All iPads Will iPad ever replace need for PC?

[Felchus09]

The reason I ask is that about 2 months ago I gave my sister in law my iMac from 2015 because I never used it and felt that owning a computer is no longer needed. Turns out my assumption was wrong. I have needed a PC twice so I can hook up my devices to iTunes to get them in working order. Is anyone aware of any kind of workaround the use of a computer to restore idevices? If not, would it make sense to get a super cheap laptop to avoid the inconvenience of needing to run to the apple store every time something goes wrong?

 

[AutomaticApple]

The reason I ask is that about 2 months ago I gave my sister in law my iMac from 2015 because I never used it and felt that owning a computer is no longer needed. Turns out my assumption was wrong. I have needed a PC twice so I can hook up my devices to iTunes to get them in working order. Is anyone aware of any kind of workaround the use of a computer to restore idevices? If not, would it make sense to get a super cheap laptop to avoid the inconvenience of needing to run to the apple store every time something goes wrong?

Have a backup PC/Mac just in case.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

You can use iCloud to backup your device, then restore the OS, and reinstall your apps and data.

 

[0989382]

It already has replaced the need for a Mac/PC in my case.

 

[nStyle]

The iPad is the weirdest product ever. It was never meant or intended to be a laptop replacement but every year it inches towards being so in every way but never quite gets there. It's bigger and "better" than an iPhone but the iPhone still does 99% of what it does.

In ten years they will release an iPad but it's going to be called "MacBook Pro".

Every new iOS feature you see is just like "yeah, but laptops have had this since...ever".

The screen is amazing. The size is great. The speakers are great. The battery life is the best. It's a joy to use. But it just falls short in so many basic areas like customization and keyboard shortcuts. And it's a pain to have to touch the screen for trivial tasks. It's still my favorite device to use though.

For people who primarily consume, it's great. For people who primarily produce, it's terrible. For people in between, you will probably always need a proper OS alongside your iPad.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

The reason I ask is that about 2 months ago I gave my sister in law my iMac from 2015 because I never used it and felt that owning a computer is no longer needed. Turns out my assumption was wrong. I have needed a PC twice so I can hook up my devices to iTunes to get them in working order. Is anyone aware of any kind of workaround the use of a computer to restore idevices? If not, would it make sense to get a super cheap laptop to avoid the inconvenience of needing to run to the apple store every time something goes wrong?

iPad replaced my need for a laptop by mid-2011, but it did not eliminate my need for a desktop.

This specific case (the need to restore an iOS device with iTunes) is a good example. Apple has not yet made it possible to use an iPad to restore another iPad or iPhone. That day may come, but we're not there yet.

In the meantime it may pay to have a computer around the house. As far as whether it should be a cheap PC or a Mac? I lean towards Mac, because there's a lot more ways in which Windows can fail to recognize a connected Apple device https://support.apple.com/HT204095. One thing to note is do not get a Chromebook with the expectation of using iTunes on it - there's no iTunes for Chrome OS.

 

[sparksd]

I only take my laptop traveling now if I want to do a lot of RAW photo processing (hundreds of images). I can do it on my 2018 12.9 Pro but it is simply too inefficient for a lot of images. If I'm only going to process a few, the iPad will do. For everything else I use the laptop for, the iPad will work.

 

[cygnusjen]

Until it is allowed to have fully functioning MS Office products, I will always need a PC. It's cumbersome to use Excel particularly - too many shortcuts and functions are absent.

 

[mw360]

The idea of iPad is to take away the complexity of a desktop workflow away from tasks which shouldn’t need that legacy level of complexity. For example storing and browsing photos, or sketching, or writing an email. So depending on who you are, an iPad can replace your laptop for 10% of your daily tasks, or 50%, or 90%.

I hope iPad is never a 100% replacement for a laptop, because that would mean iPad has just become a laptop with all the legacy junk it was meant to free us from, like the file system, windows, hotkeys and the desktop.

The key to enjoying an iPad as a laptop replacement is to also have a laptop, for those times when a file system, or windows or hotkeys are exactly what the job requires.

