I want a MacBook Pro with a touch screen. That would be a killer machine for me. I use apps that an iPad can't replace.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Has your iPad killed your laptop use?
- Thread starter ACG12
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I came to the same conclusion. I was using a first generation iPad Mini. It was getting old and I was considering buying a iPad Pro. My rationalization was I don't use it on the go. I tend to use my phone on the road if I need to pay for parking or look up an address, ect.
The iPad Pro costs nearly the same price as a base 13" rMBP. BestBuy had a sale and the laptop was $200 off making it only ~$60 more. I ended up replacing the iPad Mini with the 2.7GHz i5 8GB RAM 128GB SSD 13" early 2015 rMBP. For me the MacBook is so much nicer. iPads don't have true multitasking and when combined with the limited use they have I find the laptop trumps it.
One of the best things about the laptop is I can remote into my Windows machine, Mac Mini and my iMac from my couch.
Last edited:
Can do that from an iPad too. It might be that the UI is easier to navigate on the MacBook because of the trackpad, but you make it sound like iPads can't do it at all.
One of the best things about my iPad is I can remote into my Mac mini and work Windows machine while also having the benefit of a fantastic tablet
[doublepost=1455668525][/doublepost]
You beat me to it. Hit post like 5 seconds before me. Why man...why did you have to steal my moment to enlighten this fella
The apps are Final Cut, Logic Pro and processing raw photos in Lighroom and Photoshop.
This happens all the time to me on this forum. I'll type out a response and right before I hit "Post Reply" I see the notification for a new post appear, so I load it and see they already used my reply.
The feature is built into OS X for screen sharing. I don't think iOS has it native. I suppose you can buy an app that can do the same thing on the iPad but now you're spending money and trying to use touch screen to control a interface not meant to be controlled by touch. Windows 10 might be easier because of it's touch based design.
I still wouldn't want the iPad even if I bought the app for it. The point of a iPad in my option to use it while standing and taking notes. The value IMO is lost when I'm sitting on the couch struggling with the interface. I'll take the rMBP any day.
It still only does split screen. I haven't tried it but I'm not interested in having to deal with not being able to have one email open and editing another at the same time or being able to have finder open and drag in an attachment without having to jump through all the hoops.
Heh. We were writing out posts at the same time!
Seriously, my partner uses Splashtop on his iPad all the time, even when he's in the same room as the computer he's remoting into. I look at his iPad and he has Internet Explorer open in Windows through Splashtop. I'm like "you know iPad has a native browser, right?" And he just shrugs and keeps using IE. I don't understand, but it works for him.
[doublepost=1455669424][/doublepost]
And you never buy additional apps for your Mac? You just use the apps it comes installed with, or free apps, and that meets all your needs?
As for wanting multiple windows, that's personal preference. I never feel that comfortable with having many windows open unless I have a huge desktop monitor. So even on my 13 inch MacBook Air, I'm always maximizing the windows or using apps in full screen mode. Task switching on the iPad takes slightly longer than on MacBook, but not enough to inconvenience me much. But I do understand that iPad isn't for everyone, and that's ok.
You're missing the point I didn't have to buy an app for that function.
I'm not against buying apps. I'm just saying that my rMBP cost $60 more then the iPad Pro. Turning around and having to buy the app to do what the laptop does better.
This entire topic is opinions. I offered mine and you're trying to educate me like my opinion is wrong.
Yep. I love my iPad. I passed a very nice MacBook Air to a family member when I got my iPad Air 2. In the nearly year and a half since then I haven't really missed the MBA. I kind of regret buying the MBA since I went a little crazy on the specs when I ordered it ($$) and knowing now how great the iPad is for me. The iPad does nearly everything I need and for a few other things I've got the Mac mini to fill in.
My iPhone 6s+ killed my tablet use for sure... iPad is like a step child... 
Indeed it has. I bought my first iPad (iPad 2) to extend the life of my 2008 white MacBook. Increasing didn't use my MacBook. Now on an iPad Air 2 and still haven't replaced my old MacBook. I do have a Windows desktop in my office that I use out of necessity about 4 or 5 times a year, the odd print job or two aside. No need for anything else.
