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But why would anyone buy a tablet that costs more than a laptop and then waste their time trying to find a solution for what is a non-issue on a laptop? Of course there are some masochists out there but other than that...

Well said. Although in fairness there are things iPad Pro can do than a laptop can’t, but I get your point. As far as productivity is concerned, this is mostly true. That is kind of the sentiment that I walked away with after trying to use the iPad Pro as a laptop replacement.
 
If Apple believe the iPad can replace a Mac, why haven’t they made their pro software for it, like, I dunno... XCODE?!?

Does the iPad have support for a robust file system / download manager and the ability to use a mouse when required?

No?

Than it isn't going to replace a computer. Ever.
So by that rationale the computers in Star Trek couldn’t replace a modern PC either.
 
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I know why this would never happen, but if an iPad could torrent and download files with an easy way to move/delete them from my local server, it’d replace my computer. Even a $200 Chromebook can do those things.

I do this today with a QNAP NAS. It has a download station on their primary iPad app that can search and download from multiple torrent sites right to the server. I host my Plex server and Homebridge on it as well. It has a companion files app that’s integrated with the Apple files app too, so it acts as your own personal cloud. It’s very convenient and it was the last thing I needed to go to iPad only.
 
Does it run XCode natively?
Does it support a mouse as an input device?
Does support viewing more than 4 windows (apps) on screen at the same time?
Does it support USB-C connected external file storage?
 
I personally find that I very rarely need to use my MacBook Air these days. I use it, but I don't need to. I still need my Mac Mini which serves media to my household. But, yeah. Increasingly, for many uses cases, an iPad does the job.
 
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This meme needs to die RIGHT NOW!

It never WAS true, and now, with the Mac mini, MacBook Air, iMac Pro, etc., it is most DEMONSTRABLY FALSE!

Well it only took 4 years for an updated Mac Mini and it was getting hard to sell a MacBook Air that didn't even have the right screen resolution for the latest operating system. The iMac Pro was to throw a bone to Mac Pro users who are still stuck with 5 year old hardware. They either had to offer these upgrades or just EOL the whole line. I wouldn't call this upgrade effort as a signal of their long term commitment to the Mac. I love my Mac, but I can't say I blame them. Focusing on products with the best profit margins are how Apple makes mega bucks.
 
Anyone remember when Apple fanatics ridiculed touchscreen computers and hybrids? They went on and on about finger grease and gorilla arms even though touch input was optional to use with those devices. Now with Apple promoting the iPad as a computer replacement, those previous complaints no longer apply, especially since the main way to interact with the device is touch. OMG i can’t even imagine the gorilla arming required with the Smart Keyboard with no trackpad

For me hybrids with a true OS are the best possible alternative to traditional laptops and desktops.
 
Sure, renaming picture file IMG_2356.jpg to something else and putting it in a subfolder is a foreign concept that nobody ever uses.

OMG...

This highlights the point most of you don’t get. You’re focused on features and specs like mice and folders and don’t understand that it’s a tool to get real life stuff done.

You want to manage your photos with a file management app and you think it’s not a computer because you can’t. You’re old school and can’t accept that other ways to manage photos are better for some other people.

I like managing my photos with a photo management app. The great thing there is I don’t need to rename the file and put it in a sub folder. That makes it better.

The point of a computer isn’t being able to **** around with files. The point is being able to organise the stuff in your life and be productive in different ways. That’s what’s defined what a computer is since long before macOS or even Apple even existed. So who are you to say something isn’t a computer because it doesn’t have a mouse or sub folders.

The average users - the people these ads are targeted at - don’t give two hoots about all the crap us nerds care about. To many of those people, file management apps like the Finder just get in the way and make things complicated. A very large part of the point of iOS is to be able to do your stuff without having to manage the files. For some people that’s a godsend computer.

Nerds care about mice and file systems. Normal people care about getting stuff done.

