iPad as a laptop replacement

[LushMojo]

Physician here. We have two iPad Pros (original 12.9 with Smart Folio and 2020 11 with Magic Keyboard). We also have an iMac Pro. I literally never use the iMac Pro (last time was Feb). I run my whole practice from both iPad Pros and typically grab the 11 because it does everything I need and is a little easier to stay mobile around the clinic or the house.

 

[mr_jomo]

Physician here. We have two iPad Pros (original 12.9 with Smart Folio and 2020 11 with Magic Keyboard). We also have an iMac Pro. I literally never use the iMac Pro (last time was Feb). I run my whole practice from both iPad Pros and typically grab the 11 because it does everything I need and is a little easier to stay mobile around the clinic or the house.

If possible - can you share a bit of your workflow? Would be interesting to get some insights!

 

[Abazigal]

I find one underrated advantage of iOS is the share sheet.

Last week, I had to take minutes for a meeting. Funny thing happened - my windows laptop would not connect to wifi, then was stuck rebooting, so I entered the zoom meeting using my iPhone (connected to my AirPods) while I typed out the minutes using word on my iPad Pro and Smart Keyboard.

The fun part came after the meeting when I needed to email the minutes to my vice-principal for vetting. I just tapped on the share sheet extension, then selected the gmail app, typed a short message in and tapped "send". No muss, no fuss.

The same process would have involved a few more steps on a PC. It's times like this I really don't regret going all in with the apple ecosystem, and positioning my iPad at the forefront of my workflow.

 

[secretk]

I find one underrated advantage of iOS is the share sheet.

Last week, I had to take minutes for a meeting. Funny thing happened - my windows laptop would not connect to wifi, then was stuck rebooting, so I entered the zoom meeting using my iPhone (connected to my AirPods) while I typed out the minutes using word on my iPad Pro and Smart Keyboard.

The fun part came after the meeting when I needed to email the minutes to my vice-principal for vetting. I just tapped on the share sheet extension, then selected the gmail app, typed a short message in and tapped "send". No muss, no fuss.

The same process would have involved a few more steps on a PC. It's times like this I really don't regret going all in with the apple ecosystem, and positioning my iPad at the forefront of my workflow.

I guess it depends on the tools you use. At work I use OneNote to type meeting minutes and man the integration between Outlook and OneNote or stock mail app and OneNote is non existent on iOS/iPadOS. Now on Windows - works like a charm. It directly adds the emails of the participants and I can easily mark who attended the meeting and who not. Love the Outlook/OneNote/Microsoft Todo integration.

For your case indeed I think that the iPadOS workflow is faster than Windows and I assume also Mac. For my workflow however if you want proper Microsoft Integration, desktop is the way to go. Not only I can send the meeting minutes directly from OneNote, but this way I also share them with co-workers with my team which is really important for our efficiency (otherwise I waste time repeating myself numerous times).

 

[Abazigal]

I guess it depends on the tools you use. At work I use OneNote to type meeting minutes and man the integration between Outlook and OneNote or stock mail app and OneNote is non existent on iOS/iPadOS. Now on Windows - works like a charm. It directly adds the emails of the participants and I can easily mark who attended the meeting and who not. Love the Outlook/OneNote/Microsoft Todo integration.

For your case indeed I think that the iPadOS workflow is faster than Windows and I assume also Mac. For my workflow however if you want proper Microsoft Integration, desktop is the way to go. Not only I can send the meeting minutes directly from OneNote, but this way I also share them with co-workers with my team which is really important for our efficiency (otherwise I waste time repeating myself numerous times).

Yeah, it’s slower on my work laptop. For a typical teacher, it would be:
1) type minutes and save them on your desktop
2) open gmail in chrome
3) start a new email, attach the document, send

With my ipad, all this can be done from within the word app.

 

[tkmyzw]

I'm sharing a 13 MBP with my wife but both have iPads respectively(11 Pro w/ Smart Keyboard Folio and the Pencil for me and mini w/ the Pencil for her). MBP is now used only when doing something iPad can't do because of superior UX and easier system management. Also, the main place to use computers is the sofa and bed as there is no working desk in our apartment.

The frequency in use of MBP has been getting lesser since the enhancement of iOS/iPadOS, including moving main data storage and backup destination to iCloud from local Macs.

After retiring from the IT industry, I have no tasks require MBP(wide web browser screen for management console of AWS/Azure, terminal app, rich feature set text editor and so on for self study) anymore. So I have been using the MBP just for system management(keeping battery status healthy, system update, trouble shooting reported by her) as IT helpdesk of my home since then.

