Totally thinking the same thing here. I would have waited for the keyboard to be available for the iPad. I think that and iPadOS in general is the dawn of a new era for iPad. It’s just going to take some releases for it to really mature into its own. I really hope Apple has some great stuff in store for us in iPadOS 14.
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Apple's 2020 MacBook Air vs. 2020 iPad Pro
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Totally thinking the same thing here. I would have waited for the keyboard to be available for the iPad. I think that and iPadOS in general is the dawn of a new era for iPad. It’s just going to take some releases for it to really mature into its own. I really hope Apple has some great stuff in store for us in iPadOS 14.
I think I'd pick the Mac. I had two iPads before, both awesome, but I've always suited laptops better.
Can you edit metadata in Photos yet in iPadOS? I know there's a backdoor way to add a name to a Face, but still can't add locations, keywords, etc...
You could flip that statement and still be true.
They're two different and complementary platforms. For most home user stuff i'd argue the ipad is more suitable - it is inherently more secure, the hardware is faster bang for buck, etc.
If you need stuff iOS can't do though then you need a Mac. An iPad is still useful then though for note-taking, sketching, as a second screen for your Macbook, etc. It can do things that are either impossible or unwieldy with the Mac.
It's like comparing a car and a truck. It depends what you need the device to do. Most people are fine with a car - but if you need a truck, you need a truck. Similarly, if you need to commute and park in tight spaces, a truck won't cut it.
When you plug in a thumb drive, the computer is the one that doesn’t pop up a dialog “Can’t use accessory - the USB device draws too much power”. iPads are wonderful devices, just don’t confuse them with computers.
"Record music" on the iPad Pro... with what? GarageBand? Your experience will likely be significantly under par compared to using a proper macOS-based DAW, unless you just want to play around and don't mind the limitations.
Also, will the iPad Pro accept your USB-MIDI interface, necessary for recording audio and MIDI signals from your digital instruments? AFAIK, musical equipment manufacturers are not creating iOS drivers for the most part. You'll need a dongle just to wire your instrument up to the iPad Pro, but if the iPad Pro doesn't recognize the device due to a lack of drivers, you're SOL.
I'm not saying that you can't make music with an iPad Pro, just that it is a poor substitute for a computer-based DAW and will pose many limitations.
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I've experienced crashing on iPad OS. It can happen—the devices are not immune to software and firmware issues.
Also, simply using iCloud does not guarantee that your files will never be lost again. iCloud is a relatively stable service and its track record is getting better and better as I understand, but that does not make it infallible, nor does using iCloud excuse you from creating accessible backups of your data. Unless you don't mind leaving the fate of your data in the hands of Apple, that is, and are prepared to humbly accept any faults that might occur from said use.
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It doesn’t matter. Even if Apple released Xcode for the ipad, the critics will just find something else to complain about, however contrived.
I'm currently using three external monitors with my MacBook Pro. I'm running Mathematica, Excel, Outlook, Word, Acrobat DC, and BaKoMa TeX, all locally*, as well as Parallels (for Windows-only programs) and MS Virtual Desktop, and have up to 50 application windows open at a time. I'm using Keyboard Maestro, SizeUp (window manager), Copy Less (clipboard manager), along with Hot Corners in Mission Control, and two different Apple desktops, to navigate among these windows on my various monitors, and for general productivity. And I'm controlling things partly using a 10-button gaming mouse configured for office work.
When you can do this with an iPad, let me know.
I have nothing against the iPad. It's a fabulous tool, and it has its place. But it simply can't do what the Mac can now. Maybe in the future, but not today, and not next year either.
*I can access some of these from the cloud. It's an inferior experience. There's more delay, and if there's an interruption in service they of course don't work at all.
When you can do this with an iPad, let me know.
I have nothing against the iPad. It's a fabulous tool, and it has its place. But it simply can't do what the Mac can now. Maybe in the future, but not today, and not next year either.
*I can access some of these from the cloud. It's an inferior experience. There's more delay, and if there's an interruption in service they of course don't work at all.
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When you can take notes and photographs for documentation whilst walking around outside with it, let me know.
In other news:
Hammers are not screwdrivers.
Given the use pattern and requirements described above, would you consider yourself a potential MBA customer? For example, I don't know many folks that use an MBA with three external monitors and 50 application windows open at a time.
Just asking because the article is comparing an entry level $1,000 MBA to an entry level $1,000 iPad Pro 12.9in.
No, of course not. There has been a drumbeat of iOS fans (cultists?) on these forums saying things like (this is a direct quote): "folks don’t like the Mac form factor and much prefer the size and features that come with iOS". So I was pushing back against that general extremist point of view I've seen repeatedly on these forums, that iOS obviates the need for the Mac.
