iPad as a laptop replacement

[Kal Madda]

Isn't the web version much more basic than the software version?

It is. It’s almost as limited as the native app. It does have certain advantages over the native version, so it would be worth a try, but it still is not as capable as the Windows version.

And I would say that this is different from what Apple does with their software/ features, and I will explain. People are paying Microsoft to access Office on the iPad. With MS Office’s subscription cost for using it on the iPad, it really should have better features. Meanwhile, most of Apple’s apps are free, and the few that are subscription or paid for aren’t significantly worse on other platforms. Apple Music has an Android app which works fine. Heck, Apple’s iWork office software is free on Windows, and is either full-featured with the Mac version, or very close. I think people would be forgiving of some features missing from the iPad versions of Office compared to the Windows version, but what Microsoft has shipped here is so below par, especially considering you have to pay a subscription to use it… There’s really zero reason that customers paying just as much or possibly even more to access MS Office on their device should get such a badly hobbled version of it…

And many businesses required use of MS Office. None of Apple’s apps are really required by businesses. With an app that is so widely used and required in industry, MS should not be intentionally hobbling it so severely as they are. They should provide good enough support at least that it’s doable, even if a couple features remain limited to Windows. But I think Microsoft does this to maintain their grip on the industry, and ensure that companies use their software and their platform. It’s technically Microsoft’s prerogative to do this since it’s their software, but then I think they should at least charge less for it on other platforms.

Personally, I think the way they’ve intentionally hobbled MS Office on iPad is unacceptable given you have to pay the exact same amount of money to access it as is needed on Windows, which is ridiculous when you consider how different they are in feature-set. I hope Google Sheets and iWork continue to pull customers away from MS Office until they’re forced to provide more to customers…

 

[Slartibart]

For what’s worth: Collabora, a LibreOffice branch, offers on iOS/iPadOS, Android, desktop and online identical functionality and covers and is used by businesses.

 

[Silvestru Hosszu]

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.

To be honest, I’ve not tried it yet but I certainly will. I much prefer the desktop + ipad pro setup to desktop + laptop + some tablet with pen support.
Having LTE connectivity on ipad is also a major plus for me.
What is also a shame is the lack of true Office alternative appropriate for corporate usage.
Sadly Pages, Libre Office and others like these are no real alternative. Compatibility is just not there. It has to be 100% not 80 or 90 something.

 

[Silvestru Hosszu]

For what’s worth: Collabora, a LibreOffice branch, offers on iOS/iPadOS, Android, desktop and online identical functionality and covers and is used by businesses.

Thanks for the tip.
I shall try it out.

 

[bondr006]

Playing around with 26 and I'm liking it a lot, whether tablet, desktop, or laptop mode. Only one request for desktop mode when attached to external monitor. I wish we could set the external monitor as the main monitor like in Mac OS and Windows. I'd like to be able to put some widgets and icons/folders on the external display. Otherwise, 26 has pretty much got all my computing needs covered. Not giving up my Mac Mini or mini pc, but with 26 my iPad will be getting more desktop love. My iPad has direct access to both my Mac Mini and mini pc, as well as all my external drives.

I haven't been this vocal about my iPad and how well it replaces a mbp for me....in quite awhile. And now, it's even a master at my desktop needs. How exciting!

Edit: I just realized there is one more thing I'd like to have for desktop use, and that is the ability to have multiple desktops.

 

[Kal Madda]

Playing around with 26 and I'm liking it a lot, whether tablet, desktop, or laptop mode. Only one request for desktop mode when attached to external monitor. I wish we could set the external monitor as the main monitor like in Mac OS and Windows. I'd like to be able to put some widgets and icons/folders on the external display. Otherwise, 26 has pretty much got all my computing needs covered. Not giving up my Mac Mini or mini pc, but with 26 my iPad will be getting more desktop love. My iPad has direct access to both my Mac Mini and mini pc, as well as all my external drives.

I haven't been this vocal about my iPad and how well it replaces a mbp for me....in quite awhile. And now, it's even a master at my desktop needs. How exciting!View attachment 2531947

Awesome! Yeah, the desktop experience is great, I’m glad that I’ve set my desk up for easier iPad docking! 👍🏻. iPadOS 26 is an awesome update! I’ve also noticed several little improvements in Safari. Now in Google image search results, I get an option to save the attached file to Downloads. And being able to easily save any web page as a web app is very useful! Before, only certain web pages that supported that would do that. There was a Siri Shortcut that could convert web pages to open in their own window, but it was a lot more steps, and far less simple or reliable. 👍🏻

And I really think that iPadOS 26 will push more developers to treat the iPad more like a desktop-class platform, and bring more functionality to their iPad apps. Some will probably resist and stubbornly refuse to ever improve (looking at Microsoft), but I think many of the changes in iPadOS 26 will make it easier to port full features from desktop versions of apps, especially with the Menu Bar now, rather than having to add custom controls for some things directly in the app UI. 👍🏻

It’s so refreshing to finally see so much positive content about the iPad! At least for now. 😉

 

[Ludatyk]

I'd like to be able to put some widgets and icons/folders on the external display.

