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Resolved Need suggestions: iPad Pro for everyday work

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titovenok88

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 27, 2019
54
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Dear colleagues! I am searching for the device for everyday work. I am working with tons of emails and different types of docs (Word, Excel, PP, Acrobat, etc.), messengers (WhatsApp, Viber, Telegram). What can You suggest to buy?
I have iMac at home and Windows PC in the office, but I have realized, that I’m always out of office and home, work “on the road”.
Now I am using the iPhone XS Max with smart battery case, but seems for me, that I need bigger screen and keyboard to be more productive.
Thinking about iPad Pro 12.9 vs Surface Pro 6 vs ARM Windows Lenovo C630. But I need Your suggestions.
 
Student student here (post-grad) and have Surface Pro/iPad Pro 10.5 LTE,

For portability and to do light work, iPad is really good. It gets weird when using word, excel, ppt (with mouse support later, this may be easier) Getting internet on demand is awesome as well.

For, professional work, you can’t beat surface with keyboard. Your productivity will be faster if you work on word, excel, etc. Desktop Apps on windows are simply better than iOS. I’d recommend minimum 8GB RAM and maybe LTE. Price wise, you will save more with this.

I have both. I work in iPad when I’m traveling(coffee shop, airplane, meetings). When at the desk writing papers, I work on laptop (MacBook now because I am getting rid of my surface pro). I’m getting rid of it because I got full MacBook now, otherwise I’d keep it.

I carried both on a slim backpack with no weight when traveling on plane. This will be harder with a MacBook, but I have been wanting the classic unibody MacBook.
 
The Office apps experience will not be the same on the iPad. I’ve been waiting for Microsoft to bring it OS levels, but they have not. It’s the only thing preventing me from going full iPad only.
 
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ejin222 said:
The Office apps experience will not be the same on the iPad. I’ve been waiting for Microsoft to bring it OS levels, but they have not. It’s the only thing preventing me from going full iPad only.
Click to expand...

Second this. The editing capabilities are modest due to reduction in features to keep the application package light. It’s just something to keep in mind depending upon how complex your MS Office workload is.

I love having my iPad to supplement my other devices, especially for note taking and pdf annotation. It’s great for reading emails and sending them in a pinch as well. Since often times my work involves document collaboration however with the need to compile emails with multiple document attachments I always have to fall back to using my laptop when I travel. Typically what I’ll do is use my 12.9” iPad Pro as a secondary display to increase my productivity on my windows mobile workstation when at hotels on business.
 
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Get one of the 12” MacBooks while you still can. Enough power for office apps and messaging in a 2 pound form factor.

You need to be OK with the butterfly keyboard though.....
 
Thank You very much. If I am right, MacBook 12/Pro or Surface Laptop/Pro 6 will suit me more, than iPad Pro
 
muzzy996 said:
Typically what I’ll do is use my 12.9” iPad Pro as a secondary display to increase my productivity on my windows mobile workstation when at hotels on business.
Click to expand...

Sadly, I find this true for myself too... If the iOS Office mirrored and matched OS Office, I would sell my MacBook Pro in a heartbeat. I don't even need all of the features in iPadOS (though they're nice). I just need better software.

At this point, I don't blame Apple for any iOS or hardware limitations. For me, it's all software development.
 
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And what do You think about using Samsung Dex? The Note10 plus is coming in August. Maybe switch my iPhone XS Plus to this device?
 
It would still be limited and experience might be terrible. If you can buy note 10 from a store with nice return policy, give it a shot.

As for switching to a different platform, if your data is not tied to Apple ecosystem, you can switch. Otherwise, think carefully and plan ahead.
 
Thanks! MacBook Air vs Pro 13? Same price. Do they have different keyboard experience? Or are they absolutely the same?
 
titovenok88 said:
And what do You think about using Samsung Dex? The Note10 plus is coming in August. Maybe switch my iPhone XS Plus to this device?
Click to expand...
I love Android.... For phones. For tablets no. Just no. You're simply not going to get the same software development on Android tablets as you will on iPad OS. I had moved over to the iPad pro a year ago for this very reason hoping to ride out Google's change over to chrome OS supporting Android apps but that platform is still lagging behind.
 
titovenok88 said:
Dear colleagues! I am searching for the device for everyday work. I am working with tons of emails and different types of docs (Word, Excel, PP, Acrobat, etc.), messengers (WhatsApp, Viber, Telegram). What can You suggest to buy?
Click to expand...

Word works fine with an external keyboard, though you may lose some formatting abilities. Another poster here indicated the gap between Windows Office users and Mac Office users. It's a continuing frustration that I don't understand why Microsoft doesn't resolve already.

Excel in almost any form is impossible with the iPad. The iOS version just doesn't have the capability, nor does the format allow the viewing or editing complexity necessary to use the app properly.

Powerpoint showing works great. Powerpoint slide development can be a challenge for more complex slide designs.

Acrobat works fine.

Lightroom works great (you don't mention you use it).

Photoshop is coming -- hopefully for me.

