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iPad as a laptop replacement
- Thread starter Omar Comin' Yo
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So, the title of the thread is “iPad as a Laptop replacement”. If I replace my laptop with, for example, an iMac + iPad combo, does that count? In other words, let’s say I need a substantial workstation in the office, but when mobile I need a portable solution using a mobile operating system with simple productivity apps, e.g.: Mail, iMessage, Notes, Calendar, and iWork. Hasn’t the iPad made it possible for me to dump my laptop?
Laptops are a pain. They are very expensive. Apple care is pricey. They are difficult to make.....you have to stuff all of the desktop hardware and peripherals in a compact package. They are prone to failure and/or damage. If your mobile computing needs are relatively simple, it seems like an iPad is a better bet
Laptops are a pain. They are very expensive. Apple care is pricey. They are difficult to make.....you have to stuff all of the desktop hardware and peripherals in a compact package. They are prone to failure and/or damage. If your mobile computing needs are relatively simple, it seems like an iPad is a better bet
Honestly, it’s just the software that’s holding the iPad back. The new iPad will have an A12X processor which I’m guessing will be multiple times faster compared to Macs in the 2000s and yet Macs back then could run pro software.
iOS on iPad still feels like a blown up smartphone experience, it needs pro apps which fortunately is looking like it’s going to get with Photoshop next year, but iOS itself needs to be more advanced for it. Some have pointed out how even Safari doesn’t feel like it does on the Mac by still running mobile versions of webpages. We won’t be seeing any real changes until iOS 13, we already have plenty of hardware we just have to wait for Apple’s software team to get their act together.
iOS on iPad still feels like a blown up smartphone experience, it needs pro apps which fortunately is looking like it’s going to get with Photoshop next year, but iOS itself needs to be more advanced for it. Some have pointed out how even Safari doesn’t feel like it does on the Mac by still running mobile versions of webpages. We won’t be seeing any real changes until iOS 13, we already have plenty of hardware we just have to wait for Apple’s software team to get their act together.
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Try pricing up an iPad Pro with a keyboard case and Apple pencil and come back to me with your estimate here
One can easily pick up a refurb MBA or previous gen Macbook Pro for a cheaper price.
It definitely depends on the preference. For me the iPad is a pain to use even for those simple tasks. Like it's easier for me to answer an email using bigger physical keyboard than on scree keyboard. Same for stuff like iWork. The Notes app is not even worth it. That thing crashes every few days and I have to restart my iPad. It's easier to just not use it at all. Like I said for taking handwritten notes(just not with the Apple's app) it's so worth it. For any brainstorming sessions (personal or work) I use the pencil and write/draw stuff on it. For doing anything artistic related (when you have the pencil and the talent) it's worth it. It also depends on how long you will be outside(mobile) and for what purposes. I for example could take vacation and visit my parents, but still need the computing power to do coding because I use my vacation time to actually catch up on some new technologies.
One thing I forgot to mention in my previous post is the lack of port for SD card. I use SD cards to transfer photos/videos from my camera to my computer. I also use SD cards to transfer music to my phone. I prefer the media to be on separate place when it comes to storage both for phones and computers. This type of media does not require fast storage for me and I do not want take up the storage for the apps/software I want to install that does require faster storage. The fact that I can't do that with iPad it's another restriction for me.
However I do see your point. If you use the laptop only outside (so when mobile) and only for those kind of things then yes it could work out.
To be honest the combination of 12.9 iPad Pro, apple pencil and keyboard is not cheaper than the money I paid for my laptop. Now granted my laptop is not MacBook (I am not willing to pay that much when I can get better hardware for less money) and my laptop for sure can do much more than the iPad. But then again I wear glasses and I need bigger screen whenever possible. I can use bigger monitor with the laptop quite easy, I can't with the iPad. I have SSD and HDD on my laptop and I can store all of my media on HDD and then store everything that matters on the SSD. I can expand the ram on my laptop up to 32 GB, something I can't do with my iPad. I can swap my SSD with another one, the moment I decide to do so. What is even better is that I can just remove this SSD and use it as external storage for another computer just to transfer my data in case the laptop is not working.
