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iPad as a laptop replacement
- Thread starter Omar Comin' Yo
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Thanks. Yeah, it would be interesting to see some larger iPad form factors. Of course they would probably be expensive, but a giant 20” or larger iPad would be a great Cintiq or Surface Studio alternative for that. On an interesting note, there have been rumors of a foldable iPad that would unfold to about that size. 👍🏻. Such a folding iPad plus a stand could make for a nice desk setup! 👍🏻
For me, rather than having a main iPad and a docked “desk iPad”, which I’d find a bit redundant, my ideal setup is an iPad (which I currently have docked but when I need it, I carry it with me to whenever I need to work with it) and a Mac mini as a desk computer, that I’ll soon get. I’m waiting just to see if they release an M5 model that includes Thunderbolt 5 like in the Pro version, but I still don’t know which one I’ll end up buying.
Both of them connected to a 4K monitor. I currently have my awesome M2 iPad Pro attached to an external monitor, and use it as my main computer, but I’m really missing the macOS experience. I could “make do” with the iPad Pro alone, but… I don’t know, I like the look and feel of macOS and the idea that I can push it’s limits without the fear of damaging the battery because of the heat of the SoC.
But for me, a Mac mini + iPad Pro + PS5 Pro + 4K display is the ideal setup. Mac mini for intensive compute tasks, heavy multitasking and versatility, iPad Pro for mobile productivity, PS5 Pro to enjoy gaming, and the 4K display to enjoy all three devices on my desk. And I’m halfway there. I know about the macOS 4K scaling issue, I don’t care about it, I’ve tried it in the past and it looks great for me.
Both of them connected to a 4K monitor. I currently have my awesome M2 iPad Pro attached to an external monitor, and use it as my main computer, but I’m really missing the macOS experience. I could “make do” with the iPad Pro alone, but… I don’t know, I like the look and feel of macOS and the idea that I can push it’s limits without the fear of damaging the battery because of the heat of the SoC.
But for me, a Mac mini + iPad Pro + PS5 Pro + 4K display is the ideal setup. Mac mini for intensive compute tasks, heavy multitasking and versatility, iPad Pro for mobile productivity, PS5 Pro to enjoy gaming, and the 4K display to enjoy all three devices on my desk. And I’m halfway there. I know about the macOS 4K scaling issue, I don’t care about it, I’ve tried it in the past and it looks great for me.
If they let me install whatever I want, including JIT, and be able to partition external drives however I want, then yes. Thats currently not possible so no.
My current setup is pretty similar, I have an M4 iPad Pro, an iPad 11th Gen, a M1 Mac Mini, a 4K LG UltraFine I got for a really good deal at about $120, and an Asus Ally I use as my console. I think you will really like the iPad Pro + Mac Mini setup! I think definitely I will plan on keeping a Mac Mini around. It’s nice to be able to occasionally tinker with macOS, and for me, it comes in handy as a makeshift NAS of sorts, or “private cloud” storage. Especially when I’m on my home network, the SSD I have connected up to my Mac Mini is nice and easy to access with my iPad, because it’s accessible in the Files app. And universal control currently comes in pretty handy even when I’m using the iPad docked to my monitor, because I can use the (non-Apple) mouse and keyboard I currently have hooked up to my Mac Mini with my iPad as well, without having to unpair them from the Mac! Usually I just use the Magic Keyboard Case on my iPad to control the setup, but sometimes if I just have the iPad with me, that comes in really handy. 👍🏻
Since I have an extra iPad now with the 11th Gen, I’ve been considering keeping that stored at my desk as a “desk iPad”, the only downside of that being the screen mirroring vs extended display, but really, for the few times I forget to bring my primary iPad to my desk, that could still work out great, and I could even use it as a desk smart display and for some other applications. 👍🏻. As is, I can also use it like a secondary reference display for some of my workflow, kind of like a portable monitor for my main iPad Pro! 👍🏻. It would be pretty cool if they added something like SideCar between iPads, so you could use an iPad as a secondary display for another iPad more readily! 👍🏻
I might upgrade my iPad Pro 4 if the M5 version has TB5.
