Yes, and in fact, instead of improving many first party apps, now they have give you the ability to remove them -- or 'hide' them.
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Are you iPad only? Or going that way?
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For a while as Mac prices came down and more accessible etc they had their shot at schools, students and even professionals who might prefer to work on their home Macs .. but I think with the exclusive level pricing of the current MacBooks, outdated Mini and quite expensive iMac / Pro they've lost any potential mass market (you know, 1000s of installs per organisation) that has allowed MS Office / Windows to thrive for decades now.
It's a real shame. But tbh the lack of compatibility with iWork formats in Office / Windows is a downfall. It's a pity they couldn't blackmail Microsoft into that one!
I find the biggest failing of using a finger for such an accurate requiring task is lack of visual feedback.
Yes, I agree using a trackpad is much more effective and quicker than a mouse.
Thank you. This is a very enlightening example and works to the ipad's core strength of extreme portability.
I would love to switch being mobile only but, there are some things that I use that a desktop/laptop OS does better.
When the original 12.9 Pro arrived, I went cold turkey and tried to live with it for six months (actually waiting for the 2016 MBP to be released).
For the most part it was successful with two issues that made me move back to a laptop for work. 1). A long day at the office was tiring constantly reaching up to interact with the screen. And 2). Some of the office software was too limiting, mostly Excel and PowerPoint on iOS.
Most other workflows could
Be figured out using Readdle Documents as a file manager.
My use was general office stuff, document creation and reviewing and editing legal documents and contracts. The Pencil and ASK work great, but the long use ergonomics made it tough. I am keeping the Pro and looking forward to iOS 11 for sure, and the 2016 tbMBP is working well for the complex creation tasks and long days.
These changes to switch to iOS are not over night. I think iOS 11 is heading in the right direction. I'm seeing a lot of users selling their MacBooks in place of the new iPad Pro with the incorporation of iOS 11. If iOS continues to evolve as it rightfully should, then the iPad has the potential to come full circle. And this is Cooks views on the iPad as is stands today to be eventually a PC replacement.
Ordered a Macbook 2017, cancelled it, ordered an iPad 12.9.
Have my new iPad Pro 12.9 for just a few days now, amazing device, tried to not touch my macbook air (2012) but missing the trackpad right away. I wanted to give the iPad a chance, but no way i could live without a macbook.
Returned the iPad, ordered a Macbook 2017 and will order the iPad 10.5 for fun.
Have my new iPad Pro 12.9 for just a few days now, amazing device, tried to not touch my macbook air (2012) but missing the trackpad right away. I wanted to give the iPad a chance, but no way i could live without a macbook.
Returned the iPad, ordered a Macbook 2017 and will order the iPad 10.5 for fun.
I doubt it will ever happen to me. I'm an event and sports photographer. Last weekend I had two events and shot over 10,000 pictures. Using Photo Mechanic I managed to get that down to 2,000 pictures. I shoot Raw, and use Lightroom to process, crop and once done export to Jpg. There's no way I could get that done on an iPad. As it was I spent over 20 hours processing the pictures on my Mac Pro. It will be a long time, if never in my lifetime, that I'll end up giving up my Mac Pro & MBP.
Not in every situation will the iPad be a laptop replacement for the user. It's just not possible to meet every specification for every user. However, it does seem to be making headway with some users and how it's progressing in productivity.
I can do almost everything I want to in the iPad Pro, except converting my physical media to my iPad, That's the only thing holding me back.
I like to "own" physical media for the better quality, and be able to put it on any device I own.
I have trouble going all digital for my media, you still are not really owner of the media you buy from iTunes.
....and maybe torrents
I like to "own" physical media for the better quality, and be able to put it on any device I own.
I have trouble going all digital for my media, you still are not really owner of the media you buy from iTunes.
....and maybe torrents
So I've found my first use case where I needed my computer since getting my 12.9 Pro - syncing and charging my iPod Shuffle for when I go for a run. That's not worth keeping a computer for but thought I should mention it.
It's funny, after using the iPad Pro for a few days, I've realised much more I enjoy it over using OSX. This new screen is so vibrant, clear and great to look at with TrueTone and the higher refresh rate, it's makes the MacBook Pro seem really dated. Not to mention the speakers, splitview,etc...it's just all so much better on the iPad. And it's all so much faster on my iPad than on my 2013 rMBP! And I type better on the ASK than the MacBook. And the screen is bigger. And the speakers are better. And...ok I'm done.
The real test will come when I start uni again in other few weeks and have to watch lectures and read PDFs and take notes and write essays. I can't wait to try all that on the Pro.