I think there are free apps for remoting into computers from iPads. I'm not 100% sure because personally, I don't use remote apps on my iPad. But I do know such apps exist, paid or not, so you talking as if they don't exist rubbed me the wrong way. And I point out that there are remote apps for the iPad, then you quibble over whether we have to pay for them or not. Yes, this whole thread is opinions, but I just thought our opinions should be based on facts, is all.
Personally, I think that relaxing on the sofa feels more comfortable if the device on my lap doesn't have a keyboard. So when I'm relaxing on the sofa I prefer to do things on my iPad, even if it's a little bit better to do them on the laptop. And the things that are better on the laptop keep shrinking every year.
I wasn't talking as if they didn't exist. You're putting words in my mouth. I said I enjoyed using it on my laptop.
I never checked to see if it existed on the iPad because it wasn't something I would ever have done on my iPad. I'm not saying iPads are bad but between my iPhone and my MacBook/iMac/PC I don't have much use for one. That is just me. I'm not saying that everyone is the same.
Different strokes for different folks. I don't mind having a keyboard on my lap. I think of it as a counterbalance so I don't have to hold it to use it. It just sits there freeing my hands to drink and view the screen at the same time. Plus I don't have to touch the screen and get it all dirty with finger prints.
Those who find an iPad a terrific laptop replacement didn't need the laptop to begin with. Those of us who do computing, resource intense design, scientific and other complex work, find the idea of the Post PC Era laughable. Apple’s Hype knows no limits.
They do have their uses. I just don't need one. For what I use my MacBook for I probably could get away with using an iPad instead but the MacBook Pro just is so much more robust. If they cost me the same I feel like Id be crazy to give up the extra capabilities even if I don't need them. I figure the MacBook will also hold its value over the iPad longer.
Yes they do.
I have all three sizes. For my purposes they're fun and convenient for reading, Web surfacing and casual use from the sofa.
Yet I'm not one that sits for very long. I'm an outside guy that's a serious amateur athlete. It's my family that get the most out of the iPads that are scattered around the house.
I rarely touch my MacBook Pro unless I have to do a word document or something that requires the extra power, but besides that I'm usually just browsing and watching YouTube videos which I do on my iPad Air 2 or my iPhone
I'm thinking that I like to hold the screen closer to my face. Having the keyboard there prevents me from bringing the screen close enough. I usually sit with my knees raised and rest my iPad against my legs. And I put screen protectors on my iPad. But yeah, different strokes.
You are right I didn't need a laptop in the first place, or at least not laptops as powerful as today's laptops are. I think Jobs analogy of pcs being trucks and tablets being cars is apt. Most people just need cars, and only a few people with specialized tasks need trucks. Doesn't mean trucks (pcs) are ever going away, just that tablets would become the primary compting device for most people.
I use my MBPr for Scrivener, putting movies on iPads, printing, and iPad and phone backups. iPads for everything else, which is a lot of things.
iPad Pro is fabulous with the pencil and Notability for drafting out ideas, it is also a great second screen, using Duet, for my laptop. My Air2 and ipad4 are both cellular and I use both for work away from home, as well as at home for many things.
So iPads haven't yet replaced my laptop but they have changed, hugely improved my workflow and I use them in ways and in locations I would never use a laptop. I could get by without the laptop if I had to, but I could not be without an iPad now.
I don't know why people argue so much about this. Surely it is as simple as: you use what you need and can afford! Making judgements about people with different need/budget to your own is pointless.
iPad Pro is fabulous with the pencil and Notability for drafting out ideas, it is also a great second screen, using Duet, for my laptop. My Air2 and ipad4 are both cellular and I use both for work away from home, as well as at home for many things.
So iPads haven't yet replaced my laptop but they have changed, hugely improved my workflow and I use them in ways and in locations I would never use a laptop. I could get by without the laptop if I had to, but I could not be without an iPad now.
I don't know why people argue so much about this. Surely it is as simple as: you use what you need and can afford! Making judgements about people with different need/budget to your own is pointless.
Consumers get confused easily. If they can't easily classify one thing as a certain thing for a certain...thing, then they're going to argue about it til they are blue in the face whether they're actually right or not. And why not. Arguing is fun. I'd rather do that than take out the trash right now.
[doublepost=1455711457][/doublepost]
Now imagine Apple bringing those full versions to the iPad pro. Not watered down crappy "ios" versions but full versions of working pro software. Wouldn't that change the game a little bit? Wouldn't these conversations about the usefulness of the iPad pro be a little different?