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iPad as a laptop replacement
- Thread starter Omar Comin' Yo
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In all my Mac years I have never had to use unix. Or do a “hard” restart other than when my iOS device was not responding anymore. That however happened a few times, especially in the earlier years.
I like to think of the iPad as more of a laptop alternative, rather than a replacement.
To use an analogy, these are the people who were trying to drive in screws using a hammer because the screwdriver hadn’t been invented yet.
It’s worth a shot for people whose laptops aren’t an ideal fit for their use cases. If your laptop already does everything you need it to do, then an iPad likely won’t suffice.
Me neither until a few weeks ago when my mini packed up all of a sudden - it was a total and utter nightmare - the os wouldn't boot and i had to .. type .. weird.. stuff.. it was bizarre ... may as well have been written in klingon tbh ...!?!
I downgraded to an imac 27 5k - lol
No more mini's for me ! The cooling system on them is imo intrinsically flawed.
I downgraded to an imac 27 5k - lol
No more mini's for me ! The cooling system on them is imo intrinsically flawed.
Cooking system on mini?! You mean Mac mini?!
Edit -
I can’t believe I wrote cooking system! Just gonna keep it for a laugh!
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I did this more as a challenge to see if it could be done and just what it was / was not capable of doing. It stemmed from TC's comment about it being a potential laptop replacement. Sadly it fell a good bit short for my use cases (home and work).
LOL , yeah , cooling / cooking...
A tiny slot at the back and virtually nothing at the front = cooking
2nd mini I've had overheat and go kaput - i've learned my lesson now..
Second one already? That surely is an annoyance! Hope the iMac serves you better. I’ve had my iMac for 5 years now, and it’s running pretty much 24/7 without much issues.
All important stuff is saved on external drives though, so in case this one goes south it won’t take me long to recover and have a new one running.
My mistake was believing my mini was ok due to an app called smart reporter , obv. it wasn't SO smart after all as the hd went boom boom and i lost a load of stuff...
I also didn't backed up some stuff for a year - my fault i know - ANOTHER lesson learned..
Thing is , all my macs , going back to an LC 2 from 1991 !!! were always SO reliable - no h/w problems at all , ok maybe the x1900 on the macpro 2006 , apart from that hiccup nope..!
Been through LC then a lovely Quadra 840av ( grate daze ) , iMac G3's, iMac G4's , iBook's , Powerbooks , Mac Pro etc and the mini is the only one that really let me down !!!
I hate the things now and wouldn't recommend them to my worst enemy - particularly with a sealed box and anything with a spinner in it - fusion drive included..
Maybe if I'd bought and SSD in the first place I wouldn't be in this predicament ...
I also didn't backed up some stuff for a year - my fault i know - ANOTHER lesson learned..
Thing is , all my macs , going back to an LC 2 from 1991 !!! were always SO reliable - no h/w problems at all , ok maybe the x1900 on the macpro 2006 , apart from that hiccup nope..!
Been through LC then a lovely Quadra 840av ( grate daze ) , iMac G3's, iMac G4's , iBook's , Powerbooks , Mac Pro etc and the mini is the only one that really let me down !!!
I hate the things now and wouldn't recommend them to my worst enemy - particularly with a sealed box and anything with a spinner in it - fusion drive included..
Maybe if I'd bought and SSD in the first place I wouldn't be in this predicament ...
Not sure how you used your Mini's.... I had a 2012 Mini for an iTunes server that ran 24/7 for over two years in a cabinet. No problems whatsoever. Gave it to my daughter's family in 2016 and they still use it every day. I replaced it with a 2014 mini and it has been happily running 24/7 in the same cabinet for the past two years. I also have a 2012 top spec quad core mini that I use for audio and video editing. Never any problems with this one either. IMO the mini is a solid and reliable machine. The fact that you didn't even do a backup for over a year does not speak well for how you maintain your systems.... just sayin'. 
Of course, none of this has anything to do with using an iPad as a laptop replacement though. The LC was a nice Mac, but I go a lot farther back than you. I started with one of the first Apple ][ computers in 1978, my first Mac was the 512k in 1985 and it seems like I've had almost every model over the years. Generally speaking they have all been very reliable.
