iPad as a laptop replacement

[Kal Madda]

My last significant issue remains a desktop class browser.
I live in Europe, so in theory I should be able to use all kind of 3rd party stuff.
As much as I looked for a chromium based browser, I was not able to find one.
Do any of you know about one? Or for that matter any browser not built on webkit?

I don’t, but I also live in the US, and I prefer Safari, so I don’t really know much about any chromium-based iPad browsers.

I’m not sure I’d say that Safari on iPadOS isn’t a desktop-class browser. I have a friend of mine who’s a web developer, and he used to exclusively use Chrome or chromium-based browsers, but now he’s using Safari on iPadOS for his web-development work. 👍🏻

But I do understand some people just prefer Chrome or chromium-based browsers. Not saying anything against anyone’s preferences.

 

[Ludatyk]

Sidecar is really useful…

It’s not about being a monitor, you can use the Pencil to draw/annotate on iPad and it appears on Mac (so if you’re on the Mac and want to sign something, Sidecar is great).

It has all sorts of use cases, well worth exploring.

Ultimately you are using it as a monitor. The option exist to be useful, so... of course it can be helpful in certain cases.

But as @Kal Madda pointed out... i can draw and sign things on the iPad itself. And when I'm done I can drag the file over to the Mac if I need to make final touches on it. I find more value out of Universal Control than Sidecar... but that's just me.

Oh yeah, I’m not saying anything against SideCar, I just don’t have much use for it in my workflow because I use my iPad as my primary computer rather than a Mac.

The iPad is my primary computer as well, it's my essential device... travel with it. I don't have an iPhone... so, it gives me access to Apple Ecosystem on the go.

It serves as a laptop for when I need to edit photos, videos or some documents... I enjoy using it with the Apple Pencil. I tend to throw this word around a lot... but it's true, the versatility is what keeps me attached to the iPad. But I'd be remiss not to say... the Mac has better functionality in terms of apps. I enjoy using Final Cut Pro, Photoshop and it allows me to download YT vids much easier.

That's why I like using both the Mac and iPad in tandem. As the meme goes...

 

[StoneJack]

Ultimately you are using it as a monitor. The option exist to be useful, so... of course it can be helpful in certain cases.

But as @Kal Madda pointed out... i can draw and sign things on the iPad itself. And when I'm done I can drag the file over to the Mac if I need to make final touches on it. I find more value out of Universal Control than Sidecar... but that's just me.


The iPad is my primary computer as well, it's my essential device... travel with it. I don't have an iPhone... so, it gives me access to Apple Ecosystem on the go.

It serves as a laptop for when I need to edit photos, videos or some documents... I enjoy using it with the Apple Pencil. I tend to throw this word around a lot... but it's true, the versatility is what keeps me attached to the iPad. But I'd be remiss not to say... the Mac has better functionality in terms of apps. I enjoy using Final Cut Pro, Photoshop and it allows me to download YT vids much easier.

That's why I like using both the Mac and iPad in tandem. As the meme goes...

View attachment 2465387

ultimately that was Apple's goal

 

[Kal Madda]

ultimately that was Apple's goal

I disagree. Apple has made it very easy to use just an iPad or just a Mac if one wishes. While there are some slight differences in functionality between iPadOS and macOS, they’re increasingly niche. I think the main reason that iPadOS and macOS aren’t fully converged yet is that macOS is built on more legacy code while Apple wants to build iPadOS on a more modern and secure foundation, and that macOS is less secure than iPadOS. I think this also makes sense of why Apple keeps integrating newer iPadOS type security measures into macOS. I think eventually macOS will be more modernized and will fit better into the rest of the Apple ecosystem. I think the app ecosystem will become more unified, and Mac apps may even run natively on visionOS and iPadOS. Both macOS and iPadOS will remain separate platforms with separate optimizations, but I believe they’ll share most of the same features and functionality and app ecosystem.

Already this is mostly true. Mainly the differentiators at this point are more niche edge-cases.

