MacBook Air 15in or iMac and iPad

[Blake123abc]

Hello,

I currently have the 24inch iMac and although I enjoy it, I kinda wish I had the portability of a MacBook. I was thinking of possibly selling the iMac and pay the difference to get the new MacBook Air 15inch. I'm not 100% sure though if that's a good route to take, or if I should just get an iPad for the portability factor. Which would you choose? I mostly use a Mac for web browsing, e-mail, some light work tasks, texting and calling on the Mac is pretty convenient too.

Thanks

 

[Spock]

You can get a dock and display and make the MacBook do both, can't make an iMac portable...

 

[bradman83]

If your use case is just light browsing and consumption tasks then the iPad would work fine as long as the software you typically use is supported. Using iCloud or another cloud storage service is a great way to keep things synced between the two devices, but I would echo the prior user’s point about docking a MacBook with a high quality monitor and having the best of both worlds. Since you’re considering the 15” Air would the screen size of an iPad be sufficient for you?

 

[dn325ci]

I carry the large iPad Pro under my arm around the house most of the time, but it's 80% consumption tasks - email, reading news & social, videos. It's perfect for that, and I wouldn't want to carry around a MacBook for that. But if you're getting into long-form input (long emails, spreadsheets, powerpoint, etc.) then there is no replacement for Mac. If you do long-form creation at a desk, then an iMac is great. If you do long-form creation on the go, then MacBook. To me this question is a pure "use case" and you need to be clear about what you want to do, and how much you want to spend. If you're willing to spend more, then multiple devices solves the various use cases. For me I wouldn't want to carry a MacBook around the house for casual consumption stuff.

 

[JPack]

Standard procedure is to buy a MacBook Air + USB-C 27" or 32" monitor. After the last few years, everyone knows the value of portability.

Don't go the iPad route as it doesn't increase portability in any meaningful way compared to MacBook Air. Most people are disappointed thinking iPad can replace a Mac. There is still a long way to go in terms of application features and file storage. The only reasons to go iPad are if your job involves using a camera or Pencil.

 

[Algus]

I was never able to get the iPad to work as a device replacement for a MacBook. I certainly gave it a good try too. My company has a bunch of Enterprise apps so I signed my iPad up for our BYOD program, got all those apps on my device, and toted it around every day.

My iPad would end up sitting on my desk streaming music while I did my real work on the company provided computer. Once my company started issuing VDIs, I switched to my MacBook and haven't looked back.

I am sure some people can get the iPad to work with their workflow and may even prefer it but I know it wasn't for me. The true windowed UI, workspaces, etc. are just too handy to have. And, of course, my MacBook is many times more powerful than my iPad so it can do more things at once, which is a big help.

 

[dockgaze]

Without getting into all the details about my particular use case - - after various device combinations over the years I have found that a Mac Mini hooked to USB-C 27in. monitor along with iPad Air 5/Magic Keyboard serves me well for both home and very portable travel. The iPad connects to the monitor easily too if desired, and also affords me both OS’s to select the various app offerings to best suit me (some are better on the iPad and vice versa etc.). I also use Jumpdesktop apps to tie it all together if needed on the road. YMMV etc.