I agree totally. My 6s, 8 and 11 all had notification issues while my wifes versions of the same never. It's all a crapshoot with tech. ha ha
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iPad as a laptop replacement
- Thread starter Omar Comin' Yo
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It’s Murphy’s Law for me. It works OK most of the time except for when I really need it.
Interesting. I feel like I sneezed on my 16” space grey and it scratched. It’s not delicate but I find the space grey finish delicate enough that if it was my own money I’d buy a silver one.
I see a fair few laptops pass through my team and the MacBooks generally hold up ik, but not as well as a sturdy windows laptop. It doesn’t help that prosper are absolute animals with computers
I’m the senior technologist at my company and the last business meeting I had (we all work from home) I meandered around outside and used my iPad Air entirely. It was significantly more convenient to share content, even customisations on dynamics 365 sales pro - with the added benefit of sketching design options (if you can call what I scribble sketching)
It's amazing what you can get done on such a small device. I've very recently started leaving the MacBook Pro at the office and taking my 11" Pro and Magic Keyboard around with me as I go to different sites.
My role has evolved into having to be very mobile, and able to respond extremely quickly and effectively to urgent issues as they come up. Having a device that I can whip out anywhere, that always has an internet connection because of cellular, and actually stays connected to the work VPN all day regardless of the device going to sleep, is game changing.
This combination of portability, always on internet connection, and solid VPN, is enabling me to work far more effectively and by the look of things will ultimately allow me to make more money.
Edit: I think this shows some of what the future of what an ultraportable Mac could be. If they gave me a 12"-12.5" MacBook that was about 2lbs, with a touch screen, with cellular, with system level VPN like the iPad/iPhone, it would be magical.
If I'm carrying the 11" iPad Pro + Magic Keyboard + Smart Folio (for use on train without Magic Keyboard) that's 3lbs I'm carrying. Getting this experience I get now is already kind of mindblowing, but to get that at a whole pound less weight and the capability of a Mac would be yet another game changer.
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From what I understand, there’s no evidence sideloading will be coming to the iPad. iPhone in certain parts of the world, yes though. I’d love to be wrong though. I think if an app like Crossover can be sideloaded onto the iPad, then we pretty much have access to a lot of desktop applications and games. Just hope the US jumps on board with sideloading at some point too.
As an iPad daily driver-er, I love my new MacBook Air M2, but I’m having a hard time adjusting to a non-touch screen computer. Didn’t realize how much I actually lift my finger up to the screen to do something. Just feels like I’m missing a big feature whenever I use it. It’s a dumb reason to return it, but I may end up just doing so. Not much I really use it for that I can’t use my iPad + Shadow PC for anyway.
The regulations in the EU don’t talk about phones but rather “digital gatekeepers” and applies to a wide array of product categories. So if they have to put it on the iPhone they would need to do the same on the iPad.
You should try a touchscreen pc and even a touchscreen monitor. I have a dell 24 inch ultrasharp touch and it's awesome. Video, photo and graphics work is super awesome on it. Much faster and more accurate than mouse input.
It’s hit or miss. 90% of the time, it works great. Other times, it’ll stutter, vertical and horizontal scrolling is reversed, etc. I can get by using it again with my iPad as my main device, but the MacBook is probably the better experience.
I have been using a touchscreen windows laptop for teaching ever since I joined the service. Apart from using the stylus to sign off on documents, I can't say I have really used the touchscreen for anything else. The problem is that windows UI really isn't optimised for touch, compared to say, iPadOS on the iPad, so I never really saw the point.
I don't use it for OS use per se, besides zooming and scrolling (which is great btw). I use it for photo, video and graphic manipulation, drawing, taking notes and marking up content with notes for after. Controlling the OS is not the reason for touchscreen on anything other than a tablet, it's for doing stuff much quicker and more accurate than mouse/keyboard inputs. If you don't do that, then NO, the touchscreen is no benefit for YOU. It's a great deal of benefit for ME.
I have been trying to use my iPad Pro 12.9 instead of my work laptop and I can probably do 90% of the things I need to but there are still some things I can't do well enough to make it a feasible alternative.
Its mainly accessing files that an issue as we use SMB shares for everything and things just don't work very well. Shortcuts just don't work, they show as an lnk file with no way of even seeing where the shortcut points so I can't even manually navigate the structure.
Another issue is Visio files. We all use Visio, its not something they are looking to change and I can use the online 365 visio editor but this requires an internet connection and also that all visio files are in Onedrive which means copying from the SMB share, editing it and then copying back to the SMB share. Its just clunky, if I could just open the visio files form the files app within the SMB share, it would make things so much easier.
I use Outlook for work mail which is fine but I can't seem to find a way of turning off the setting which reads my mail every time I click on one. I often just read mails as they come in and go back to them later and just sort by unread but it auto reads them when you click on them. I can turn this off on the desktop Outlook but not on the ipad one.
Its only minor things but its enough that I have to keep getting my laptop back out to do them.
