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

[Night Spring]

People romanticize touch as some sort of future pointing ui revelation.

To me, at least, it was a revelation, when I realized with an iPad, all I ever needed to interact with it was the iPad itself. No need to attach a keyboard and pointing device and monitor. Just slip the iPad into my bag, and that's all I need to think about. That's why I want touch UI to improve, rather than have mouse pointer added to iOS. I don't even much like the idea of the Smart Keyboard -- I get that people find that useful, but I think the essence of a multi touch tablet is that it needs no other accessory to use one.

 

[sparksd]

Maybe they haven't thought of it? Maybe all the slim returns to touch have been exhausted? From 1980's until the iphone, ui redesign centered on redesigning the keyboard and mouse. This spawned dozens of weird products that never caught on, with the exception of the trackpad--specifically--the apple trackpad. People romanticize touch as some sort of future pointing ui revelation. I love digital pens but i doubt this will ever be important to more than a quarter of users.

I remember using an HP-150 computer with touchscreen at work back around 1983 - our first impression was, "Touch the screen? You're kidding, right? ".

 

[Appleaker]

At least 1 more lightning port or even 1 USB C port along with the existing Lightning port.
Run macOS or an much more advanced iOS.
Have trackpad/mouse functionality with, for example, the keyboard accessory.

So basically be a MacBook with touch.

 

[M. Gustave]

The iPad is still a convenience, it doesn't offer new ways to do things that aren't available on a computer.

Really? You mean aside from the form factor of thin, light, with 4G/LTE wireless, an integrated camera, and 10+ hours of battery life? It seems to me that those alone offer 'new ways to do things'.

I can open my bank app, and deposit a check just by photographing it using the iPad camera. I can "scan" in a document (without peripherals), convert it to pdf, and then directly mark it up with my finger. I can read a book, in portrait. The keyboard is truly optional. I can take a photo, and text it while out. There's Siri.
So actually there's a whole lot things not available on any desktop/laptop I've owned.

 

[bensisko]

There is a tension between adding functionality to the ipad and ruining the simplicity of ios. So maybe there should be an osx/ios hybrid that is not an ipad. apple slate.
I also don't think you understand the difference between "slapping desktop components" onto a tablet and creating a hybrid. A hybrid is daul use device addressable through touch and mouse/trackpad. Some apps will be explicitly designed for touch, others will be optimized for mouse/trackpad use. This seems to confuse ipad users.

Thank you for the condescension, but I didn't mention ANYTHING about a hybrid. First of all, a TRUE hybrid device exist. The Surface is NOT a hybrid (especially under Windows 10) - it's a laptop that has a touch screen supporting stylus input. Maybe once Microsoft realizes that a user interfaces with a tablet in a different manner than a laptop/desktop, they will have a hybrid. They're trying and I give them credit for it, but it seems they can't strike that balance needed - it's either touch focused (Windows 8) or mouse focused (Windows 10).

Beyond that, It's not just input I'm talking about - it's also taking (what I consider to be) legacy ways of interacting with a computer and trying to shoehorn it into the iPad. Fine. I get that people don't like the File Mangagement on the iPad, but don't give me a Finder or File Explorer - give me something that doesn't force me to have to worry about File Management.

THAT is what I'm saying - the root problem isn't that the iPad needs a mouse, adding a mouse will just be a band-aid to the problem of input and interaction. It's something people are used to, but that doesn't mean it's the best way to do it.
[doublepost=1471046910][/doublepost]

People romanticize touch as some sort of future pointing ui revelation. I love digital pens but i doubt this will ever be important to more than a quarter of users.

On a Windows machine? You're probably right - but that's because Microsoft hasn't placed emphasis on Touch in Windows 10.

 

[rowspaxe]

The Surface is NOT a hybrid (especially under Windows 10) - it's a laptop that has a touch screen supporting stylus input. Maybe once Microsoft realizes that a user interfaces with a tablet in a different manner than a laptop/desktop, they will have a hybrid. They're trying and I give them credit for it, but it seems they can't strike that balance needed - it's either touch focused (Windows 8) or mouse focused (Windows 10).

Have you even used windows in tablet mode? Its largely indesguishable from 8.1. Have you used touch apps on windows? They are fully touch centric.

"Oh! but there are these other applications you need a mouse for!"

Yes, that's why its a hybrid. The Surface is a hybrid, the ipad is not. It supports
touch, pen and trackpad/mouse. Its not a tablet for you because you are defining
it as a laptop. But you provide no reasons other than the fact it not fully touch
centric. Its a hybrid.

