I have tried both USB C monitors and others with adapters. With custom wallpaper the issue is gone... temporarily. It comes back, maybe because I like to use a different wallpaper on the lockscreen (a picture with the 3d effect). Another bug that I have since beta 1 is that HDR compatible monitors only run in HDR, which sometimes is terrible for colors. This only happens via USB C, so the solution is to use another port if your monitor has it.
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.
iPad as a laptop replacement
- Thread starter Omar Comin' Yo
- WikiPost WikiPost
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
- Status
So, in an interesting turn of events, I won an iPad 11th gen from a raffle my bank was holding! 👍🏻. So now I will have an extra iPad. It will be interesting to see how it goes, I may decide to hold onto it as a secondary, or give it to a family member. But pretty cool that I won an iPad! And, if nothing else, it will be an interesting contrast, owning an iPad at the top and bottom of the lineup. 👍🏻.
Nice! Post your real world comparisons between the two.
So, the iPad 11th Gen arrived a few days ago, and I’ve been using it now for a bit, and I have a few initial impressions. 👍🏻
First, I think the iPad 11th Gen is actually a great value for a good percentage of users. It provides quite a bit of value for its price tag. The display is actually really good for a budget tablet, it isn’t noticeably lower quality than even the iPad Air’s in my experience so far. 👍🏻. Also, performance is very surprising. I am running the iPadOS 26 Beta on it, and it handles the multi-windowing system just about flawlessly, which is very impressive giving it uses 6GB of RAM and an A-series chip.
I was also able to replicate some of my heavier workflow on it, which I also found to be quite impressive. The only app I use that would not work at all is Octane X. That apps requires the M-Series chips, it doesn’t recognize A-Series chips. The app will open, but projects will not open in it. But everything else did open fine. And most apps perform pretty well.
Overall, I’d say it’s a great value for many kinds of users, and I think I will definitely be interested in incorporating it into my workflow as a secondary for some lighter use-cases.
It actually overall compares pretty favorably against the more expensive iPad Air Models for many average lighter workflows, with a handful of caveats. For one, with the A-series chip, it doesn’t support extended display on an external monitor, just mirroring. So this would be a downside for those who want to dock their iPad and use it more like a desktop. Also, some of my larger projects in Nomad Sculpt would not open, the app would crash and close out. If I pile up projects and such in the Affinity apps, I can run into some performance issues. Also, there’s the obvious differences with performance, display, display size, etc. So it wouldn’t replace an iPad Air or Pro for some. But I think overall it is a great option for the budget end of the lineup, and iPadOS 26 really sweetens that deal! 👍🏻
I think it is a great machine for kids up to the age of 16. It has plenty of power for what they have to do school wise and they can start using other apps even if they they don’t work as fast. Even games runs good on the new standard iPads. When college come an iPad Air is the way to go. Letting them hook up on a monitor is a big plus when working on college assignments. A Pro only is advised when the free time related stuff goes up to a point you need 120hrz and Thunderbolt 4.
I think it probably depends on personal preference to a large extent, but I do think extended display support is very useful for many people, and I could see that being a reason for a college kid going with the Air models. And as an iPad Pro user, I would kind of disagree with that last part. The Air models are good, but they still don’t have the M4 chip, and for graphic design and art, the better display is a big difference, and I think the better display would also be appealing for other use-cases as well. 👍🏻. Also, the keyboard case for the M4 iPad Pro is nicer, so that may also sway some people. 👍🏻
I don’t disagree with you at all, we’re actually saying similar things. My main point was about the iPad lineup itself: once your needs go beyond schoolwork and into more demanding graphic tasks or you start to value the 120Hz display, then the Pro becomes a valid option. Before that point the standard iPad (with iPadOS 26) is a really good iPad. So my point: up until college this is a very good option for kids an teenagers.
But let’s be real, the extra headroom the M4 offers compared to the M3 isn’t something most people truly need. All M-series chips are very capable. And now that the Air is available in both 11” and 13”, the need for a Pro has decreased even further.
External display support is also available on the Air, so for most college work, a Pro isn’t necessary. As for the keyboard, that’s more of a personal preference. The new M4 Pro keyboard is amazing, no doubt, but for many workflows the previous generation Magic Keyboard is already more than sufficient. It also depends on the use case. My iPad is is less and less in the keyboard case as I use it on a stand attached to my external monitor and using the “normal” Bluetooth Apple Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad.
One area where the Pro still stands out is the display, especially with the M4 is the new Tandem OLED screen. If you’re working with HDR video, high-end color grading, or advanced illustration, that screen really makes a difference. But for anything outside that niche, the Air is more than enough.
As a bit of a side step:
I automated my M2 Pro to enter stage manager mode when not attached to a external display en and to enter window mode when connected to the display. With stage manager being available on the 11 it’s a real work pony.
Oh, that makes sense. Yeah, I definitely agree with you there. 👍🏻. I think the iPad Air is the best iPad for most people who need more, but still want to keep things at a more reasonable price. 👍🏻
As promised, I have written down my thoughts about the 13” M4 iPad Pro upgrade. 👍🏻. I shared some of my initial impressions here already, but I just published my longer-form review, so if anyone is interested in the experience moving from an 11” M1 to the 13” M4, here’s my review: https://kalebcadle.substack.com/p/i-just-upgraded-my-ipad
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
On the topic of Search Function key with the Magic Keyboard… I barely use it, I’ve been so accustomed to using CMD+Space that it’s become a habit. Only keys I use on the function row are the brightness levels, control playback, volume up & down and lock.
If anything, I wouldn’t mind Apple replacing the dictation and DND key with brightness controls for the keyboard.