 

[sparksd]

The idea of iPad is to take away the complexity of a desktop workflow away from tasks which shouldn’t need that legacy level of complexity. For example storing and browsing photos, or sketching, or writing an email. So depending on who you are, an iPad can replace your laptop for 10% of your daily tasks, or 50%, or 90%.

I hope iPad is never a 100% replacement for a laptop, because that would mean iPad has just become a laptop with all the legacy junk it was meant to free us from, like the file system, windows, hotkeys and the desktop.

The key to enjoying an iPad as a laptop replacement is to also have a laptop, for those times when a file system, or windows or hotkeys are exactly what the job requires.

Regarding "storing and browsing photos" - I have yet to see a good iOS DAM solution for managing thousands of photos.

 

[rowspaxe]

...I gave my sister in law my iMac from 2015 because I never used it and felt that owning a computer is no longer needed.

imo--its not particularly interesting that a persons with no computer needs find their computer needs
satisfied by an ipad

 

[zhenya]

The iPad is not intended to be a replacement for a PC for most users. It is intended as a supplemental device - and at that it excels. My iPad is always next to my main computer at my desk, as a second screen, as a flexible notebook, as an alternative device to the laptop that is more powerful but also more subject to hiccups and bugs, and far less flexible. If I leave the house for any period of time, the iPad is always in my bag as my notebook, as my sketchbook, as my book, newspaper, and magazine replacement. Of course it can do email and web browsing and games and so on as well, meaning I often don't need my laptop for longer periods of time.

 

[mw360]

Regarding "storing and browsing photos" - I have yet to see a good iOS DAM solution for managing thousands of photos.

I didn’t say managing thousands of photos. Nevertheless my iPad / Photos combination is a better experience than either Aperture or Lightroom on a Mac when it comes to the things I most often need to do, which is viewing, annotating or sharing photos for work. I do managing on a Mac.

 

[muzzy996]

I didn’t say managing thousands of photos. Nevertheless my iPad / Photos combination is a better experience than either Aperture or Lightroom on a Mac when it comes to the things I most often need to do, which is viewing, annotating or sharing photos for work. I do managing on a Mac.

Yep. Like I've noted in other threads this kind of thing speaks just as much about the capabilities of an iPad as they do the level of complexity of a person's needs. It is all completely subjective and dependent upon a person's volume of work, sources of data, processing requirements and destination requirements. No two of us are alike.

I've tried photo editing on an iPad and because my photo sources vary the process of getting photos into the iPad are too frustrating for me to make it worth my while to find a workable workflow. Hopefully continued improvement to iPad OS makes it better down the road for me.

Photo management, forget it. Mac all the way for me for the shear fact that I can batch rename and pull/manipulate metadata and the like for dozens or hundreds of photos at a time instantly.

 

[TheRealAlex]

The reason I ask is that about 2 months ago I gave my sister in law my iMac from 2015 because I never used it and felt that owning a computer is no longer needed. Turns out my assumption was wrong. I have needed a PC twice so I can hook up my devices to iTunes to get them in working order. Is anyone aware of any kind of workaround the use of a computer to restore idevices? If not, would it make sense to get a super cheap laptop to avoid the inconvenience of needing to run to the apple store every time something goes wrong?

It already has. Period. Why do you need a PC ?

The question should be asked in reverse. IPads have already replaced PCs in many scenarios.

Store kiosks, cash registers, hospital information displays. A million other uses where a PC normally would be used have for years now been replaced by iPads.

One of the few remaining places PCs exists are, Offices, Home PCs, and Professional film or game industry.

If we look at environments where iPads have eliminated PC the iPad is heavily winning.

 

[muzzy996]

Sadly many of us are posting in this thread based upon the title rather than the crux of the OP's issue which is basically when the poop hits the fan on an iOS device a computer may be needed to get things back in working order. I'm not experienced enough in this arena, I haven't needed a computer to do this for my iPP since I got it and I don't own enough iOS devices to have needed to otherwise.

 

[danny842003]

Can’t you always restore an IOS device from iCloud?
I think for the majority an iPad it more than enough. I do have a Mac mini, mostly because I wanted one rather than needed one.
there’s people who do need a desktop/laptop but I feel they’re a real minority.