Its mainly accessing files that an issue as we use SMB shares for everything and things just don't work very well. Shortcuts just don't work, they show as an lnk file with no way of even seeing where the shortcut points so I can't even manually navigate the structure.
Another issue is Visio files. We all use Visio, its not something they are looking to change and I can use the online 365 visio editor but this requires an internet connection and also that all visio files are in Onedrive which means copying from the SMB share, editing it and then copying back to the SMB share. Its just clunky, if I could just open the visio files form the files app within the SMB share, it would make things so much easier.
I use Outlook for work mail which is fine but I can't seem to find a way of turning off the setting which reads my mail every time I click on one. I often just read mails as they come in and go back to them later and just sort by unread but it auto reads them when you click on them. I can turn this off on the desktop Outlook but not on the ipad one.
Its only minor things but its enough that I have to keep getting my laptop back out to do them.
You’re right, it’s frustrating with some of the apps.
On the network, even if you use a good third party app you have file association limitations, and the best one (imo) in file browser has a terrible network stack that makes it incredibly slow for copies.
I don’t know why Microsoft won’t pull their finger out and get Visio the iPad, I use LucidChart now for this reason (and it does wireframes) but I know you can’t switch.
Also agreed on the outlook frustration, the best work around may be to add a swipe gesture for mark read / unread. But it’s less than ideal.
On the network, even if you use a good third party app you have file association limitations, and the best one (imo) in file browser has a terrible network stack that makes it incredibly slow for copies.
I don’t know why Microsoft won’t pull their finger out and get Visio the iPad, I use LucidChart now for this reason (and it does wireframes) but I know you can’t switch.
Also agreed on the outlook frustration, the best work around may be to add a swipe gesture for mark read / unread. But it’s less than ideal.
The main benefit of desktops is upgradability and customization. You can pick and choose what brand and specific model for each part you’d like in it. I have 8 internal hard drives and 7 fans in my desktop. Can’t do that with any laptop. Laptop you’re forced to buy a new one when it gets outdated. PC desktop I can upgrade whichever component I like to. This is why building your own PC is so appealing.
I agree! I have a love/hate relationship with my iPad 12.9 M1 for the reason you describe. It can do the basics but if I'm excel and need to do a Vlookup side by side its not very intuitive to do so.
I'm back in the love phase at the minute as I must admit I do like having the apps of Netflix and Disney plus etc to watch in bed or when traveling etc
Ok now I’m back in my disliking phase! You can‘t add music to the music app?! I’ve been sent a music track and I’ve saved it to the files app and there is no option to import it at all!! I can’t see a way to do it in the app either!
Bonkers!
Bonkers!
Yeah, this has been a major irritation for me, too. You have to use iTunes (I actually use iMazing). Really a pain.
And similar issue with photos as well. You can’t import them from a hard drive. You have to manually click on each photo to open it up fully and then click save image.
So this thread can it be a replacement! It’s a clear NO because you need to have a proper computer to be able to set it up with photos and music which is what most folks use these for.
Note that this thread is regarding replacement for a laptop, your mobile device, so it does not preclude ownership of a "proper computer", e.g., a desktop or even a laptop as a home station. So as a laptop replacement, I don't necessarily need this on my iPad. Though you shouldn't need another computer to support this - it's absurd.
From all these "IPP-as-a-laptop-replacement" threads I see one common thread:
Most, or even almost all, of the peeps from the "we-don't-need-IPP-as-laptop-replacement-to-happen" camp seem to believe that the word "replacement" necessarily means a 1 to 1 ratio, an Apples-to-Apples equivalency (pun intended). And nope, not all of us who want it to happen necessarily mean "replacement" in the true sense of the word. If you really read carefully the arguments of those in the "we-want-it-to-happen" camp, you will see that our cries have more to do with defining "replacement" as a "we just need it to be viable enough!" kind of thing... under the understanding that a laptop will ALWAYS do those things better than an IPP.
So, look, just to make it clear:
We don't need iPads to become another flavor of Macbooks. All we need is just some small improvements on its basic usability in common day-to-day tasks that you can do with any Laptop. That's it. Laptops can and will always do some things better, and that's perfectly fine.
But then some will say : But , but ... iPads can already do all the day-to-day tasks a laptop can!!!! So shut up and stop whining!!!!!
And the answer is simple.
Nope. Not quite .... yet.
Can you format an external HDD with an iPad? No
Do you have an option for safely ejecting an external HDD without risking corrupting its data? Nope, you have to physically unplug it and hope it won't corrupt the drive.
Is file management on iPad as easy and smooth as in a Laptop? No.
Is multitasking on iPad as easy and smooth as in a Laptop? Nope. Stage manager was a step in the right direction but it's still not there yet.
Is there a time machine-like option for iPads? One that can seamlessly keep backups in physical disks and not just in iCloud? Nope.
Etc (you can find many other iPad basic shortcomings in this thread)
Improving on these aspects will make iPads more VIABLE as laptop replacements, but will not necessarily turn them into true replacements because macOS versions of DaVinci Resolve, Logic, Adobe Creative Suite etc. will ALWAYS be more powerful than the iPad versions ... and that is OK!.