Yeah, I been saying this ever since they announced external display support… I have feeling it’s going to come soon. It’s one of those features Apple can’t ignore.

I just realized there is one more thing I'd like to have for desktop use, and that is the ability to have multiple desktops.

Able to support two external displays? I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime toon… it took Apple years to support to add two external on the MBA.

I think many of the changes in iPadOS 26 will make it easier to port full features from desktop versions of apps, especially with the Menu Bar now, rather than having to add custom controls for some things directly in the app UI. 👍🏻

I’d like to be wrong here, but I doubt the menu bar will encourage Mac devs to port their desktop apps. Only way we get something like is some type of Catalyst feature that Apple has for the Mac.

I think the menu bar is more of a check mark for Mac users… give them something to have when switching between platforms. I’m not against having the menu bar.. but we had the option previously to see shortcuts from pressing the globe key.

 

[bondr006]

Able to support two external displays? I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime toon… it took Apple years to support for add two external on the MBA.

Not external/multiple displays but multiple/virtual desktop environments. One set up for work, one set up for play, once set up for paying bills, one set up for shopping online, etc. Both Windows and Mac OS support this.

 

[Ludatyk]

Not external displays but multiple/virtual desktop pages. One set up for work, one set up for play, once set up for paying bills, one set up for shopping online, etc. Both Windows and Mac OS support this.

Isn’t that like Focus mode? Have different kind of layouts?

 

[Kal Madda]

Not external/multiple displays but multiple/virtual desktop environments. One set up for work, one set up for play, once set up for paying bills, one set up for shopping online, etc. Both Windows and Mac OS support this.

But doesn’t Stage Manager basically replicate that? We can set up different stages for those things, and now stages aren’t limited to 4 apps, so they can easily be used that way. I never really found the multiple virtual desktops thing intuitive. Not saying they shouldn’t add it, it wouldn’t hurt anything, just curious if you had tried stages in Stage Manager for that, and what the main difference would be?

 

[bondr006]

Isn’t that like Focus mode? Have different kind of layouts?

I’ll have to check that out. The only thing I’ve used “Focus Mode” for is “Don’t Disturb” and “Sleep”. If a focus mode can accomplish what I’m talking about, I’ll use it. Going to do some research on focus modes now…☺️

 

[Ludatyk]

I’ll have to check that out. The only thing I’ve used “Focus Mode” for is “Don’t Disturb” and “Sleep”. If a focus mode can accomplish what I’m talking about, I’ll use it. Going to do some research on focus modes now…☺️

Yeah, there’s plenty of videos out there. But you can start here.

 

[Kal Madda]

I’d like to be wrong here, but I doubt the menu bar will encourage Mac devs to port their desktop apps. Only way we get something like is some type of Catalyst feature that Apple has for the Mac.

I think the menu bar is more of a check mark for Mac users… give them something to have when switching between platforms. I’m not against having the menu bar.. but we had the option previously to see shortcuts from pressing the globe key.

Maybe it won’t, but I do think already existing apps on the iPad will use the Menu Bar to incorporate more of their desktop features into the iPad versions of their apps. At least, I’ve started to hear some rumors and rumblings about that, and that’s the impression I’m coming away with from what I’m seeing. 👍🏻. But yeah, I think something like Catalyst would definitely be more effective for that. 👍🏻. And it seems like Apple may be working in that direction with their push for universal apps. I could see them dropping a tool in the next couple years to streamline this process and bring more Mac apps to the iPad. Already they definitely seem to be pushing in that direction to me. 👍🏻

 

[xaqt93]

I’ll have to check that out. The only thing I’ve used “Focus Mode” for is “Don’t Disturb” and “Sleep”. If a focus mode can accomplish what I’m talking about, I’ll use it. Going to do some research on focus modes now…☺️

Yes, Focus mode can accomplish what you are talking about. You can have different app layouts and different displays options when in a focus mode.

