iPad Air vs. Microsoft's Surface Go: Which Is a Better Laptop Replacement?

[Rob_2811]

I say this in every thread that pops up on this subject. The biggest thing holding the iPad back is the App Store.

The economics of the App Store just don't work for a lot of developers which is a barrier to pro applications on the store.

The fact that you can only install software from the App Store means you are completely dependent on Apple for your workflow. If they ban an app you were using for work, you don't use it anymore, ask developers who were using Dash on iOS up until Apple banned it.

 

[derekamoss]

For me the Surface Pro is a laptop with a different case design. Nobody is using this thing as a tablet like the iPad....
[doublepost=1563018418][/doublepost]

It depends what productivity means. Not everyone is doing video or Photoshop jobs as their profession. I use things like putty, WinSCP, Remote Desktop, browsing with Java and Flash support and many other small tools to earn my money and for that the Go is perfectly fine (and least on the road)....

Agreed! Surface's aren't tablets, they are laptops in a tablet form factor.

 

[sirozha]

Yeah, it's actually frustrating that the iPad has been around for nearly 10 years and hasn't replaced a laptop. But it's getting there.

If I buy bananas and they don't ripen within a couple days, I throw them away. Waiting for over a decade for the iPad to ripen into a laptop replacement is insanity.
[doublepost=1563021593][/doublepost]

I have the Surface 2 and it is pretty bad, I haven't used it since more than a year now. I don't even remember where I kept it.

I have an iPad Air and it's pretty bad,. I haven't used it since more than a year now. I don't even remember where I kept it. True story.

 

[Smartass]

iPad - better performance, better screen, better battery, better apps, better privacy, better security, better support. You could probably go on and on.

But when you need to do some serious work, all that fance screen, battery, apps, privacy, security and support wont help you not one bit.

 

[sirozha]

iPad = 98% consumption device for 98% of iPad users. The GO is a joke with its weak CPU. The best laptop replacement is a laptop.

Until the iPad has real mouse support (trackpad or mouse) I will not consider it at all as a replacement.

I have used a 12.9 inch iPad Pro, with Jump Destop, and a Citrix X1 BT mouse to RDP into a Windows computer at work. It works just like a laptop and was a fantastic experience since the iPad is lighter, thinner and has a better battery life than most laptops out there. Too bad the mouse does not work with the iPad in any other way.

Maybe Microsoft will release an iPad keyboard with a trackpad.

 

[BigDO]

I actually did an iPad app with powerful window interface to make iPad as close to desktop experience as possible. However, it was rejected by Apple review, so unfortunately, it is not in App Store. Here is a video demo of that app:

This is so cool. Well done.

 

[57004]

Strange timing of doing this comparison. Why not wait a couple months until iPadOS is out that is specifically aimed at improving this particular usecase?

 

[AlexESP]

It's 2019 and some people still believe in this touch-controlled PC interfaces. Maybe they haven't seen what happened to Symbian, Windows Mobile... almost exactly the same case.
It's pure logic that you have to start with a touch-based interface and, after that, add complexity with order. The other way is a path of a messy UX, inconsistent interaction...
It's not a well-thought product: not a good laptop, not a tablet.

 

[Mainsail]

I can’t believe I have to like this comment.

I liked this post too because the core point is that the iPad is a tablet. It is an incredibly great tablet. It is just not possible to make a device that is both an incredibly great tablet and an incredibly great laptop because there are too many compromises necessary to optimize for both. A great tablet is touch input first and App centric. A great laptop is keyboard/mouse input first and Windows centric. These are two very different approaches to computing.

I think Apple has done the right thing with the iPad. They have made an insanely great Tablet. Even without a physical keyboard, you can get a lot done on an iPad with Pencil used purely as a Tablet. With iPadOS, it gets even better. Add a physical keyboard, your typing speed improves. However, it is still a Tablet.

