In my opinion, you kinda need a smartphone and you kinda need a computer. But a tablet is just a nice to have.
You're absolutely right, people due to the techie media, want the iPad to be something it was never meant to be, or if you use the Apple Pencil a lot for notes and drawing....however Apple are taking the Pee to a large extent with the upgrades in the last 2 yearsProblem is and Apple refuses to acknowledge it: the iPad is a consumption device. The aspirational stuff that they show in their demos is very small niche of users. Most are using this to watch YouTube, movies, listen music and do casual web browsing. And, they last freaking long! Even when they stop getting updates, they still are useful. I still can't find a good reason to upgrade from my 2017 12.9.
It was never meant to be a computer, it's just some users trying to use it as one that have issues with it, just like many particularly Android users think the smart phone is a replacement for computers.That's great to hear the iPad works for you.
For me not so much.
The iPadOS Zoom app has half the features than the desktop version and in many of my company meetings I get stuck being unable to do the things they expect I can do.
Google Meet on the other hand often drops the sound, or slows the sound down so that other people sound like Wookiees. Only option to fix this is a reboot of the iPad Pro - and I miss 3 minutes of my meeting.
I have no say in what meeting software my company uses, I cannot force them to use FaceTime (they won't). So I have to make do with what I am dealt with and the iPad Pro is a terrible experience compared to my MacBooks, where these things "just work".
In my iTunes music library I added a lot of text to the Comments field, which helps me search for albums or songs. Apple Music on the iPad to this day does not sync Comments - finding my albums is terribly inconvenient on my iPad Pro.
Also Apple Music on iPadOS does not support substring searches. For example searching for "oss" does not find "Fossora" only "Foss" will do. Not so on iTunes. Searching "oss" easily finds "Fossora". Substring search is really helpful if you are not 100% sure how a foreign song name or artist name is spelled, but you remember parts of it.
When people send me a ridiculously large attachment via email, which clogs up my iCloud storage space, it's very easy to delete just the attachment on macOS - while not easily possible on iPadOS. The easiest solution on iPads: spend more money on iCloud storage. 😅 Maybe that's deliberate...
These are just some examples of issues I run into nearly on a daily basis.
The OS and most apps on my iPad Pro, even Apple's own apps, are lacking functionality which I take for granted on my MacBooks.
As a result it is just painful to use my iPad Pro as my main device. I really can't.
None of the above are difficult tasks IMHO. Just stuff I use and do daily on my MacBooks.
Yet the iPad seemingly is no real computer when it comes to even these simple tasks.
It was only ever meant for consumption and drawing! All you doing is repeating the latest narrative from techies on YouTube 😏The iPad hardware has been good enough for a long time now, and the durability of iPads is excellent.
The true bottleneck is iPadOS.
It's still just not good or enjoyable for use for most workflows.
For consumption and drawing, it's great, but that's about it.
The market is responding, sales have been down last quarter. Not because its a bad product, but because people are not finding a concrete reason to move to newer models and they are not gonna pay more for expensive models to do basically the same thing. The iPad Pro's should be way cheaper than the MacBook Air. You can't have a device thats way more expensive than entry level MacBooks with same SoC that is less productive to use.You're absolutely right, people due to the techie media, want the iPad to be something it was never meant to be, or if you use the Apple Pencil a lot for notes and drawing....however Apple are taking the Pee to a large extent with the upgrades in the last 2 years
Well that's some grade A condescending - well done 😆It was only ever meant for consumption and drawing! All you doing is repeating the latest narrative from techies on YouTube 😏
This is clearly not what Apple thinks the iPad is.It was never meant to be a computer
You can't have a device thats way more expensive than entry level MacBooks with same SoC that is less productive to use.
Most folks have a very narrowly defined use case. Give them something to surf the web (not just where Wifi exists, but EVERYWHERE) check their social media and email, play some games and/or music and/or videos and edit some pictures and they’ll be hard pressed to recognize anything that’s “missing” from that device.While this may indeed be a workable option for some people with a very narrowly defined use case, I think in general this claim by Apple is grossly optimistic.
Well, that price is just for the EU. Could be that Apple’s raising prices to kill sales in the EU to become so small as to no longer be a Gatekeeper?One entry ipad below 400€/$ and one top model must come, anything else will destroy the ipad sales.
Why dual-boot? Why not just macOS?Apple should at least allow iPad Pros to dual-boot macOS, or even Windows ARM.
I would add Productivity Apps, such as iWork and MS Office, to your list of common/everyday tasks. Also, multi-tasking is important to students and office workers. For me, in these two areas, an MBA is generally a much better experience than an iPad.Most folks have a very narrowly defined use case. Give them something to surf the web (not just where Wifi exists, but EVERYWHERE) check their social media and email, play some games and/or music and/or videos and edit some pictures and they’ll be hard pressed to recognize anything that’s “missing” from that device.
Start reciting the normal list of “missing features” and their eyes will first glaze over, then they’ll be distracted by the most recent Twitter feud and stop paying attention. And, because they’re on cellular, they’ll just get up and walk away![]()
I wouldn’t because I realize that while I use those, to the vast majority, Notes are all they need to write in and likely don’t even know what Pages is. I could show it to them and let them know JUST how much BETTER it is than Notes and if they’re polite they may smile and say thanks… and then go right back to Notes.I would add Productivity Apps, such as iWork and MS Office, to your list of common/everyday tasks. Also, multi-tasking is important to students and office workers. For me, in these two areas, an MBA is generally a much better experience than an iPad.
