iPad as a laptop replacement

[Zensō]

It’s really all about use cases. To flip the question on its head, one could ask, “Can a laptop replace my iPad?” In my case the answer is “absolutely not.” I use the iPad for drawing and taking hand written notes in the field, something that no laptop can do. One could also ask, “Can a desktop replace my laptop?” The answer would again be “no.” Horses for courses…

 

[Mark Stone]

Now I’m 48 hours into ownership of an iPad Air 5 (2022) with the Magic Keyboard, and it is absolutely clear to me that an iPad can be a replacement for a laptop computer. But not every laptop - there’s some powerhouse gaming notebooks that I don’t think the iPad can match. But for general purpose use - internet surfing, spreadsheet use and word processing, email and social networking, along with media applications - the iPad is a “laptop” when equipped with the keyboard.

Remember “Netbook” computers? In size this little iPad reminds me of those little critters, although it seems much more capable.

I’m comparing my iPad Air to my HP Pavilion x360, which runs an i5 processor and is accelerated with Intel’s Optane memory management (8 second boot!). It looks like the iPad Air is at least a match in capabilities and definitely faster with the M1 processor. When I get more experience with this device, I may change my mind - but for now the Air is lookin’ pretty good.

 

[Isamilis]

Now I’m 48 hours into ownership of an iPad Air 5 (2022) with the Magic Keyboard, and it is absolutely clear to me that an iPad can be a replacement for a laptop computer. But not every laptop - there’s some powerhouse gaming notebooks that I don’t think the iPad can match. But for general purpose use - internet surfing, spreadsheet use and word processing, email and social networking, along with media applications - the iPad is a “laptop” when equipped with the keyboard.

Remember “Netbook” computers? In size this little iPad reminds me of those little critters, although it seems much more capable.

I’m comparing my iPad Air to my HP Pavilion x360, which runs an i5 processor and is accelerated with Intel’s Optane memory management (8 second boot!). It looks like the iPad Air is at least a match in capabilities and definitely faster with the M1 processor. When I get more experience with this device, I may change my mind - but for now the Air is lookin’ pretty good.

Agree, MK + iPad is a better form (and function) of netbook. But I didn’t intend to use that as laptop replacement. I just use it whatever it can fit my use case / workflow. I still use my MBA 1-2 times a week. Maybe someday I can live without MBA for months, who know.

 

[sparksd]

Now I’m 48 hours into ownership of an iPad Air 5 (2022) with the Magic Keyboard, and it is absolutely clear to me that an iPad can be a replacement for a laptop computer. But not every laptop - there’s some powerhouse gaming notebooks that I don’t think the iPad can match. But for general purpose use - internet surfing, spreadsheet use and word processing, email and social networking, along with media applications - the iPad is a “laptop” when equipped with the keyboard.

Remember “Netbook” computers? In size this little iPad reminds me of those little critters, although it seems much more capable.

I’m comparing my iPad Air to my HP Pavilion x360, which runs an i5 processor and is accelerated with Intel’s Optane memory management (8 second boot!). It looks like the iPad Air is at least a match in capabilities and definitely faster with the M1 processor. When I get more experience with this device, I may change my mind - but for now the Air is lookin’ pretty good.

It's not just a question of overall power but rather are your computing needs met by the iPad's s/w capabilities? In my case, the answer is not fully. I need some Office365 functionality that is not available in the iPadOS implementation. In addition, I have a few USB devices which I manage from the laptop (updates, etc.) and use a full-up DAM for photo management - I can't do these with my iPad Pro.

 

[Mark Stone]

It's not just a question of overall power but rather are your computing needs met by the iPad's s/w capabilities? In my case, the answer is not fully. I need some Office365 functionality that is not available in the iPadOS implementation. In addition, I have a few USB devices which I manage from the laptop (updates, etc.) and use a full-up DAM for photo management - I can't do these with my iPad Pro.

So far, the answer is yes. I don’t use Office365, but do use Home & Student 2016 - and I’ve found that for my use, Google Sheets and Google Docs is an adequate replacement. Additionally, I may take a look at some open source software, like LibreOffice, and see if they have versions available for an iPad. The only USB device I use is a hard drive for backups - and you may have a point there. I haven’t tried to attach it yet (I do have the correct adapters), but I suspect it won’t work in this configuration. However, I can do iCloud backups as an alternative.

