Comparing the 13-Inch MacBook Pro to the MacBook Air and iPad Pro

[chucker23n1]

Apple (re)started on the base of a free and OpenSource BSD system.

macOS is not a BSD. It does have some BSD components, but their importance is vastly overstated. Its kernel is not a BSD-like kernel. Its UI isn't X11. Many of its command-line tools aren't BSD.

They build macOS on top of free standards like OpenGL.

OpenGL is deprecated in macOS.

LLVM had major success (OpenSource) and lot of other OSS stuff founded the success of Apple (you name it).

Much of LLVM's success is due to Apple's heavy investment in it. It's a two-way street.

Microsoft based it's success with Azure on OpenSource tools (where would Azure be without BSD?).

Azure is largely Windows and Linux, neither of which uses much BSD at all, so… uh… probably in the same place?

 

[TheHurryKayne]

I don't see Apple doing a clean shift to Arm , Logic for me says a lot ,
these platforms are not enemies but part of an ecosystem , not because Logic is too
powerful for Arms to run, i'm not an engineer but i don't think this , but because of
the vast Intel-Windows machines out there and for the money a lot of companies spent
to develop Fruity ,Reason , Native Instruments,Avid ,Ableton tools etc and Apple knows it ,
its not Logic or Final Cut enough to make me stay with Apple. and this is the spirit
where it goes the Bootcamp or Sidecar.
I could be wrong but while i'd desire to have Logic on my Ipad i think
that i will be in this way .
So those comparisons don't get point for me, Ipad and Mac are meant to work together not against .

 

[Basic75]

Now please let me install Docker, Xcode, and Android Studio on iPad Pro...

Let me fire up my Windows in VMware, oh wait, but seriously, people using VMware and Android Studio aren't interested in articles with headlines like "Can an iPad be your next computer?" because they know that the answer is "no".
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Nicely done! I was really surprised to see the benchmark results!

I'd be more interested in some serious benchmarks like Spec and Blender, let's see how an iPad holds up in hour-long multi-threaded raytracing or compiling large bodies of C++ code.

 

[Spudlicious]

Just want to say I absolutely love the original content MacRumors has been producing. You guys are doing a great job and I love these forums.

Me too! I get so much interest and enjoyment from MacRumours, so I thank its organisers and all contributors.

 

[iPadified]

Let me fire up my Windows in VMware, oh wait, but seriously, people using VMware and Android Studio aren't interested in articles with headlines like "Can an iPad be your next computer?" because they know that the answer is "no".
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I'd be more interested in some serious benchmarks like Spec and Blender, let's see how an iPad holds up in hour-long multi-threaded raytracing or compiling large bodies of C++ code.

I agree that would be interesting. OTOY seem to work on a metal based raytracer for iOS and MacOS (well finally). That this is even considered for a 5W device is surprising. As long as the processor is cooled, the performance over time should not be a problem.

 

[aero7]

"A" chip Macs are gonna be so hot. I mean they will be cool, but sooo hot. Can't wait, exciting times!

 

[Tekguy0]

"A" chip Macs are gonna be so hot. I mean they will be cool, but sooo hot. Can't wait, exciting times!

I can't wait to see what they come up with. Hopefully we will see some dedicated accelerator blocks for tasks like video production. I would also expect them to run cooler than the Intel chips.

 

[ingambe]

I don't see Apple doing a clean shift to Arm , Logic for me says a lot ,
these platforms are not enemies but part of an ecosystem , not because Logic is too
powerful for Arms to run, i'm not an engineer but i don't think this , but because of
the vast Intel-Windows machines out there and for the money a lot of companies spent
to develop Fruity ,Reason , Native Instruments,Avid ,Ableton tools etc and Apple knows it ,
its not Logic or Final Cut enough to make me stay with Apple. and this is the spirit
where it goes the Bootcamp or Sidecar.
I could be wrong but while i'd desire to have Logic on my Ipad i think
that i will be in this way .
So those comparisons don't get point for me, Ipad and Mac are meant to work together not against .View attachment 914655

Arm can be used for low end Mac, like the 12" MacBook, not for the Pro neither Air
a fanless ARM is less powerful than a fan cooled x86, don’t get fooled by commercial benchmarks

 

[Bolanders]

Excuse me, but what "proper" computer are you talking about?