When the Mac first came out it did the same thing. There was so much stuff it couldn’t do that “real” computers with low level command line access could do. But it was a tool to get certain jobs done and it did that better than anything before it. It was the perfect device for the market it was aimed at. These iPPs are the same. They achieve the goals (eg. organizing your photos) most normal people want a computer for as well as any “computer” and for some people, better.

If you want to argue about the meaning of the word computer then look at all the times that’s changed through history. If we’re not allowed to redefine it to include tablets without hierarchical file management apps or mice or whatever, then today’s Macs and PCs aren’t computers either because they don’t fill rooms and have 100 terminals connected to them or use punch cards to program them.

An iPad Pro, a MacBook, an iMac Pro, a sun workstation, a mainframe. They all have different specialties and you can do things with each that you can’t do with the others. They’re all computers.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying these iPads can replace workstations or even laptops for everyone. But these ads aren’t saying that either. These ads aren’t saying the iPad Pro is the only thing that qualifies as a computer or it’s the only computer everyone will ever need. But their claim that it can and potentially should replace laptops for a lot of people is absolutely valid.
 
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It's good enough as a "computer" for most of its targeted consumer base, it does the most basic routine tasks very well, especially as purely a consumption device. But these same tasks can be done on the iPad non-Pro.

Apple is definitely reaching and pushing their view of what you really want and need, a solution that only Apple can provide, at their price points. They are also trying to define what you can do with your "asset" after you've made the purchase. They want to make sure it's only their hands that's in your cookie jar at all times.
 
If Apple believe the iPad can replace a Mac, why haven’t they made their pro software for it, like, I dunno... XCODE?!?


So by that rationale the computers in Star Trek couldn’t replace a modern PC either.

It can replace "a" Mac or PC for some people. Not every Mac and PC. It doesn't take multiple degrees to figure out that right now Apple would prefer you buy an $8000 iMac Pro, you know, if you'd rather have one :D
 
Try to bend a MBP with your hands, you can't, the iPad on the other hand...

Open your MacBook Pro screen all the way. If use just a little bit more force and you can bend the screen right off its hinges.


Most computer users can not navigate a hierarchical file system. The solution is not just to give file access the way computers do. It's going to take something more innovative and intuitive. We'll get something, but it'll take a bit of time.
 
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I would assume that Apples bookkeeping system does not run on an iPad. I bet that if someone in corporate at apple tried to do financials on an iPad they might be shown where the door is. Even if they gave five reasons why they thought the iPad should be their next computer.
 
You're assuming Apple would design iOS to use a normal computer mouse. Shame on you! You should know that Apple would design iOS to use ONLY a special Apple mouse, designed by Apple JUST for the iPad! Of course, it would take them 3 years to develop the mouse, so it may be some time before we see one. The Apple Mouse for iPad -- $129.99 with Apple Care an extra $59.

That is EXACTLY what they did with their external superdrive. It only works with Mac Laptops that didn't have a superdrive.

I picked one up so I could move it between my Mac Pro and my laptop. $129 wasted.
 
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People need to chill in these forums... as the video reads, the iPad can be your next computer and for a lot of professionals it can, deal with it.

I’ve had so many colleagues telling me how they get work done on their morning commutes on their iPhones and of course they can get a lot done on an iPad too, for a lot of people replying to emails, commenting on trello boards, Jira, slacking, joining videocalls and editing google docs is all they need to get work done while on the go and because of all the corporate efforts Apple has been putting on, complicated things like Cisco and stuff like that work perfectly on the iPad, corporate is so important for the Mac and many companies have been deploying iPads for years and depending on the industry so many have of course switch to iPad Pros just like they provide the MacBook Pro’s, Apple is not trying to kill or canabilize Mac sales with the iPad Pro, they’re bringing the iPad into the corporate world

Of course it needs Finder and a lot stuff but it has been used professionally for many years and will continue to be, the hardware is there to deliver something amazing with the next version of iOS, I personally hope they stick to the vision and don’t do stupid decisions like allowing for mouse input but it definitely needs change

Right now I need my computer to do a lot of my job, but I’m very intrigued with ‘true’ Photoshop on the iPad with the Pencil really hope they can pull it off.
 