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I think my mobile computing needs are just very simple; email, messaging, notes, iWork (drafts and outlines), Goodreader (markups and annotations), calendaring, etc.. I have never had a problem with the notes app, and I use it all of the time with inserted photos, sketches and scans. I save the heavy lifting for the desktop at home.....but, the desktop is used for less than 1/4 of my computing.
I have a base 2017 iPad ($300). I purchased a Logitech keyboard case ($80 on sale) and a fine point stylus ($30). But, I stopped using them because I improved on the virtual keyboard, and I don’t like anything getting between me and the touch experience. Now, I just put the iPad in an inexpensive $15 Walmart case and use the tablet like god and Steve Jobs intended......at a price of about $315. Yesterday, I created a beautiful one page “Apartment for Rent” Flyer at the local coffee shop using just the iPad and a predefined template in Pages. It was mind numbingly easy to do....took me less than an hour.
I understand that others may have more complex tasks when away from their office/desktop computer, so an iPad might not fit......or they need to purchase an iPad Pro model, which can get pricey when you add ASK and Pencil. My approach might not be possible for some people, but I prefer to keep things simple when mobile. I don’t attempt tasks that are difficult to do on an iPad. Since iOS 11, tasks on the iPad have become much easier for me, and the space bar trackpad in iOS 12 has made the virtual keyboard much more useable. Of course, YMMV.
I have a base 2017 iPad ($300). I purchased a Logitech keyboard case ($80 on sale) and a fine point stylus ($30). But, I stopped using them because I improved on the virtual keyboard, and I don’t like anything getting between me and the touch experience. Now, I just put the iPad in an inexpensive $15 Walmart case and use the tablet like god and Steve Jobs intended......at a price of about $315. Yesterday, I created a beautiful one page “Apartment for Rent” Flyer at the local coffee shop using just the iPad and a predefined template in Pages. It was mind numbingly easy to do....took me less than an hour.
I understand that others may have more complex tasks when away from their office/desktop computer, so an iPad might not fit......or they need to purchase an iPad Pro model, which can get pricey when you add ASK and Pencil. My approach might not be possible for some people, but I prefer to keep things simple when mobile. I don’t attempt tasks that are difficult to do on an iPad. Since iOS 11, tasks on the iPad have become much easier for me, and the space bar trackpad in iOS 12 has made the virtual keyboard much more useable. Of course, YMMV.
Man I wish the Notes app was working for me the way it works for you. It just does not. It crashes so much. I read that this is some known bug in iOS 11/12 and I guess I am affected. It does annoy me though because only restart helps and if I restart I need to pair the pencil again and it's just a hassle I want to avoid. Maybe it's related to the Apple Pencil usage (I assume you don't have one as you have the 2017 model).
Good point that it depends on how much you enjoy the virtual keyboard experience! I don't. I type really really really fast using physical keyboard. And no virtual keyboard can measure up to my speed using a physical one. Anything less feels slow. However the iPad I have (2018 model) cannot even measure to my typing speed. The cursors moves slower than what I do and that for me is a reason to not see the iPad as a replacement. I just can't. The iPad cannot even visualize properly what I type using the Bluetooth keyboard. I talk really fast and I type really fast. Otherwise I forget my thoughts so being restricted by virtual keyboard is definitely annoyance to me.
I am not a good person to judge on that as I am new to the iOS experience as a whole. I spent only a day or two on iOS 11 and then iPad got updated to iOS 12. There are neat multi tasking features that definitely improve my user experience. I agree with this, but honestly no matter what I do I use at least 3/4 apps in the same time. I need browser to do research (which does include a lot of open tabs), I skype with friends and then I use the main app to actually do my work. And of course I listen to music while doing all of that. That's how I am on a desktop machine, ipad, phone, laptop. I guess that's my usual workflow and I can't escape it
.So to get a MacBook Pro - it will be way more money than my iPad Pros.... I do have a 2015 12.9”. I can’t wait to upgrade to the 2018!!!
My setup will be 2 12.9” iPP, I have a Logitech keyboard, it can have up to 3 devices on it at a time.... I do have a dongle for my monitor, but I need to get it replaced, it quit working. I am going to try something I saw on Amazon that is a lot cheaper for connecting it up. I have a pencil, may need to get the new pencil. I also have a My Passport Wireless Pro - it has a slot for a SD card.