Can y'all explain why the desire to have TB5? Because if I'm not mistaken you'll have to buy TB5 dock or SSDs to take advantage of the speeds...
I was talking about the upcoming M5 Mac mini. Hopefully the base model will include Thunderbolt 5 just like the pro variant.
And my question still stands... why TB5? That's probably the last on my list of upgrading features.. unless I'm pushing three 5K displays. TB4 can push multiple 4k displays and it's still fast when it comes to transferring large amounts of data.
I'm still rocking the M1 Pro MBP... hooked up to a super ultra-wide display (2k resolution) and I have my portable 4k monitor plugged into it as well. Still handles photo and video processing well with photoshop and final cut pro... plan on keeping the M1 Pro until Apple decides to no longer support it.
I’m guessing it would be for future proofing. To me, I don’t think I personally would make the decision solely off of Thunderbolt standard, but I can see why some would want to get the newest Thunderbolt standard to ensure future proofing, especially if they use high end pro-accessories that benefit from the extra speed, or do large file transfers on a regular basis. 👍🏻
And this is my point... in order to take full advantage of TB5, the user has to buy TB5 accessories (monitor included).
Completely understand the idea of future proofing... but I'll be more focus on future proofing RAM than thunderbolt standard.
I have a TB5 dock and a TB5 enclosure that I'd love to be able to use with my iPad as well as my Mac Studio.
So I’ve been thinking about how to get the most use out of my iPad 11th Gen., since it isn’t my primary daily driver, but I don’t want it to just sit going to waste, and a few different use-cases have presented themselves, and I’ve been thinking about ways to improve this setup. I think I am going to use my iPad 11 as a desk iPad when it isn’t in use as a secondary reference display for some of my use-cases. And I have a few ideas about some of my eventual goals for the setup.
Most of the time, I think I will dock the iPad 11 at my desk as a desk accessory. I plan on using it as a smart display for displaying useful information and widgets when I’m not actively using it (I’ve been experimenting with some different widget combos and such), and when I’m working at my desk, I can use it as a secondary display for either my Mac Mini, or my iPad Pro. I also could choose to dock it to my monitor in a pinch if I forget my primary iPad, but want to work with an iPad app. It won’t provide the same level of performance for some things, and would be somewhat limited with screen mirroring, but should still be adequate for many things. 👍🏻 And when I want to, I can pull it and take it with me from the desk, and use it like an additional portable secondary display for my iPad for things like reference photos and such when I want to use it kind of like a portable monitor for my primary iPad to expand my workspace. In those circumstances, it can work to free up my primary iPad’s display, so I can have one project open full-screen on my primary iPad’s display, and then information that can be useful for that project open on the other.
As for the stand for docking the iPad 11 at my desk, I have an interesting idea. I’m considering making a magnetic stand for it that would be similar to the aesthetic of the iMac G4. It would have that dome-shaped base, with a swiveling arm that would be attached to a magnetic backer that the iPad can attach to. I’m considering doing something a little bit different though. Instead of a white finish on the dome-base, I’m considering 3D printing it with wood filament, a 3D printer filament that can look just like wood when sanded, and take stain. Like the original, I would use a chrome finish for the swivel arm to contrast with it. I think that could tie in really nicely with the other things on my desk, especially that little retro lamp I use that is in some of the photos I’ve shared here. I haven’t fully decided either way yet on the finish, I may just stick with a basic solid color, but I’m definitely thinking that I’d like to design it that way. Would a stand like this be overkill? Yeah, probably. Would it be super cool though? Yes, absolutely! 🙂👍🏻
Anyways, that’s where I’m at with some of my thoughts on my desk iPad setup. I’m excited to hopefully be able to start putting some of this stuff together! 👍🏻
Most of the time, I think I will dock the iPad 11 at my desk as a desk accessory. I plan on using it as a smart display for displaying useful information and widgets when I’m not actively using it (I’ve been experimenting with some different widget combos and such), and when I’m working at my desk, I can use it as a secondary display for either my Mac Mini, or my iPad Pro. I also could choose to dock it to my monitor in a pinch if I forget my primary iPad, but want to work with an iPad app. It won’t provide the same level of performance for some things, and would be somewhat limited with screen mirroring, but should still be adequate for many things. 👍🏻 And when I want to, I can pull it and take it with me from the desk, and use it like an additional portable secondary display for my iPad for things like reference photos and such when I want to use it kind of like a portable monitor for my primary iPad to expand my workspace. In those circumstances, it can work to free up my primary iPad’s display, so I can have one project open full-screen on my primary iPad’s display, and then information that can be useful for that project open on the other.