I have one for work, and set it ti automatically trigger when I arrive at the airport. And it puts all my flying apps that I need right in front on my iPad and gets rid of everything else. It works great!

 

[bondr006]

But doesn’t Stage Manager basically replicate that? We can set up different stages for those things, and now stages aren’t limited to 4 apps, so they can easily be used that way. I never really found the multiple virtual desktops thing intuitive. Not saying they shouldn’t add it, it wouldn’t hurt anything, just curious if you had tried stages in Stage Manager for that, and what the main difference would be?

I probably will never use Stage Manager again now that I know that “Windowed Apps” which I like much better, has external monitor support.

 

[Kal Madda]

I probably will never use Stage Manager again now that I know that “Windowed Apps” has external monitor support.

Ok, then Focus Modes are probably your best bet as others have recommended. 👍🏻

 

[Ludatyk]

Maybe it won’t, but I do think already existing apps on the iPad will use the Menu Bar to incorporate more of their desktop features into the iPad versions of their apps. At least, I’ve started to hear some rumors and rumblings about that, and that’s the impression I’m coming away with from what I’m seeing. 👍🏻. But yeah, I think something like Catalyst would definitely be more effective for that. 👍🏻. And it seems like Apple may be working in that direction with their push for universal apps. I could see them dropping a tool in the next couple years to streamline this process and bring more Mac apps to the iPad. Already they definitely seem to be pushing in that direction to me. 👍🏻

There’s only a few apps that are one to one the same between iPad and Mac… Affinity apps, PDF Expert, DaVinci Resolve and maybe some others I can’t name at the moment. But normally iPad apps are built from the ground up.. since there are different APIs and design language that devs have to follow.

And even the Affinity devs try to keep in mind that it’s an iPad… so it’s more touch input focused.

 

[Kal Madda]

There’s only a few apps that are one to one the same between iPad and Mac… Affinity apps, PDF Expert, DaVinci Resolve and maybe some others I can’t name at the moment. But normally iPad apps are built from the ground up.. since there are different APIs and design language that devs have to follow.

And even the Affinity devs try to keep in mind that it’s an iPad… so it’s more touch input focused.

In recent years that’s begun to change. We’ve gotten Photoshop, Davinci Resolve (as you mentioned), Octane X, Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, ZBrush, and several others. Most of those are either full-featured, or very close to full-featured. 👍🏻. I’m not saying all apps brought to the iPad will have all of the desktop features (though I do think devs should do that in as much as it provides an experience that makes sense for the iPad), but I think many of these apps are steadily improving and gaining more desktop level features. And I think that’s going to continue to improve as time moves on. 👍🏻

But yeah, I would definitely not advocate for replacing iPad ports of apps with the desktop UIs for most apps. Most apps I prefer the iPad version of over the desktop version, and it almost always comes down to a better thought out and more intuitive UI design. 👍🏻. And in many cases, there are great iPad alternatives to desktop apps as well as you mention, which I often tend to prefer for 3D workflow in particular with Nomad Sculpt, Valence 3D, and a new app I’m testing called Morphin, all of which I vastly prefer over the desktop alternatives I’ve tried, where the UIs bury commonly used tools in sub menus of sub menus. 👍🏻

 

[Ludatyk]

And in many cases, there are great iPad alternatives to desktop apps as well as you mention, which I often tend to prefer for 3D workflow in particular with Nomad Sculpt, Valence 3D, and a new app I’m testing called Morphin, all of which I vastly prefer over the desktop alternatives I’ve tried, where the UIs bury commonly used tools in sub menus of sub menus. 👍🏻

That Nomad app is 20 bucks and Valence & Morphin is 40 bucks apiece... what sets those 3 apps apart? I use Affinity Designer and Photoshop for the iPad, but one has the option to use generative AI while the other does not.

Had LumaFusion... played with Final Cut Pro for the iPad but then I moved to DaVinci Resolve because it was so much better. The thing is... I try to cut out redundancies unless one has something special over the other. And in the case of Designer and Photoshop... I like to use Designer over Photoshop, but that generative fill is such a clutch feature.

 

[Kal Madda]

That Nomad app is 20 bucks and Valence & Morphin is 40 bucks apiece... what sets those 3 apps apart? I use Affinity Designer and Photoshop for the iPad, but one has the option to use generative AI while the other does not.

Had LumaFusion... played with Final Cut Pro for the iPad but then I moved to DaVinci Resolve because it was so much better. The thing is... I try to cut out redundancies unless one has something special over the other. And in the case of Designer and Photoshop... I like to use Designer over Photoshop, but that generative fill is such a clutch feature.