The MBA that barely can perform basic tasks without getting extremely hot?
The 8th gen 13" MBP?
The ultra-expensive 10th gen 13" MBP that doesn't even have a dedicated GPU?
Those are jokes!

Let's hope the 14" MBP will have a dedicated GPU to do justice to its "Pro" name, like the 16" MBP which is amazing!

About the iToy, I'm reading and writing this on my new 2020 iToy 11", it's an outstanding device, love it, ProMotion is absolutely amazing, but to be honest I bought it mainly to be a consumption device, didn't try yet to do any serious task on it.

LOL. I use the MacBook Air for a ton of stuff and it is flawless. Get off YouTube and actually try it before you bash it.

Zoom, Outlook, Mail, Excel with huge spreadsheets, word, image and music consumption, powerpoint, pdf manipulation, internet, etc.

 

[Heelpir8]

I don't really understand why you're even bothering with the base-model MacBook Pro. It isn't actually a new laptop, the internals are a couple years old. I'd think starting with the cheapest 10th-gen pro would make more sense.

100%. I’d imagine many, if not most of the visitors to this site have greater computing needs than the average Mac purchaser and won’t even be considering an 8th gen base model MBP.

 

[hudson1]

The Magic Keyboard is what functionalizes an iPad Pro to be used for some tasks that could only be reasonably or comfortably accomplished with a Mac. OTOH, it's the Apple Pencil which really changes things as it allows the iPad Pro to do things that could never (within any reason) be accomplished on a Mac.

Secondly, software development for iOS seems to be much stronger right now. I know my wife uses some teaching apps on her lowly iPad Air for which there are no equivalents on MacOS.

 

[fbr$]

LOL. I use the MacBook Air for a ton of stuff and it is flawless. Get off YouTube and actually try it before you bash it.

Zoom, Outlook, Mail, Excel with huge spreadsheets, word, image and music consumption, powerpoint, pdf manipulation, internet, etc.

I'm sorry, I had no intention to offend MBA owners! My apologies!

But I watched dozens of YouTube videos and read hundreds of posts on forums about it.

Tests performing sustained loads on the 2020 high end i7 MBA shows that it stays at +3 GHz for only few seconds, then drops to 1.7 GHz at 100 °C and stays there, IMO that it's not an acceptable behaviour!
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Just because it can be done, doesn't mean it's optimal. A dedicated GPU takes up room on the motherboard, and as a result reduces the amount of space available to the battery, necessitating a reduction in battery size, on top of the increased battery usage incurred by including a dedicated graphics card. It's a complete waste if you don't need it. Intel's integrated GPUs have progressed to the point where very few people really need anything more powerful, regardless.

Well, we're talking about a machine that is marketed as "Pro", right? I'm pretty sure Apple is capable of designing the 14" MBP chassis to fit a large enough battery for a "Pro" use of the machine!

 

[bheathain]

I personally use my 2019 iPad Air as a "second monitor" to my work laptop. I keep up with conversations with my teammates and take video conferences from it. Everything else is done on my laptop.

 

[Greenmeenie]

I am an ipad pro convert. Love my 11” ipad pro. It’s my main computer now. I use it to draw, write, edit photos & video as well as surf the web. It does it all. Luma Fusion works great for editing 4K video, but I sure do wish Apple released an ipad version of Final Cut. Come on Apple.

 

[rp2011]

LOL. I use the MacBook Air for a ton of stuff and it is flawless. Get off YouTube and actually try it before you bash it.

Zoom, Outlook, Mail, Excel with huge spreadsheets, word, image and music consumption, powerpoint, pdf manipulation, internet, etc.

Oh kinda like an iPad.

 

[Nuno Lopes]

I didn't quote anybody, so clearly anyone with a bit of intelligence should know that I wasn't telling everyone not to purchase iPad simply because it doesn't suit my need...

I'm only stating the fact that, with all the preparation done (multitasking, fast cpu), they should either simply open up more possibilities. It's perfect to dev on iPad with docker in arm cpu that gets to deploy to arm instance on the cloud! Also, like you stated, I've heard about the Xcode rumour... ... I just can't wait til the day it comes!

Do you know how difficult it is to always need to carry heavy laptop while traveling around the world or on a beach when production alert hit? I even had to address a client issue at FL350 once... Taking a 15" MBP out from overhead bin and fix a bug in premium economy space isn't really ideal... Imagine if I can do that on an iPad...

I am and dev and disagree.

So I guess its not a fact.