My own view is that the iPad and Mac are different tools, they each have their place, it's better that we have both available rather than one or the other, and that you need to get the tool that's appropriate for your use cases, work style, and personal preferences.
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I don't know what kind of "coding" the author has done but the iPad isn't really up to it. Maybe it's fine for tinkering with some HTML, but for any modern workflow you need a command line, a capable IDE, possibly some virtual machines, device simulators or web browsers, maybe a database.
Thought that maybe the time had finally come that I could ditch my MBP when it’s EOL. Decided to test this. A musician I work with sent me a zip file containing a pile multitrack recordings. Task: download from Google drive, unzip, audition the audio, zip again and upload to Dropbox.
10 minutes into this process and it became pretty clear I still need MacOS. So many hoops to jump through just to accomplish an easy task.
Pity. I’m sure we’ll get there one day.
10 minutes into this process and it became pretty clear I still need MacOS. So many hoops to jump through just to accomplish an easy task.
Pity. I’m sure we’ll get there one day.
I almost feel like an iPad and a MacBook are two completely different devices that can't be compared. It's like comparing a MacBook Air vs. a new Ford F150 pickup truck. Which one is better? A Macbook Air can't carry heavy rocks, but an F150 can't render videos.
In the broad definition I guess. Numbers/Excel. You could probably do some light data science as well with notebooks, although you are not actually running the program, it is likely executed somewhere else.
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I tried. Not the same thing. I don't know about the newest versions though. Is Mac version still behind Windows?
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If you'd xCode and code execution on it people would quickly realise itS shortcomings..
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I'm not in the market right now, but he iPad pro will definitely be my next portable writing machine.
Even if you had Xcode on the iPad would you get rid of the Mac?
It would be great to get some work done while on the go with an iPad, but I have an hard time coding on my 15'' if I'm not connected to an external display, so I don't think I could really work on a 11 or 12 iPad Pro.
And even if I connected the iPad to an external display, I'd miss the ability to arrange windows that I have in macOS, and even more important the ability to open the terminal and have full access to the file system, something I do a lot while running apps on the simulator.
So while I'm in favour of a version of Xcode for the iPad, it wouldn't change much to me and to a lot of developers, think about web developers who open the inspector, you'd need that as well, and backend developers sometimes have stuff running on their local machine before deploying to the server, can't do it on iPadOS
I can’t remember the last time I locked my MacBook, only to unlock it a couple of minutes later, to find it had arbitrarily reloaded all my open applications, losing whatever work I was in the middle of doing?
So, until Apple sorts out those iOS 13 related problems (memory issues, on an iPad Pro? Really?) then for me, for critical work, it would be the MacBook, rather than the iPad, I would reach for. iOS 13‘s well documented aggressive app “management“ is somewhat ruining the usability of the iPad Pro, for me.
So, until Apple sorts out those iOS 13 related problems (memory issues, on an iPad Pro? Really?) then for me, for critical work, it would be the MacBook, rather than the iPad, I would reach for. iOS 13‘s well documented aggressive app “management“ is somewhat ruining the usability of the iPad Pro, for me.
They always show pictures of both machines on a table, but 99% of the time I use my laptop on my lap, strange, isn't it? So I would never want to use an iPad with its keyboard positioned on my knees, a precarious combination. Nor do I want to hold it with one hand, without a keyboard, after three minutes I have had enough. This is the main reason why I don't want to work with an iPad, beyond all other considerations. It's called usability.
This is a ridiculous comparison. The iPad is crippled by the iPadOS operating system. It cannot even compare to macOS.
The iPad Pro absolutely doesn't need a trackpad or keyboard, but what it needs is more capable apps and a more capable OS.
Don't put MacOS, give iPad OS more basic functionality like editing tags in 'Music', better and easier multitasking, making it stop interrupting my music, when some websites are playing a random ad, and so on ...
Don't put MacOS, give iPad OS more basic functionality like editing tags in 'Music', better and easier multitasking, making it stop interrupting my music, when some websites are playing a random ad, and so on ...
I use my iPad a lot, but these 4 things would make it my primary machine:
- full external monitor support (currently, the trackpad only works on the iPad screen);
- full Adobe suite;
- Logic and/or Ableton;
- better file handling
- full external monitor support (currently, the trackpad only works on the iPad screen);
- full Adobe suite;
- Logic and/or Ableton;
- better file handling
And the MacBook Air is capable to do 1% of what an iPad Pro can do
It’s two complementary devices, the synergy they produced when they are combined is fantastic
but if I was forced to pick only one, of course it would be the MacBook Air