iPad Pro What could Apple add to iPad to make it truly "Pro"?

[M. Gustave]

I wonder how many of those calling for mouse support on iPad, plug a mouse into their laptop? Or use a Bluetooth mouse with their laptop?

I'm guessing it's zero, since in all my years in libraries, work shares, and coffee shops, I've never seen that even once. Everyone uses the trackpad (or touchscreen in Win8/10).

So the only logical conclusion I can draw is that you all consider laptops "not pro". I also assume we agree that since they use fingers (gasp from the audience!) as the input on a trackpad, they're really just toy-like consumption devices? If a laptop was a serious pro tool, it would have the more precise mouse input that we all require.

 

[bensisko]

Whenever I see threads like this I just groan.
People seriously need to get over the "Pro" thing. Just drop it already.

A MUCH BETTER discussion would be "What would you like to see in an Apple OS X tablet?" Clearly the "Pro" complainers want an OS X Tablet. The ONLY reason they would want to modify iOS is because they know Apple isn't releasing an OS X tablet so the discussion becomes "how can we make iOS more like OS X" - ignoring the fact that iOS has a different purpose than OS X.

 

[sparksd]

I wonder how many of those calling for mouse support on iPad, plug a mouse into their laptop? Or use a Bluetooth mouse with their laptop?

I'm guessing it's zero, since in all my years in libraries, work shares, and coffee shops, I've never seen that even once. Everyone uses the trackpad (or touchscreen in Win8/10).

So the only logical conclusion I can draw is that you all consider laptops "not pro". I also assume we agree that since they use fingers (gasp from the audience!) as the input on a trackpad, they're really just toy-like consumption devices? If a laptop was a serious pro tool, it would have the more precise mouse input that we all require.

I do, always. Never use the trackpad.

 

[masotime]

I do, always. Never use the trackpad.

What laptop do you use?

 

[sracer]

I wonder how many of those calling for mouse support on iPad, plug a mouse into their laptop? Or use a Bluetooth mouse with their laptop?

I'm guessing it's zero, since in all my years in libraries, work shares, and coffee shops, I've never seen that even once. Everyone uses the trackpad (or touchscreen in Win8/10).

So the only logical conclusion I can draw is that you all consider laptops "not pro". I also assume we agree that since they use fingers (gasp from the audience!) as the input on a trackpad, they're really just toy-like consumption devices? If a laptop was a serious pro tool, it would have the more precise mouse input that we all require.

good observations. i myself have fallen into that trap of focusing on mice. I chalk it up to a combination of my poor experience with the Surface TypeCover trackpad (worse than worthless) and forgetting how terrific the trackpad is on my MacBook Air.

I'd be delighted with a new Apple Smart Keyboard that included a trackpad.

 

[sparksd]

What laptop do you use?

Currently, a Dell XPS 13 9350. But I have owned and used a multitude of laptops for many, many years (I'm a retired S/W professional) and have just never cared for trackpads so I use a Bluetooth mouse.

 

[iOSpecialist]

Personally, I don't think the iPad is a laptop or desktop replacement. If you need something that runs a desktop OS, then get something that will run the desktop OS.

However, I think it would be neat if Apple released laptops and desktops that had touch screens, so touch (and possibly 3D/force touch) could be incorporated into the display on the desktop OS. Then you could still run all the desktop apps too. They could even add support for the Apple Pencil! Now that would be cool.

Like this reply if you agree, I just want to see who does

 

[baypharm]

Nope. I hope Apple doesn't go the Macbook Pro touch screen route. We already have the iPad for this. What I would like to see to make the iPad more "pro" is more system ram, more storage ram, and a significantly upgraded dual pixel camera lens with larger and improved sensor. A beefier system architecture would help, too.

 

[GeekishlyGreek]

iOS does support file and folders. But they chose not to expose the file structure to you.

Having said that iCloud Drive is kinda like a file system on your iPad/iPhone (you can toggle in the settings). What's missing in iCloud Drive is the ability to add a file or perhaps a deep link to a folder. (Just to add you don't need to have an Internet connection to use the iCloud Drive locally.)

Good point. Again, both these things show just how easy it would be to add the few missing features we would need to make it a true viable replacement for a laptop. While I very much doubt they will ever just expose the file system due to the way that Apple do things (meaning them wanting to keep it a closed system that is end to end encrypted and linked only to your apple id so that nobody could just hack in without it, if say you ever lost your portable device), I'd be totally okay with them adding the ability to add files and implement deep-linking to iCloud Drive so that it operates just like we all need a file system to operate. There would be many advantages to this also, due to being able to sync all our files and folders between devices whenever we're online, so could even prove to be better than just the one copy of locally stored files, if done properly. So these are valid viable options that would totally convince me to ditch my laptop and make the switch.

