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iPad as a laptop replacement
- Thread starter Omar Comin' Yo
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ScanTheNavian
macrumors 6502
You said lots of good stuff in your post, but especially this rang true for me. If it's possible, having an iPad for mobile use can make it much easier as it's more flexible regarding weight when traveling. Perhaps you don't need to bring a keyboard one time so you're able to shave off over half the weight from a MBA. Or you can get the 11' instead to shave off even more.
Personally I've been thinking about going from iPP to iPMini next time as I'd like to have an ultra lightweight device with me while getting a much more satisfying UX compared to my phone. I just wish there was an official keyboard folio from Apple. Not necessarily Magic, but lightweight and with a trackpad.
In the end you should focus on what apps you use and need. If they're enough then the OS doesn't really matter much on the go, unless you have to tinker with files. At home you can have a fridge and espresso machine, but while out and about cooler bags and thermoses often suffice.
fatdickie
macrumors newbie
I think a lot of us all have reach similar conclusions at this point. 🙂
My main setup:
Mac Mini
13" iPad Pro
iPad Mini
iPhone 13 Mini
- Mac Mini is for keyboard/trackpad-intensive tasks and rotating back ups of all my cloud data.
- iPad Pro is my main computing device.
- iPad Mini is my take with me tablet, notetaking, other Apple Pencil work, etc. I'd love 120 Hz in the next iPad Mini, like most people really, but I still love it as is.
- iPhone Mini for communication, connectivity, and access to critical apps I might need in a pinch. It's so delightfully light and small it's never a burden to carry it. My iPhone is very lightly used so the battery is never really a problem for me. Runs iOS 26 smoothly as well. I usually answer calls and texts from the iPhone on my iPad Pro.
I also have an older pre-M series iPad Pro that I use on a desk lift to stream content while I'm working on my M5 iPad Pro.
Yeah, I wasn't a fan of the cover or the trackpad. I use a Pitaka cover with my 13" M5 and MKB as I find the bare iPad to be too slippery.
Yeah that could work, be good if you could attach the iPad in the folio case to the MGK.
Kal Madda
macrumors 601
They do make cases for the iPad that work with the MGK. You’d have to look up the right one for your model of iPad, but I’ve seen them before. So that may be helpful. 👍🏻
im about ready to wind down my iPad Pro +mkg as a MacBook replacement attempt.
ultimately its the multitasking. way way way too many times I just get frustrated trying to resize windows in stage manager.
I spend time resizing windows when I dont want to resize them but mean to click on something else
I spend too much time throwing windows out of stage manager only to be pissed at when I open an app and have to waste time to drag it into the side bar.
I spend too much time figuring out if I opened a document, and then locating it if I went into chrome/safari/mail. oh is it in my sidebar? is it not? ****, let me go back into documents and load it up again.
and then if you ever fall out of your 98% of workflow, like lets say you hand your iPad over to someone to do something, I now have to worry about faceid or someone not being exactly familiar with how to move a document off of it and I need to babysit the iPad for a task that could be done on a MacBook immediately.
Its just too annoying for me.
ultimately its the multitasking. way way way too many times I just get frustrated trying to resize windows in stage manager.
I spend time resizing windows when I dont want to resize them but mean to click on something else
I spend too much time throwing windows out of stage manager only to be pissed at when I open an app and have to waste time to drag it into the side bar.
I spend too much time figuring out if I opened a document, and then locating it if I went into chrome/safari/mail. oh is it in my sidebar? is it not? ****, let me go back into documents and load it up again.
and then if you ever fall out of your 98% of workflow, like lets say you hand your iPad over to someone to do something, I now have to worry about faceid or someone not being exactly familiar with how to move a document off of it and I need to babysit the iPad for a task that could be done on a MacBook immediately.
Its just too annoying for me.
Kal Madda
macrumors 601
The multitasking is basically identical to macOS in iPadOS 26. And multi-windowing works without Stage Manager in iPadOS 26.
Apple_Robert
Contributor
There is one thing that frustrates me at the moment..With the Mac, I can start a download and leave the Mac (thus allowing the screen saver to start) while the download is in progress and ultimately finishes. With the iPad, you can’t do that or the download will fail. I wish Apple would offer the same ability with iPadOS..
Kal Madda
macrumors 601
Apple_Robert
Contributor
Download will stop for me if the screen turns off on the iPad.
Edited to add: I just checked again and it is still going. I guess it was the connection last time that was at fault.
