iPad as a laptop replacement

[Ludatyk]

For multitasking, I would not compare Stage Manager on an iPad to Stage Manager on a Mac. I find Stage Manager on a Mac completely useless and turned it off after the first day. In MacOS, Stage Manager is a poor substitute for the functionality of the basic MacOS floating windows environment that makes working on multiple documents and spreadsheets so easy.

To be clear, all of the above is caveated by "for me" or "in my experience". YMMV.

Stage Manager was originally meant for the Mac… the idea behind it is to help with window management, but if you don’t need that kind of assistance. Then perhaps, you could find it useless. Craig Federighi did an interview explaining how his son had so many windows off to the side disorganized… introducing Stage Manager was the reason for this.

It’s true, floating window environment already existed on macOS… but Stage Manager on the Mac has a different purpose. It’s meant to help with organization whereas on the iPad it’s meant to bring an increased level of multitasking.

 

[sjebleu]

Hey so I currently have an M3 MBP 14". But I've been thinking for a long time about using an iPad exclusively. There really isn't anything I do on the Mac that I cannot do on an iPad. Just in a bit different way. But I would want to know about things like wired printing, backing up to an external drive and even ripping CDs (yes I still do this). Can any of these be done with an iPad?

Sounds like a nightmare even just thinking about trying to do these things in an iPad.

I do have an old NUC (mini-PC) for all my niche stuff and other things, where I can remote control from my iPad using Jump Desktop.
In my case, I use that NUC as basically a mini home server.
- Printing (only if I absolutely have to)
- Torrents
- Plex-server
- Network-stuff
- Etc.

The other day I had to update a critical firmware on a NVMe SSD (PS5), so that PC solved that issue.
No Apple product could solve that issue.

 

[sananda]

Hey so I currently have an M3 MBP 14". But I've been thinking for a long time about using an iPad exclusively. There really isn't anything I do on the Mac that I cannot do on an iPad. Just in a bit different way. But I would want to know about things like wired printing, backing up to an external drive and even ripping CDs (yes I still do this). Can any of these be done with an iPad?

I still rip CDs. One of the very few reasons I still use a Mac sometimes.

 

[Ultracyclist]

I still rip CDs. One of the very few reasons I still use a Mac sometimes.

As Spotify is two years shy of being two decades old, havent you had the all the time in the world to have ripped all CD’s yet? 😅 Or have you been tasked with uploading old material to Spotify?

 

[sananda]

As Spotify is two years shy of being two decades old, havent you had the all the time in the world to have ripped all CD’s yet? 😅 Or have you been tasked with uploading old material to Spotify?

I guess I’m just too leisurely!

 

[Webcat86]

As Spotify is two years shy of being two decades old, havent you had the all the time in the world to have ripped all CD’s yet? 😅 Or have you been tasked with uploading old material to Spotify?

I don't follow the logic — this seems to imply that people stopped buying CDs when Spotify launched? Earlier this year I discovered that the second album from a band I really like, but which broke up, is no longer on any streaming platforms. It used to be, but the label went out of business and it seems to have affected distribution rights as well. Fortunately I have the CD in my loft somewhere, it is completely absent from streaming platforms except for that it teasingly appears in searches but there aren't any songs listed anymore.

Streaming is a wonderfully convenient thing, but for any music that we want to ensure we keep long term, that's all it is.

 

[MikeTaku]

Hi, I hope everyone is doing well. I noticed you all are talking about Spotify, so I thought I'd ask a question. I'm using Spotify Premium, and I upgraded to avoid ads. However, I occasionally get a 30-second ad while listening to music, even with the Premium version. Am I the only one experiencing this issue? Can someone help me understand why this happens?

 

[MrAverigeUser]

This is not a thread about streaming... maybe you should instead open a separate thread about streaming...

 

[memento mori]

Anyone else have their company’s issued laptop that can also be used as a personal device? And I know, you’re not supposed to use company’s device’s for personal tasks, but to me it’s the perfect fallback option when iPadOS falls short.

I’ve been having a lot of success using my iPad Pro M4 (And previous iPP M1) as a laptop replacement with the work laptop as a backup, and granted, the iPad has not been tasked with the most demanding things to do: mostly reading, content consumption, e-mail and note taking. However, for 98% of the time I’d do the same things on a laptop, just on the iPad the experience is just so much nicer. And here lies the main issue with iPad as a laptop replacement - for most people, most of the time it’ll be great, arguably even better experience than a comparable Mac/PC- but there will be a time, maybe once in an actual blue moon, where you’ll need a Mac or a PC to do the task at hand, and if you don’t have access to that, you’ll be SOL.

 

[sparksd]

Anyone else have their company’s issued laptop that can also be used as a personal device? And I know, you’re not supposed to use company’s device’s for personal tasks, but to me it’s the perfect fallback option when iPadOS falls short.