Nomad, Valence, and Morphin all serve different purposes in my workflow. 👍🏻 Nomad is a 3D sculpting app, more ideal for organic shapes and such. Valence 3D is a 3D modeling app, which is better for certain things like hard-surface modeling, and designing parts and such to 3D print. And Morphin is a 3D animation app, which allows you to rig, pose, and animate 3D models. Maybe the prices have changed, but when I bought Valence and Morphin they were both $20 a piece. 👍🏻.

Yeah, I use Affinity too, I don’t have an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, so I haven’t used Photoshop in a long time. But the generative AI feature looks good. 👍🏻

 

[Ludatyk]

Nomad, Valence, and Morphin all serve different purposes in my workflow. 👍🏻 Nomad is a 3D sculpting app, more ideal for organic shapes and such. Valence 3D is a 3D modeling app, which is better for certain things like hard-surface modeling, and designing parts and such to 3D print. And Morphin is a 3D animation app, which allows you to rig, pose, and animate 3D models. Maybe the prices have changed, but when I bought Valence and Morphin they were both $20 a piece. 👍🏻.

Thanks for the clarification!

Yeah, I use Affinity too, I don’t have an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, so I haven’t used Photoshop in a long time. But the generative AI feature looks good. 👍🏻

You gotta try it! Do a trial run for Photoshop on the iPad… it’s better than good!

Adobe made changes and now it’s only $8 bucks monthly… but they limit users on how many generative edits they can do, mine is limited to 100 every month.

 

[Kal Madda]

Thanks for the clarification!


You gotta try it! Do a trial run for Photoshop on the iPad… it’s better than good!

Adobe made changes and now it’s only $8 bucks monthly… but they limit users on how many generative edits they can do, mine is limited to 100 every month.

No problem, it can be confusing with the 3D apps, when I first got into working with 3D, I had to do a bunch of research to figure out what kinds of apps I needed. 👍🏻

That sounds good, $8 a month isn’t too bad. 👍🏻 I forget if I might have already used the free trial a while back for Photoshop on iPad, unfortunately. I’ll have to check, I think I might have, because I had the app installed on my iPad at one point. But back then, it didn’t have the generative features, and it seems like it’s improved even more. 👍🏻. I might subscribe to it occasionally for the generative features, they sound interesting, and $8 a month is definitely much better, thanks for the suggestion! 👍🏻

 

[richpjr]

No problem, it can be confusing with the 3D apps, when I first got into working with 3D, I had to do a bunch of research to figure out what kinds of apps I needed. 👍🏻

That sounds good, $8 a month isn’t too bad. 👍🏻 I forget if I might have already used the free trial a while back for Photoshop on iPad, unfortunately. I’ll have to check, I think I might have, because I had the app installed on my iPad at one point. But back then, it didn’t have the generative features, and it seems like it’s improved even more. 👍🏻. I might subscribe to it occasionally for the generative features, they sound interesting, and $8 a month is definitely much better, thanks for the suggestion! 👍🏻

Photoshop has steadily been improving and is an impressive tool - you should definitely check it out.

 

[Ludatyk]

That sounds good, $8 a month isn’t too bad. 👍🏻 I forget if I might have already used the free trial a while back for Photoshop on iPad, unfortunately. I’ll have to check, I think I might have, because I had the app installed on my iPad at one point. But back then, it didn’t have the generative features, and it seems like it’s improved even more. 👍🏻. I might subscribe to it occasionally for the generative features, they sound interesting, and $8 a month is definitely much better, thanks for the suggestion! 👍🏻

When Photoshop for the iPad first launched.. I gave it a spin, but never really committed to it until a few months ago when Adobe announced Firefly was added to Photoshop version of the iPad. I went back into and gave it a try… to realize that it’s a keeper!

Originally it was $10 a month. But Adobe revamped their whole pricing structure… didn’t know about up until I was no longer being charged $10 a month. Removed the unlimited generative edits from the plan and lowered the cost to $8 monthly, I think 100 edits a month is a good sweet spot..

 

[Kal Madda]

I just finally bought the ProCreate app! It’s funny that here I’m a freelance graphic designer and create my own digital art, but I haven’t owned ProCreate for the past 4-5 years of using the iPad, but hey, now I finally have, lol! 😂. In my defense, for a lot of my digital art I’ve used vectors because they’re more scalable, and so I primarily use Affinity Designer for that. But ProCreate has some really nice brushes out of the box, and there are tons of brushes you can find out there and import! The toolset is very nice, for raster art it’s going to be amazing! 👍🏻