12" MacBook (i5 + 512GB HD) or 12.9" iPad Pro (512GB HD) for Content Consumption

[Maukey]

If all you had was an iPhone 6S+ and you could only have one other device for content consumption/personal use (Movies, YouTube, Web Browsing, Email, light Numbers/Excel and Word/Pages), which would you choose and why? Keep in mind that Multitasking would be used often. YouTube while Browsing, Working on a Budget in Numbers while watching a movie, etc.

Also keep in mind that the cost of the iPad package (iPad + ASK + Pencil) being purchased would be $1370 before tax, and the rMB would be $1499 before tax after a college discount coupon from Best Buy.

 

[palmwangja]

You already has a big-ass phone for basic consumptions. When you mention word and excel which is obviously not consumption, you already know where you are going. You will eventually need a decent PC.

 

[boast]

Since I consume content on my couch or bed, an iPad. But if I'm at my desk at home instead of at work all day, I would prefer a laptop that can drive large/multiple screens.

 

[xsmett]

I love the iPad for the app store, gaming, watching movies (screen is incredible).
I love the Macbook for web browsing, office (e.g. copy/paste is a mess with ios).

I go with a Macboook 12 as my main device and and iPad pro 10.5 for the fun times. But no doubt, if i would need to choose between those two i would definitely take the macbook.

 

[0002378]

Despite the worldwide pandemic craze about mobile/tablet, etc, given a choice between a full-fledged computer and any other type of device, I'll get the computer any day of any week.

Honestly, I don't even see any reason for this poll. Now, if the MB was twice the cost of the iPad, I'd see some sense in a debate, but them being that closely priced, ... there's nothing to talk about here, for me.

 

[Ma2k5]

The MacBook is so small and light, it isn't much bigger than an iPad really, so it should fare you well. Saying that, the camera's (both front and back) are superior on the iPad to that of the MacBook (if you like thinks like video calling).

The screen is P3 on the iPad and possibly you prefer touch rather than mouse/keyboard, so they are some advantages for the iPad.

 

[mcnallym]

Voted MacBook. Once start using office apps will want a keyboard rather then what can get for ipad.

 

[Adelphos33]

First off, drop the Pencil (you probably will never use it) and get a cell option on the iPad

I own an iPad 12.9" and a Macbook Pro. At home and often when I travel, I greatly prefer the iPad for most "content consumption" and light productivity (notes, e-mail, etc). I prefer to do spreadsheets on the Macbook (though I have done more and more of them on the iPad). I find the iPad better for watching movies and shows (mainly because TV show apps and such just seem to work better on iOS), better for streaming content to my Chromecast, etc. Also, iPad is better for Facetime, better for taking pictures and videos, etc. It's just better for 'iPad" stuff.

When travelling for work, I actually need a Macbook because I often have to remote into a Windows work computer (can't do this on iPad). So I basically am required to own a laptop. The iPad still presents more compromises relative to the Macbook. iOS11 will fix some of this, but not all of it.

Personally, the answer is to own both. I am going to sell my Macbook Pro, get a Macbook and upgrade my iPad 12.9" this year.

 

[Maukey]

First off, drop the Pencil (you probably will never use it) and get a cell option on the iPad

I own an iPad 12.9" and a Macbook Pro. At home and often when I travel, I greatly prefer the iPad for most "content consumption" and light productivity (notes, e-mail, etc). I prefer to do spreadsheets on the Macbook (though I have done more and more of them on the iPad). I find the iPad better for watching movies and shows (mainly because TV show apps and such just seem to work better on iOS), better for streaming content to my Chromecast, etc. Also, iPad is better for Facetime, better for taking pictures and videos, etc. It's just better for 'iPad" stuff.

When travelling for work, I actually need a Macbook because I often have to remote into a Windows work computer (can't do this on iPad). So I basically am required to own a laptop. The iPad still presents more compromises relative to the Macbook. iOS11 will fix some of this, but not all of it.

Personally, the answer is to own both. I am going to sell my Macbook Pro, get a Macbook and upgrade my iPad 12.9" this year.

Love your answer. I actually currently have the new 12.9. What lead to this poll, which I also posted over in the iPad section, was something about the MacBook is calling me. Well, mainly two use cases, one of which I can't do on an iPad and the other being a very tedious process.
I'm speaking of Retro game emulation and digital movie backups by way of torrents. The emulation is not possible on an iPad without jailbreaking; which I don't want to do. Torrents are possible, but very slow and tedious. Too many steps involved, and during the download process, you have to keep whatever download app you're using in the forefront or at least in split screen if it allows, or you have to keep resuming said download. On a Mac it's soooo convenient to just start the download and minimize. Nothing else is needed.

