ipad Air2 vs rumored rMBA vs iPhone 6+

[oakrrl]

My 2008 15" MBP and 1st generation iPad are both dying. I do most of my creation on a maxed-out late 2009 iMac (i7, 16 GB); lots of writing (books, articles), lots of Keynote presentations, photography hobby (Aperture + Photoshop). I have iPhone 4s.

I travel 3-5 days a month and need something lightweight I can use on the road for writing and giving Keynote presentations. It's time to upgrade but $$ is tight, so I'd appreciate advice.

I've been waiting for rumored 12" retina MBA but not sure my MBP & iPad won't die completely before it's issued. I've been considering:

-- get an Air 2 and forget about the rMBA? Looks like new Air is pretty powerful, and I have a wireless Apple keyboard I could use with Air 2. I'd have enough $$ then to also upgrade iPhone 4s to 6 (not 6+, too big and unnecessary if I have new iPad).
I think any Keynote presentations I create on iMac could now be presented on Air2 with transitions working OK. And with Continuity/Handoff in Yosemite/iOS 8 maybe writing would be ok switching between iPad Air2 and iMac......but I hesitate to forego rMBA because my present experience of working on old MBP is SO superior to working on old iPad

- could iPhone 6+ replace iPad for web browsing, email? Then I'd skip replacing old iPad, upgrade 4s iPhone to 6+ and have enough $$ for rMBA. But 6+ felt very awkward to hold when I tried in store. And WHEN will rMBA come??

-- hold on to iPhone 4s for another year (and hope it'll last), invest in Air2 and try it out, see how well it works and then use any $$ I've saved for either rMBA when it arrives, or to replace 2009 iMac which is still functional but beginning to show its age?

Complicated! Your suggestions will be much appreciated

 

[vinny3101]

Imo keep the 4S till it is totally dead or so laggy you can't handle it. Then get the 6. And the rMBA is due for a while so do the same thing for your Macs. Use till totally laggy and/or dead and not turning on. Upgrade then tho then the iPad Air 2 with your keyboard and buy a case that binds them together.

 

[oakrrl]

thanks, vinny

good advice - gotta keep my desires under control, tho!

 

[MyopicPaideia]

Just an observation, based on my own experience, which is anecdotal of course.

I don't think Handoff works on either your 2008 MBP or your 2009 iMac. Continuity will work, but the Handoff feature where you continue iWork projects and emails from your iPad/iPhone won't.

That said, if you are really a keyboard shortcut kind of user, you could do very well with a new iPad Air 2 for your writing needs with Pages. Using a full sized bluetooth keyboard with the iPad is a very good experience, equally good as using a laptop. I say keyboard shortcuts, because selecting text efficiently with the keyboard is a skill that will be valuable when using the iPad in this way. While you can't use Handoff with your older Macs, iCloud Drive will make it almost as seamless to continue documents on the different machines.

As far as the new 12" rMBA is concerned, there is one option you haven't mentioned and that is the rumoured 12" iPad "Pro" - this will probably be released before the rMBA and may actually be the solution you're looking for, really. Depends on if they optimise iOS for the bigger screen, but the real estate alone will make using Keynote, Pages, and Numbers much more comfortable with touch.

For the phone, depending on your use-case, at this point if you can hold out for 10 more months with your phone, you can skip the 6 and go for the 6S/6S+. If it isn't your primary device for email and web browsing (i.e. you just keep up with stuff on the go with it) and it isn't a proper "computer" for you (i.e. heavy app usage) then this should probably be lowest priority.

In my use case my MBA is my workhorse - it is my professional use machine (I'm in accounting/finance). iPad is the personal computer, having replaced all personal laptop functions for my entire family (wife has an Air, 2 kids both have our old iPad 2s) my 2010 Mac Mini is essentially a media hub for my home, not much else gets done on there anymore. Home Movies, photo and video editing is all done on the iPads these days. I was very tempted to pull the trigger on the new 27" iMac with Retina HD Display, but couldn't really justify it due to how the Mini is being used right now. Especially since Yosemite works so nicely on it still.

All in all, based on what you say is your use case, I would recommend either get an iPad Air 2 now or hold on to everything and wait 3-4 months and see what the rumoured iPad Pro and rMBA have to offer you.

 

[oakrrl]

thanks myopic

Thanks, very good advice. Your point of putting iPhone upgrade as last on list makes good sense. Helpful to know Handoff won't work - but not too important, I can just keep files in iCloud and close them when I go from device to device.

I don't think 12" iPad would work for me as main computer, unless Apple makes it easier to switch between apps in iOS. But I really need 27" screen for some of what I do.

Which leaves me ready to pull trigger on iPad Air2.

Thanks to you all - this has really helped me. I was going round-n-round in my head, useful to bounce it off others and get input!