Of course, none of this has anything to do with using an iPad as a laptop replacement though. The LC was a nice Mac, but I go a lot farther back than you. I started with one of the first Apple ][ computers in 1978, my first Mac was the 512k in 1985 and it seems like I've had almost every model over the years. Generally speaking they have all been very reliable.
I backed up the work stuff just not the silly stuff - not a great loss tbh in the grand scheme of things
Thank g-d for iCloud that's all I can say , saved my life !!!
Thank g-d for iCloud that's all I can say , saved my life !!!
With my experience with hard drives form multitude of desktop and NASes, I can say for sure that spinning platters are basically a time-bomb. It WILL fail, it's just a matter of time. And there are periods where the manufacturers simply had piss poor QC (IBM death stars, Seagate's, WD, etc all have their issues). It gets worse with the push of pushing densities higher to terabytes. And the funny thing is that I have an old 2GB hard drive, and it still works. Sure it's slow as molasses, but it does work. It's not Apple's fault per se (I see similar failure rates on any other OEMs), it's the nature of the spinning platter.
Now, I never buy a device for myself without an SSD. I'm glad Apple switched to SSD for all of their laptops. In contrast, Windows laptops are still using spinning platters, even the ones in the $1k price ranges.
It’s getting harder and harder for me to justify a laptop. With apps like Luma Fusion, Affinity Photo, Affinity Designer, GarageBand, and Procreate, all my hobbyist creative needs are being fulfilled and at times exceeded. I find working with Affinity Photo, Affinity Designer, and GarageBand to be much better on the iPad than on a computer. The Apple Pencil capabilities along with multitouch opens for so much more creativity and interactivity.
Not to mention, most of these apps are much cheaper than their computer equivalents. The iPad itself is much cheaper than the computer equivalents. iPads offer vastly better better life than laptops, especially when under heavy work loads. Performance is usually just as fast and smooth as a high-specked laptop. iPads are much lighter and easier to handle than laptops. I do like typing on the on-screen keyboard too and find my accuracy to be really good on it.
There are some use cases for me here and there where a laptop is needed. Multitasking is still better on a desktop/laptop OS. Some websites don’t work well on iPads. If I want to tinker with my Android, sometimes a computer is needed. I have bootleg Android Auto in my car, which required a computer and flash drive to install. But it’s getting harder and harder for me to justify a laptop.
I think I’m going to try to pretend I don’t have a laptop, go full-time with the iPad, and try to find solutions/workarounds to any limitations I might have. If I am successful, I will save lots of money ($600 for 10.5” vs $1500-$2500 for a high-end laptop. Cheaper software also. Plus, I’d only be upgrading an iPad every 4 years instead of upgrading both an iPad and a laptop). Forcing myself to use the iPad in new ways and finding workarounds should also allow me to use the iPad in new ways that will maximize my workflow and fun too.
Not to mention, most of these apps are much cheaper than their computer equivalents. The iPad itself is much cheaper than the computer equivalents. iPads offer vastly better better life than laptops, especially when under heavy work loads. Performance is usually just as fast and smooth as a high-specked laptop. iPads are much lighter and easier to handle than laptops. I do like typing on the on-screen keyboard too and find my accuracy to be really good on it.
There are some use cases for me here and there where a laptop is needed. Multitasking is still better on a desktop/laptop OS. Some websites don’t work well on iPads. If I want to tinker with my Android, sometimes a computer is needed. I have bootleg Android Auto in my car, which required a computer and flash drive to install. But it’s getting harder and harder for me to justify a laptop.
I think I’m going to try to pretend I don’t have a laptop, go full-time with the iPad, and try to find solutions/workarounds to any limitations I might have. If I am successful, I will save lots of money ($600 for 10.5” vs $1500-$2500 for a high-end laptop. Cheaper software also. Plus, I’d only be upgrading an iPad every 4 years instead of upgrading both an iPad and a laptop). Forcing myself to use the iPad in new ways and finding workarounds should also allow me to use the iPad in new ways that will maximize my workflow and fun too.
