iPad as a laptop replacement

[Tibits]

the likes of Office for iPad is atrocious. More like they checked a box to say it’s on iPad… without caring to make it any better than the phone versions. It’s great for phones. It’s limited for the likes of our iPads by 2025 standards. I can’t see them fixing it, though I wish they would..

i’ve been using an iPad Pro as a laptop replacement for almost 5 years now, however, this is one of my two main complaints I wish would be improved. I still heavily use Microsoft Office and honestly often go back to the desktop in my office if I need to heavily edit an Excel or Word file. The iPad version good for reading documents are making simple edits and that’s about it.

The other thing is file management. The iPad simply does not have robust file management capabilities and if I did not have an iMac available to me, this might be a nonstarter. It’s good for reading documents are making simple edits and that’s about it.

The other thing is file management. The iPad OS simply does not have robust file management capabilities and if I did not have an iMac available to me, this might be a nonstarter.

Otherwise, the iPad has been fantastic with the pros out weighing the cons and I have never thought about picking up a laptop.

 

[Kal Madda]

i’ve been using an iPad Pro as a laptop replacement for almost 5 years now, however, this is one of my two main complaints I wish would be improved. I still heavily use Microsoft Office and honestly often go back to the desktop in my office if I need to heavily edit an Excel or Word file. The iPad version good for reading documents are making simple edits and that’s about it.

The other thing is file management. The iPad simply does not have robust file management capabilities and if I did not have an iMac available to me, this might be a nonstarter. It’s good for reading documents are making simple edits and that’s about it.

The other thing is file management. The iPad OS simply does not have robust file management capabilities and if I did not have an iMac available to me, this might be a nonstarter.

Otherwise, the iPad has been fantastic with the pros out weighing the cons and I have never thought about picking up a laptop.

Yeah, I’m lucky to have been able to switch to Apple Pages and iWork with minimal friction. 👍🏻. Hopefully Microsoft can be forced to get their act together as Google catches up with them in the Office space. I read that Google is actually making steady progress moving workspaces from MS Office to the Google Work suite, with steady growth each year. So hopefully that continues! 👍🏻

Out of curiosity, have you tried the updates for Files in iPadOS 26 yet? I honestly don’t understand the difference with file management between iPadOS and macOS, to me, Files and Finder seem basically identical? Not at all trying to come off as dismissing your experience or anything, quite the opposite, I’m genuinely curious about what you see as the biggest differences with file management between Files and Finder. 👍🏻

I’m glad that the iPad is working great for you as well, I’ve been using the iPad as my primary computer for about the same time period as well! 👍🏻

 

[NastyMatt]

Yeah, I’m lucky to have been able to switch to Apple Pages and iWork with minimal friction. 👍🏻. Hopefully Microsoft can be forced to get their act together as Google catches up with them in the Office space. I read that Google is actually making steady progress moving workspaces from MS Office to the Google Work suite, with steady growth each year. So hopefully that continues! 👍🏻

Out of curiosity, have you tried the updates for Files in iPadOS 26 yet? I honestly don’t understand the difference with file management between iPadOS and macOS, to me, Files and Finder seem basically identical? Not at all trying to come off as dismissing your experience or anything, quite the opposite, I’m genuinely curious about what you see as the biggest differences with file management between Files and Finder. 👍🏻

I’m glad that the iPad is working great for you as well, I’ve been using the iPad as my primary computer for about the same time period as well! 👍🏻

I tend to use Office and Workspace in the browser. The issue there is the browser version of Office is poor too! Both on Windows and Mac. I much prefer Workspace (which does actually work on Windows and Mac in a browser) but am limited by what I have to use i.e. my employer is MS apps.

I have the apps installed on my laptop for a “quick and easy update” and then use the browser for more detailed work.

Don’t get me wrong, I think there should be fully featured versions of both Office and a browser on the iPad which would make it a better experience. And don’t even get me started on Sharepoint and OneDrive integration in Office!!!!

 

[Tibits]

Out of curiosity, have you tried the updates for Files in iPadOS 26 yet? I honestly don’t understand the difference with file management between iPadOS and macOS, to me, Files and Finder seem basically identical? Not at all trying to come off as dismissing your experience or anything, quite the opposite, I’m genuinely curious about what you see as the biggest differences with file management between Files and Finder. 👍🏻

Yes, I am running iOS 26 on my iPad. Files on 26 is definitely a step in the right direction with showing nested folders, additional options (e.g. Date Created) to sort by, etc. However, it is still not on par with Finder via Mac OS for my use cases for my work. At times, I need the multiple windows and advanced search functions available via Mac OS Finder. Some of it may be adjusting my work flow and it is certainly easier to work around things on the iPad than it was. I’m hopeful file management on the iPad will continue to evolve and improve.