After a chat with her, she only needs MBP just for foreign language study which requires the HW keyboard. It's less than 10% time of her time out of entire computer usage. We realized this can be replaced with iPad w/ HW keyboard.

I almost decide selling MBP to buy a refurbished iPad Pro 11 for her, and sharing my Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard Folio. Now I'm in final checking if I miss something requires MBP, also looking to see the release schedule of next-gen iPad Pro.

 

[LushMojo]

If possible - can you share a bit of your workflow? Would be interesting to get some insights!

Read emails. See patients using Canvas (my EMR). Chart notes. Place orders. Send refills. Review labs and imaging. Look up journal articles. Use Up-To-Date. Do an ultrasound. Send and receive messages to my staff. Check my schedule. Wrap up day (I work 4 days per week). Maybe a bit of web or Reddit in the evening. I use Bear for all my planning and writing. Spark for email. All my notes are done via dictation; never touch the keyboard for that part.

 

[subjonas]

Yeah, it’s slower on my work laptop. For a typical teacher, it would be:
1) type minutes and save them on your desktop
2) open gmail in chrome
3) start a new email, attach the document, send

With my ipad, all this can be done from within the word app.

You can email files as attachments from within Word on Mac too (file>share>email). And same with any file in Finder (right click>share>email). Not sure how it is on Windows.

 

[secretk]

You can email files as attachments from within Word on Mac too (file>share>email). And same with any file in Finder (right click>share>email). Not sure how it is on Windows.

I am not sure that there is any integration on Windows between Word and say Gmail in web. However there is integration between Word and Outlook. I can generate emails directly from Word document. Same with OneNote. Overall if you work in a company that relies on Microsoft tools you have seamless integration between those tools. In any other case I do not think that there is any sort of integration or optimization in the workflow.

 

[Abazigal]

You can email files as attachments from within Word on Mac too (file>share>email). And same with any file in Finder (right click>share>email). Not sure how it is on Windows.

The problem is that the work email account I am using only works in the chrome browser and the gmail app. It’s one of those enterprise gmail accounts that don’t work with third party email clients, so I haven’t gotten it to work from the default mail app.

And I don’t want to email my superior using my personal gmail account.

So iOS has the native gmail client which supports my work gmail account and has share sheet support, and I am already using my iPad to teach in the classroom, so my iPad Pro is really the Swiss army tool for me at work.

 

[xxray]

I've been wanting to go iPad-only for years now, but here are some very examples of reasons why I still can't:

• No Safari plugins: My most used extension besides content blockers is an extension that allows me to speed up or slow down video playback speed
• RAM Management: Pages/apps refreshing on their own rather than staying open in background
• Microsoft Excel: Microsoft still hasn't implemented multiple windows of the same app for Excel. Can't open more than 1 worksheet at once. Functionality is still missing compared to Mac app.
• Safari functionality + developer tools: I find that just basic functionalities are missing in Safari on iPad. Like for example, in Safari I can't universally long press on an image and always open the image by itself or copy its direct image link. I can do this in other browsers on iPad, like Firefox, but Safari is my preferred cross-platform browser. I also can't just directly save videos in Safari or inspect web elements like I can on macOS Safari.

 

[one more]

Another area where iPadOS does not excel are on-line content management systems. Attempting to create a MailChimp campaign on an iPad is really-really inefficient, borderline frustrating. MailChimp does have a dedicated iOS/iPadOS apps, but they are very basic and poorly implemented. WordPress is generally much better, depending on a theme used, but still not as fast as being able to move between different windows on a computer.

 

[macdogpro]

Microsoft Excel: Microsoft still hasn't implemented multiple windows of the same app for Excel. Can't open more than 1 worksheet at once. Functionality is still missing compared to Mac app.

The latest updates (ver. 2.43) finally addresses this issue.
Also brings hold shift + tapping on cell to select multiple cells and right click / two fingers tap to bring up contextual menu.

 

[xxray]

The latest updates (ver. 2.43) finally addresses this issue.
Also brings hold shift + tapping on cell to select multiple cells and right click / two fingers tap to bring up contextual menu.

Thank you

 

[NastyMatt]

Got to say, yesterday when the new MBA was announced I thought "brilliant.. faster.. fanless.." and then "hold on.. my IPP does that already.. plus has a much better screen and camera".

 

[AndyMacAndMic]

Got to say, yesterday when the new MBA was announced I thought "brilliant.. faster.. fanless.." and then "hold on.. my IPP does that already.. plus has a much better screen and camera".