 

[StoneJack]

I disagree. Apple has made it very easy to use just an iPad or just a Mac if one wishes. While there are some slight differences in functionality between iPadOS and macOS, they’re increasingly niche. I think the main reason that iPadOS and macOS aren’t fully converged yet is that macOS is built on more legacy code while Apple wants to build iPadOS on a more modern and secure foundation, and that macOS is less secure than iPadOS. I think this also makes sense of why Apple keeps integrating newer iPadOS type security measures into macOS. I think eventually macOS will be more modernized and will fit better into the rest of the Apple ecosystem. I think the app ecosystem will become more unified, and Mac apps may even run natively on visionOS and iPadOS. Both macOS and iPadOS will remain separate platforms with separate optimizations, but I believe they’ll share most of the same features and functionality and app ecosystem.

Already this is mostly true. Mainly the differentiators at this point are more niche edge-cases

business is to sell a device
business genius is to sell millions of devices
business genius at Earth's most expensive company is to sell almost same devices to a same person repeatedly over the years

 

[Webcat86]

business is to sell a device
business genius is to sell millions of devices
business genius at Earth's most expensive company is to sell almost same devices to a same person repeatedly over the years

Not quite. Genius business is to make products so good that people want to buy them again. This does not work with crappy products, and is precisely why I moved to Apple in the first place.

 

[Kal Madda]

Not quite. Genius business is to make products so good that people want to buy them again. This does not work with crappy products, and is precisely why I moved to Apple in the first place.

Exactly. And besides this, if you try to make that kind of argument that Apple is just selling almost the same product repeatedly, you’d have to say the same about just about every product. Products get newer versions, that’s the way things work. Ford isn’t still selling the Model T, they improved and made a bunch of seemingly “gradual” changes that added up over time to make radical change. There’s nothing “sinister”, “questionable”, or “shady” about creating and selling newer improved versions of products. That’s just the way things work, otherwise our technology would never improve. This isn’t the negative thing he’s implying it to be. It isn’t just a “cash-grab” strategy, it’s the way technology and products improve, in many different product categories…

 

[bondr006]

business genius at Earth's most expensive company is to sell almost same devices to a same person repeatedly over the years

Pffft! As if Samsung isn't. Even Google's high end Pixel is just as expensive as the iPhone. All high end tech companies, including Microsoft are as expensive as hell and make only a hand full of changes in their devices from year to year. Can't pin that on just Apple. Nice try though...😏

iPhone 16 Pro Max 256GB Natural Titanium
$1,199.00

Galaxy S24 Ultra 256GB Titanium Gray
$1,299.99

 

[StoneJack]

Pffft! As if Samsung isn't. Even Google's high end Pixel is just as expensive as the iPhone. All high end tech companies, including Microsoft are as expensive as hell and make only a hand full of changes in their devices from year to year. Can't pin that on just Apple. Nice try though...😏

iPhone 16 Pro Max 256GB Natural Titanium
$1,199.00

Galaxy S24 Ultra 256GB Titanium Gray
$1,299.99

Samsung is not 4 trillion company though

 

[StoneJack]

Not quite. Genius business is to make products so good that people want to buy them again. This does not work with crappy products, and is precisely why I moved to Apple in the first place.

It is not about quality

 

[bondr006]

Samsung is not 4 trillion company though

I guess the point you don’t get is that all tech companies sell for high prices and only upgrade their devices so much from year to year. So what you said applies to all of them.

And it is also about quality. Otherwise Apple wouldn’t be an almost 4 Trillion dollar company.😏

 

[Bungaree.Chubbins]

Samsung is not 4 trillion company though

Samsung isn't a cash-starved startup either.

But, because Apple is wealthy they have an obligation to radically redesign their products frequently? That doesn't make any sense.

 

[Aka757]

Well, I just sold my MacBook with the intention of going iPad only! Although I’m thinking I’ll add a profile on my wife’s MacBook Air in case I ever need it, but planning to use my iPad Pro as my only true laptop / tablet. let’s see how it goes!

 

[Kal Madda]

Samsung isn't a cash-starved startup either.

But, because Apple is wealthy they have an obligation to radically redesign their products frequently? That doesn't make any sense.

Yeah, and change for change’s sake alone doesn’t make much sense. If you’re a company making a high quality successful product, there’s no need to redesign it constantly. If it isn’t broken don’t fix it. Change should be made when it’s actually beneficial and can be done well. 👍🏻

 

[Kal Madda]

Well, I just sold my MacBook with the intention of going iPad only! Although I’m thinking I’ll add a profile on my wife’s MacBook Air in case I ever need it, but planning to use my iPad Pro as my only true laptop / tablet. let’s see how it goes!