For those of you on the "we-don't-need-this-to-happen-camp":
Dudes, please chill. There is no problem with iPads running scaled-down versions of pro software. We don't need iPads just to be mini Macbooks...we don't mind them not being able to run the same exact software, really ... there is no problem with Macbook being better at certain things than an IPP either... the problem is that some of these things a MB can do better are just so darn basic that, to put it simply, it's jarring.
What sort of things are jarring? Well now we are at a point where you can run perfectly fine scaled-down versions of Da Vinci Resolve and Logic on an iPP.... but I still can't format a damn external drive to use them with. That is jarring. I don't mind that the macOS versions of these Apps are more powerful, with more features, and that they will allow me to do the same thing faster or with extra filters or plugins. That is fine because I don't necessarily need all that extra power and features. All I want is to be able to work with these on my train commute, because touch interface suits me better in my commute but alas ... I can't. Why I can't you say? Because my projects are on an external drive so I can't work with them without the risk of corrupting them when I physically unplug the drive. That is what's jarring. And the worst thing of it all is that this is all Apple's own doing ... they could easily improve on all these little things but they don't ...they rather purposely neuter the IPP to force you to have a MAC AND and iPad, instead of giving you the freedom to chose one or the other. That right there is the problem.
Just my 0.002.
Most, or even almost all, of the peeps from the "we-don't-need-IPP-as-laptop-replacement-to-happen" camp seem to believe that the word "replacement" necessarily means a 1 to 1 ratio, an Apples-to-Apples equivalency (pun intended). And nope, not all of us who want it to happen necessarily mean "replacement" in the true sense of the word. If you really read carefully the arguments of those in the "we-want-it-to-happen" camp, you will see that our cries have more to do with defining "replacement" as a "we just need it to be viable enough!" kind of thing... under the understanding that a laptop will ALWAYS do those things better than an IPP.
So, look, just to make it clear:
We don't need iPads to become another flavor of Macbooks. All we need is just some small improvements on its basic usability in common day-to-day tasks that you can do with any Laptop. That's it. Laptops can and will always do some things better, and that's perfectly fine.
But then some will say : But , but ... iPads can already do all the day-to-day tasks a laptop can!!!! So shut up and stop whining!!!!!
And the answer is simple.
Nope. Not quite .... yet.
Can you format an external HDD with an iPad? No
Do you have an option for safely ejecting an external HDD without risking corrupting its data? Nope, you have to physically unplug it and hope it won't corrupt the drive.
Is file management on iPad as easy and smooth as in a Laptop? No.
Is multitasking on iPad as easy and smooth as in a Laptop? Nope. Stage manager was a step in the right direction but it's still not there yet.
Is there a time machine-like option for iPads? One that can seamlessly keep backups in physical disks and not just in iCloud? Nope.
Etc (you can find many other iPad basic shortcomings in this thread)
Improving on these aspects will make iPads more VIABLE as laptop replacements, but will not necessarily turn them into true replacements because macOS versions of DaVinci Resolve, Logic, Adobe Creative Suite etc. will ALWAYS be more powerful than the iPad versions ... and that is OK!.
For those of you on the "we-don't-need-this-to-happen-camp":
Dudes, please chill. There is no problem with iPads running scaled-down versions of pro software. We don't need iPads just to be mini Macbooks...we don't mind them not being able to run the same exact software, really ... there is no problem with Macbook being better at certain things than an IPP either... the problem is that some of these things a MB can do better are just so darn basic that, to put it simply, it's jarring.
What sort of things are jarring? Well now we are at a point where you can run perfectly fine scaled-down versions of Da Vinci Resolve and Logic on an iPP.... but I still can't format a damn external drive to use them with. That is jarring. I don't mind that the macOS versions of these Apps are more powerful, with more features, and that they will allow me to do the same thing faster or with extra filters or plugins. That is fine because I don't necessarily need all that extra power and features. All I want is to be able to work with these on my train commute, because touch interface suits me better in my commute but alas ... I can't. Why I can't you say? Because my projects are on an external drive so I can't work with them without the risk of corrupting them when I physically unplug the drive. That is what's jarring. And the worst thing of it all is that this is all Apple's own doing ... they could easily improve on all these little things but they don't ...they rather purposely neuter the IPP to force you to have a MAC AND and iPad, instead of giving you the freedom to chose one or the other. That right there is the problem.
Just my 0.002.
The gap between the ipad and a macbook pro is big. The gap between an ipad and pc is MONUMENTAL.
Even for a child for whom the ipad might seem perfect, there are big limitations for personal growth and creativity.
Peripheral support on PC is wider and for games like minecraft, fortnite, roblox, CS:GO etc, there are creator tools that are unavailable on the ipad despite it having capable hardware.
Even for a child for whom the ipad might seem perfect, there are big limitations for personal growth and creativity.
Peripheral support on PC is wider and for games like minecraft, fortnite, roblox, CS:GO etc, there are creator tools that are unavailable on the ipad despite it having capable hardware.