Your IPP does not run MacOS. There is the difference.

 

[NastyMatt]

Your IPP does not run MacOS. There is the difference.

So the old MBA didn't run MacOS? Hold on.. let me check as I have one.

 

[Nugget]

So the old MBA didn't run MacOS? Hold on.. let me check as I have one.

Of course it does. That's the difference.

 

[NastyMatt]

Of course it does. That's the difference.

I was being sarcastic.. I remarked on the new hardware features, yet I was explained to what the differences are is old software. i.e. completely and utterly missed what I was talking about.

 

[AndyMacAndMic]

I was being sarcastic.. I remarked on the new hardware features, yet I was explained to what the differences are is old software. i.e. completely and utterly missed what I was talking about.

Next time use an /s or a </sarcasm> tag. Nobody can read from words on a screen if someone is sarcastic or not. There are (as far as I can tell) no mindreaders in this forum.

 

[Nugget]

I was being sarcastic.. I remarked on the new hardware features, yet I was explained to what the differences are is old software. i.e. completely and utterly missed what I was talking about.

I understood that you were trying to be snarky. Andy's point (which I agree with) is who cares if your iPP "does that already?" It's not the same class of device, so any comparisons aren't meaningful. The iPP doesn't run macOS, which makes its battery life and fanlessness a lot less impressive and not very interesting in this context. Why even bring it up?

In your rush to be sarcastic I think you completely and utterly missed what you were replying to.

 

[NastyMatt]

I understood that you were trying to be snarky. Andy's point (which I agree with) is who cares if your iPP "does that already?" It's not the same class of device, so any comparisons aren't meaningful. The iPP doesn't run macOS, which makes its battery life and fanlessness a lot less impressive and not very interesting in this context. Why even bring it up?

In your rush to be sarcastic I think you completely and utterly missed what you were replying to.

Why bring it up? Look at the title of this thread.

Thanks for your input tho.

 

[xxray]

Another thing that restricts me from going iPad-only is website compatibility and RAM management.

For example, I’ve been applying for jobs. If I do it on my iPad, I always have to worry, is this website going to work properly on the iPad, or am I going to have to restart the application halfway through on my Mac instead? I use both Microsoft Word, Pages, and Grammarly to write/edit my resume and cover letters. So then I have to worry, will I come back to my job application and find that the page has started to refresh because I opened too many apps for the RAM to handle?

 

[ericwn]

Another thing that restricts me from going iPad-only is website compatibility and RAM management.

For example, I’ve been applying for jobs. If I do it on my iPad, I always have to worry, is this website going to work properly on the iPad, or am I going to have to restart the application halfway through on my Mac instead? I use both Microsoft Word, Pages, and Grammarly to write/edit my resume and cover letters. So then I have to worry, will I come back to my job application and find that the page has started to refresh because I opened too many apps for the RAM to handle?

I hear you on the application front. Many companies use old tech for their hiring process and it’s sometimes a pain.

 

[Abazigal]

I understood that you were trying to be snarky. Andy's point (which I agree with) is who cares if your iPP "does that already?" It's not the same class of device, so any comparisons aren't meaningful. The iPP doesn't run macOS, which makes its battery life and fanlessness a lot less impressive and not very interesting in this context. Why even bring it up?

In your rush to be sarcastic I think you completely and utterly missed what you were replying to.

In the context of this thread, that the iPad runs iOS is the primary advantage. It's lighter and better optimised for the sort of tasks that people here would use their iPads for.

For one, it's precisely because of iOS that the iPad (pro) is able to enjoy its legendary battery life and offer smoother performance despite having less ram. There is still no Mac version of shortcuts, so certain tasks that I have come to take for granted on an iPad (such as activating a shortcut to search a website for a certain term) would not be accessible on a Mac, or simply be more cumbersome to perform.

Not every app has a native macOS version, such as Apollo (makes browsing reddit on my iPad so much smoother compared to using safari on my Mac). I find split-view is easier to activate and get out of on the iPad compared to macOS, the Macbook still lacks cellular connectivity, and the keyboard can't be detached.

TL;DR - for the people here, the supposed limitations and shortcomings of the iPad and iPadOS are actually advantages which allow us to work around the complexities of a legacy desktop OS and avoid having to deal with idiosyncrasies like managing overlapping windows.

Continuing to argue that the iPad doesn't run macOS is missing the point, because that's the whole point - that we don't want the iPad to become yet another Mac.