 

[Kal Madda]

Yes, I am running iOS 26 on my iPad. Files on 26 is definitely a step in the right direction with showing nested folders, additional options (e.g. Date Created) to sort by, etc. However, it is still not on par with Finder via Mac OS for my use cases for my work. At times, I need the multiple windows and advanced search functions available via Mac OS Finder. Some of it may be adjusting my work flow and it is certainly easier to work around things on the iPad than it was. I’m hopeful file management on the iPad will continue to evolve and improve.

Ok, that makes sense. I don’t know if you’re aware of this or not, but Files supports multiple app windows on iPadOS. To create a new additional window, you can right click (two finger tap) or hold-press on the Files icon and in the context menu is an option labeled “New Window”, just like on macOS. And you can also create a new window of Files from the Menu Bar under the “Window” option, and “New Window”. I hope that’s helpful. 👍🏻.

Also, I know Files has a built-in search function, but I guess there’s additional search features in Finder on macOS? I’ll have to look into that. 👍🏻

Thanks for sharing, I appreciate your perspective. 👍🏻

 

[Kal Madda]

I tend to use Office and Workspace in the browser. The issue there is the browser version of Office is poor too! Both on Windows and Mac. I much prefer Workspace (which does actually work on Windows and Mac in a browser) but am limited by what I have to use i.e. my employer is MS apps.

I have the apps installed on my laptop for a “quick and easy update” and then use the browser for more detailed work.

Don’t get me wrong, I think there should be fully featured versions of both Office and a browser on the iPad which would make it a better experience. And don’t even get me started on Sharepoint and OneDrive integration in Office!!!!

Absolutely. It’s so ridiculous that we get such a kneecapped version of Office even with the web app logged in with a MS 365 account. There’s just not really a reason for it except Microsoft trying to force platform lock-in on Windows. If they truly just cared about providing a good software experience to users who pay for MS 365 regardless of the platform they’re on, they wouldn’t artificially limit even the web app, which at the very least should be at feature parity with the Windows version. Google web apps work just as well on iPadOS as on ChromeOS, they aren’t artificially feature-limited to force people to use Google’s platform… Apple Pages has all or nearly all of the same features on the Windows version as on the Mac version as far as I’m aware. If the gaps in feature-set were much smaller and less artificially created, then that would be one thing, but Windows is purposefully limiting their Office software on any platform other than Windows. And feature gaps would also be more understandable if you got a discounted rate for using the less functional iPad version of MS Office, and weren’t paying full MS 365 rates in order to access it… And what really adds insult to injury here is it’s literally just a bigger version of the free phone version of Office. So they’re taking a free product and repackaging it to sell at full MS 365 price based on their arbitrary whim if your screen is above an arbitrary size… 🤦🏼‍♂️. If it’s going to be so feature limited, they should just make it free like the phone version. If you aren’t going to get any closer to full functionality with the tablet version vs the phone version, then it makes zero sense to charge full price for something that’s free if your screen is below a certain arbitrary size threshold… Hopefully they’re forced to change.

 

[Mainsail]

Absolutely. It’s so ridiculous that we get such a kneecapped version of Office even with the web app logged in with a MS 365 account. There’s just not really a reason for it except Microsoft trying to force platform lock-in on Windows. If they truly just cared about providing a good software experience to users who pay for MS 365 regardless of the platform they’re on, they wouldn’t artificially limit even the web app, which at the very least should be at feature parity with the Windows version. Google web apps work just as well on iPadOS as on ChromeOS, they aren’t artificially feature-limited to force people to use Google’s platform… Apple Pages has all or nearly all of the same features on the Windows version as on the Mac version as far as I’m aware. If the gaps in feature-set were much smaller and less artificially created, then that would be one thing, but Windows is purposefully limiting their Office software on any platform other than Windows. And feature gaps would also be more understandable if you got a discounted rate for using the less functional iPad version of MS Office, and weren’t paying full MS 365 rates in order to access it… And what really adds insult to injury here is it’s literally just a bigger version of the free phone version of Office. So they’re taking a free product and repackaging it to sell at full MS 365 price based on their arbitrary whim if your screen is above an arbitrary size… 🤦🏼‍♂️. If it’s going to be so feature limited, they should just make it free like the phone version. If you aren’t going to get any closer to full functionality with the tablet version vs the phone version, then it makes zero sense to charge full price for something that’s free if your screen is below a certain arbitrary size threshold… Hopefully they’re forced to change.