Awesome! 👍🏻. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions or want any recommendations/suggestions! 👍🏻

 

[bondr006]

Well, I just sold my MacBook with the intention of going iPad only! Although I’m thinking I’ll add a profile on my wife’s MacBook Air in case I ever need it, but planning to use my iPad Pro as my only true laptop / tablet. let’s see how it goes!

I wish you the best in your endeavor. I love using my iPad Pro as my mobile work device. It is just so flexible. Same as @Kal Madda, let me know if you have any questions. You are in the right place.😊

 

[Outdoormin]

Purchased a iPad Air M2. Looking to purchase a monitor and looking for some advice. Most of my use will be content consumption (YouTube), social media, work (outlook, power bi, one note). I can't decide on ultra wide or 16x9? I'm reading UltraWide is not great for YouTube. Any other comments/thoughts/opinions? Thx

 

[NastyMatt]

Purchased a iPad Air M2. Looking to purchase a monitor and looking for some advice. Most of my use will be content consumption (YouTube), social media, work (outlook, power bi, one note). I can't decide on ultra wide or 16x9? I'm reading UltraWide is not great for YouTube. Any other comments/thoughts/opinions? Thx

I have ultra wide and it is app dependent on whether or not you have black bars at the side. When there aren’t black bars it’s a fantastic experience (21x9 films). Plus, it’s more real estate for multiple apps.

I use mine with my PC too for gaming and (given the choice) will never go back to 16x9.

 

[rletras]

Guys, how ho you use WhatsApp in your iPad? What’s the best way?
I’ve tried through safari and times to times gets logged out. It’s really annoying.

 

[Kal Madda]

Purchased a iPad Air M2. Looking to purchase a monitor and looking for some advice. Most of my use will be content consumption (YouTube), social media, work (outlook, power bi, one note). I can't decide on ultra wide or 16x9? I'm reading UltraWide is not great for YouTube. Any other comments/thoughts/opinions? Thx

I personally like 16x9, but both would work great, at worst you’d just have some empty space to either side for video content on the ultra-wide. If you’re wanting a budget monitor option, I got the LG 27UK500-B (an LG UltraFine 27” 4K Monitor). I got it for about $150 refurbished. It has a 60hz refresh rate, so if a higher refresh rate is important to you, then it may not be the best option, but since the iPad Air’s display is 60hz, I don’t think it should matter for your purposes. Personally, I’ve gamed with my monitor, and the 60hz refresh rate really doesn’t bother me. The image quality is amazing! It processes colors in photos exactly the same as Apple’s displays do. I didn’t even have to adjust any settings on the monitor out of the box to get the color processing I wanted. And it supports 3 inputs: 2 HDMI and 1 DisplayPort. The input source can easily be switched from a little button menu on the monitor just like on a TV monitor, which makes it much easier to switch input source if you want to switch between productivity and gaming on some other device like a console. Overall for $150, I’m very happy with that monitor, and would definitely recommend it. I think even $250 would probably be a good price on it, but I’ve seen other similarly priced refurbished ones. 👍🏻

I hope that helps! 👍🏻

 

[Aka757]

Out of curiosity, do those of you that use an iPad Pro only use the 13 / 12.9 or the 11?

 

[sparksd]

Out of curiosity, do those of you that use an iPad Pro only use the 13 / 12.9 or the 11?

I went 2018 12.9 -> M1 12.9 -> M4 13.

 

[Momof2.1107]

Out of curiosity, do those of you that use an iPad Pro only use the 13 / 12.9 or the 11?

I went from 2017 10.5 to 12.9 M2.

 

[rletras]

Air 11 here. The perfect size for a tablet, and while on a desk, the monitor is more important

 

[bondr006]

Out of curiosity, do those of you that use an iPad Pro only use the 13 / 12.9 or the 11?

I have been using my M1 iPad Pro 11 as my laptop replacement since November 2021. Even works well as a desktop computer when attached to an external monitor, keyboard, and pointing device.