As for the stand for docking the iPad 11 at my desk, I have an interesting idea. I’m considering making a magnetic stand for it that would be similar to the aesthetic of the iMac G4. It would have that dome-shaped base, with a swiveling arm that would be attached to a magnetic backer that the iPad can attach to. I’m considering doing something a little bit different though. Instead of a white finish on the dome-base, I’m considering 3D printing it with wood filament, a 3D printer filament that can look just like wood when sanded, and take stain. Like the original, I would use a chrome finish for the swivel arm to contrast with it. I think that could tie in really nicely with the other things on my desk, especially that little retro lamp I use that is in some of the photos I’ve shared here. I haven’t fully decided either way yet on the finish, I may just stick with a basic solid color, but I’m definitely thinking that I’d like to design it that way. Would a stand like this be overkill? Yeah, probably. Would it be super cool though? Yes, absolutely! 🙂👍🏻
Anyways, that’s where I’m at with some of my thoughts on my desk iPad setup. I’m excited to hopefully be able to start putting some of this stuff together! 👍🏻
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I had an extra LED strip left over from lighting my 3D printer enclosure, and so I decided to use it as a backlight for the desk, inspired by the setup @Ludatyk put together. It’s still not done, I have some more adjustments to make, but I’m liking the way the backlight looks! I plan on attaching the LED strip to some small corner trim, that way it will provide more rigidity, and will also hide the LED strip from view, so the light will just wash up the wall.
I also cut a cable pass-through at the back of my desk, under the desktop riser, so my cable management is much improved and I have my power strip positioned under the desk. I upgraded to an Anker power strip with more than double the ports I had before, which will be nice, because I was starting to run out of space on the old one. I still need to bunch up and tidy the HDMI cables and such, but everything’s coming along great. And with being able to remove the power strip from the top of the desk, it’s freed up a ton of space on my desk, because I was able to slide my desktop riser and monitor back a lot closer to the wall. 👍🏻
Also featured, a new wallpaper I created to compliment the Liquid Glass design, a minimalist scene with sunlight reflecting off water. I’m really happy with how it turned out, and I’m planning on posting it on my SubStack soon. 👍🏻
I also cut a cable pass-through at the back of my desk, under the desktop riser, so my cable management is much improved and I have my power strip positioned under the desk. I upgraded to an Anker power strip with more than double the ports I had before, which will be nice, because I was starting to run out of space on the old one. I still need to bunch up and tidy the HDMI cables and such, but everything’s coming along great. And with being able to remove the power strip from the top of the desk, it’s freed up a ton of space on my desk, because I was able to slide my desktop riser and monitor back a lot closer to the wall. 👍🏻
Also featured, a new wallpaper I created to compliment the Liquid Glass design, a minimalist scene with sunlight reflecting off water. I’m really happy with how it turned out, and I’m planning on posting it on my SubStack soon. 👍🏻
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Glad I can help... feels refreshing to see a post like this, because trying to be of an assistance to those users who have no understanding of iPadOS 26 new multitasking has been wild.
Care to elaborate on this? You cut a hole in the desk?
What Anker power strip you pick up?
I want a desktop riser or some shelf to sit on my desk, but I don't have any room lol. Plus it's already cluttered enough...
Sweet setup! And I pride myself on having a minimalist scene... but the way my setup is far from that. I would like to streamline it... but it's not much I can really do because everything is being utilized.
