bluetooth keyboard cases, and I spy at least one Magic Keyboard amongst the masses. That said, the iPad does come with a decent amount of functionality out of the box, and the typical user is still able to make do. Just that some of them are awkwardly shoved into apps I normally wouldn't associate with (I am not so sure about folding the preview pdf function into files, but I guess it works?)

5) My 11" iPad is starting to feel a little too cramped in terms of viewing 2 documents side by side or juggling multiple apps via stage manager, but is still the ideal size from a portability perspective.

That's all for now. 😬

 

[secretk]

Another week of lectures and tutorials and here are my observations.

1) A noticeable number of my course mates are unaware of many of the basic functionality of the iPad when it comes to note-taking. I have already demonstrated to quite a few the split-screen feature as well as how to save notes to the Files app (which is now their default file manager app) and annotate on it with the Apple Pencil, as well as how to rotate pages (one of my tutors scanned her readings sideways). However, the files app only lets you rotate one page at a time (I batch-rotated them using the pdf expert app).

I am not surprised about this to be honest. Multitasking features (especially around split screen) are not very discoverable. People that do not follow Apple News or watch WWDC quite often do not know about the latest features.

Next is to see who hasn't yet updated their iPads to the latest version.

2) Keyboard cases are very popular.

This is interesting and makes sense. Any idea usually what kind of keyboard cases people use?

3) I hate that airdrop to everyone is now off by default.

I can see your frustration but I also see it making sense from security point of view. You do not want everyone to bombard and send you stuff that you accept by mistake and thus causes issues for you.

4) There is this reticence to paying for apps (and educators in Singapore are not poorly paid by any measure), which is all the more ironic when they already shelling out $100+ for bluetooth keyboard cases, and I spy at least one Magic Keyboard amongst the masses. That said, the iPad does come with a decent amount of functionality out of the box, and the typical user is still able to make do. Just that some of them are awkwardly shoved into apps I normally wouldn't associate with (I am not so sure about folding the preview pdf function into files, but I guess it works?)

I can understand this as well to an extent. I am not the person be willing to pay for everything on the iPad because I have paid enough for my iPad Pro and I expect it to be able to work for what I need it to work. I am also especially against subscription as they pile up and you end up with increased expenses. However if I really do want some app and the app is good and has good reviews I am willing to pay.

5) My 11" iPad is starting to feel a little too cramped in terms of viewing 2 documents side by side or juggling multiple apps via stage manager, but is still the ideal size from a portability perspective.

That's all for now. 😬

I am in a similar situation. I have 11 inch iPad Pro. I rarely use split screen as like you said it can be rather cramped. On the other side I do not want to have the 12.9 inch iPad Pro because for me this size would be more suitable if I used the iPad in 90 % of the cases as a computer replacement and very rarely as a tablet with the pencil. I know that for some artists 12.9 inch makes sense and I get that, but I use my iPad with pencil for note taking and for that I prefer the 11 inch as it mimics the usual notebooks I would use for note taking. Also yeah it is more portable and allows me to use smaller backpack which with my height is rather desirable .