I use it for email, browsing the web (multiple tabs open), Affinity Photo (ie photoshop stuff), Affinity Designer, etc
My thought on 2 iPPs - I will use my old one for email and browsing the web, I can also do that on the new one - will be like duel monitors. I would have to get another monitor if I use them as duel monitors for real, gave my 2nd monitor to my son with my old desktop. When I am designing, I can use the old one for looking at my files in a file browser while designing on the new one.
I cannot get enough out of my 2015 iPP to make it worth it. I don’t know of any of my family members that might want it. So I thought, why not use it too??? I could easily do everything with one, is what I have been doing for over a month now.... I AM a power user - I spend a lot of time on my computer (now iPad) each day. Some of it has been very awkward. I had an iMac for about a week (it had some issues), it actually helped, because I learned some keyboard shortcuts, which I now use on my Logitech keyboard. I will not get an ASK, I played with one the other day and did not like the feel of the keyboard.
I don’t know if I would travel with this keyboard, it is small but a bit bulky. This past weekend, I took my iPP with me to my son’s wedding. I was able to do everything I needed without the keyboard. But I would not want to do it for very long, email has gotten so much easier using the keyboard, rather than pencil or touch. Too easy to delete more than one emails at a time (trash can).
Yes, some things are slower on the iPP. Some of this is retraining how I do things. I am also coming from Windows. I have had iPads for several years, but did not use them much. iPad Air 2 - bought for homeschooling, iPP was because of the pencil - love using it for drawing etc.
As for having to use mobile versions of sites, I mostly use Chrome - you can select desktop version of the site.
My setup will be 2 12.9” iPP, I have a Logitech keyboard, it can have up to 3 devices on it at a time.... I do have a dongle for my monitor, but I need to get it replaced, it quit working. I am going to try something I saw on Amazon that is a lot cheaper for connecting it up. I have a pencil, may need to get the new pencil. I also have a My Passport Wireless Pro - it has a slot for a SD card.
I use it for email, browsing the web (multiple tabs open), Affinity Photo (ie photoshop stuff), Affinity Designer, etc
My thought on 2 iPPs - I will use my old one for email and browsing the web, I can also do that on the new one - will be like duel monitors. I would have to get another monitor if I use them as duel monitors for real, gave my 2nd monitor to my son with my old desktop. When I am designing, I can use the old one for looking at my files in a file browser while designing on the new one.
I cannot get enough out of my 2015 iPP to make it worth it. I don’t know of any of my family members that might want it. So I thought, why not use it too??? I could easily do everything with one, is what I have been doing for over a month now.... I AM a power user - I spend a lot of time on my computer (now iPad) each day. Some of it has been very awkward. I had an iMac for about a week (it had some issues), it actually helped, because I learned some keyboard shortcuts, which I now use on my Logitech keyboard. I will not get an ASK, I played with one the other day and did not like the feel of the keyboard.
I don’t know if I would travel with this keyboard, it is small but a bit bulky. This past weekend, I took my iPP with me to my son’s wedding. I was able to do everything I needed without the keyboard. But I would not want to do it for very long, email has gotten so much easier using the keyboard, rather than pencil or touch. Too easy to delete more than one emails at a time (trash can).
Yes, some things are slower on the iPP. Some of this is retraining how I do things. I am also coming from Windows. I have had iPads for several years, but did not use them much. iPad Air 2 - bought for homeschooling, iPP was because of the pencil - love using it for drawing etc.
As for having to use mobile versions of sites, I mostly use Chrome - you can select desktop version of the site.
I think the iPad is not there yet as a complete desktop replacement but it's slowly getting there.
A couple of years ago only people who used microsoft office type applications could consider making a switch without too much to sacrifice.
Nowadays though things are changing for the creative types as well. There are some really good applications for the iPad but of course we still have room to go. But I'm very optimistic about it.
Just recently I finished up a video about that very topic. On this one I'm targeting 3D work but I'm planning to cover other creative uses in future videos. Granted 3D is probably one of the most demanding things to do, so we're not there yet but slowly we'll get there.
A couple of years ago only people who used microsoft office type applications could consider making a switch without too much to sacrifice.
Nowadays though things are changing for the creative types as well. There are some really good applications for the iPad but of course we still have room to go. But I'm very optimistic about it.