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Right now I need my computer to do a lot of my job, but I’m very intrigued with ‘true’ Photoshop on the iPad with the Pencil really hope they can pull it off.

Here's a very nice demo (starts around the 10:20 time, but the full video is worth watching IMHO) of where Adobe CC is going with the iPad Pro as an important tool.
 
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For all those people who -could- replace their laptop with an iPad, all of the people who only use email, look at recipes and the like, why would you need a Pro or a Pencil?

Apart from maybe some graphics artists, I can't think of any reason why you'd want a pencil. It's a crap input device.

And those same people could probably replace their laptop with a $400 laptop, let alone a $800 tablet that needs another $400 worth of accessories tacked on

Exactly! For light users where a laptop experience equals web-surfing and email-writing, a $330 iPad is fundamentally the same device as the $1k iPadPro.

Four years ago I replaced my mom's 10 year old Macbook Pro (G4!!) with an iPad Mini. She was very happy. Last year we were shopping for a bigger iPad for her, and looked at both the basic iPad and the Pros. It was really funny trying to justify to her why one is double the price of the other. I was ready to spend the big bucks on the Pro, but there was absolutely no point!

In my mind, Apple is starting to paint itself into a corner, where it's getting harder to justify their pursuit of the margin above all else.
 
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We’re 12 versions deep. If they’d wanted to add pointer support, I think they would have already done so. Suddenly iOS has a cursor???

What does that do to the user experience, an experience built on the foundational idea that we interact directly with the device by touching it? The iPad becomes a Surface. I truly believe that Apple isn’t going to do that.

12 versions deep and Apple still has not "done so", why? A $10 WiFi mouse vs a $130 Pencil. *

Most people have been thinking about it - the mouse interface is the most significant component of the computer.

An open shoulder posture when using the device vs scrunching over a Pad or a Laptop - murder on the shoulder girdle.

Why should we "have to" touch the screen when touch typing on a keyboard - just because Apple won't allow the mouse? It is not a 4" phone screen!

A lot of people, especially in the Windows world don't use the trackpad because of its position on the left side of the keyboard - so much easier to use a mouse. Thankfully, all Apple touch pads are central; still the shoulder capsule is strained even after five minutes or so of use.

Apple isn't going to do WHAT? Adapt - a larger screen from the Android phones; Add a Pencil; USe Intel processor; Use Samsung screens; Be more like a Surface, only better; or .... worst of all,

use a Cursor!

Why not?

* BT mouse price?
 
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A lot of people, especially in the Windows world don't use the trackpad because of its position on the left side of the keyboard - so much easier to use a mouse. Thankfully, all Apple touch pads are central; still the shoulder capsule is strained even after five minutes or so of use.

People don’t use PC trackpads cause they suck

What’s this obsession with the mouse now..
 
so is my Apple watch, Casio watch, toaster, and car for that matter. Apple is stating that it can take the place of a computer and they show pictures of laptops. The comparisons and complaining are fair once Apple opened the door. I don't think anyone is saying that the iPad isn't a computer, it is definitely NOT a laptop and if you fully use the capabilities of a laptop, the iPad can't compete.

These are aimed squarely at people who will fully use the capabilities of these iPads and that don’t need or want all the capabilities of a traditional laptop. People who have been stuck with laptops till now because there hasn’t been anything better for their use cases. For their use cases these iPads are waaaaaay better. And that is what Apple is trying to highlight.

Again these aren’t laptop replacements for everyone. But they are awesome laptop replacements for a lot of people - the people they are aimed at (hint: it’s not us nerds).

Honestly this is the same old tired Mac vs Windows argument from the 90’s and 00’s. Macs aren’t real computers because you can’t game on them as well as PCs. Macs aren’t real computers because you can’t do as much tinkering with the software as with PCs... etc etc. But despite Macs not being able to do a lot of stuff Windows could do Macs still sold. Why? Because they could do the stuff that matters to normal people who didn’t need to do all the stuff nerds could do with Windows.

Oh my how the tables have turned.
 
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