Netbooks were swallowed by smartphones much more than by tablets... Meanwhile cheap laptops are still there and sold massively...(unfortunately). As for tablets, if ipads can't really replace laptops in many cases for the reasons I mentioned above, let alone cheap android tablets...
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iPad Where are we heading with the Ipad "Pro" replacing the laptop?
- Thread starter Osamede
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The main problem, as I and others see it, is that although the iPad Pro likely has plenty of CPU and GPU power, it's a touch-based system that is not conducive to people doing CAD or multi-tasking like others mentioned here. The iPad is a real pain even with zooming in...25% of the time I let go and the webpage snaps back to 0% zoom. This happens on all my iDevices with various iOS flavors. The amount of time it takes me to copy and paste a sentence in Word and paste it into Excel on a computer is 1-2 seconds while it's painful on the iPad. I can't zoom and take a screenshot at the same time. There's no file system for me to organize files my way or share how I wish. There is no alt-tab to flash between apps or even ctrl-tab to cycle through browser tabs. Typing for longer than 30 seconds is horrific on an iPad. As someone who updates Word, Excel, and Powerpoint documents all day long as well as write 10+ emails that includes numerous sentences per email, I can tell you the iPad is terrible. But then again, the iPad has never touted to be used for any kind of typing other than texting a friend, entering a URL, or maybe replying 1-2 sentences in email.
When I say upgradeable parts, I'm talking about adding or replacing a drive. Adding more RAM. Swapping out your GPU or adding a 2nd GPU. Buying a better/larger screen. These are things businesses and pro-sumers do to extend the usefulness of their machine. iPads? You got what you got.
Please don't say I can't look into the future. But the iPad Pro and its list of inherent features/limitations is not going to replace any kind of personal computer for a very, very long time. Others have mentioned the software choices, software pricing models, lack of a true file system, limited i/o and peripherals, etc. compared to a Mac or Windows machine. Others have also mentioned the thousands of dollars you will spend outfitting your iPad Pro to make it approach that of a personal computer but its still not the same.
The iPads are great devices. I love them. I would buy an iPad Pro simply for the screen size if it were significantly cheaper for watching movies/Youtube. But iPads replacing traditional personal computers or workstations (for the conversation we are talking about here...which is not about someone doing Facebook or email or surfing the web) is a long way off, if ever.
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For me, the iPad is not a laptop replacement, it is a laptop alternative. Both an iPad and a laptop are great and serve different types of users. The iPad is a device, or as Apple says, a piece of glass that you can use it in the way you want. You can use it in portrait or in landscape. You can use it on your bed, on your desk or on your couch. You can use it for note-taking, drawing, working, or media consumption. You can use it by holding it with one hand and interacting with your finger, or connect it to a keyboard and a trackpad. But it has some limitations, and its form factor will never be adequate for some type of users. The laptops are traditional computers, which were thought to be used with a keyboard and mouse. It’s better for professional and heavy use, and always will be.
I don't think Apple is preparing the iPad to “replace” a computer, I think they want it to be a device that can do almost the same in a different way that is better and easier for many users. For example, most people feel better photo editing, media consumption, web browsing, or gaming on an iPad than on a traditional computer.
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By the way, non iPad tablets sell even less than iPads in India. Whereas traditional desktop PCs sell in droves.
For me the future is a phone that can be hooked up to peripherals (mouse, keyboard, multiple external displays) and become full fledged machine for doing work. I can use the small device when I am away, but then I have the possibility to have the screen real estate I need for prolonged work. Technically it could work also with iPad if it has the option to support multiple screens but if both the phone and the tablet support this I would choose the phone.
I can use RDP on an iPad but the screen is small for prolonged work. Honestly it is not healthy for both my neck and eyes to spend hours working on Word documents on an iPad. For reading books it is perfect. For handwritting awesome, but not for Office work or say even photos/videos processing. There are so many details you want to check there that using the bigger screen reduces the eye strain.
