Question about complete redesign of my setup

[OneSon]

I've alway used an iMac at home and then had an entry level MacBook Air for sofas/coffee shops/conferences. I'm going to redesign my entire set up next year as everything is 7+ years old now. I don't do anything that's power hungry so everything would be entry level. My options seem to be:

(1) Stick with the iMac + Macbook Air option. It's worked well thus far. (total cost = £1900)

(2) Combine an iMac for desktop work with an iPad Air 4/Keyboard/pencil for mobile work. This seems very interesting to me right now. (total cost = £1800)

(3) Doing what a lot of people now seem to do which is buy a powerful MacBook Pro and then hook it up to a monitor when at home. This seems my least favourite option to be honest. (total cost = £1600 ish?)

Thoughts on pro/cons of each option?

 

[nothingtoseehere]

All options are good

To add complexity, here is what I - with similar use case as you - would do if I would buy a new setup right now, regardless of Apple Silicon:

Macbook Air for desktop (with external monitor) and sofa. iPad (Air or Pro) with Smart Folio keyboard and Pencil for non-Mac-stuff.

The point here is that I already have a monitor But maybe you also have as you could use your iMac in Target Display Mode (if it is old enough)?

 

[James_C]

Really depends what you use your computers for. I have a 27” iMac, a MacBook Pro and an iPad Pro ( which I am using now). I hardly use my MacBook Pro. I love my IMac that i use for the majority of my work and heavy lifting stuff like video editing. The iPad is great for browsing, emails and stuff like that. So I would probably go for option 2.

 

[OneSon]

Really depends what you use your computers for. I have a 27” iMac, a MacBook Pro and an iPad Pro ( which I am using now). I hardly use my MacBook Pro. I love my IMac that i use for the majority of my work and heavy lifting stuff like video editing. The iPad is great for browsing, emails and stuff like that. So I would probably go for option 2.

Yes, that's my thinking. Having used an iMac for a long time I really would not want to be without one. And the iPad now seems to be up to the task of doing everything I'd want while out and about. The iPad may also open up new ways of working/creating content using the pencil, for example.

 

[pldelisle]

I'd say iMac + iPad Pro.

Having two macOS computers isn't great. You'll eventually une one way more than the other one. The iPad si different enough to have other functions and use cases.

I have a MacBook Pro (always, always docked) and iPad Pro for mobility stuff. With COVID-19 I use less the iPad Pro which first usage was in public transportation (vanished here). But still find some useful ways to use it. It's faster than my MacBook Pro by far in many ways.

 

[servenvolley]

I'm in similar situation with similar needs I think. I'm going with a 27" iMac with lot of storage so I can use/have both personal and business accounts on the computer. Then an iPad Pro for personal mobile use. I wish iPads could have more than one account on them; it seems like a major limiting factor in using as primary device with the way they are set up now.

 

[hobowankenobi]

I'm in similar situation with similar needs I think. I'm going with a 27" iMac with lot of storage so I can use/have both personal and business accounts on the computer. Then an iPad Pro for personal mobile use. I wish iPads could have more than one account on them; it seems like a major limiting factor in using as primary device with the way they are set up now.

Do you mean a user account in iPadOS? Because technically....there is not one user account, there are zero user accounts. Or are you referring to something else, like App Store or iCloud?

 

[servenvolley]

^I mean that on a Mac you have an administrator and you can add standard and guest users; you can't do that on an iPad.

 

[Meredithfp]

Very similar situation here. I currently have a 27 inch iMac and the 12.9 inch iPad Pro with keyboard and pencil. (Your scenario #2.) I really like both, though now that I'm working from home, I'm regularly wishing I could sit on the couch and work on things that are just not that easy to do on the iPad. The touch screen isn't that easy to use -- it's easy to get the cursor in the wrong place.

I also really dislike the keyboard I have for the iPad. So, today I went to the Apple store to check out the new keyboard for the iPad. It's lovely. I almost bought it. If you go the iPad route, definitely spend the extra money for that keyboard. The other one is really weird because when you open it and flip back, the keys are on the outside.

But, I'm a teacher, and now that I can be a digital nomad, I've been thinking about making my set-up more portable. I can't see more than 9 students at a time on Zoom on my iPad and I also can't easily share my screen and connect a second camera. I need a laptop if I'm going to do my job from somewhere other than my desktop.

So I'm swapping out both. Trading the desktop for a Macbook Air (pretty sure) and trading the 12.9 ipad for the ipad air that comes out in October. (Basically your scenario #3, plus the iPad.)

I came on here to confirm Air vs. Pro, but thought I'd share my process.