Thanks, no problem, I enjoyed putting it together. 👍🏻
That makes sense. I used to do the CMD+Space shortcut too for Siri search on my 11”, but I find myself now reaching for the search function key on the new keyboard more often. Those others though are definitely the ones I use most often on a regular basis. It wasn’t a big inconvenience to go into the Control Center to adjust screen brightness and volume before, but it’s so much easier and more convenient with the function keys! 👍🏻
Yeah, that would be nice. Or maybe they could add a feature to where a modifier key (such as CMD) would switch it to adjusting brightness of the keyboard instead of the iPad’s screen. 👍🏻. For me, I just keep mine on auto-brightness.
But you didn’t really mention anything regarding multitasking on the 13” model… do you find yourself doing that more or less?
I figured that would be the main reason of going in that direction… you brought up less scrolling in apps given the larger size, but nothing concerning multitasking.
Oh, yeah, that makes sense. 👍🏻. For certain workflows, the extra screen real estate really improves multitasking. I am now using more apps at once for some things, like research. And that’s for sure been a big improvement, because I can actually have a pretty large Safari window and a couple Notes windows and such open on the screen without burying some. 👍🏻. A lot of the creative apps I use though I mostly use in Full Screen to maximize my work canvas. So I guess that’s why I probably focused a bit more on the less scrolling in apps vs multi-windowing, I should have thought to go a bit more into that aspect as well. I probably should when I write a follow up about the 11” iPad 11th gen and where that slots in, because I think that is definitely one of the biggest differentiations beyond the obvious spec and performance differences. Thanks for the suggestion/feedback, I really appreciate it. 👍🏻
Nice writeup, pretty well matches my experience with the 13" Pro, MKB, and Pencil Pro. Once I had gone to the 12.9" years back, I knew I'd never again go for a smaller display.
Awesome! Thank you, I appreciate it. 👍🏻. And I totally agree, I don’t think I would go back to an 11” as my only iPad again at this point. 👍🏻
Today was the first day since I put 26 on my iPad that I’ve actually used it like a desktop. I was under the impression that for extended monitor support that you had to use “Stage Manager”. Well, I used “Windowed Apps”, and I have full external monitor support. I really like 26 a lot. I can see me using my iPad more for desktop use now with 26, and not just mobile stuff….which is my usual norm. I hope they keep moving in this direction. It doesn’t need to be MacOS as long as it can do the things MacOS or Windows can, and it’s never been closer.
I have decided to wait to upgrade until the M5 iPad Pros come out. If they turn out not to be a significant upgrade from M4, I could probably find a M4 for a good discount. If they are worth it, I’ll get the M5. I’ll just have to wait and see what they give us. Definitely getting the 13”. My old eyes will appreciate the extra space.
Edit: I updated to DB4 today. No real jiggers yet. A few minor/cosmetic things, otherwise perfect.
Edit 2: Attached screenshot #1 is iPad screen. #2 is external monitor.
I have decided to wait to upgrade until the M5 iPad Pros come out. If they turn out not to be a significant upgrade from M4, I could probably find a M4 for a good discount. If they are worth it, I’ll get the M5. I’ll just have to wait and see what they give us. Definitely getting the 13”. My old eyes will appreciate the extra space.
Edit: I updated to DB4 today. No real jiggers yet. A few minor/cosmetic things, otherwise perfect.
Edit 2: Attached screenshot #1 is iPad screen. #2 is external monitor.
Attachments
Last edited:
I’m using my M2 12.9 iPad Pro more and more as a laptop replacements. Did not try Os 26 because I have a lot of mission critical work to do and don’t want to assume unwarranted risks.
Using the iPad without external monitor works flawlessly but I have issues with external monitor support.
For example, I open Safari and whatsapp on the iPad and a few word windows and onedrive on the external monitor.
Not once the keyboard freezes and I’m not able to edit the documents. Sometimes the apps open on the ipad screen are force quiting.
Does anyone else have this kind of issues?
Using the iPad without external monitor works flawlessly but I have issues with external monitor support.
For example, I open Safari and whatsapp on the iPad and a few word windows and onedrive on the external monitor.
Not once the keyboard freezes and I’m not able to edit the documents. Sometimes the apps open on the ipad screen are force quiting.
Does anyone else have this kind of issues?
do you use the official WhatsApp for iPad app? I’ve had things like this often with the webapp. And Microsoft doesn’t give much love to the iPad platform.
But the m2 should be able to handle this perfectly.
I am using the official app which crashes quite often.
It is truly shameful what M$ does with office on every platform but Windoze.
It is truly shameful what M$ does with office on every platform but Windoze.
That stinks. I’ve never had any problems like that, so I don’t know of a solution for it. Hopefully an update will fix it for you. 👍🏻
The native whatsapp for ipad is quite new and buggy but they would sort it out.
Office is much more irritating.
Sadly, if you work in a corporate environment, there is no real substitute for it.
I really hope that M$ will get its act together because on mobile, be it iPad OS or Android, the state of Office is just subpar.
Office is much more irritating.
Sadly, if you work in a corporate environment, there is no real substitute for it.
I really hope that M$ will get its act together because on mobile, be it iPad OS or Android, the state of Office is just subpar.
Seeing the amount of time Office for the iPad has been out and the fact it still lags so far behind the desktop version makes me conclude it is deliberate by MS.
Out of curiosity, have you explored Office on the web? I wonder if it would give you the same experience... but we have discussed this ad nauseam that Microsoft prefers you to use their software on Windows devices. It's no different from Apple gatekeeping some of their iOS exclusive features... Google is really the only company that has no platform allegiance.
Isn't the web version much more basic than the software version?