I don’t know what full-up DAM is lol - - -

 

[sparksd]

So far, the answer is yes. I don’t use Office365, but do use Home & Student 2016 - and I’ve found that for my use, Google Sheets and Google Docs is an adequate replacement. Additionally, I may take a look at some open source software, like LibreOffice, and see if they have versions available for an iPad. The only USB device I use is a hard drive for backups - and you may have a point there. I haven’t tried to attach it yet (I do have the correct adapters), but I suspect it won’t work in this configuration. However, I can do iCloud backups as an alternative.

I don’t know what full-up DAM is lol - - -

DAM - Digital Asset Management, in this case, a fancy name for a photo management tool. I primarily use ACDSee to manage a library of around 70,000 images (RAW & processed).

 

[bondr006]

So far, the answer is yes. I don’t use Office365, but do use Home & Student 2016 - and I’ve found that for my use, Google Sheets and Google Docs is an adequate replacement. Additionally, I may take a look at some open source software, like LibreOffice, and see if they have versions available for an iPad. The only USB device I use is a hard drive for backups - and you may have a point there. I haven’t tried to attach it yet (I do have the correct adapters), but I suspect it won’t work in this configuration. However, I can do iCloud backups as an alternative.

I don’t know what full-up DAM is lol - - -

USB flash drives and external HD's work fine on my M1 iPad Pro. When you plug one in, it automatically shows in the files app just like Finder or Windows Explorer.

MS Office works fine on the iPad. I use Office 365, but any versions of Word, Excel, PP, Outlook from the App store will work. Apple also has its own free office sweet called iWork which includes Pages, Number, and Keynote. A lot of people use and like iWork. And yes, the Google productivity suite (Docs, Sheets, etc.) are available on iPadOS also.

Here is a good article for the 10 Best Word Processing apps for the iPad.

The 10 Best Word Processing Apps for Your iPad

You can use your iPad to edit documents, compile notes, or even crack out a novel. Here are the best iPad word processors for the job.

www.makeuseof.com

 

[sparksd]

USB flash drives and external HD's work fine on my M1 iPad Pro. When you plug one in, it automatically shows in the files app just like Finder or Windows Explorer.

MS Office works fine on the iPad. I use Office 365, but any versions of Word, Excel, PP, Outlook from the App store will work. Apple also has its own free office sweet called iWork which includes Pages, Number, and Keynote. A lot of people use and like iWork. And yes, the Google productivity suite (Docs, Sheets, etc.) are available on iPadOS also.

Here is a good article for the 10 Best Word Processing apps for the iPad.

The 10 Best Word Processing Apps for Your iPad

You can use your iPad to edit documents, compile notes, or even crack out a novel. Here are the best iPad word processors for the job.

www.makeuseof.com

It should be noted though that the Office apps do not have all of the functionality of the desktop versions. To quote Microsoft's own words on mobile Excel: "They have many, but not all the features of the desktop applications. They're best for light, on-the-go editing."

Edit: For Word functionality on the iPad -

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...latforms-5e00dfba-3d7c-4222-b850-a0527ff7b066

 

[Mark Stone]

USB flash drives and external HD's work fine on my M1 iPad Pro. When you plug one in, it automatically shows in the files app just like Finder or Windows Explorer.

MS Office works fine on the iPad. I use Office 365, but any versions of Word, Excel, PP, Outlook from the App store will work. Apple also has its own free office sweet called iWork which includes Pages, Number, and Keynote. A lot of people use and like iWork. And yes, the Google productivity suite (Docs, Sheets, etc.) are available on iPadOS also.

Here is a good article for the 10 Best Word Processing apps for the iPad.

The 10 Best Word Processing Apps for Your iPad

You can use your iPad to edit documents, compile notes, or even crack out a novel. Here are the best iPad word processors for the job.

www.makeuseof.com

Thank you for this post - Very informative!

 

[bondr006]

It should be noted though that the Office apps do not have all of the functionality of the desktop versions. To quote Microsoft's own words on mobile Excel: "They have many, but not all the features of the desktop applications. They're best for light, on-the-go editing."

Edit: For Word functionality on the iPad -

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...latforms-5e00dfba-3d7c-4222-b850-a0527ff7b066

Absolutely! All the apps I mentioned work for me in my Real Estate businesses. I have tried them all but I have Office 365 for the family, and I have used office for too many years to fess up to. I have a lot of favorite work and personal apps that I use. I love Safari for how it just works and gives me a full internet experience, so I see on my iPad what I see on my desktop. It also has a favorites bar, tabs, great ad blockers, and just works for what I need it for. I do have some hope for some improvements in iPadOS 16. I am a realist though, so I don't hope too high.