It's funny, after using the iPad Pro for a few days, I've realised much more I enjoy it over using OSX. This new screen is so vibrant, clear and great to look at with TrueTone and the higher refresh rate, it's makes the MacBook Pro seem really dated. Not to mention the speakers, splitview,etc...it's just all so much better on the iPad. And it's all so much faster on my iPad than on my 2013 rMBP! And I type better on the ASK than the MacBook. And the screen is bigger. And the speakers are better. And...ok I'm done.
The real test will come when I start uni again in other few weeks and have to watch lectures and read PDFs and take notes and write essays. I can't wait to try all that on the Pro.
Similar situation here. Though not a pro photographer, I am an "avid amateur" and now that I'm retired I can do a lot of shooting. My workflow is similar to yours though I use LR CC and another viewer on Windows to do the same. I also prefer use of a mouse over a pen - I have significantly better motor skills with a mouse. Plus, there's the work of cataloging and backing up where I use local storage, not any cloud service (except for purposes sharing of select photos).
Yeah, for prosumer photography and video, as well as for software development, the iPad is not going to work out at all as a replacement for the main device/desktop workstation equivalent, which is either going to be a higher end MBP or an iMac.
We've all heard about this from everyone who does those sorts of tasks, and we know iOS is still insufficient for those types of creative professions.
It still seems to me, however, that many, many people that make these complaints seem exceedingly bent on ignoring the fact that no one is trying to make the iPad their sole device, but rather their primary and perhaps sole mobile device.
Photographers and Videographers - you are not going to be giving up your maxed out iMac's or 15" MBP's anytime soon, your FCPX or Adobe Premier, your DGPU's and you're definitely not going to be getting rid of your big external RAID arrays to house all your photo and video libraries either.
Nobody is saying you should or you have to...
iPad Pro can do a lot of stuff, though, and for many white collar folk, it could feasibly be very close to replacing that work laptop or the secondary personal device like an rMB.
There is definitely some overlap here now on that end of the spectrum. I happen to fall into that side of things for 90% of my work. The other 10% is actually that creative stuff I went through above, and for that my maxed out iMac is going nowhere. I foresee needing to use FCPX for the next several years before something even remotely good enough and even comparable comes to iOS (tried to do a test video in iOS iMovie this weekend since I hadn't checked it out in several versions...but it was still heavily gimped even from the macOS version of iMovie, let alone FCPX! The program is barely suitable for a home movie clip. Boring standard and uncustomisable titles and transitions, no tools for syncing video or audio, no dynamic audio mixing, etc etc)
However, for office and business management type productivity work, it has been really good. After 3 days in the field with my new maxed 10.5" iPad Pro, I didn't even open my rMB's lid once on day 2 and 3, and thus I feel fully justified in the rationale of the purchase - in lieu of a new 2017 maxed rMB - and can't wait for the iOS 11 public beta to come out.
We've all heard about this from everyone who does those sorts of tasks, and we know iOS is still insufficient for those types of creative professions.
It still seems to me, however, that many, many people that make these complaints seem exceedingly bent on ignoring the fact that no one is trying to make the iPad their sole device, but rather their primary and perhaps sole mobile device.
Photographers and Videographers - you are not going to be giving up your maxed out iMac's or 15" MBP's anytime soon, your FCPX or Adobe Premier, your DGPU's and you're definitely not going to be getting rid of your big external RAID arrays to house all your photo and video libraries either.
Nobody is saying you should or you have to...
iPad Pro can do a lot of stuff, though, and for many white collar folk, it could feasibly be very close to replacing that work laptop or the secondary personal device like an rMB.
There is definitely some overlap here now on that end of the spectrum. I happen to fall into that side of things for 90% of my work. The other 10% is actually that creative stuff I went through above, and for that my maxed out iMac is going nowhere. I foresee needing to use FCPX for the next several years before something even remotely good enough and even comparable comes to iOS (tried to do a test video in iOS iMovie this weekend since I hadn't checked it out in several versions...but it was still heavily gimped even from the macOS version of iMovie, let alone FCPX! The program is barely suitable for a home movie clip. Boring standard and uncustomisable titles and transitions, no tools for syncing video or audio, no dynamic audio mixing, etc etc)
However, for office and business management type productivity work, it has been really good. After 3 days in the field with my new maxed 10.5" iPad Pro, I didn't even open my rMB's lid once on day 2 and 3, and thus I feel fully justified in the rationale of the purchase - in lieu of a new 2017 maxed rMB - and can't wait for the iOS 11 public beta to come out.
I was not complaining, simply stating the particular use case that I need a laptop or desktop for. I use my iPad a lot, but mainly for consumption. I'm retired now but I never would have been able to use an iPad in my work as any and all personal devices were prohibited but I can certainly see how an awful lot of people can make extensive use of an iPad in their work or as laptop replacement in the home.