I don't think there is a native Windows version of Pages, or any of the iWork Apps for that matter.

 

[hovscorpion12]

The whole "Kneecapped version of MS office" is NOT on Apple/nor is it Apple responsibility. It is Microsoft's responsibility to be held accountable.

 

[Kal Madda]

I don't think there is a native Windows version of Pages, or any of the iWork Apps for that matter.

Yes, they are web apps, but I wouldn’t be as upset if Microsoft provided us with a not severely gimped web version at the very least, when we’re paying for MS 365. Apple’s iWork suite is completely free. So if support isn’t as good on one platform as another, it isn’t really the same, because nobody’s paying the same price for dramatically less. It’s the same with Google’s Work suite. Microsoft is charging customers the same for a seriously gimped version that is just as limited as the FREE version they deem fit to not charge for on phones, yet they are charging people the exact same price as Windows users for this version that is extremely limited, just to access a “free” app on a device with a screen size above an arbitrary threshold, which just goes to highlight just how arbitrary and artificial these limitations and this kneecapping is…

 

[Kal Madda]

The whole "Kneecapped version of MS office" is NOT on Apple/nor is it Apple responsibility. It is Microsoft's responsibility to be held accountable.

Absolutely, 100% 👍🏻

 

[Kal Madda]

If Microsoft actually cared about paying MS 365 customers on other platforms like iPadOS, they would at least throw us a bone here and there. Like, extremely basic and simple features, like being able to insert images into a document from Files, or even OneDrive for pity’s sake, or the ability to precisely center/align page elements like banners, images, whatnot. Custom document templates. I mean, there’s so many basic features that they refuse to give us, even though we request them repeatedly in the feedback forums for years, with many requests with many votes… Somehow, inexplicably, the stupid gimped web version of Word is able to figure out that I may want to insert an image from OneDrive or Files, yet the native version doesn’t provide that functionality. What a ridiculous mess. And this is all because Microsoft wants to penalize customers for choosing a different platform than theirs…

If they’re going to insist on gimping their Office apps this way on platforms like iPadOS and Android (even macOS to be honest), then they should just make it free, or at least cheaper than the full versions.

iPads and even budget Android tablets have the hardware to run the full Office apps, and have had the hardware to do so for many years now. The only reason they don’t is because Microsoft doesn’t want to do it, as it would compete with their Surface Pro, and cease to function as a platform lock-in for Windows… So they give us artificially crippled crap for the exact same price as the full versions, and then they expect us to just put up with it.

Hopefully they will have to change this behavior as the competitors catch up.

But yeah, this is not Apple’s fault, this is 100% the result of Microsoft’s anti-customer tactics and artificial gimping of their own software on other platforms…

 

[Beanoir]

It’s not true to say that it isn’t Apple’s fault, actually.

Excel should’t be compared to Google Sheets or Apple Numbers, as it’s a far more powerful and complex tool and many of the features that Excel has are simply not able to integrate with the ipadOS due to the environment that Apple insists all third party apps must run within. VBA scripting, Power Query, external data connections, COM add-ins, and advanced pivot tools aren’t possible. So a full version of Excel can’t be developed and made available on an iPad, even if MS wanted it to be. Excel also doesn’t translate very well to a touch screen device, and whilst keyboards and mice are available, most iPad users are using the screen only.

That’s not to say I’m not frustrated too, but the limitations are not the fault of MS.

 

[Bungaree.Chubbins]

It’s not true to say that it isn’t Apple’s fault, actually.

Excel should’t be compared to Google Sheets or Apple Numbers, as it’s a far more powerful and complex tool and many of the features that Excel has are simply not able to integrate with the ipadOS due to the environment that Apple insists all third party apps must run within. VBA scripting, Power Query, external data connections, COM add-ins, and advanced pivot tools aren’t possible. So a full version of Excel can’t be developed and made available on an iPad, even if MS wanted it to be. Excel also doesn’t translate very well to a touch screen device, and whilst keyboards and mice are available, most iPad users are using the screen only.

