Preferring one over the other is somewhat irrelevant- they’re different functions completely.
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iPad We need to file a class action lawsuit for iPadOS
- Thread starter Marswarrior462
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As far as I'm aware, UC allows you to control the iPad with your Mac's input devices but it doesn't extend the desktop which is what I need.
In any case, UC and Sidecar don't work on Windows so they're a no go for me anyway. Among the laptops I've used, I like the ThinkPad's keyboard best.
I like the iPad but Apple seems to hold it back from giving apps and features. Simple ones like external monitor support and oh a calculator app.
I know but sidecar is limited to one iPad only.
No argument there. They are the best. But Apple's trackpads have spoiled me, I am sucker for gesture based navigation.
Is it really a big issue? You can add Spacedesk for free and very easily for a second iPad. Sure if you want to use 3, 4 or more iPads at the same time you'll need to spend some money, but do you think you need more than 2 iPads as monitors at the same time? (personally I do and I pay for that, but I think my use is very niche)
We were talking about PDF viewers, not editors. And the lack of ability to set default apps is an issue with iPadOS, not with Books. This is one of my most requested feature, together with extended display support. iPadOS has many shortcomings, but personally the lack of things like a native calculator are extremely secondary to me
I use Windows more than MacOS daily. I know this will not be popular here, but for me (Windows Precision enabled) trackpads are just as good as those on Macs, for the following reasons:
- I couldn't care less about the fact that you cannot click anywhere, since I hate clicking, I exclusively tap to click
- I have never cared about the size of a trackpad as long as it tracks well and tracking speed can be set (the size of the trackpad on the 11in iPad magic keyboard is perfecly fine to me, including in a laptop).
- While gesture navigation is nice on MacOS, Windows works differently and they cannot be compared, as it's more a matter of liking / being fine with Windows or MacOS than trackpads being better of worse (and I am personally fine with either, although I prefer certains things in Windows and others in MacOS, but use Windows more because some important software I need everyday is Windows only)
A calculator is an APP and not part of an operating system. There are plenty of calculator apps in App Store. pdf viewer exists. I use it often to sign pdfs sent by mail. As mentioned below, files app also allows for opening pdfs and sign them.
Even if Apple doesn’t give pro users what they want with iPadOS 16, I believe they should at least give us proper external monitor support or improve sidecar to allow 12.9” M-series iPads to output HDR, and give us at least some version of Final Cut Pro. Apple recently filed a patent that shows an iPad (or at least some future iPad-like device) running macOS when attached to a keyboard, so that gives me a glimmer of hope, but due to how disappointing 15 was, I won’t set my expectations too high this year, cause even if iPadOS 16 does check off a lot of overdue features on my (and others’) wish lists, I can still expect some people to be unsatisfied. I’m not asking to put full blown macOS on a Mac, I just think the iPad software is hamstringing what the iPad could and should be capable of
Apple Silicon is so efficient that they could easily put a mac inside a keyboard (with trackpad). It could be priced like a Mac Mini, or even slightly more, and then you could dock your iPad via a connector, which would turn it into a sidecar display automatically. This would make financial sense for them. The could sell it standalone for say $800 and then you could dock it with any iPad supporting the magic keyboard (although the patents don't work with current iPad pros, they would need to change the position of the smart connector...)
In theory this could give you a Mac + iPad pro 12.9 at say $1900 or even a Mac + iPad air at $1400 (a bit cramped maybe, so maybe this could be 12.9 + some future larger iPad only...). If the connector is different this could also push people to upgrade a M1 device they wouldn't otherwise upgrade... making them more money...
So much of this conversation also seems to be built on this idea that Apple wants the iPad to replace the Mac. I recently checked when that "infamous" "what's a computer" ad came out and some folks are still holding Apple to that ad almost 5 years later.
Honestly, I don't get it either. Apple seems to be working towards strengthening Continuity and Handoff functionality between the Mac and the iPad. It's pretty obvious that the corporation wants you to buy all Apple devices to enjoy the features that come with them, even if that means a combo like iPad + iMac/Mac Mini.
But instead, I see a lot of folks who would be better with a Mac or PC and not a tablet, but they will spend hours upon hours fighting an iPad to make it more like they are used to on a laptop or desktop computer.
Big issue, dunno since I haven't tried yet. It's probably gonna bug me, though. My laptop also only has 1 USB-C port and I found wireless (Duet Air) via hotel wifi too laggy (and potentially unsecure). Hence, connectivity (either via USB hub, portable router/switch, etc) is another thing I'd need to figure out.
Spacedesk didn't come up during my (admittedly short/time-constrained) search. Only Luna and Duet. I don't mind spending money on a good app. However, from what I could tell, Luna required buying a small USB adapter to work so that was a no-go considering I needed a solution ASAP.
That said, I reckon I'd only need 2 iPads as extended display (2021 & 2017 12.9"). The 11" and smaller models just feel like they would be too small to be useful for my particular use case.