I think people get frustrated with the iPad when they try to interact with it like a laptop rather than like a tablet. If you accept the iPad for what it is rather than what it is not, then you find out how much you can do with it, and the frustration begins to melt away.

 

[AlexESP]

But then Timmy wouldnt make it to where you have to buy a Macbook and a tablet and spend more money! That's really the only reason they haven't yet. Why have people buy one device that is 1000 dollars instead of a laptop thats 1000 already and hopes of getting you to spend insane amounts for better specd options and a iPad where you have to spend insane amounts to get one with enough storage since you cant add a SD Card....

Come on... I have to think that the same company that killed the huge iPod business with the iPhone is risking its tablet market instead of making an incredible Mac-iPad? They only reason they don't have it is because they think it wouldn't be a good product. Many of us think it, too.
And I also have to think that they don't add an SD card slot because they fear that many, many, many people will carry their iPads with that slow cards permanently attached as system storage, with games, apps, etc. installed on them, am I right? You can already read one if you just want to get photos taken from your camera, that case makes sense.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

The fact that the Surface can DFU restore a bricked iPad and not vice versa makes the iPad the lesser device. iPad is a blown up iPod with the same limitations while the Surface Go is a shrunken laptop but with the same versatility. Neither would be my first choice but if I was forced to choose one I'd take versatility over blown up limitations. What's holding back the Surface Go though is choice of crappy Intel CPU with weak iGPU. Would like to see AMD APU in the 2nd gen Surface Go.

My laptop is over 5 years old now, and I've been looking for a decent replacement. Unfortunately, when I bought it I went high end form factor, and given Intel's lack of updates, the Surface Go is still 50% slower than my 5 year old laptop. Literally the only reason I want to upgrade is the form factor, but that's a tough pill to swallow when my Dell is still working, and working well even.

 

[Lalatoon]

My laptop is over 5 years old now, and I've been looking for a decent replacement. Unfortunately, when I bought it I went high end form factor, and given Intel's lack of updates, the Surface Go is still 50% slower than my 5 year old laptop. Literally the only reason I want to upgrade is the form factor, but that's a tough pill to swallow when my Dell is still working, and working well even.

When i buy a laptop i always check the tech spec first. Why did you choose Go when there is a Pro with the same form factor but much better specs?

Well my 2015 Dell XPS 13 is still working. It can still run all 2019 softwares without a problem same with my 2017 Dell XPS 13 and my Macbook Air Retina. My point is the requirements of software to run smoothly hasn't change that much. As long as you have enough RAM and decent processor you can still use latest softwares like Adobe products or MS Office products.

 

[Rob_2811]

Come on... I have to think that the same company that killed the huge iPod business with the iPhone is risking its tablet market instead of making an incredible Mac-iPad? They only reason they don't have it is because they think it wouldn't be a good product. Many of us think it, too.
And I also have to think that they don't add an SD card slot because they fear that many, many, many people will carry their iPads with that slow cards permanently attached as system storage, with games, apps, etc. installed on them, am I right? You can already read one if you just want to get photos taken from your camera, that case makes sense.

Really? I don't think an iPad with a flimsy fabric covered keyboard is a good product honestly, certainly not as a laptop style device anyway, works great a tablet.

They don't need to make a Mac-iPad either why not just optimise macOS for touch, it works absolutely fine on PC devices certainly of more use than Apples Touch Bar. They want you to buy both, its that simple.

I often see the "Apple killed the iPod with the iPhone" analogy drawn but truth be told the writing was on the wall for standalone MP3 players by the time the iPhone launched.

You could already easily listen to MP3s on phones before iPhone and the "touchscreen smartphone era". Before I got my first iPhone (the 3G) I had been putting music on my Blackberry because it was easier than carrying my Blackberry and my iPod nano. Sure Apple usurped the iPod with the phone but their iPod business would've shrunk regardless.

 

[Shirasaki]

Yeah, it's actually frustrating that the iPad has been around for nearly 10 years and hasn't replaced a laptop. But it's getting there.