The iPad is better at other stuff, i.e.; reading notes, mark-ups, and drawing. Each devices has its strengths.
What do they want it to be and what are they working towards? Because they’ve been pushing it as a “real” computer in their last iPad campaign. If it is, how is it different from the Mac and why should I pay more for it? Chances are, if I don’t know and you don’t know, then Apple doesn’t know.I think Apple knows what they want it to be and they’re working towards that. I think there were people with Macs awhile that bought the iPad, maybe because of the Apple logo. But, as the iPad isn’t and likely won’t become a Mac, those Mac folks went back to the Mac. That’s not surprising at all.
Respectfully disagree. In my experience, productivity apps (Google Docs, iWork & MS Office) are commonly used by everyday consumers, for example: High School/College (writing papers & making tables/charts), Office Work (drafting reports/contracts & analyze business decisions), and even Home computing (budgets, flyers, letters, etc.).I wouldn’t because I realize that while I use those, to the vast majority, Notes are all they need to write in and likely don’t even know what Pages is. I could show it to them and let them know JUST how much BETTER it is than Notes and if they’re polite they may smile and say thanks… and then go right back to Notes.
Similar with multi-tasking… there are things that I know I do regularly but, just typing these words on a Mac Rumors forum means, I’m not representative of the largest group of folks using computing devices today.
I don’t know, but then again, not knowing and being fine with it is an ok place to be. If, in a year, I still like what I see at a price that I like, great, might even buy one if I’m so inclined. I’m also aware, though, that there may come a time where I’m no longer in the group of users they’re targeting, where I don’t like the product they produce or I don’t find value at the price they’re offering it. If that becomes the case? Then, I won’t buy the product.What do they want it to be and what are they working towards? Because they’ve been pushing it as a “real” computer in their last iPad campaign. If it is, how is it different from the Mac and why should I pay more for it? Chances are, if I don’t know and you don’t know, then Apple doesn’t know.
I’m not saying they’re not used, they certainly are. But, the High School/College group isn’t representative of the population at large. Same with Office Workers. If one wanted to build a demographic of folks that would MOST LIKELY need something more than an iPad, that’s precisely where I’d start.Respectfully disagree. In my experience, productivity apps (Google Docs, iWork & MS Office) are commonly used by everyday consumers, for example: High School/College (writing papers & making tables/charts), Office Work (drafting reports/contracts & analyze business decisions), and even Home computing (budgets, flyers, letters, etc.).
Agree.In my brief but humble opinion the iPad is still a small computer just as it’s always been just not as powerful as a laptop bit bigger than iPhone.
Well that's no surprise. Macs are great now. If only iPad Pros had bootcsmp for macOS
I am not exactly sure what you are saying, and we might not really be disagreeing. So, let me just say that I view productivity apps (Google Docs, iWork, Office, etc..) to be part of common everyday computing. Multi-tasking goes with it because creating documents often requires that you can move rapidly between source material. I don't see these as rare or exceptional requirements. Productivity Apps are commonly used by a huge percentage of computer users for everyday tasks, which includes school, work, and home. In no way would I classify productivity apps as a "niche" use. In fact, I believe that the single most common productive use for a computer is working on documents......creating, editing, sharing, and collaborating. Well, I can't think of anything more more commonly used for productivity.....maybe someone else can.I’m not saying they’re not used, they certainly are. But, the High School/College group isn’t representative of the population at large. Same with Office Workers. If one wanted to build a demographic of folks that would MOST LIKELY need something more than an iPad, that’s precisely where I’d start.
Once you get outside those areas, though, even with home computing, there’s not a lot of people doing a lot of things that would REQUIRE anything more than an iPad (and Pages has the same templates for macOS and iPadOS). Are there a few million folks, that, as a part of their home computing, running a business, coordinating social media feeds, preparing and delivering printed documents, etc.? ABSOLUTELY! I’m not saying that those exceptional people with their exceptional needs don’t exist. I’d just recognize that exceptional means rare, better than average, and realize that those folks are also not like most folks in reference to what they’d need from a computing device.
Of course above and beyond all this, there will always be the interface and, for folks used to an interface, other things being equal, they’ll go for the interface that’s familiar. They’ll go for the form factor that’s familiar. There are folks using desktops today and, for what they use it for, their needs are well within the realms of the iPad, but if a desktop is what they want, I wouldn’t suggest they get anything else.
And I (sort of) disagree with you. I know lots of people that use Notepad on Windows, and I know Mac users that use Notes but aren’t interested in whatever it would take to use Pages instead. They don’t need it often enough and they are happy having written it down somewhere that they know they will check if they need to.Respectfully disagree. In my experience, productivity apps (Google Docs, iWork & MS Office) are commonly used by everyday consumers, for example: High School/College (writing papers & making tables/charts), Office Work (drafting reports/contracts & analyze business decisions), and even Home computing (budgets, flyers, letters, etc.).