Honestly, if it wasn't for these two use cases, I'd be perfectly fine with my iPad as my main and only device. Because of this limitation, I'm leaning toward swapping my iPad for the rMB, and picking up a 256GB Wifi 10.5 iPad around the time iOS 11 drops and just having the best of both worlds. I'm just nervous about giving up the big screen iPad. Afraid I may regret it

 

[EugW]

Core m3 MacBook with 256 GB SSD.

Core i5-7Y54 doesn't provide that much of a speed boost over Core m3-7Y32, and if it's really mainly just consumption, you don't really need 512 GB storage either. The extra storage can't hurt though if you've got the cash, and actually, what you describe is NOT a consumption machine. It's a combo machine.

What I did once I found out the 2017 was using the m3-7Y32 and not the slower m3-7Y30 was to get the m3 with 256 GB but maxed out the RAM at 16 GB. My usage for it will be very similar to what you described. iPads are extremely painful to use for Microsoft Office or iWork IMO. The 16 GB should give me a long lifespan for the machine, as I think 8 GB is necessary now in such a machine, and memory usage doubles every 4-5 years or so, in my experience. I do think memory usage increasing are plateauing to an extent, but either way, in 5 years, 8 GB will be quite restrictive. Perhaps 12 GB will be enough, but that's still more than 8 GB.

Oh and I use an iPad Air 2 for Netflix, surfing, email, and Infuse video playback. The 12.9" is far too big for my tastes for this purpose, but doesn't solve the productivity issues because there is no mouse/touchpad interface. As Apple itself says, touch screens just don't work well for productivity applications (unless you're an artist or something like that).

BTW, I have three friends with the 12.9" iPad Pro. Two of them don't really know what to do with them. They're too big and awkward for media consumption, and they can't use them for their work. So they just sit mostly unused, strangely enough. The third guy loves his 12.9" to death, but he is a web designer, and uses the iPad as a palette for stuff like Photoshop and also to demo web pages to clients, and stuff like that. ie. Very specific usage that cannot be applied to business applications.

 

[Maukey]

Core m3 MacBook with 256 GB SSD.

Core i5-7Y54 doesn't provide that much of a speed boost over Core m3-7Y32, and if it's really mainly just consumption, you don't really need 512 GB storage either. The extra storage can't hurt though if you've got the cash, and actually, what you describe is NOT a consumption machine. It's a combo machine.

What I did once I found out the 2017 was using the m3-7Y32 and not the slower m3-7Y30 was to get the m3 with 256 GB but maxed out the RAM at 16 GB. My usage for it will be very similar to what you described. iPads are extremely painful to use for Microsoft Office or iWork IMO. The 16 GB should give me a long lifespan for the machine, as I think 8 GB is necessary now in such a machine, and memory usage doubles every 4-5 years or so, in my experience. I do think memory usage increasing are plateauing to an extent, but either way, in 5 years, 8 GB will be quite restrictive. Perhaps 12 GB will be enough, but that's still more than 8 GB.

Oh and I use an iPad Air 2 for Netflix, surfing, email, and Infuse video playback. The 12.9" is far too big for my tastes for this purpose, but doesn't solve the productivity issues because there is no mouse/touchpad interface. As Apple itself says, touch screens just don't work well for productivity applications (unless you're an artist or something like that).

BTW, I have three friends with the 12.9" iPad Pro. Two of them don't really know what to do with them. They're too big and awkward for media consumption, and they can't use them for their work. So they just sit mostly unused, strangely enough. The third guy loves his 12.9" to death, but he is a web designer, and uses the iPad as a palette for stuff like Photoshop and also to demo web pages to clients, and stuff like that. ie. Very specific usage that cannot be applied to business applications.

Thanks for
the input. The reason I said consumption is because that will be its use case majority of the time. The little bit of Word/Pages and Excel/Numbers I will be doing is basically just updating my Resume and maintaining my budget spreadsheet. Not much else. I didn't mention my torrent and emulator usage in my initial post because of how it's viewed even though I'm not using either illegally. I must be honest, that New Surface Pro has entered my radar LOL

 

[geraldem]

Trying real hard to make the 12.9 work as "in a pinch" replacement device. the one scenario that is tough though is getting photos off of my Canon 5dMarkIII (Raws)...and effective editing on the IPP.

 

[satchmo]

10.5 iPad > 12.9 iPad > rMB
Cheaper, and a lot more luggable.
For your needs, that's all you really need....especially once iOS11 is available.

 

[evec]

Macbook for sure if you only got a devices together with iphone,
MacBook is more flexible and compatible, such as macOS can ensure you can view almost all Full version Desktop websites,
and view almost all video format by VLC or view 4K video by Kodi with much better multitasking support and file management.

iOS is good for a device for single-task content consumption, however it not enough only use iOS for everything.

 

[Maukey]

Macbook for sure if you only got a devices together with iphone,
MacBook is more flexible and compatible, such as macOS can ensure you can view almost all Full version Desktop websites,
and view almost all video format by VLC or view 4K video by Kodi with much better multitasking support and file management.

iOS is good for a device for single-task content consumption, however it not enough only use iOS for everything.