Don’t know why you are frustrated here. I am glad Apple has made necessary changes to the iPad to make it work much better. But iPad is still an iPad, with a bit of macOS like features. It can disrupt laptop centric workflow but it won’t replace laptop.

 

[mschmalenbach]

I see a number of posts here where people assert the equivalent of "when it comes to doing serious work, you need a laptop and here the Surface wins hands-down"

My question is this: what is 'serious' work for the bulk of the probable user group for these devices?

The issue of user interface is also I believe more important than many might think. For example, PowerPoint on the iPad is pretty good, but still lacks many of the more useful functions found on its bigger brother. I understand these are missing not because of performance issues, but user interface issues, not just on-screen but also at the hardware level...

So perhaps the potential is there performance-wise for a tablet like the iPad to do more... but it doesn't yet address some of these user interface/experience issues?

I have a top-of-the-line MacBook Pro late 2017 model, maxed out on everything (16Gb RAM max for that model), and I use it for video editing using the BlackMagic Design suite of tools and an external GPU via Thunderbolt 3. A colleague has the same use case and has a top-end Lenovo laptop workstation with Win 10 Pro 64 bit, 64Gb of RAM, an external Vega 56 GPU and the same video tools. It's a horrible experience for her - crashes about once per hour no matter what she tries to do about it. My MacBook has only crashed once with this setup - turned out to be a faulty eGPU...

I don't see me using an iPad or Surface for this kind of work though!

I travel a lot overseas in my job, and take my MacBook without the eGPU (though I do have one of those very portable GigaByte mini eGPUs also, with a Radeon RX580 & 8Gb of GDDR5 in) but I also take my iPad Pro first gen with me. I use that iPad a LOT when traveling, and also at home... plenty of fairly hefty WORD and EXCEL work on it, no probs.

I'm not sure I would want to have just a single device that can and does do it all for me - it would likely need too many compromises - either on battery or on processor performance. My iPad is great on battery, even after 3 years. My MacBook sucks on battery - the ever present discrete GPU and max RAM are probably the main culprits. Oh well!

Perhaps the closest single device for me that I just 'discovered' is the late 2018 MacBook Air - I bought a refurbed one from Apple a few weeks ago, maxed out on RAM etc... the i5 processor is zippy enough for office applications, and I do a fair amount of video editing on it at home with the eGPU and same BlackMagic video editing tools on it, using an external keyboard, mouse and 4K monitor... it's a very acceptable experience. And being refurbed I paid over $300 less for it than list price, which I used then to pay for the Apple Care option.

Horses for courses, as ever!

 

[Mr. Dee]

LOL. when was the last time an iPad bricked? not in my experience, last bricked iOS device was an iPhone 4
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Have you tried using it? the iPad single core score easily beats the multi-core on the Go, and it has a better operating system for small devices. The Go might be better if it wasn't so damn slow!
[doublepost=1562976950][/doublepost]

Surface go, if productivity matters? Dude that makes no sense, the Go doesn't even have a grown up CPU
[doublepost=1562977063][/doublepost]

So WP, spreadsheets, email, photo editing, video creation, PDF editing, is consumption? Gee, I didn't know that. Your argument on mouse/trackpad is valid though

Instead of insulting, can’t you just dispute by making sound points? Just the other day I was talking to someone; we were both discussing the Apple products we owned. I mentioned owning an iPad Pro.

He responded having two of them and found them a waste of money and pointless to use for product. He even said he is giving them away because he hardly uses either of them. The market itself even tells you how limited iPads are.

During 2010 to 2013 period, they were all the rage; it’s all Tim Cook could talk about, then most users got back to their senses and realized it was an unproductive device to use, primarily because of its OS (which Apple engineers are just beginning to fix).