 

[CPL593H]

LOL. I use the MacBook Air for a ton of stuff and it is flawless. Get off YouTube and actually try it before you bash it.

Zoom, Outlook, Mail, Excel with huge spreadsheets, word, image and music consumption, powerpoint, pdf manipulation, internet, etc.

Agree. It amazes me when people suggest anything above Notes needs a MacBook Pro ‘to be safe’. Never had an issue with any productivity app, video call, internet browsing on my 2018 MBA (8/128). Replaced a tank of an HP ProBook (16/1TB) and my back thanks me daily for not lugging that around.

 

[Jimmy James]

1. I really just need the i3 Air most of the time.
2. But it’s only $100 to get the i5.
3. But the i5 has thermal constraints and it’s small financial upgrade to the Pro.
4. The Base Pro has an old processor. so may as well look at the 10th gen.
5. Buy 10th gen Pro.

This is a funnel and it’s intentional. Apple is making many people just unhappy enough with anything but an upper tier laptop that they’re justifying their purchase right to the top. It’s dreadful.

 

[chucker23n1]

I don't see Apple doing a clean shift to Arm , Logic for me says a lot ,
these platforms are not enemies but part of an ecosystem , not because Logic is too
powerful for Arms to run,

I don't think they'd have a hard time porting Logic Pro to ARM.

My guess is these days, there's almost zero architecture-specific code in there. Back in the 90s, that was a common thing, but these days, you abstract it away. You use frameworks that will take advantage of e.g. SSE on x86 and NEON+SVE on ARM.

Let me fire up my Windows in VMware, oh wait, but seriously, people using VMware and Android Studio aren't interested in articles with headlines like "Can an iPad be your next computer?" because they know that the answer is "no".

Well, yes and no. Personally, I love the flexibility of my 15-inch MacBook Pro. Others might even go further and want a desktop with many screens (I "only" have two external displays).

But I can also see how an environment like GitHub Codespaces can be just fine on iPad.

 

[LuciusWrong]

Why would anyone compare an iToy, I mean iPad with a proper computer?

Because for most "Apple users", a toy is precisely what they want. The operating system itself is a game!

A "Mac user" wants a machine that gets out of the way and does what they want it to do, which is the one thing Apple will never let the iPad do.

Some will say, "But I like how the icons dance for me, and everything is so perfect I feel like I'm in heaven when I use it."

Other people say, "Is it good at doing the job I need it to do?"

 

[Herrpod]

I would pay for a 13 inch iPad Pro built into a MacBook Air/Pro body. The Magic Keyboard is close, but still far off from being ideal.

 

[hudson1]

For those experienced in using both a Macbook and an iPad routinely, what is a practical comparison of storage needs between the two? For example, in choosing between a 512 GB Macbook and an iPad Pro, is the correct comparison to a 512 GB model or is the use pattern different enough to make the comparison to the 256 GB iPad Pro? I realize there's no answer that applies to everyone but just looking for any comments. Thx.

 

[g35]

For those experienced in using both a Macbook and an iPad routinely, what is a practical comparison of storage needs between the two? For example, in choosing between a 512 GB Macbook and an iPad Pro, is the correct comparison to a 512 GB model or is the use pattern different enough to make the comparison to the 256 GB iPad Pro? I realize there's no answer that applies to everyone but just looking for any comments. Thx.

I am using my 128 GB MacBook Pro and 64 GB iPad Pro with a similar amount of free space. If I had a 64 GB MacBook it would be too small and if I had a 128 GB iPad it would be too big.

 

[dannynjoni]

The picture of the person trying to write on the iPad with the keyboard contraption - looks very clumsy to me.

It's not clumsy at all. But not quite as stable as a Macbook. One way to make it more stable is to tilt the screen towards you so that weight is more balanced. The iPad Pro w/ Magic Keyboard is a very nice solution. I love the variety of options it gives me. But for real workhorse work I still like my iMac.

 

[Basic75]

For those experienced in using both a Macbook and an iPad routinely, what is a practical comparison of storage needs between the two? For example, in choosing between a 512 GB Macbook and an iPad Pro, is the correct comparison to a 512 GB model or is the use pattern different enough to make the comparison to the 256 GB iPad Pro? I realize there's no answer that applies to everyone but just looking for any comments. Thx.

You didn't say what you were using the devices for. My iPad has 32GB and my Mac has 512GB and for how I use them that's just about enough.