What's your take on the new MacBook vs the new Surface Pro for my uses?

 

[EugW]

What's your take on the new MacBook vs the new Surface Pro for my uses?

I suggest you go try out the Surface Pro in the store. IMO, the MacBook is a superior machine as a laptop, but of course it's totally useless as a tablet.

I personally prefer to keep my laptops as laptops and my tablets as tablets.

 

[Maukey]

I suggest you go try out the Surface Pro in the store. IMO, the MacBook is a superior machine as a laptop, but of course it's totally useless as a tablet.

I personally prefer to keep my laptops as laptops and my tablets as tablets.

Good advice. Thanks!

 

[Saturn007]

Thanks for
the input. The reason I said consumption is because that will be its use case majority of the time. The little bit of Word/Pages and Excel/Numbers I will be doing is basically just updating my Resume and maintaining my budget spreadsheet. Not much else. I didn't mention my torrent and emulator usage in my initial post because of how it's viewed even though I'm not using either illegally. I must be honest, that New Surface Pro has entered my radar LOL

If you use Word-Excel is only for that, then the iPad Pro 10.5" with Numbers and Pages should more than suffice! Add in an Apple Smart Keyboard and you'd have the best of both worlds. And, with iOS 11, it'll feel even more like Mac OS than ever!

 

[EugW]

If you use Word-Excel is only for that, then the iPad Pro 10.5" with Numbers and Pages should more than suffice! Add in an Apple Smart Keyboard and you'd have the best of both worlds. And, with iOS 11, it'll feel even more like Mac OS than ever!

Nah, it still sucks, at least IMO. Using Numbers and Pages without a mouse/trackpad is really irritating IMO.

I tried that with an iPad Air 2 and a full size high-travel keyboard at a conference recently. It's really annoying having to reach out to touch the screen to navigate around the screen. It got really old fast. Numbers and Excel suffer the same problem here.

Ironically, Phil Schiller himself said it sucks... but only when talking about touch screen laptops.

 

[Maukey]

Nah, it still sucks, at least IMO. Using Numbers and Pages without a mouse/trackpad is really irritating IMO.

I tried that with an iPad Air 2 and a full size high-travel keyboard at a conference recently. It's really annoying having to reach out to touch the screen to navigate around the screen. It got really old fast. Numbers and Excel suffer the same problem here.

Ironically, Phil Schiller himself said it sucks... but only when talking about touch screen laptops.

I broke down and purchased the 256GB 10.5 iPad with Smart Cover and the 2017 Base Model MacBook. Decided to let my iPad be a Tablet without the keyboard and get the MacBook for other tasks. I'm giving up on trying to make one fulfill both duties. Returning my 512GB 12.9 iPad and Apple Smart Keyboard today when I pick up my Mac and 10.5 iPad. It just so happen that last night when I made the decision to switch, my Best Buy had 1 10.5 iPad in stock, definitely took that as a sign that my decision was correct. Got the ready for pickup this morning!

 

[hectorvs]

I broke down and purchased the 256GB 10.5 iPad with Smart Cover and the 2017 Base Model MacBook. Decided to let my iPad be a Tablet without the keyboard and get the MacBook for other tasks. I'm giving up on trying to make one fulfill both duties. Returning my 512GB 12.9 iPad and Apple Smart Keyboard today when I pick up my Mac and 10.5 iPad. It just so happen that last night when I made the decision to switch, my Best Buy had 1 10.5 iPad in stock, definitely took that as a sign that my decision was correct. Got the ready for pickup this morning!

iPad is going to get much better at productivity stuff with iOS 11, but right now I think you make the right choice.

I actually have the same config but I'm waffling between the base Macbook or the macbook pro nTB (256 gb model).

 

[Maukey]

iPad is going to get much better at productivity stuff with iOS 11, but right now I think you make the right choice.

I actually have the same config but I'm waffling between the base Macbook or the macbook pro nTB (256 gb model).

I looked at the MacBook Pro nTB model as well. The decision for me came down to portability. There are times where I will want to carry both my Laptop and iPad with me in my book bag, for those times having a combined weight of just over 3 lbs is a huge plus. Especially because I carry headphones and other things in my book bag as well

 

[macintoshmac]

I looked at the MacBook Pro nTB model as well. The decision for me came down to portability. There are times where I will want to carry both my Laptop and iPad with me in my book bag, for those times having a combined weight of just over 3 lbs is a huge plus. Especially because I carry headphones and other things in my book bag as well

I myself am *mildly* flirting with the idea of selling my 2016 13" MBP and get a 2017 rMB 12". Only thing keeping me: just one port and I necessarily have an external disk connected to my computer for RAW files and video files access and playback.

I see one solution to my issue might be to get a dock that expands on the ports, so I can enjoy the rMB both ways and not miss the lack of ports. Or I might just wait till they bring one more port and nab it then.