Since 2014, I haven’t heard Tim talk much about iPads. Using a 2014 Surface Pro vs a 2017 iPad, I personally see a use difference in how productive I am. Of course, i’m not gonna put my personal business here, but actually make more money on a traditional Mac laptop or Surface because I am not wasting time trying fit my lifestyle to match the iPads limitations.

Apparently a lot of users on this forum agree with me.

 

[Abazigal]

I see a number of posts here where people assert the equivalent of "when it comes to doing serious work, you need a laptop and here the Surface wins hands-down"

My question is this: what is 'serious' work for the bulk of the probable user group for these devices?

The issue of user interface is also I believe more important than many might think. For example, PowerPoint on the iPad is pretty good, but still lacks many of the more useful functions found on its bigger brother. I understand these are missing not because of performance issues, but user interface issues, not just on-screen but also at the hardware level...

So perhaps the potential is there performance-wise for a tablet like the iPad to do more... but it doesn't yet address some of these user interface/experience issues?

I have a top-of-the-line MacBook Pro late 2017 model, maxed out on everything (16Gb RAM max for that model), and I use it for video editing using the BlackMagic Design suite of tools and an external GPU via Thunderbolt 3. A colleague has the same use case and has a top-end Lenovo laptop workstation with Win 10 Pro 64 bit, 64Gb of RAM, an external Vega 56 GPU and the same video tools. It's a horrible experience for her - crashes about once per hour no matter what she tries to do about it. My MacBook has only crashed once with this setup - turned out to be a faulty eGPU...

I don't see me using an iPad or Surface for this kind of work though!

I travel a lot overseas in my job, and take my MacBook without the eGPU (though I do have one of those very portable GigaByte mini eGPUs also, with a Radeon RX580 & 8Gb of GDDR5 in) but I also take my iPad Pro first gen with me. I use that iPad a LOT when traveling, and also at home... plenty of fairly hefty WORD and EXCEL work on it, no probs.

I'm not sure I would want to have just a single device that can and does do it all for me - it would likely need too many compromises - either on battery or on processor performance. My iPad is great on battery, even after 3 years. My MacBook sucks on battery - the ever present discrete GPU and max RAM are probably the main culprits. Oh well!

Perhaps the closest single device for me that I just 'discovered' is the late 2018 MacBook Air - I bought a refurbed one from Apple a few weeks ago, maxed out on RAM etc... the i5 processor is zippy enough for office applications, and I do a fair amount of video editing on it at home with the eGPU and same BlackMagic video editing tools on it, using an external keyboard, mouse and 4K monitor... it's a very acceptable experience. And being refurbed I paid over $300 less for it than list price, which I used then to pay for the Apple Care option.

Horses for courses, as ever!

This assertion (of an iPad sufficing as a computer for the masses) has been parroted many times, and it’s good to be reminded of it from time to time.

I do find it amusing that as the iPad gains more and more functionality, the goalposts of what constitutes a computer (or even real work) keep shifting.

Not too long ago, the phrase “you can’t do real work on an iPad” was thrown around a lot, but as more people have shown that they totally can do their work on iPads, the PC defenders have had to become more specific in their criticisms. Arguments for the continued dominance of the PC have been reduced to “you need it for sharing documents” or “you can’t do development on iOS or Android.” or some other niche use case.

The trend towards eliminating things iOS and Android devices can’t do is marching on and there’s no reason to think it will stop. With each passing day, people are changing their workflows in ways that make PCs less relevant, while iOS and Android are making changes to fill the gaps that are still there.

PCs will exist for a long time, and I have no doubt that they will remain relevant for many people, but it continues to become more and more clear that the future is not macOS or Windows, but iOS and Android. As such, I am neither surprised nor dismayed that Apple continues to favour development of iOS over the Mac.

We really should be beyond debating whether the iPad can be used for content creation. That discussion is over and those still arguing that it cannot are saying more about themselves than about the iPad with every passing day.