Basically in iCloud Drive you have access to all the files in apps. That includes both offline and online files.

You have the ability to create folders and to move files from an app to another app/folder.

Having said that, you don't have access to photos and videos from iCloud Drive. Though you have access to all your documents, etc.

Yes, ability to access any file type including the ones in iCloud Photos or Videos would be necessary to really class this as a proper file system. Also, you would need to be able to create your own Folders, not just the ones that are part of pre-existing apps.

When they showed off the Keynote saying it's faster than 300 Million existing PCs I thought they were going to say that it could run Mac OS X and Intel Really fought hard to get the iPad Pro business but its Core M CPUs were not ready the A9X is roughly on par with what the 2016 MacBook Core M ships with.

That being said Without Pie in the sky things to be More Pro maybe not this generation since its out I'd say next revision would be.

#1. Intel Core M Processors
#2. Mouse support really this would go a long way even with today's Pros
#3. Fast charging
#4. USB C port no more lightning
#5. Graphene Lithium battery will likely get 15 hour battery life.
#6. OLED Display.

Notice I did not add Mac OS X support I can't rule it out We need some insider Information or Rumors I am sure it's being Discussed But it would need 4GB RAM and at least an A11X Quad Core CPU. Maybe in 2017

Any of the above would be nice. The battery upgrade will probably be the most useful. If the hardware is already capable enough to operate OSX (as previous posts have suggested), then the simplest way to make an iPad Pro a proper laptop replacement, rather than tweaking iOS to gice it all the OSX features, then it would probably be simpler and far more effective just to implement touch screen and apple pencil capability to OSX, and then run that on the iPad Pro. That way, you'll actually already have a fully functioning machine that does everything it needs to. And I think that is more inline with what we all have in mind.

While I agree with everything people are saying about peripheral support, you'd have a physical space issue in order for those ports to exist, due to how thin the iPads are. But when you consider that the MacBook laptops already need TypeC hubs and extensions anyway in order to add peripherals, then it would be kind of the same thing. That being said, I do really hate the fact that we have to do that, as all these extra dongles and hubs make for a really messy arrangement, and also kinda start making the portable devices less portable, the more of those you have to add. But when you have a smaller form factor, there isn't really any other way to get around this (until the days where everything becomes a wireless peripheral, and that's probably on the cards before too long).

 

[pika2000]

Or maybe an android tablet which offers mouse and keyboard support...

Okay, then for you Android tablets are pro devices. Great, no problem then right?

 

[maxsix]

First, it needs to run a desk top OS. iOS is to limited and restricted. Second, the Pro needs more 'Pro' applications for editing and Developing at minimum.

Right now, in some respects, the 12.9 Pro is considered a giant sized movie player with really good speakers and designing with the Apple Pencil.

Precisely!

The Microsoft Surface Pro is excellent. Mines been fantastic.

Apples highly limited iOS just doesn't cut it. Lacking an open file system like any good desktop OS severely limits iPad usability.

 

[lchlch]

Precisely!

The Microsoft Surface Pro is excellent. Mines been fantastic.

Apples highly limited iOS just doesn't cut it. Lacking an open file system like any good desktop OS severely limits iPad usability.

The surface pro is way overpriced. The acer alpha switch 12 is priced better.

 

[ABC5S]

I wonder how many of those calling for mouse support on iPad, plug a mouse into their laptop? Or use a Bluetooth mouse with their laptop?

I'm guessing it's zero, since in all my years in libraries, work shares, and coffee shops, I've never seen that even once. Everyone uses the trackpad (or touchscreen in Win8/10).

So the only logical conclusion I can draw is that you all consider laptops "not pro". I also assume we agree that since they use fingers (gasp from the audience!) as the input on a trackpad, they're really just toy-like consumption devices? If a laptop was a serious pro tool, it would have the more precise mouse input that we all require.

I had a wireless mouse on my MacBook Pro. So your zero comment is wrong.

 

[M. Gustave]

I had a wireless mouse on my MacBook Pro. So your zero comment is wrong.

Outside your house? I doubt it.

So iPad Pro literally on a desk, with mouse and keyboard attached, and we've successfully replaced the laptop with... a laptop copy? Hilarious. I'm glad none of you are running AAPL.

 

[SDColorado]

I think the last time I used a mouse on a laptop was in the 90's, because those little pencil erasers they put in the keyboards as pointing devices were terrible and even the first trackpads weren't so good. But I find the trackpads on today's far better and more convenient than an external mouse.