 

[MyopicPaideia]

I’m going to try to run the finances of a multi-million dollar company from my an iPad. Should be an interesting experiment. Having used the beta for the last few weeks, I already know all the web-based accounting and analytics suites will work fine with iPadOS, being that that Safari actually reports itself in as a macOS browser, and multitasking is vastly improved, even on an iPad mini. Being able to open multiple instances of the same app allows an even more flexible workflow as saving all the spaces with different app combinations really allows you to optimize workflows. After getting trained in and up to speed just a little bit on the iPad gestures and multitasking, I am already at least as efficient on everyday tasks, and the integration with things like Google Drive is actually better on the iPad than on a Mac (IMHO).

Anyways, haven‘t hit any real roadblocks yet...and this is doing proof of concept on an iPad mini 4. Once I start using an iPad Pro this should be even better.

 

[jimimac71]

My first post. I have a 2007 iMac, which gets very little use. Since my leg surgery this year, I have been using only my 10 inch Amazon tablet. My Windows PC is gathering dust too.
My iPad questions are: (1) Would it be possible to attach an optical drive and transcode CDs? (2) Could I copy TS folders from a DVD?
I have reason to suspect no tablet can do that, but I still must ask. Let me know when you stop laughing.

 

[eyeseeyou]

It depends on what you use a PC for. Icloud has pretty much replaced my need to plug into itunes.

For now you still can't do any developer work without it being connected to a desktop PC in some way.

As a designer, with all of the "pro" apps that have been released, and with ipados I can do 95% of what I need to do on a desktop PC on an ipad.

 

[sparksd]

My first post. I have a 2007 iMac, which gets very little use. Since my leg surgery this year, I have been using only my 10 inch Amazon tablet. My Windows PC is gathering dust too.
My iPad questions are: (1) Would it be possible to attach an optical drive and transcode CDs? (2) Could I copy TS folders from a DVD?
I have reason to suspect no tablet can do that, but I still must ask. Let me know when you stop laughing.

Under iOS 12, no. iPadOS? Interesting questions, there. My gut says still no due to lack of driver interfaces.

 

[rui no onna]

Can’t you always restore an IOS device from iCloud?

Not when the firmware's corrupted. Then, you need to do an iTunes restore of the firmware.

 

[rui no onna]

My first post. I have a 2007 iMac, which gets very little use. Since my leg surgery this year, I have been using only my 10 inch Amazon tablet. My Windows PC is gathering dust too.
My iPad questions are: (1) Would it be possible to attach an optical drive and transcode CDs? (2) Could I copy TS folders from a DVD?
I have reason to suspect no tablet can do that, but I still must ask. Let me know when you stop laughing.

No and unlikely to be available (unless you jailbreak perhaps). I doubt Apple will ever allow software on the app store that removes encryption from DVDs to load to the iPad. Apple's solution is for you to buy content from iTunes.

Mind you, there's a studio sanctioned Vudu Disc 2 Digital service to "convert" select DVDs to digital for $2 per movie.

 

[jimimac71]

No and unlikely to be available (unless you jailbreak perhaps). I doubt Apple will ever allow software on the app store that removes encryption from DVDs to load to the iPad. Apple's solution is for you to buy content from iTunes.

Mind you, there's a studio sanctioned Vudu Disc 2 Digital service to "convert" select DVDs to digital for $2 per movie.

My desire, to be clear, is to drag TS folders in their entirety. Using VLC, these folders play with full menus. Not sure about iOS, but pretty sure about Android. Yeah, I probably need a real computer for storage.

 

[rui no onna]

My desire, to be clear, is to drag TS folders in their entirety. Using VLC, these folders play with full menus. Not sure about iOS, but pretty sure about Android. Yeah, I probably need a real computer for storage.

VLC on PC and looks like Android, too, yes. I'm doubtful if the libdvdcss component used by VLC for DVD decryption is kosher with App Store guidelines.

I've downloaded video game emulators from Google Play but those aren't allowed on the iTunes App Store.