 

[sparksd]

Absolutely! All the apps I mentioned work for me in my Real Estate businesses. I have tried them all but I have Office 365 for the family, and I have used office for too many years to fess up to. I have a lot of favorite work and personal apps that I use. I love Safari for how it just works and gives me a full internet experience. It also has a favorites bar, tabs, great ad blockers, and just works for what I need it for. I do have some hope for some improvements in iPadOS 16. I am a realist though, so I don't hope too high.

It's definitely worth noting that the shortfalls in Office functionality on the iPad probably don't matter to most users; they really come into play when you're dealing with more complex documents and spreadsheets.

 

[ian87w]

Prior to Apple Silicon, the iPad has clear defined advantages over intel macs. Better battery life, no fans, better performance per dollar/watt. Now with Apple Silicon, the lines are blurred as you can get an M1 Macbook Air for less than an iPad Pro + magic keyboard, and both have the same SoC.

 

[Zensō]

Prior to Apple Silicon, the iPad has clear defined advantages over intel macs. Better battery life, no fans, better performance per dollar/watt. Now with Apple Silicon, the lines are blurred as you can get an M1 Macbook Air for less than an iPad Pro + magic keyboard, and both have the same SoC.

Agreed. The remaining differentiators in favor of the iPad Pro are the better screen and particularly the Apple Pencil, which provides a ton of functionality for artists and designers that is not available on the laptop. For those who don’t need the drawing capabilities, it’s much more of a toss up.

 

[RadioHedgeFund]

I don't want to open that can of worms over here but I think sideloading would genuinely improve the iPad experience. The reason I say this is that there are a lot of 'hobbyist' apps that I still have to rely on for work on my Windows laptop that without app store hoops might make their way over this way.

I'm talking niche apps like Meshlab which can process point-cloud data or maybe even something like Cura for direct 3D print export to a USB drive. My assumption has always been that these apps don't exist because of API limitations, Apple's rulebook or other reasons.

Allowing sideloading would alleviate these options and put the iPad that bit closer to a regular computer.

 

[grmlin]

Nice. Got a Testflight code for Capture 1 on iPad. Excited to give this a try!

 

[RadioHedgeFund]

Nice. Got a Testflight code for Capture 1 on iPad. Excited to give this a try!

I wish Apple would bring back Aperture with iPad and Mac versions as well as full background iCloud editing sync.

 

[grmlin]

I wish Apple would bring back Aperture with iPad and Mac versions as well as full background iCloud editing sync.

I’m a Lightroom user anyway, but still cool to see what’s possible on iPad.

Never used Aperture back in the day, but I guess it wasn’t worth the effort for Apple? No idea, feels like a huge miss for them

 

[ericwn]

I wish Apple would bring back Aperture with iPad and Mac versions as well as full background iCloud editing sync.

Same wish here. Let’s add plug-in support for NIK and I’d be very excited.

 

[Arctic Moose]

I wish Apple would bring back Aperture with iPad and Mac versions as well as full background iCloud editing sync.

Absolutely.

Switching to Lightroom (along with a few other factors) pretty much killed my interest in photography.

 

[RadioHedgeFund]

Absolutely.

Switching to Lightroom (along with a few other factors) pretty much killed my interest in photography.

I hate Lightroom and I don't use that word lightly.

I have found Pixelmator Photo to be a quality program.

 

[grmlin]

What don't you like about Lightroom? I tried pretty much everything and it's the best overall RAW editor for me, only C1 comes close in quality. But the app itself is terrible

 

[Arctic Moose]

What don't you like about Lightroom?

Death by a thousand paper cuts.

I just liked everything about Aperture so much better.

 

[sparksd]

What don't you like about Lightroom? I tried pretty much everything and it's the best overall RAW editor for me, only C1 comes close in quality. But the app itself is terrible

I like it, too. Been using it since its first beta and before that, Pixmantec RawShooter, which Adobe acquired for its RAW processing engine to use in LR. I use the Classic version.

 

[grmlin]

I like it, too. Been using it since its first beta and before that, Pixmantec RawShooter, which Adobe acquired for its RAW processing engine to use in LR. I use the Classic version.

Classic here, too. I’m annoyed it’s a subscription, but that’s how it goes these days

 

[sparksd]

Classic here, too. I’m annoyed it’s a subscription, but that’s how it goes these days

Yeah, I remember when Adobe floated the idea in a number of surveys I got from them. But I get a lot of use out of LR and my wife uses Photoshop a lot.