That said, I find mice to be my least favorite of all devices. Requiring too much rolling and moving for my tastes. I find them cumbersome to use. I have gone through several dozens of different mice and I just don't like them at all. Even for mouse-like devices, I much prefer the trackball to the mouse and a trackpad to either of them.

The only external devices I attach to my laptop though is occasionally an external drive with my photo library and a Wacom tablet.

 

[Night Spring]

Again, both these things show just how easy it would be to add the few missing features we would need to make it a true viable replacement for a laptop.

I was hoping they'd add more iCloud Drive features in iOS 10, but instead we got animated emojis.
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That said, I find mice to be my least favorite of all devices. Requiring too much rolling and moving for my tastes. I find them cumbersome to use. I have gone through several dozens of different mice and I just don't like them at all. Even for mouse-like devices, I much prefer the trackball to the mouse and a trackpad to either of them.

That's exactly how I feel about the mouse -- hate rolling one around on the desk. I actually Lind trackballs easier to control than a trackpad, but nothing beats a built in laptop trackpad for compaçtness.
[doublepost=1470924289][/doublepost]

So iPad Pro literally on a desk, with mouse and keyboard attached, and we've successfully replaced the laptop with... a laptop copy?

I can kind of see how some people might want a single device that functions as a laptop when they are at a desk, but functions as a tablet when they are away from a desk. But if Apple does add pointing device function to iOS, they need to build in a trackpad into the Smart Keyboard.

 

[Red Viking]

I thought it would be interesting to start a discussion about what Apple would need to add to the iPad Pro for you to consider it a "Pro" device, or for it to replace your laptop.

Currently, if I needed an ultra-portable machine I'd buy a MacBook. I need apps like Toon Boom Studio, Adobe Premier, After Effects and Animate for work. And while I expect a mid-range laptop will always be what I need spec-wise, I can't even consider an iPad as a secondary device because I can't open work files on it.

It's worth asking: do you think the iPad Pro *should* be a laptop replacement? I remember watching the iPad 3 introduction keynote thinking "They've got PhotoBooth, iWork, and iLife... next year they'll surly introduce Final Cut Pro or Logic?" I get the impression now that Apple doesn't share this vision. It's not only Adobe holding out on iOS versions of their Mac apps, but Apple themselves.

It depends how you define "Pro". You seem to take a quantitive view, that a pro device needs to be able to do everything. However, I take a qualitative approach. To me, a pro device doesn't need to be all encompassing; I just need it to do what it was meant to do well, at a professional level. For me, the iPP, with the extra RAM and Apple pencil support, allows me to achieve professional results, and so in my view qualifies it as a pro device.

A "pro" machine is just a label to say it has the potential to produce professional-caliber work. Whether it suites your workflow and how you take advantage of it is really up to you.

I don't think the iPad Pro needs to be a laptop replacement, though it could be. Of course there will be overlapping functions, just like there's a lot of overlap between my Mac Pro and my MacBook Pro. But they all have their specialties and they all complement my professional workflow. And if you are a pro, you're going to need an assortment of tools anyway, and you're not going to find one device that will do everything.

 

[marcociccone]

Considering that CPU wise, the iPad is already powerful, IMO this is what it needs to become really pro:
- support for drag & drop in split view (text & images would be fine)
- multiple instances of same apps in split view, like they did with safari (maybe not for all kind of apps, just browsers and productivity apps)
- native remote desktop with OSX (with mouse or pencil support when using the remote desktop)
- change app store policies to promote pro apps (I've read a dev post blaming this as the biggest drawback in developing pro apps for ios)
- I think cloud drives work well, no need for a local file system. Maybe an improvement of file sharing between apps would be welcome.

Other than that, I would really like to finally see OLED displays - I think they'll come in few years - and a bigger display size for the iPad 9.7... let's say around 11 inches in the same form factor with reduced bezels.

This would be my ultimate computing machine for production and entertainment.

 

[Night Spring]

and a bigger display size for the iPad 9.7... let's say around 11 inches in the same form factor with reduced bezels.

I just measured this on the Air2. In order to get an 11 inch screen on that form factor, you would need it to be all screen, with no bezel at all.

drag & drop

What's wrong with cut and paste? I find that easier than drag and drop -- I'm always letting go where I don't mean to, then not knowing where the thing I was dragging went.

 

[marcociccone]

I just measured this on the Air2. In order to get an 11 inch screen on that form factor, you would need it to be all screen, with no bezel at all.



What's wrong with cut and paste? I find that easier than drag and drop -- I'm always letting go where I don't mean to, then not knowing where the thing I was dragging went.