"Oh, but there are more and better touch apps on ios"

True. So you pick whatever product works better for you, argue its relative merits
but stop pretending other solutions don't exist due to your idiosyncratic definitions

 

[augustya]

I can open my bank app, and deposit a check just by photographing it using the iPad camera.

I mean really ? Do the U.S banks let you do that ? No need for an actual, physical check to be deposited in the Bank ? just a photograph of the check works ? Whoa ! That is huge ! Huge piece of information.

 

[M. Gustave]

I mean really ? Do the U.S banks let you do that ? No need for an actual, physical check to be deposited in the Bank ? just a photograph of the check works ? Whoa ! That is huge ! Huge piece of information.

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not, but that's correct. You photograph it, it does the deposit in the app, then a few minutes later it sends you a notice that you can destroy the physical check. I have CapitalOne, but other banks have similar features.

 

[BenTrovato]

Really? You mean aside from the form factor of thin, light, with 4G/LTE wireless, an integrated camera, and 10+ hours of battery life? It seems to me that those alone offer 'new ways to do things'.

I can open my bank app, and deposit a check just by photographing it using the iPad camera. I can "scan" in a document (without peripherals), convert it to pdf, and then directly mark it up with my finger. I can read a book, in portrait. The keyboard is truly optional. I can take a photo, and text it while out. There's Siri.
So actually there's a whole lot things not available on any desktop/laptop I've owned.

But we have all these things available to us through our phones. An iPad just has a bigger screen and is convenient. Seriously everything you stated was first done on a cell phone and while some things like reading are nicer on an iPad, it hasn't revolutionized how we work to the point that it replaces a computer. That's the point. I get your argument but the proof is in the pudding. If everything you said was truly revolutionary, we wouldn't need the PC.

I think you guys are missing the point. I actually love my iPad and use it quite a bit but it has in no way offered me a new way to work over a computer besides its portability. And if we're talking iPad Pro, we're hitting MacBook size territory anyway.

 

[augustya]

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not, but that's correct. You photograph it, it does the deposit in the app, then a few minutes later it sends you a notice that you can destroy the physical check. I have CapitalOne, but other banks have similar features.

I was being genuinely overawed by this feature ! That's kinda Cool !

 

[thekeyring]

That's part of it. The biggest groan is when people use the word "pro" as a means to complain or put any more meaning to it than what it is - a marketing term. People put their own implied contract to "pro" and put expectations to it that Apple never promised.

Beyond that M. Gustave is right. There's a lack of vision when it comes to the iPad - and it's not on Apple's part. Too many in these threads just try to shoehorn current desktop OS workflows and features into the differently sized peg that is the iPad. I get that there are certain things people need (or think they need, or prefer) to do their work, but instead of using this as an opportunity to think about how we could REMOVE tedious work and get things done more easily, it comes down to "I need a file manager to be 'pro'" (I STILL can't understand how a file manager would make the iPad 'Pro'). Instead, let's talk about how Apple might take current iPad file management (simple, yet perhaps not as versatile for some needs) and make it better (can we use meta tagging to try and predict what files you need or want?).

The basic idea should be: Let's not figure out what is missing from the iPad as compared to OS X, let's take the iPad for what it is fundamentally and make it better from there.
[doublepost=1471003487][/doublepost]

I have no issues with iPad being a PC Replacement, but the idea isn't to make it a PC Replacement by making it a PC. "Adding a file manager and a mouse" isn't a 'let's make the iPad better' idea, it's a 'let's make the iPad a PC' idea.

Absolutely agree.

 

[augustya]

But it genuinely should have had atleast 4GB of RAM to call it a Pro and make it future proof !

 

[jamesrick80]

But it genuinely should have had atleast 4GB of RAM to call it a Pro and make it future proof !

With the camera improvements and true tone, the larger iPad Pro needed to have an incentive to buy it than just screen size...so im glad the smaller pro did not get that ram. The larger pro is more of a laptop because of that increase in ram and an actual full size Smart Keyboard....

 

[augustya]

With the camera improvements and true tone, the larger iPad Pro needed to have an incentive to buy it than just screen size...so im glad the smaller pro did not get that ram. The larger pro is more of a laptop because of that increase in ram and an actual full size Smart Keyboard....

So you don't want more RAM ?? Got to get your basics right ! The more the RAM the more the device is butter smooth !