Just recently I finished up a video about that very topic. On this one I'm targeting 3D work but I'm planning to cover other creative uses in future videos. Granted 3D is probably one of the most demanding things to do, so we're not there yet but slowly we'll get there.
So, I found one area where my iPad workflows can fall off a cliff: when I am not connected to a network. Apps like Ulysses and Scrivener I can sync before leaving, so that is not a problem. However, Word has a problem. I can tag Dropbox and Onedrive to store a file locally, but the best I can do is use the Open In function to copy it to Word. Onedrive is even worse and when I tell it to open the file in Word it complains about not having a network connection.
The Files app at least lets me download Pages documents, but I miss the days when opening Pages would sync all the Pages documents from iCloud.
The Files app at least lets me download Pages documents, but I miss the days when opening Pages would sync all the Pages documents from iCloud.
The assumption of consistent internet connection is a barrier to my productivity as well. The simple basic solution would be to let select folders sync to the iPad automatically. Not sure why that isn’t a given in the Files app at least. Even better would be to let it sync directly from my other devices over my home WiFi network, no internet or cloud subscription storage needed. But then where’s the ongoing monthly profit in that...
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For me a lot of the problem will go away next year when I finish grad school. My reliance on Word will drop off at that point and I can live in Pages/iCloud. I do hope iOS 13 allows local copies of iCloud Drive though.
Built-in local syncing over WebDAV and SMB would be great. But I'm also not holding my breath.
I "fake" this using local file shares and Readdle's PDF Expert.
What do you mean by local file shares? Is it automatic?
I use the Documents app for syncing some of my Dropbox folders on my iPad, but the problem is it’s not automatic.
I misspoke. I meant LAN shares. Documents (I think) and PDF Expert can connect to a variety of network shares. They also have a sync folders/directories option. I use PDF Expert to send and receive files on my NAS to my iOS devices.
It's about as "automatic" as it can get for a third-party app on iOS.
Right, the third party app has to be opened for it to sync. Not the ideal “set it and forget it” solution I want. Probably the only way is if Apple built it into the Files app, but that will probably not happen.
I can easily see them putting in an "Optimize iCloud Storage" and let you keep a local copy of the iCloud Drive if you have enough space.
That already exists. If you have a Mac you can turn on a setting in the Sharing section and it will act as a local cache for iCloud documents, app downloads, etc. I can remember the name of it right now.
The point is, though, that relies on Apple's cloud storage. Some of us want a more seamless syncing solution with our own storage (local or cloud).
Ok, since it was the iPad thread, I thought I was being obvious that was referring to the iPad instead of macOS.
Definitely! Thanks for sharing!
Indeed when I read the title of this thread I think about whether my iPad (9.7 inch) could replace my laptop (15.6). And the answer for that is No as my laptop is 15.6 inch Windows machine, has better I/O (ports) and a lot more storage and on top of it fast storage.
I do have to agree that if you compare the 12.9 inch iPad to 12/13.3 inch laptops the situation is different. At least form factor goes away. The thing that remains is the software selection anyone of one of us is using. If you could have all the apps you want (or equivalent of them) on this 12.9 inch iPad then it might replace the 12/13.3 inch laptop.
Indeed I wonder about Apple's strategy on those lines of products. I fear that they might restrict the USB-C port with software just so that people would still buy both products.
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Try pricing up an iPad Pro with a keyboard case and Apple pencil and come back to me with your estimate here
One can easily pick up a refurb MBA or previous gen Macbook Pro for a cheaper price.
I bought all three of those last year for way less than a mbp and mb. The mb air is a no go and should even exist in 2018.
The pro/keyboard and pen combo is great. Well worth it.
There's nearly an endless amount of things they can do to enhance the productivity of iPads. Notice how slow it is to multitask. There's no swipe gesture from the right, which could be used to bring in a window. Swiping from the bottom on the right window could be used to quickly cycle apps.
It seems everyone wants pro apps yesterday, and its time they deliver. Even if they don't integrate a real file system, which seems highly unlikely, they could still add the ability to use a hard drive for FCP, Photoshop etc.
It seems everyone wants pro apps yesterday, and its time they deliver. Even if they don't integrate a real file system, which seems highly unlikely, they could still add the ability to use a hard drive for FCP, Photoshop etc.