 

[sirozha]

I've been an Apple evangelist and an early adopter since the early 2000s. I've also invested a lot of money into AAPL in the past 15 years. When the first iPad came out, I bought it immediately and decided to see if I could replace a Mac with it. I jailbroke it and used a lot of jailbroken apps to make it as close to a laptop as possible. I even installed mouse support and used a Magic Mouse with it. After trying hard for about 6-7 months, I gave up. Even though I could do my work (network engineering) on the iPad, it was so cumbersome and slow that there was absolutely no benefit over a Mac. I bought two more iPads since then, but the iOS software running on the iPad was just as crippling as it was when the first iPad was released. With the iPad Pro, there is better multitasking than before, but it's still no match for macOS.

It's not about the iPad not being powerful enough when it comes to hardware. It's about the artificial limitations that Apple imposed on iOS running on the iPad years ago. Those limitations were imposed in order not to cannibalize the Mac, which at the time made a big chunk of the Apple's profits. However, in the past decade, the importance of the Mac as a money maker for Apple has diminished significantly due to enormous profits Apple is making from the iPhone. Since the passing of Steve Jobs, it seemed like Apple all but forgot about the Mac, as we witnessed with the Mac Pro and Mac Mini lingering without updates for years and years.

So, what's keeping Apple from removing the artificial limitations on iOS running on the iPad (aka iPadOS) now? The reality is that the person in charge of Apple does not understand computing trends. He is a great logistics guy, but he has no vision or knowledge of the field where Apple operates. So, Tim is following the old Apple's adage about the iPad's place between the iPhone and the Mac rather than re-evaluating the reality that the personal computing has changed since the iPad was released and that the iPhone has taken on most of the iPad's functionality. That's the reason why the iPad's shipments have been dropping for years now. The niche between the iPhone and the Mac is shrinking for many people. I, for one, haven't touched an iPad in over a year now, and I can't even remember where I put mine so I can't find it in my house anymore. I may have left it somewhere during my travels and didn't even think to check whether I brought it back because of how rarely I remembered that I owned one.

If the iPad could become a true laptop replacement, the Mac could be reserved exclusively for the professionals that require very processor intensive tasks, and the iPad could become the device that most people would use for computing at home and even at many places at work. Otherwise, people are torn between the iPad and the Mac, and many choose a lower-end Mac because the iPad was never unshackled from the limitations that Apple once imposed on the iOS based on Steve Job's vision. In my opinion, Apple is leaving a lot of money on the table by continuing to cripple iPadOS.

 

[sofila]

iPad - better performance, better screen, better battery, better apps, better privacy, better security, better support. You could probably go on and on.

better here, better there, but...

 

[I7guy]

And there we have it. Two well written but different opinions. But I can see why Apple wants to slot the iPad as a computing device between the “lower” end and “higher” end of what constitutes the functional aspects of end-user computing.

 

[Rob_2811]

I've been an Apple evangelist and an early adopter since the early 2000s. I've also invested a lot of money into AAPL in the past 15 years. When the first iPad came out, I bought it immediately and decided to see if I could replace a Mac with it. I jailbroke it and used a lot of jailbroken apps to make it as close to a laptop as possible. I even installed mouse support and used a Magic Mouse with it. After trying hard for about 6-7 months, I gave up. Even though I could do my work (network engineering) on the iPad, it was so cumbersome and slow that there was absolutely no benefit over a Mac. I bought two more iPads since then, but the iOS software running on the iPad was just as crippling as it was when the first iPad was released. With the iPad Pro, there is better multitasking than before, but it's still no match for macOS.

It's not about the iPad not being powerful enough when it comes to hardware. It's about the artificial limitations that Apple imposed on iOS running on the iPad years ago. Those limitations were imposed in order not to cannibalize the Mac, which at the time made a big chunk of the Apple's profits. However, in the past decade, the importance of the Mac as a money maker for Apple has diminished significantly due to enormous profits Apple is making from the iPhone. Since the passing of Steve Jobs, it seemed like Apple all but forgot about the Mac, as we witnessed with the Mac Pro and Mac Mini lingering without updates for years and years.