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Kal Madda
macrumors 601
Ludatyk
macrumors 604
Yeah, I don’t understand the reasoning behind the multitasking criticism. If the issue was the lack of desktop Office apps.. then that would make sense.
But if they wanted a more macOS multitasking system… all they need to do is use the new Windowed mode over Stage Manager, that can easily help solve their issue.
Not sure how anyone can multitask on a iPad, any of them, too small, why I bought a ASD lol
iPad is one app at a time even 13", yes I've had one.
iPad is one app at a time even 13", yes I've had one.
Kal Madda
macrumors 601
I multitask perfectly fine on a 13” iPad. It’s the same as multitasking on a 13” MacBook Air, which is the most popular Mac… 🤷🏼♂️
And before that, I multitasked for years on my 11” Pro with Stage Manager. It wasn’t as nice as iPadOS 26 on the 13”, but it was definitely useful and plenty doable for many tasks.
For art and design apps, I generally full-screen those apps. But for notes, email, calendar, file management, etc. I can easily use them as smaller windows, no need for those to be fullscreen. I think it really depends on what you’re doing and your preferences.
Using the desktop monitor is nice, but definitely not necessary for multitasking for me. 🤷🏼♂️👍🏻
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Ludatyk
macrumors 604
Heck, on the Android side of things... I multitask quite a bit on my Galaxy Fold. It's a bit short of 8"... but I get the option to use a 3-grid window layout, which comes in handy for referencing documents or doing some research.
However, I mostly use Pop-Up window feature on the Galaxy Fold for multitasking purposes... so size difference is irrelevant for me.
Luftkopf
macrumors 65816
I don’t know. My iPad is so old I’m stuck on iPadOS 15, so I can’t say about iPads, but I worked for 12 years on an 11” MacBook Air. So 13” should be plenty, depending on what you want to do.
I also think I am done trying to use my iPad as a laptop replacement. I’ve been using a keyboard case with my iPad since iPad 7…? Something like that. Had the last gen Magic Keyboard, have the current gen Magic Keyboard. I had already gotten rid of the MKB once because it really forced you into using it as a bad laptop but with iOS 26 , I thought I’d give it another try since I was going to get an M5 iPad Pro anyways.
Still think windowed mode isn’t a great experience, at least on my 11” iPad. The window chrome is just way too big on everything and you lose so much content space. You can get around this by using “more space” but when you try to use it in tablet mode again, everything is insanely tiny (touch targets, fonts) and some apps just look completely messed up (like Reddit). It’s a huge annoyance to switch the display zoom every time I go from keyboard to tablet mode so I just end up leaving it in default display zoom.
I also wanted to try just using external keyboard and mice so that I can keep my iPad in a smart folio instead of being locked into the bulky magic keyboard all the time but I see that mouse support is still god awful… nothing feels right when using a mouse. The pointer movement feels wrong. The scrolling is so bad that you pretty much have to use an (Apple) trackpad.
Still think windowed mode isn’t a great experience, at least on my 11” iPad. The window chrome is just way too big on everything and you lose so much content space. You can get around this by using “more space” but when you try to use it in tablet mode again, everything is insanely tiny (touch targets, fonts) and some apps just look completely messed up (like Reddit). It’s a huge annoyance to switch the display zoom every time I go from keyboard to tablet mode so I just end up leaving it in default display zoom.
I also wanted to try just using external keyboard and mice so that I can keep my iPad in a smart folio instead of being locked into the bulky magic keyboard all the time but I see that mouse support is still god awful… nothing feels right when using a mouse. The pointer movement feels wrong. The scrolling is so bad that you pretty much have to use an (Apple) trackpad.
Is it possible to make a Shortcut that activates when a keyboard is connected?
Kal Madda
macrumors 601
I used the “More Space” option for years on my 11” M1 iPad Pro, and still do on my 13” M4. The buttons are the exact same size as on the iPhone… They’re perfectly fine for touch input for me… 🤷🏼♂️
"iPad as a laptop replacement?"
Well, it can be, why not? A lap-top replacement with or without a keyboard, featuring a touch OS but lacking traditional laptop capabilities. However, an iPad will never truly be an Apple PC—a Mac. Apple won't allow that to happen.
Well, it can be, why not? A lap-top replacement with or without a keyboard, featuring a touch OS but lacking traditional laptop capabilities. However, an iPad will never truly be an Apple PC—a Mac. Apple won't allow that to happen.