 

[ColdShadow]

a Micro SD Card.
and file management feature to the iOS.(similar to the way you can access,use your files on Mac,Winsows,Android,etc)

these two are must haves.
without them there is no way iPad can be anything more than primarily media consumer device.

simple as that.

 

[Beavix]

To answer the question in the title of the topic, Apple should stop making stupid software design decisions like this one:

http://macsparky.com/blog/2016/8/trouble-with-the-ios-10-beta-save-to-icould-box

 

[M. Gustave]

...If everything you said was truly revolutionary, we wouldn't need the PC.

It is truly revolutionary, and I don't need a pc. If you do, or even if you just think you do, that's OK.

But when you say it offers absolutely nothing new (except portability), I think you're definitely not giving it a fair chance. It's as much about attitude and pre-conceived notions.
[doublepost=1471138190][/doublepost]

To answer the question in the title of the topic, Apple should stop making stupid software design decisions like this one:

http://macsparky.com/blog/2016/8/trouble-with-the-ios-10-beta-save-to-icould-box

A dialog box in an unfinished piece of beta software? That's all you've got?

 

[marcociccone]

One of the things I don't understand, and it's not unique at all to this thread, is why people's expectations of the iPad Pro seem to be so high and uncompromising.

I think because it's Apple itself marketing the iPad Pro as a PC replacement, not only in advertising but also through statements by their execs during interviews, keynotes, etc...

 

[M. Gustave]

I think because it's Apple itself marketing the iPad Pro as a PC replacement, not only in advertising but also through statements by their execs during interviews, keynotes, etc...

In which they've been clear to say that it's not for everybody. In none of their marketing do they suggest that everyone can replace their Mac for every use case.

On top of that, you're choosing to hold it to a pointless 1:1 comparison to x86 laptops, which have a completely different function, design philosophy, storage and input methods.

 

[JD2015]

iOS
Drag and drop files between apps when in split screen.
Encourage use of iCloud Drive as is a perfect filing system for those that want it- give 100gb free storage or something better than what is on offer.
Give Apple Pencil functionality outside drawing/design apps.
Apps
Apple upgrading their native apps to add some additional functions like citation in pages.
Porting Mac only apps like final cut to iOS.

Hardware
Usb c/lightning support/smart connector for adding an external drive to transfer files/video/photos in and out of iPad.
Standard 125gb entry storage. Would compliment the current ways of transferring files and bring it up to level seen in MacBooks.
Offer level of customization to add in other features/upgrades e.g. 8gb ram.
Include Apple Pencil with iPad Pro as standard.

 

[agentsmithone]

I do not think the iPad Pro moniker should exist. The pressure sensitive stylus feature set and extended size could've been added to the existing iPad Air. The iPad Pro is all marketing with everything being used to justify it's "Pro-ness" over the Air and Mini. The iPad does best when it is not competing against a personal computer hardware and desktop software, by asserting the iPad Pro is a laptop replacement it siphons away the appeal of the iPad to non-expert computer users and disappoints the people who want to make it work by making the choice between a $1,000 tablet and a $1,000 notebook more difficult than it should be. As long as the iPad Pro moniker exists the more muddled the iPad brand will be as Apple attempts to expand it but unknowingly have successful marketing drain off laptop users to be disappointed tablet users. The best analogy I can think of is that the Mac Pro and MacBook Pro are more of the same inside of the Mac mini and MacBook according the consistencies in marketing and in the nature of the product, yet it seems that the iPad Pro is insisting that it is in some way an iPad and of the same pedigree of a powerful professional grade laptop which is antithetical to the concept of a tablet. This notion ignores the failure of netbooks, the tepid reception of Surface, and the enormous success of the pure ideals of the iPad pedigree. My 2¢

 

[marcociccone]

In which they've been clear to say that it's not for everybody. In none of their marketing do they suggest that everyone can replace their Mac for every use case.

On top of that, you're choosing to hold it to a pointless 1:1 comparison to x86 laptops, which have a completely different function, design philosophy, storage and input methods.

Yes I'm comparing it with laptops since the iPad Pro is a computing machine with enough power the compete with them (in some cases even more power!). But I didn't say I want the iPad Pro to be a Macbook with a touchscreen... I'm the first one who'd be pissed off if they put OSX on iPad, because it just doesn't work.

But the statement of being a "PC replacement for most of people" set these expectations and that's a fact... that's why so many threads, reviews and articles criticised the iPad Pro in that matter. What comes in mind to 99% of people when reading on hearing this is "fine I can do the same things" (and in 90% of cases they actually can, just with different workflows we are not familiar with).