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Awesome! Glad to hear it’s encouraging for you! 👍🏻
Yeah, so I used a hole saw and cut two small holes, and then cut in between them to cut a small pill-shaped cutout at the back edge of the desk, just in front of where the support beam is at the back as to not interfere with that. I don’t have any pictures of it, and I didn’t put any trim on it yet. But now my desk has a Dynamic Cable Passthrough! Software doesn’t expand from it though, just cables. 😉👍🏻
I think it’s the Anker 531. I got it on sale for something like $10. But the old power strip I had been using before only had like 6 plugs on it. As I’ve added more accessories at the desk, it was really pushing it, I didn’t have any available plugs left. But now I have some breathing room with the new power strip. 👍🏻
Thanks! 👍🏻. I still have some decluttering to do, but I feel that I’m starting to get there! Currently, I have a small shelf caddy to the side on my desk that I currently have papers and other things on that make it look less than optimal. I’m hoping to clean that off, and rework that as well. Maybe backlight the shelves on it and use it for displaying some 3D printed miniatures and such. I want to make it more tidy. But I’m pretty happy with the progress so far, it makes it a nicer space to work in. You’ve really inspired me to try to set up my desk space in a way that is more comfortable for my workflow, and is more appealing! 👍🏻
I have an L shaped desk... one power strip is to one side while another is on the opposite end, I could just do one power strip and keep it in the middle. But I'm of the mindset of if it ain't broke, no need to to fix it lol. It would be one thing if I need additional plugs... but I'm set.
That's one thing about being at the desk... there's always ways to improve on it. My recent addition has been to keep my iPad accessories (stands) together... bought this file holder to sit alongside it. But actually sorta below it, screwed into the wall.
I keep my Tineeowl Kickstand cover stand, Magic Keyboard and portable aluminum laptop riser in the holder when my iPad is docked to the Magflott VESA mount.
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Same here, technically my desk is half of an L-shaped desk. The other half isn’t mine (my brother and I work together for some local contracting work, so we share the desk for the business), so for my purposes, I treat it as a standard straight desk. 👍🏻
Nice, that’s a great solution for storing iPad cases! I may do something similar at some point! 👍🏻
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My iPad 13" M4 Pro has reinforced by apathy for laptops. I come from a time when laptops had a crappy screen, substandard keyboards, slow CPUs, with megabyte storage, 8 megs of RAM was smoking, all this with poor battery life, heavy, inches thick.
My iPad Paired with a Mac Studio or a Mac Mini, you have all of the portable computing you need. With the change to the USB-C port it enabled so many things that were only available before on a laptop. I have a 4 TB T-7 Samsung SSD formatted in APFS. With Infuse loaded, I have access to all of the files on my Mac Studio. I have keyboard cases for my iPad, but all they did was further solidify my dislike for laptops.
My iPad Paired with a Mac Studio or a Mac Mini, you have all of the portable computing you need. With the change to the USB-C port it enabled so many things that were only available before on a laptop. I have a 4 TB T-7 Samsung SSD formatted in APFS. With Infuse loaded, I have access to all of the files on my Mac Studio. I have keyboard cases for my iPad, but all they did was further solidify my dislike for laptops.
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Speaking of which, I was actually considering a kickstand case like the Tineeowl for the iPad 11, but couldn’t find an inexpensive one. I’m thinking what I will do is get an inexpensive magnetic folio case, cut the front flap off, add some magnet or magnets to the back of it, and use that to connect it to the iMac G4 style stand, as well as be able to magnetize a folding kickstand to it. That’s at least my plan for now. 👍🏻. But I’m also thinking about eventually getting the Tineeowl for my iPad Pro. 👍🏻
I think it depends. I would kind of agree for things like screen mirroring an iPad Mini onto a desktop display, or something like that. But I personally really like the extended display experience I get when I dock my iPad Pro to my desktop monitor. 👍🏻. And with iPadOS 26, I really like the way iPadOS looks with the new Menu Bar on my desktop monitor! 👍🏻
I also really like my iPad Pro on an external monitor, using a keyboard and Apple Magic Trackpad, or even my Logitech Combo Touch. Basically same as Mac or PC. Only thing I would like to see added to external monitor support, is the ability to make the external monitor your main/default monitor like Mac and PC. Otherwise I am really good with my Ipad Pro's external monitor experience.😉