So, what's keeping Apple from removing the artificial limitations on iOS running on the iPad (aka iPadOS) now? The reality is that the person in charge of Apple does not understand computing trends. He is a great logistics guy, but he has no vision or knowledge of the field where Apple operates. So, Tim is following the old Apple's adage about the iPad's place between the iPhone and the Mac rather than re-evaluating the reality that the personal computing has changed since the iPad was released and that the iPhone has taken on most of the iPad's functionality. That's the reason why the iPad's shipments have been dropping for years now. The niche between the iPhone and the Mac is shrinking for many people. I, for one, haven't touched an iPad in over a year now, and I can't even remember where I put mine so I can't find it in my house anymore. I may have left it somewhere during my travels and didn't even think to check whether I brought it back because of how rarely I remembered that I owned one.

If the iPad could become a true laptop replacement, the Mac could be reserved exclusively for the professionals that require very processor intensive tasks, and the iPad could become the device that most people would use for computing at home and even at many places at work. Otherwise, people are torn between the iPad and the Mac, and many choose a lower-end Mac because the iPad was never unshackled from the limitations that Apple once imposed on the iOS based on Steve Job's vision. In my opinion, Apple is leaving a lot of money on the table by continuing to cripple iPadOS.

Agree with you on this.

The way I see it is that Apple is basically compromising both platforms. If they don't want to put any kind of touch on a Mac that's one thing, if they don't want any desktop style functionality on their tablet products that's another. I don't necessarily see that as the right move but I could at least understand it. What Apple has actually done is come up with compromised solutions for both.

Instead of touch screen Macs we get the Touch Bar, instead of and Apple 2 in 1 device we get an iPad with an awkward keyboard and locked down OS. Both are seriously compromised in my opinion.

Go and ask the iPad enthusiasts if they got rid of their real computer and completely switched to an iPad, almost all of them still own a PC or Mac of some kind.

 

[sirozha]

Agree with you on this.

The way I see it is that Apple is basically compromising both platforms. If they don't want to put any kind of touch on a Mac that's one thing, if they don't want any desktop style functionality on their tablet products that's another. I don't necessarily see that as the right move but I could at least understand it. What Apple has actually done is come up with compromised solutions for both.

Instead of touch screen Macs we get the Touch Bar, instead of and Apple 2 in 1 device we get an iPad with an awkward keyboard and locked down OS. Both are seriously compromised in my option.

Go and ask the iPad enthusiasts if they got rid of their real computer and completely switched to an iPad, almost all of them still own a PC or Mac of some kind.

Great quote from Steve Jobs in your signature. You should send that quote to Tim Cook.

I refuse to buy any more iPads for my family because of 10 years of crippled computing experience with the three iPads that we have owned. If Apple unshackled iPadOS, we would buy three new iPads.
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Instead of insulting, can’t you just dispute by making sound points? Just the other day I was talking to someone; we were both discussing the Apple products we owned. I mentioned owning an iPad Pro.

He responded having two of them and found them a waste of money and pointless to use for product. He even said he is giving them away because he hardly uses either of them. The market itself even tells you how limited iPads are.

During 2010 to 2013 period, they were all the rage; it’s all Tim Cook could talk about, then most users got back to their senses and realized it was an unproductive device to use, primarily because of its OS (which Apple engineers are just beginning to fix).

Since 2014, I haven’t heard Tim talk much about iPads. Using a 2014 Surface Pro vs a 2017 iPad, I personally see a use difference in how productive I am. Of course, i’m not gonna put my personal business here, but actually make more money on a traditional Mac laptop or Surface because I am not wasting time trying fit my lifestyle to match the iPads limitations.

Apparently a lot of users on this forum agree with me.