I’ve been having a lot of success using my iPad Pro M4 (And previous iPP M1) as a laptop replacement with the work laptop as a backup, and granted, the iPad has not been tasked with the most demanding things to do: mostly reading, content consumption, e-mail and note taking. However, for 98% of the time I’d do the same things on a laptop, just on the iPad the experience is just so much nicer. And here lies the main issue with iPad as a laptop replacement - for most people, most of the time it’ll be great, arguably even better experience than a comparable Mac/PC- but there will be a time, maybe once in an actual blue moon, where you’ll need a Mac or a PC to do the task at hand, and if you don’t have access to that, you’ll be SOL.

I kept a hard firewall between my personal stuff and the company's tasks/data/devices.

 

[Kal Madda]

Anyone else have their company’s issued laptop that can also be used as a personal device? And I know, you’re not supposed to use company’s device’s for personal tasks, but to me it’s the perfect fallback option when iPadOS falls short.

I’ve been having a lot of success using my iPad Pro M4 (And previous iPP M1) as a laptop replacement with the work laptop as a backup, and granted, the iPad has not been tasked with the most demanding things to do: mostly reading, content consumption, e-mail and note taking. However, for 98% of the time I’d do the same things on a laptop, just on the iPad the experience is just so much nicer. And here lies the main issue with iPad as a laptop replacement - for most people, most of the time it’ll be great, arguably even better experience than a comparable Mac/PC- but there will be a time, maybe once in an actual blue moon, where you’ll need a Mac or a PC to do the task at hand, and if you don’t have access to that, you’ll be SOL.

I suspect the ideal setup is an iPad and a Mac desktop like a Mac Mini or iMac. Perhaps I’m biased because that’s the setup I have, but I think it adds a backup option for those who are worried they’ll run into something the iPad can’t do, or, if the iPad is down for some reason. And with VNC software, and you can always connect to it with the iPad if you really need the Mac for something so long as you have a wifi connection. 👍🏻 For me, the Mac Mini is purely a secondary device, and I’ve never run into a situation where I needed it vs my iPad. But it’s nice to be able to continue to tinker with macOS. 👍🏻

 

[Mainsail]

I suspect the ideal setup is an iPad and a Mac desktop like a Mac Mini or iMac. Perhaps I’m biased because that’s the setup I have, but I think it adds a backup option for those who are worried they’ll run into something the iPad can’t do, or, if the iPad is down for some reason. And with VNC software, and you can always connect to it with the iPad if you really need the Mac for something so long as you have a wifi connection. 👍🏻 For me, the Mac Mini is purely a secondary device, and I’ve never run into a situation where I needed it vs my iPad. But it’s nice to be able to continue to tinker with macOS. 👍🏻

This is my wife's set-up too; iPad + iMac. And, she loves it. I am a MacBook Air guy, and I connect to a monitor when I need more screen real estate. Her set up is definitely more expensive, but if she is happy then so be it. You can get a M3 MBA on sale for $849 plus a 1080p 24in monitor for $100.

Different tools for different jobs and different preferences. I can see how both setups can work.

 

[whitestar27]

I suspect the ideal setup is an iPad and a Mac desktop like a Mac Mini or iMac. Perhaps I’m biased because that’s the setup I have, but I think it adds a backup option for those who are worried they’ll run into something the iPad can’t do, or, if the iPad is down for some reason. And with VNC software, and you can always connect to it with the iPad if you really need the Mac for something so long as you have a wifi connection. 👍🏻 For me, the Mac Mini is purely a secondary device, and I’ve never run into a situation where I needed it vs my iPad. But it’s nice to be able to continue to tinker with macOS. 👍🏻

I'm using my Mac for video editing in Resolve and pretty much everything else on the iPad. Experimenting to see how far I can push photo editing on the iPad in Affinity Photo.

 

[NastyMatt]

Anyone else have their company’s issued laptop that can also be used as a personal device? And I know, you’re not supposed to use company’s device’s for personal tasks, but to me it’s the perfect fallback option when iPadOS falls short.

I’ve been having a lot of success using my iPad Pro M4 (And previous iPP M1) as a laptop replacement with the work laptop as a backup, and granted, the iPad has not been tasked with the most demanding things to do: mostly reading, content consumption, e-mail and note taking. However, for 98% of the time I’d do the same things on a laptop, just on the iPad the experience is just so much nicer. And here lies the main issue with iPad as a laptop replacement - for most people, most of the time it’ll be great, arguably even better experience than a comparable Mac/PC- but there will be a time, maybe once in an actual blue moon, where you’ll need a Mac or a PC to do the task at hand, and if you don’t have access to that, you’ll be SOL.

I have work laptop and iPad (2020 IPP and a M1 MBA) but I like to be device agnostic so I can literally use any device if I have to. The one issue we have is there are some weird security policies in place that cause issues on the iPad and I am bored of trying to get them to resolve it (e.g copying and pasting from ‘work’ apps does not work, downloading files is restricted).

I also now have a personal M4 IPP (13”) which is the device I feel would be perfect for work as it has extended screen support. I use that for personal and ‘other’ work i.e. I have a separate company from my day job, I am a Treasurer for an organisation and I have some personal work. I never use anything other than the M4 for all of this.