Yeah, I had not thought of the wireless vs wired thing. I only need more than one external display at home and at home I have very good connection (spacedesk actually connects wirelessly to ethernet so it's very fast). But when outside (e.g. when I teach at University) I use a wired connection and yes lack of ports can be an issue unless you have a dongle with you... (everything except Luna works with dongles). Wireless will always be laggy if the connection you use is not strong. Also, I guess you do not need a stylus (I do). Recently I have found a couple of additional programs that work very well, easy canvas if you need a stylus or twomon if you don't (both by the same company).
I just tried Spacedesk and it works even better than Duet Display. Triple monitor setup (laptop + 2x 12.9) worked great over wifi. Granted, this was at home where I have fast local wi-fi. I’ll need to test performance when using the iPhone as hotspot.
*sigh* Wish I’d known about Spacedesk last week.
Well that's an easy little riddle. iPads ran on iOS for a long time, and then they made some changes and branched it off into iPadOS. So, the answer is the former.
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Who said I didn't have an iPad? I said I didn't buy an iPad Pro. The context for this being that the thread is about using an iPad as a laptop replacement. The OP was complaining that it's not suited to that, and I was saying I agree and use a Mac for most work instead.
But I do in fact own an iPad and have for years. Am I entitled to weigh in now?
This cuts both ways. The problem with a Mac for me is:
-No rear facing camera. Using a separate camera and importing is a “work around” just for the sake of using a Mac.
-No Apple Pencil. Using a separate notebook is another “work around”
-No portrait mode. I hate reading in landscape mode. With an iPad I can go back and forth depending on what I’m working on.
-No cellular
-Can’t use it while walking around. As a financial professional who regularly goes to meetings and roams an office building, I can walk around with an iPad Pro and use it standing up, not a Mac.
-Can’t use in the driver‘s seat of a rental car.
-The Mac takes up too much space on my desk when I’m using a full sized keyboard.
Sorry, but for me, the Mac is a stunted device full of shortcomings and the M1 chips did nothing to address the problems I have with it. I’m not going to jump through hoops of using external camera’s, notebooks, or using Wi-Fi hotspots to make it work.
Yep, only thing I would say is that I don't really see folks fighting with the Mac to make it more like an iPad nor novel sized threads with iPad users demanding more iPad features on the Mac on the same level we see here.
Also, I get the feeling you understand that the iPad and Mac are different devices with different uses.
Sure that’s what you meant ?Who said I didn't have an iPad? I said I didn't buy an iPad Pro. The context for this being that the thread is about using an iPad as a laptop replacement. The OP was complaining that it's not suited to that, and I was saying I agree and use a Mac for most work instead.
But I do in fact own an iPad and have for years. Am I entitled to weigh in now?
But here is the thing. Apple can fix all of that with one update. Allow iPad's to run macOS.
Now with the M1, Apple can create their own "Surface Pro" but it can run macOS. The 12.9" is plenty, we also had 11" MacBooks before so don't tell me macOS can't be used on a 12.9" screen.
What is the Mac? It merely means its running macOS.
All the issues you listed were hardware ones. A iPad running macOS is 100% possible and will solve all your shortcomings.
Apple has the ability to dual boot macOS and iPadOS onto the iPad Pro and iPad Air 5, Apple just doesn't want too.
Here's a question what do you call an iPad running macOS? That's what you want.
They don't have to be. Apple could easily make iPad Pro's run macOS and iPadOS. Create a new product line.
They may do it when they find a way to make it at least as expensive as buying a Mac + an iPad pro. But it won't be an iPad running MacOS, more like an iPad pro docking into a sort of thicker Magic Keyboard Pro containing an Apple Silicon Mac.
A bit like a Surface Book, with the base containing a Mac and the top a detachable iPad pro. Probably as heavy as carrying a laptop + iPad.
Software MacOS for free in an iPad pro in addition to iPadOS? Never.
Whatever you say, man. I've used iPadOS more than enough to realize it's so locked down and has such atrocious multitasking and such a weak file system that it's a piss poor substitute for a real OS like the Mac has. Like I said, it's an overgrown phone operating system.
Interestingly, MacRumors and others reported recently on a patent filing from Apple that showed a tablet that switched to a different interface when an external keyboard was connected. There's really no reason the iPad couldn't be the best of both worlds.
To repeat the last sentence of my post:
“And just because something came out after the other doesn’t affect its functionality, only our perception of it.”
In other words, yes, ipadOS is iOS with some iPad-specific features. But we only think of it as a blown up iOS because we saw the iPhone first. If we saw the iPad first, then we would see iOS as a compactified iPadOS (iPadOS minus the iPad-specific features).
To quote myself again:
“if Apple made a macPhoneOS (same as macOS but compactified for a phone), would macOS be an overgrown phone OS, or would macPhoneOS be a compactified desktop OS?”
So making the comparison to an iPhone is not actually saying anything about the objective functionality of iPadOS. It’s only saying something about our tendency to look from a perspective of what we saw first, which is not useful in debating, because someone can look at it from the opposite perspective and be equally correct. Best to make arguments based on objective functionality.
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