Well ok, I didn't measure anything, it was just an idea. Slightly bigger would be ok too.

Re cut and paste, nothing wrong. On split view, drag and drop would be just much more quicker.

 

[thekeyring]

Whenever I see threads like this I just groan.
People seriously need to get over the "Pro" thing. Just drop it already.

A MUCH BETTER discussion would be "What would you like to see in an Apple OS X tablet?" Clearly the "Pro" complainers want an OS X Tablet. The ONLY reason they would want to modify iOS is because they know Apple isn't releasing an OS X tablet so the discussion becomes "how can we make iOS more like OS X" - ignoring the fact that iOS has a different purpose than OS X.

In some ways making iOS like OS X makes sense. I don't mean add a mouse support like some people on here want.

But if there's a set of APIs missing from iOS that are on OS X, that are standing in the way of certain productivity apps, it'd be good to have them on iOS.

 

[jozero]

I like how Apple reset everything to the basics with the iPad initially, and are now slowly building it up. Thats the exact reverse approach Microsoft took.

Re-thinking everything, and making every piece of legacy prove itself before it gets added to the iPad is great. Its now been 6 years with the iPad and apparently its future is being Pro, taking complicated tasks from traditional computers.

So with that assumption I believe it needs :
- a far better way to select something accurately while typing. Since Apple believes the iPad should be at a fixed angle while typing using your fingers for accurate selection of anything sucks. So it needs an accurate selection device. Let Apple re-think if they don't want to use a mouse or trackpad. I think the answer is obvious, make a flat keyboard smooth cover with haptic and make the entire surface of that keyboard a trackpad. I guess we will see.
- The document handling needs to get better. Having apps own the documents, meaning a document is duplicated across every app that it needs to interact with sucks. Having a zillion files littered on your computer sucks. Apple needs to come with a fix that makes sense. Likely a mix of the two. A general messy file system, then with apps knowing which files of that messy file system they can interact with. One copy of each file. OR continue along the path of allowing extensions of their apps. Like iMessage and Maps does in iOS10. The old OpenDoc model, a bit more defined and structured.

 

[Commy1]

I think that the biggest and most fixable thing they could do to make a Pro iPad more Pro, is updating the OS to a hybrid iOS/OSX. That's all I want

 

[neutrino23]

I don't look at the 12.9 iPP as a laptop replacement but as an extender. When I visit customers for training it is a great tool. I keep all sorts of information on it, I use it to take notes while we are working together, I can use the large screen and pencil to sketch diagrams to illustrate my points.

As others have said, the iPP mostly needs better software. Pages needs better drawing tools and linked text boxes like we had in Pages '09. Keynote also needs better drawing tools and it needs layers. Notes needs a big improvement in drawing tools and it should allow text, photos and drawings to blend together and not be quarantined. Numbers should be friendlier when it comes to data sharing. It is hard to copy a column from Number, edit it and paste it back.

It should be much easier to use multiple apps together. On my MacBook Pro I may use quite a number of apps to make a document or presentation. Images may come from Aperture or maybe they are clippings I run through Graphic Converter. I'll use Tex-Edit plus for text input or I may use AppleScript on that text for editing. I'll use Tex-Edit Plus and AppleScript to clean up a text file from a Windows app which is then run through Delta Graph to produce a really nice chart which then gets pasted into a presentation which then gets sent as an email attachment as a PDF.

 

[Altis]

Outside your house? I doubt it.

So iPad Pro literally on a desk, with mouse and keyboard attached, and we've successfully replaced the laptop with... a laptop copy? Hilarious. I'm glad none of you are running AAPL.

I use one whenever I can at work (technician job) since I find the speed and ergonomics of trackpads inadequate for long use. We all use mice with the laptops whenever we are stationed at a table for a bit.

I do agree that there comes a point where you end up taking away from the touch-based form factor in order to cater to the laptop/desktop form factor. I don't think there's a point in trying to make the iPad into a MacBook.

I still think it could use some more laptop-like features, so long as it doesn't take away from what it is.

Having said that, I think the real difficulty is the form factor -- many people, myself included, have a hard time considering a tablet "pro" when compared with laptops. Being able to set up multiple monitors, mouse/keyboard/Wacom/etc, actual multitasking, multiple external devices, etc etc aren't really what the iPad is all about.

Of course, there's no one meaning of "pro"... There are "pro" video editors, "pro" software developers, and "pro" mommy bloggers. To each their own. They're all just tools at the end of the day, with "pro" completely made up in order to sell you a lifestyle concept rather than a technical one.