Also this machine should be able to work without Internet. We are still not a place where we can work without internet and while there is cellular data (especially if it is phone) it is not up to par with the home network.
Assuming you have a hardware keyboard
Alt+Tab (and Alt+Shift+Tab) cycles between Safari tabs.
Cmd+Tab cycles between apps.
It already exists, it's called Dex and only works on Samsung flashship devices... You can plug it into a monitor but also into a laptop, or use it directly if you have a samsung high end tablet
Yep the conception exists but it needs to be refined. I do not think that enough people are currently using it to refine it properly but yeah it is a good start.
I have been using my iPad Pro for notetaking by hand and my MacBook Pro has been for my professional/student work atm.
I love my ipad pro, but one thing that's really bothering me is inability to control app closure and danger of losing data due to that. One simple example is online forum where you were in middle of typing stuff then go back and forth doing other things in different apps, then you come back to web browser and find everything you have typed is gone.
I want all the apps to remember whatever it was doing regardless of app refresh. Obviously, iOS manages app handling pretty much randomly (or shall I say unpredictably) that sometimes it's downright frustrating. Until this is solved, nothing can beat true multi tasking offered by Mac OS and any of real computer OS.
I want all the apps to remember whatever it was doing regardless of app refresh. Obviously, iOS manages app handling pretty much randomly (or shall I say unpredictably) that sometimes it's downright frustrating. Until this is solved, nothing can beat true multi tasking offered by Mac OS and any of real computer OS.
DEFINITELY a problem for some of us. I took my ipad with me to do some site visits last week (several bridge inspections) with the intent of taking notes in PDF files with the Pencil. All was going well until a few bridges in when I decided to check email and then came back to find my notes weren’t saved. My fault for not intentionally saving progress either periodically or before switching focus but still, this would not have happened on a different OS.
This is definitely another issue of a mobile OS... that however can be solved... It's possible to lock apps in RAM in Samsung devices for instance, so Apple could implement the same thing in ipads...
I had the flip side of that. I was writing a lengthy email and I went into another app for a bit; when I returned to the email, the open draft was empty, my extensive text input lost. That taught me to regularly do a save of a draft email but iOS makes that a pain - you have to cancel it with a save selection and then reopen it.
You can have that setup now with Samsung phones my sisters only computer is her phone that becomes a full PC when docked.
I agree with the screen size I have an HDMI cable adapter and use external monitors at home or plug into the hotels tv. I have been lucky so far with LTE coverage and wifi to remote in but iPad OS does 85% of what I need so I could always get by.
Loss of data like this is irritating and a pain in a personal/casual use environment; in a work/professional environment, it's completely intolerable. Issues like this make the "Pro" belie its name.
We really need proper external display support... Nice setup by the way...
Yes, yes we do...It also does smooth External Full Monitor 4K Remote Desktop into my Mac mini when needed via Jump Desktop.
I do too, into windows. Jump Desktop is amazing, ahead of Apple...
It has full external display support (16:9) and full mouse support over remote desktop... The only RD app that does that as far as I am aware...
It works great. I use it from my iPad to my Win10 laptop & desktop. Also, from my laptop to my desktop. I tried Splashtop and Teamviewer, too but Jump is superior.
Full external display support for 16:10 as well, 4:3, and even portrait orientation on the video out options. Jump Desktop does macOS, Windows, and Linux as well via SSH. It’s by far the best RDP app out there for iPadOS. Developers are active and responsive, I’ve been in contact with them on several occasions after leaving feedback and they are great.
I have tried every other solution (Teamviewer, Splashtop, RealVNC, Anydestk, Chrome Remote, Parallel Access, Microsoft RD) and still use some of them, but Jump is clearly ahead, especially on ipad. It has the best audio support of any RD app. This way I can use my airpods with any laptop or desktop while remaining connected to my ipad...