I just can't accept the iPad as a full "laptop replacement" until Apple comes up with a better method of selecting text. I have a keyboard case and an Apple Pencil, but it is still very awkward to select (for example) one sentence in the middle of a paragraph.
Keyboard shortcuts are great for this. Once I have the pointer at the beginning or end of where I can select, a combination of option, command, and the arrow keys can help with text selection a lot.
Buy an Apple Pencil and you will be impressed. 3 months ago i bought a synology nas and never looked back. I couldn’t believe that with synology apps moving and downloading torrents,mp3s,general files etc would be easier done compared to a PC.... MBP 13 2016 sold and PC era done for me. The funny thing is that I don’t design or draw anything with Apple Pencil....but its pure joy and adds easiness to just browse everything on your iPad with it.
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How was the adjustment period? I look at the iPad as doing one main thing at a time. I know it has split view and dragging a 3rd window in there. Overall, how was it getting used to putting all of your computer needs into the iPad?
Apparently you didn't actually read my post that you quoted...
Yes, the pencil helps, but it's still very awkward compared to a mouse or trackpad.
Apparently you didn't actually read my post that you quoted...
Yes, the pencil helps, but it's still very awkward compared to a mouse or trackpad.
Sorry. Yes i agree nothing compares to a trackpad but comparing to copying with hands is miles better. You can’t have it all mate. Maybe in iOS 14 and when iPad will get a touch keyboard surface (as a last month patent indicates) then a trackpad solution will be implemented.
I use mine daily and have had no issues with connection or durability. Works great.
I am not gonna lie. There are pros and cons but at the end of the day pros are a lot more. I am an old iPad user. Since iPad 2 i was always trying to get rid of my computer but after a couple of months I always sold my ipad and get back to my Mac.
Since then ipad hardware and iOS has massively improved. With split view i now have Safari/Tweetbot and Viber/iMessage my most used apps side by side and when i want to read Tapatalk i slide it over as a 3rd app and send it away when i am finished reading it with a simple gesture. YouTube has stopped background audio but with apps like CornerTube and PiPifier on safari i can play everything on the background. Apple was lying for marketing reasons on the past but 4GB of ram is the best thing ever to happen on ipad. With iOS they screwed it again cause some tabs on safari after sleep may refresh but in general all apps stay where you left them without refrreshing.....lets hope ios12 will bring back stability and on Safari like it was with iOS 10. I have Sony Tv’s with android so i installed Kodi....with Kodi now I don’t have the need of Apple TV.....i send everything i download on my Synology NAS directly to my Android TV. Synology Nas as i wrote you earlier was the last coffin on my Mac....I couldn’t believe by myself but its so easy to download files and move them where i want just with synology apps (DS File,DS Finder) and NASmeister. Also i sold my apple TVs.....Kodi plays everything i download in any format and synology streaming > streaming through Mac to Apple TV.....its just flawless and buttery smooth....no slowdowns,black screens, flickering or having to reset my Apple TV because it got stuck. Synology Nas is always working and super stable as supposed to. Another pros using ipad over Mac is that despite Mac having super resolution IOS is just better......apps stand out more everything from colors to texture pops out...its just a pleasure and more relaxed doing your workflow on the beautiful screen of an ipad. Speakers of iPad Pro are rock solid....no sound cracking and more than enough bass. The keyboard is just fine and the greater space compared to the old of 9,7 has done the difference. As i said pencil helps me with pressision on selecting text and i use it everywhere on the os. I also download mp3s and i put them tags and covers easily through synology apps. Moving around home without carrying the big mass of the MacBook is very helpful and I don’t miss it at all.....MacBook to me was only superior whith its stable viewing angles especially on bed. The fact is that ipad each year is getting better and better in every sector and you can see that there is a lot room of improvement. I used to love my Mac but I don’t need it anymore. Using ipad is a lot more enjoyable experience and its the first iPad that i wont sold it back in order to return Mac.....but but but.....don’t forget synology played a crucial role to that switch.