Plus, I have a windows pc for heavy gaming. I am sitting here now with my M4 plugged into my 34” monitor - I just don’t see why I would need to fire up my pc for this sort of use.

 

[Ste_S]

I had a go at using my M2 iPad Air as a work device the other day. Work is mostly done via Microsoft 365 apps, and it works, to an extent. Some minor niggles - can't add an email as an attachment in Outlook, using Sharepoint is a bit of a faff, no extensions in browsers etc Kinda feels like it's almost there, but not quite

 

[Ludatyk]

Anyone having any issues with the latest FileBrowser update? I’m on the Professional version, not sure if that makes any difference. I believe all three versions received the same update.

For some reason there’s a bug when it comes to using my Magic Keyboard... Perhaps it has something to do with iPadOS 18.2. But I’m not sure if it’s actually the beta I’m on or the latest FileBrowser update.

Edit. The issue is when clicking… nothing registers.

 

[sparksd]

Anyone having any issues with the latest FileBrowser update? I’m on the Professional version, not sure if that makes any difference. I believe all three versions received the same update.

For some reason there’s a bug when it comes to using my Magic Keyboard... Perhaps it has something to do with iPadOS 18.2. But I’m not sure if it’s actually the beta I’m on or the latest FileBrowser update.

Edit. The issue is when clicking… nothing registers.

FB Pro here and 18.1 - don't see the problem so it's likely tied to the beta.

Edit: It does seem something is going on as clicking behavior is inconsistent - sometimes not working.

 

[Ludatyk]

FB Pro here and 18.1 - don't see the problem so it's likely tied to the beta.

For some strange reason, I have to do a right click in order for an image/document to open and this under the gallery view options. Because I can’t open anything under list, columns or grid… well, with a standard click. Hoping beta 2 comes along to fix this.

 

[bondr006]

FB Pro here and 18.1 - don't see the problem so it's likely tied to the beta.

Edit: It does seem something is going on as clicking behavior is inconsistent - sometimes not working.

I also have FB Pro with iPadOS 18.2 beta on my M1 iPad Pro with no problems. Only difference is I'm using the Logitech Combo Touch, and all my clicks and gestures are working just fine.

 

[sparksd]

I also have FB Pro with iPadOS 18.2 beta on my M1 iPad Pro with no problems. Only difference is I'm using the Logitech Combo Touch, and all my clicks and gestures are working just fine.

View attachment 2443735

18.1 and using my Logi MX Master 3 is as inconsistent as the MKB.

 

[Ludatyk]

I also have FB Pro with iPadOS 18.2 beta on my M1 iPad Pro with no problems. Only difference is I'm using the Logitech Combo Touch, and all my clicks and gestures are working just fine.

View attachment 2443735

Have you been accepted to Image Creation yet?

But gestures are good with the Magic Keyboard... clicks are the problem (at least with me). And I'm not sure if it started with the beta or the app update... because I did both about the same time.

Edit. And this is why I enjoy using FB app… they just released an update to fix it.

 

[sparksd]

Have you been accepted to Image Creation yet?

But gestures are good with the Magic Keyboard... clicks are the problem (at least with me). And I'm not sure if it started with the beta or the app update... because I did both about the same time.

Edit. And this is why I enjoy using FB app… they just released an update to fix it.

Yeah, the Stratospherix devs are great. I had some back and forth with them a few years back and they were real responsive and helpful.

 

[Infinitewisdom]

I suspect the ideal setup is an iPad and a Mac desktop like a Mac Mini or iMac. Perhaps I’m biased because that’s the setup I have, but I think it adds a backup option for those who are worried they’ll run into something the iPad can’t do, or, if the iPad is down for some reason. And with VNC software, and you can always connect to it with the iPad if you really need the Mac for something so long as you have a wifi connection. 👍🏻 For me, the Mac Mini is purely a secondary device, and I’ve never run into a situation where I needed it vs my iPad. But it’s nice to be able to continue to tinker with macOS. 👍🏻

What do you do for work that allows this setup to be feasible?

 

[Kal Madda]

What do you do for work that allows this setup to be feasible?

I actually have a fairly mixed workflow. I do some things that don’t involve a computer for work as well, but the things I do with computers for my work is predominantly freelance graphic design. I use the Affinity apps, which work great on my iPad, so I do most of my design work and art on my iPad. I also do some 3D modeling/sculpting, and for that I use Nomad Sculpt and Valence on my iPad, and Blender on my Mac. Those are the main things I do for work with my computers, but I do also do paperwork obviously for managing my business, and I do some writing as well for my SubStack. 👍🏻. I also experiment with coding, and for that I use Code App and Swift Playgrounds. For most of these things, I think the iPad is the perfect fit for my workflow. I prefer the tablet form factor, so it’s nice being able to use a tablet for most of my computer work. I still like having access to macOS so I can tinker with it, and do a few other things, so the Mac Mini is a perfect Mac option for me, since my iPad acts as my mobile computer. 👍🏻. And I can also use Affinity and Blender on my Mac Mini when I want to work at a desktop.