That’s not to say I’m not frustrated too, but the limitations are not the fault of MS.

That might be true of some of the more advanced features, but Microsoft stops a LONG way short of the limitations of the iPad. They could get a lot closer if they chose to.

 

[Kal Madda]

It’s not true to say that it isn’t Apple’s fault, actually.

Excel should’t be compared to Google Sheets or Apple Numbers, as it’s a far more powerful and complex tool and many of the features that Excel has are simply not able to integrate with the iPadOS due to the environment that Apple insists all third party apps must run within. VBA scripting, Power Query, external data connections, COM add-ins, and advanced pivot tools aren’t possible. So a full version of Excel can’t be developed and made available on an iPad, even if MS wanted it to be. Excel also doesn’t translate very well to a touch screen device, and whilst keyboards and mice are available, most iPad users are using the screen only.

That’s not to say I’m not frustrated too, but the limitations are not the fault of MS.

They absolutely ARE the fault of Microsoft. Even if we were to assume your premise, and assume that iPadOS is limiting them so much (which I’ve seen developers/coders say ISN’T the case), there is obviously nothing preventing Microsoft from supporting basic features like custom document templates, inserting images into documents from OneDrive or Files, precise alignment tools for page items like images, more file export support, etc… These are all present in other apps on iPadOS, and in many cases, even other Microsoft apps on iPadOS! For example, OneNote has options for inserting images from Files and OneDrive. So no, at the very least, the majority of these basic features that are missing from MS Office apps on iPadOS are 100% Microsoft’s fault…

Also, if Microsoft couldn’t deliver more full-fledged apps due to limitations of iPadOS, then I’m sure they would be telling people so and blame-shifting on Apple in the feedback forums like many other software companies lie when they simply don’t want to deliver some feature, and so blame Apple. But they don’t, they’re actually pretty open about the fact that they want to keep the iPad and Android versions of the apps a “light, primarily document viewing” experience… They aren’t like “man, I wish we could do that, but Apple just won’t let us with iPadOS”, or any of the similar such drivel that some of these developers use as an excuse (because, yes, much of the time, it is only a lie and an excuse, because these features are completely possible to implement on iPadOS within apps)…

Also, if their goal weren’t to push for Windows and Surface Pro lock-in, then the web versions could be far more full-featured and capable. There is zero reason the web versions would be so hobbled if this were just about iPadOS and not Microsoft’s very intentional and anti-customer strategy to push Windows lock-in, and try to artificially prevent other tablets from competing with their Surface crap…

This is 100% on Microsoft and nobody else. Period.

 

[Beanoir]

They absolutely ARE the fault of Microsoft. Even if we were to assume your premise, and assume that iPadOS is limiting them so much (which I’ve seen developers/coders say ISN’T the case), there is obviously nothing preventing Microsoft from supporting basic features like custom document templates, inserting images into documents from OneDrive or Files, precise alignment tools for page items like images, more file export support, etc… These are all present in other apps on iPadOS, and in many cases, even other Microsoft apps on iPadOS! For example, OneNote has options for inserting images from Files and OneDrive. So no, at the very least, the majority of these basic features that are missing from MS Office apps on iPadOS are 100% Microsoft’s fault…

Also, if Microsoft couldn’t deliver more full-fledged apps due to limitations of iPadOS, then I’m sure they would be telling people so and blame-shifting on Apple in the feedback forums like many other software companies lie when they simply don’t want to deliver some feature, and so blame Apple. But they don’t, they’re actually pretty open about the fact that they want to keep the iPad and Android versions of the apps a “light, primarily document viewing” experience… They aren’t like “man, I wish we could do that, but Apple just won’t let us with iPadOS”, or any of the similar such drivel that some of these developers use as an excuse (because, yes, much of the time, it is only a lie and an excuse, because these features are completely possible to implement on iPadOS within apps)…

Also, if their goal weren’t to push for Windows and Surface Pro lock-in, then the web versions could be far more full-featured and capable. There is zero reason the web versions would be so hobbled if this were just about iPadOS and not Microsoft’s very intentional and anti-customer strategy to push Windows lock-in, and try to artificially prevent other tablets from competing with their Surface crap…

This is 100% on Microsoft and nobody else. Period.

My ‘premise’ is actually based on fact.

Go and find a decent developer who understands the architecture involved and the challenges and ask them to explain to you.