Anything else works great, although I don't use any of the messenger apps you mention.
 
jjudson said:
Word works fine with an external keyboard, though you may lose some formatting abilities. Another poster here indicated the gap between Windows Office users and Mac Office users. It's a continuing frustration that I don't understand why Microsoft doesn't resolve already.

Excel in almost any form is impossible with the iPad. The iOS version just doesn't have the capability, nor does the format allow the viewing or editing complexity necessary to use the app properly.

Powerpoint showing works great. Powerpoint slide development can be a challenge for more complex slide designs.

Acrobat works fine.

Lightroom works great (you don't mention you use it).

Photoshop is coming -- hopefully for me.

Anything else works great, although I don't use any of the messenger apps you mention.
Click to expand...

Thank You! All my colleagues (about 6000 people, I am working in the governmental sphere) use Windows 8 PC, Ms Office 13 and Outlook 13 for email. In my everyday working life I am communicating with them. Sometimes, when I use my iPhone, iMac for work, my colleagues suffer from inappropriate file format, etc. F.e. rar files, pdf file size or format in MS Word files.
 
jjudson said:
Word works fine with an external keyboard, though you may lose some formatting abilities. Another poster here indicated the gap between Windows Office users and Mac Office users. It's a continuing frustration that
Click to expand...
I found that iOS versions of office to be limiting, too much to be effective

I don't understand why Microsoft doesn't resolve already.
Click to expand...
Its almost like Microsoft has its own competing operating system and platform that they sell and promote - crazy huh :p

jjudson said:
Excel in almost any form is impossible with the iPad.
Click to expand...
Its down right painful to you use excel on the iPad - at least other then basic or small spreadsheets. I had high hopes with excel and its much better then numbers which is even more difficult to navigate, enter data or update cells. Still the feature set between what's available in iOS Excel vs. the desktop version is enough that I only use Excel on the iPad for the most basic of spreadsheets.
 
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titovenok88 said:
Thank You! All my colleagues (about 6000 people, I am working in the governmental sphere) use Windows 8 PC, Ms Office 13 and Outlook 13 for email. In my everyday working life I am communicating with them. Sometimes, when I use my iPhone, iMac for work, my colleagues suffer from inappropriate file format, etc. F.e. rar files, pdf file size or format in MS Word files.
Click to expand...

It seems like your workplace is "locked into" the Microsoft ecosystem - it may make more sense to get a Surface or other Windows laptop in that case.

You could also boot camp a Mac to run Windows, but I'm not sure that's the ideal solution. A touchscreen windows device may make the most sense (your desire for a bigger touchscreen interface like your iPhone XS Max + keyboard + work requirements)
 
For grad school, the iPad Pro was definitely a secondary device (notes, pdfs, research) to my MacBook Pro (writing, spreadsheets, powerpoint, etc). Once you accept the limitations of the iPad and use it as a secondary device, you will be fine.
 
masotime said:
It seems like your workplace is "locked into" the Microsoft ecosystem - it may make more sense to get a Surface or other Windows laptop in that case.

You could also boot camp a Mac to run Windows, but I'm not sure that's the ideal solution. A touchscreen windows device may make the most sense (your desire for a bigger touchscreen interface like your iPhone XS Max + keyboard + work requirements)
Click to expand...

Yes, I am thinking more now about MS Surface Laptop 2 or something like Vaio SX12, or Thinkpad X390, T490S... But what is the most appropriate variant?
 
I like the idea of going "all Apple", but it may be too much work to keep yourself that way if your place of work is doing the whole Office 365 thing and you need to keep up with the competition in your business unit.

I was under the impression that Office for Mac will give you equivalent performance to Office for Windows, but I have not studied that in a long time. In other words, it might be easier to run a Macbook for your Office work than an iPad. Still, you are going to be dealing with slightly different behavior in Office for Mac and in OneDrive and probably in the rest of the Office suite. Is it really worth it to try to be different in this case?

One of my thoughts: Can you get your office to replace your work PC with a Surface or other Windows tablet? That might be really nice! Then you would get synergies of being fully supported by work and not have to spend your own money to do a live test.

When you have problems with Office / OneDrive/ Outlook/ Skype /Teams AND you are on a company owned computer, you can call the company help desk instead of calling yourself when you need help!
 
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Dear friends! Thank You very much for Your suggestions and recommendations. I have ordered MS Surface Laptop 2 in Black color. Waiting.
 
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titovenok88 said:
Dear friends! Thank You very much for Your suggestions and recommendations. I have ordered MS Surface Laptop 2 in Black color. Waiting.
Click to expand...

That is a nice one. Good laptop, good screen, very nice keyboard and trackpad. And Office on a Windows laptop is still better than on a Mac (and the iPad version is not even in the same league).
 
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skaertus said:
That is a nice one. Good laptop, good screen, very nice keyboard and trackpad. And Office on a Windows laptop is still better than on a Mac (and the iPad version is not even in the same league).
Click to expand...
Thanks! Thought about burgundy color, but in Russia we don’t have MS Store. Found only matte black.
 
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