Using the iPad way to compute is like saying, "The round wheel has been around for a long time, and the round wheel really works, but we have come up with a better shape for a wheel. We are going to use a square wheel; yes, it's a little bumpy, but hey, ours is a new and better way." The questions I have for Apple are: Why re-invent the wheel? Why are you making me do multitasking in a different way? Why do you think that computing without a pointing device is more efficient? Just because what you have come up with is different from the rest of computing doesn't mean that you have come up with something better. In the case of the iPad, I think Apple's idea of using the smartphone OS with the finger instead of a pointing device as the only UI option has been a failure. No wonder they finally released a stylus, but even with a stylus, it's still a crippled experience.

 

[AlexESP]

Really? I don't think an iPad with a flimsy fabric covered keyboard is a good product honestly, certainly not as a laptop style device anyway, works great a tablet.

They don't need to make a Mac-iPad either why not just optimise macOS for touch, it works absolutely fine on PC devices certainly of more use than Apples Touch Bar. They want you to buy both, its that simple.

I often see the "Apple killed the iPod with the iPhone" analogy drawn but truth be told the writing was on the wall for standalone MP3 players by the time the iPhone launched.

You could already easily listen to MP3s on phones before iPhone and the "touchscreen smartphone era". Before I got my first iPhone (the 3G) I had been putting music on my Blackberry because it was easier than carrying my Blackberry and my iPod nano. Sure Apple usurped the iPod with the phone but their iPod business would've shrunk regardless.

Then, laptops sales would be widely cannibalized by tablet PCs, and no one would buy an iPad and a Mac if there was a device that can be both, so Apple should be worried not about losing one market, but two.

In fact, they've sold me both. But that's because I think there isn't and, more importantly, there can't be (by now) any product that fills the needs of a laptop and a tablet. I think the iPad will eventually fill them for almost any case, and that it's the right approach.

It's impossible to optimize macOS for touch. You can make an iPad with macOS, but it wouldn't be optimized for touch. They have really different input methods, and every single app made for macOs is built on that foundation. The behavior of contextual menus, multitasking, drag and drop... must be completely different. For example, in the last one: you can't click the screen of an iPad as you do with the trackpad while you drag. It may seem easy to fix, but always results in a nightmare UX.

Look at Windows 10: they can put many layers to hide it, but in the end it feels like what it is, a non-touch interface. I respect that some people like their Surfaces. But for the most of them, I think they have a bad perception, thinking they're more productive with it than with the traditional form factor.

 

[Rob_2811]

Then, laptops sales would be widely cannibalized by tablet PCs, and no one would buy an iPad and a Mac if there was a device that can be both, so Apple should be worried not about losing one market, but two.

In fact, they've sold me both. But that's because I think there isn't and, more importantly, there can't be (by now) any product that fills the needs of a laptop and a tablet. I think the iPad will eventually fill them for almost any case, and that it's the right approach.

It's impossible to optimize macOS for touch. You can make an iPad with macOS, but it wouldn't be optimized for touch. They have really different input methods, and every single app made for macOs is built on that foundation. The behavior of contextual menus, multitasking, drag and drop... must be completely different. For example, in the last one: you can't click the screen of an iPad as you do with the trackpad while you drag. It may seem easy to fix, but always results in a nightmare UX.

Look at Windows 10: they can put many layers to hide it, but in the end it feels like what it is, a non-touch interface. I respect that some people like their Surfaces. But for the most of them, I think they have a bad perception, thinking they're more productive with it than with the traditional form factor.

Ok that's fine but its clear that Apple is segmenting these products out to sell you on another product not out of devotion to great user experience.

The iPad keyboard cover isn't a great user experience nor is the Macbook Touch Bar they are both every bit as compromised as touch on Windows 10.

 

[Sakurambo-kun]

Depends if you want desktop apps surely? You can't get Substance Designer, Substance Painter, Zbrush, Photoshop, 3D Studio Max, Maya, or countless other pro art apps on an iPad.