Even if MS wanted to, it can’t. But hey, I don’t disagree with their appetite to develop for an Apple environment, why should they? In the same way Adobe don’t develop fully fledged all singing and all dancing versions of their apps for iPadOS..

The current iPadOS version of Excel is not actually Excel, it’s a completely different programme built for a Darwin based platform and restricted ARM64 environment. Not to mention a restricted filesystem (sandboxed environment), prohibited automation, etc etc.

The foundations (building blocks) and fundamental way that Excel works and functions is not something that can be ported. It would have to be rebuilt from scratch and even then, many of the Excel functions would still not be possible, architecturally impossible in fact.

If you understand, then you’ll understand. If you don’t that’s fine but don’t call me out if you don’t.

 

[Kal Madda]

My ‘premise’ is actually based on fact.

Go and find a decent developer who understands the architecture involved and the challenges and ask them to explain to you.

Even if MS wanted to, it can’t. But hey, I don’t disagree with their appetite to develop for an Apple environment, why should they? In the same way Adobe don’t develop fully fledged all singing and all dancing versions of their apps for iPadOS..

The current iPadOS version of Excel is not actually Excel, it’s a completely different programme built for a Darwin based platform and restricted ARM64 environment. Not to mention a restricted filesystem (sandboxed environment), prohibited automation, etc etc.

The foundations (building blocks) and fundamental way that Excel works and functions is not something that can be ported. It would have to be rebuilt from scratch and even then, many of the Excel functions would still not be possible, architecturally impossible in fact.

If you understand, then you’ll understand. If you don’t that’s fine but don’t call me out if you don’t.

I know several “decent developers”, and they disagree with you…

The fact of the matter is, Microsoft doesn’t deliver better Office apps because they don’t want to. I demonstrated several basic features they absolutely could implement if they actually cared about full support, or as close to full support as possible. But they clearly and obviously don’t. And when asked why they don’t deliver a fully functional Office suite for a platforms like iPadOS and Android, they are even fairly open about their strategy of keeping these apps a restricted and “light” experience primarily as a companion to a Windows PC… They don’t ever claim they can’t provide either the full suite, or much closer to it due to iPadOS.

Also, the “it’s iPadOS’s fault” claim doesn’t hold up, because the Android versions are also essentially the same, and just as kneecapped… If this were truly just due to a limitation in the OS, and not Microsoft’s very obvious and intentional strategy to prevent other tablets from having the “full Office experience” (which would pose a big threat to the Surface Pro if other tablets were closer), then we would expect to see Office on Android far closer to desktop level than the iPad version, because it isn’t as “sandboxed” or “restricted”, right? WRONG… Exact same artificial limitations… So no, it is not due to iPadOS limitations…

Also, the web versions are similarly hobbled, with nearly all the same exact limitations/restrictions. Hugh, what a coincidence… 🤔.

It is immediately obvious that Microsoft is artificially limiting and restricting these apps in order to try to secure Windows and Surface Pro lock-in…

And again, assuming your premise, there is absolutely zero reason they couldn’t push them FAR closer than they are currently. Even basics I’ve already talked about like inserting images from OneDrive or Files. Precisely positioning page elements. Custom document templates. These are just a few incredibly basic features that competing Word processors already possess on the iPad, so don’t give me that “this is iPadOS’s fault” nonsense... These are basics…

Also, this weak-sauce “it’s iPad’s fault” argument doesn’t do anything to address the very obvious and very anti-customer issue of charging people the EXACT SAME PRICE for these gimped versions vs the Windows versions… Even assuming that they were running into legitimate technical barriers (they aren’t, that’s a complete load of rubbish), if they actually cared about customers on other platforms, they would not be charging us the same price to access these apps. At least make it cheaper. Give us a discount if we’re not using your lousy Windows platform, and instead are forced to use your lousy, gimped apps… Or, give it to us for free, since you already do that on phones. Don’t charge us the exact same rates for these neutered apps…

The fact of the matter is, this is ENTIRELY Microsoft’s fault, because even if there were supposed “technical barriers” (there really aren’t, at least not for 99.99% of Office features), then they could always choose to, I don’t know, give us a discount… 🙄🤦🏼‍♂️.

And there is zero reason the web versions have to be as limited as they are either. Even if you were arguing that there’s “OS limitations” involved here, that doesn’t really apply to the web versions. The web versions could be Windows feature level if they wanted to, since they’re running on servers and such…