Sorry guys. but it will completely, 100% replace tasks in the future. When is uncertain. Saying otherwise (e.g. syncing an iPod) is like saying you need a 1984 Macintosh to run Macintosh applications.. because at some point, that legacy hardware really won't make sense.
Use case scenario: was doing my expenses yesterday, filling out spreadsheet that I have to print and mail (don't ask, small company). Opened the template and couldn't remember the format I had used on the prior sheet. Realized that with the iPad I can't just open the last saved spreadsheet to see what format I had used because I can't have two different Excel spreadsheet files open side-by-side on the iPad. So I just grabbed my MacBook Air and did it the old fashioned way, with both files opened to compare.
It's quite useful to share these experiences as today they remain real barriers to iPad productivity. No doubt, if we raise these issues and make people aware of them they can make the right choice for themselves in which device to choose and Apple or whoever Tim Cook pays to browse MR Forums will put it on their list of 'Fix it' things!
So? I can use my iPhone to do what I can do on my iPad. Does that mean I shouldn't buy an iPad? Web browsing I mostly prefer using my Macbook Pro not on my iPad.
Duplicate the last expense report and modify it? I usually easily erase this problem by either using Dropbox or Documents as a file viewer if I need a second excel or word or Numbers or Pages doc open at the same time. These file manager apps allow you to view files, I can even copy and paste text from PDF's right in the viewer app and paste them into my active document.
Agreed - I was going to start a thread of "use cases" impeding iPad-only use but figured there are enough ideas floating around. Plus others can advise on workarounds, etc.
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The issue is seeing two different files of the same type on-screen (other uses would be copy/paste etc) - I can't have two Excel files open at once, if that makes sense
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Ahh good point! Preview in Dropbox!
Yeah I could of used my iPad Air 2 at the time for school but I tried it and hated it. I actually prefer using my Macbook Pro for school papers and etc than my iPad and a keyboard. Just because it's possible doesn't mean. Everybody wants to use an iPad
See my edit to my above post. I usually have the second doc open in a file management app viewer... ha! I see you did
[doublepost=1497805232][/doublepost]I actually just found my first real problem. Office for iOS does not have password management features. So if I have an Excel file I keep password protected so that no unauthorized edits can take place accidentally, I have no way of saving that file as an unprotected workbook to send off for 3rd party editing...have already submitted a feature request via microsoft - but the issue was already raised so I voted for it instead.
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Exactly correct. That's why Apple is still making a killer Macbook and Macbook Pro
Some of us (like myself) tend towards early adoption. I can see the potential of the multitouch, tablet first, form factor over the traditional keyboard, mouse/trackpad, screen trio we've had for the past 75 years or so of computing history.
I am willing to relearn a lot of workflows and ways of doing and thinking about tasks, because on one side, I actually do think I will eventually be more productive in my line of work than I am now, and on the other side, I actually enjoy the challenge of figuring it out.
The main frustration actually so far is that the apps aren't there yet, especially when there is no reason for it. My 10.5" Pro benchmarks higher and has more cores to work with than both the CPU and GPU in a 2016 13" MBP, and yet there is no video editing software worth the name in the entire ecosystem. MS Office lacks basic functionality like password protection management. In iWork, I am not allowed to edit individual series in a chart, like changing font size or color, or even specify the exact height and width of objects like shapes and charts, but have to "wing it" with the relatively clumsy finger drag instead, making designing documents unnecessarily cumbersome.
Give me iOS and macOS feature parity on productivity and creative suite software such as iWork, iLife (iMovie, Garageband, Photos) and MS Office, and 99.9% of my own personal road blocks will be taken away. The other 0.1% seems to be being addressed with iOS 11's new Files app, new multitasking features (especially saving of app "spaces") and drag and drop.
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Had this same issue... ended up getting the Apple Watch as you can sync your iTunes playlists to it from an iPhone or iPad. It’s really quite a nice setup for running, provided you have nice Bluetooth wireless headphones.
I can do almost everything I want to in the iPad Pro, except converting my physical media to my iPad, That's the only thing holding me back.
I like to "own" physical media for the better quality, and be able to put it on any device I own.
I have trouble going all digital for my media, you still are not really owner of the media you buy from iTunes.
....and maybe torrents
Had this same issue... ended up getting the Apple Watch as you can sync your iTunes playlists to it from an iPhone or iPad. It’s really quite a nice setup for running, provided you have nice Bluetooth wireless headphones.
When I work in the field, I have to be using a laptop, as some of the government programs I run require a full desktop version. However, You are correct, when I'm at home, an iPad can easily be a desktop replacement for most of my needs in my residence.