I have been to the Apple Store recently and played around with both iPad Pro models, I tried to access all the tools I use at work (100% of them are web app or web services). I can do everything using just the iPad, a pen and its keyboard... but still I believe there are few things here and there that can be improved. Like for example copying and pasting elements between 2 apps in split view. I proposed drag'n'drop as a solution, but I wouldn't be bothered if Apple engineers find a more "iPad friendly" way to do it a most intuitive and efficient way... I personally find that the current process of selecting, copying and pasting text between 2 entities on the same screen could be improved.

I like the fact they are taking the opposite approach Microsoft did, instead of throwing anything possible in the iPad Pro... trying to think how the processes we are familiar with could be done using a touch device in the future, and adding new features in an incremental way.

 

[bensisko]

a Micro SD Card.
and file management feature to the iOS.(similar to the way you can access,use your files on Mac,Winsows,Android,etc)

these two are must haves.
without them there is no way iPad can be anything more than primarily media consumer device.

simple as that.

I'll just assume you're speaking for yourself, because your statement is false otherwise - clearly it's more than a consumption device for others (including myself).
[doublepost=1471319413][/doublepost]

Like for example copying and pasting elements between 2 apps in split view. I proposed drag'n'drop as a solution, but I wouldn't be bothered if Apple engineers find a more "iPad friendly" way to do it a most intuitive and efficient way... I personally find that the current process of selecting, copying and pasting text between 2 entities on the same screen could be improved.

I agree. Copy/Paste on the iPad is... Functional. They could use a more elegant solution, though I can't really think of what it might look like.
[doublepost=1471319769][/doublepost]

I do not think the iPad Pro moniker should exist. The pressure sensitive stylus feature set and extended size could've been added to the existing iPad Air. The iPad Pro is all marketing with everything being used to justify it's "Pro-ness" over the Air and Mini. The iPad does best when it is not competing against a personal computer hardware and desktop software, by asserting the iPad Pro is a laptop replacement it siphons away the appeal of the iPad to non-expert computer users and disappoints the people who want to make it work by making the choice between a $1,000 tablet and a $1,000 notebook more difficult than it should be. As long as the iPad Pro moniker exists the more muddled the iPad brand will be as Apple attempts to expand it but unknowingly have successful marketing drain off laptop users to be disappointed tablet users. The best analogy I can think of is that the Mac Pro and MacBook Pro are more of the same inside of the Mac mini and MacBook according the consistencies in marketing and in the nature of the product, yet it seems that the iPad Pro is insisting that it is in some way an iPad and of the same pedigree of a powerful professional grade laptop which is antithetical to the concept of a tablet. This notion ignores the failure of netbooks, the tepid reception of Surface, and the enormous success of the pure ideals of the iPad pedigree. My 2¢

I think this argument would exist with or without the "Pro" moniker. The fervor is hotter with "Pro" because it squashes the speculation (and hope) for an OS X tablet. Even before the Pro came out, there were still (probably the same) people who want File Managers, mouse support, and desktop applications to run on the iPad. Before they say "it's just a consumption device, not a creation device", now they simplify and say "it's not Pro".

 

[Kal-037]

a Micro SD Card.
and file management feature to the iOS.(similar to the way you can access,use your files on Mac,Winsows,Android,etc)

these two are must haves.
without them there is no way iPad can be anything more than primarily media consumer device.

simple as that.

Speak for yourself... it's my main computer. I use it for photo editing, video editing, sketching/illustrating, homework, writing, reading, and everything in-between. I have a desktop but my iPad Pro has been my main computer since it first came out 9 months ago. I sold my MacBook as the iPP was/is the machine I had been wanting/needing. And if Apple can further add more featrures... that's just icing, but as it stands, it's a stellar PC/Mac replacement for me.



Kal.

 

[bensisko]

I think you guys are missing the point. I actually love my iPad and use it quite a bit but it has in no way offered me a new way to work over a computer besides its portability. And if we're talking iPad Pro, we're hitting MacBook size territory anyway.

So, I was working on a presentation for a technical training class. I was working in PowerPoint on site with the equipment. I wanted a diagram so I took a picture and inserted it right then and there, then used the pencil to annotate competents. While I was working on the presentation, I recorded and edited a couple videos. By the end, I had a completed training module - not just notes and materials I would use to take back to my computer and compile later.

All on my 12.9" iPad. Has it offered me a new way to work? Absolutely.