Final update to this… It’s been three weeks or so. The iPad Pro is stunning, beautiful, that screen in sunlight never struggles and looks like surreal e-ink with the right settings… It sort of breaks my heart in some sense, but I’ve decided to return it. And Apple being the sometimes legendary company it is with retail, has agreed to refund it (and a customised Pencil Pro - which I thought was outright against policy).
I was honest with them. I said I bought this to replace my Mac as a software dev student and that my workflows would benefit from a tablet and the freedom it brings, but ultimately I have found things like the apps refreshing and multitasking limitations are an issue. I also told them that I had high hopes for remote access and even emulation / AI stuff but that the apps were too limited and didn’t use the M4 as well as I hoped. I also mentioned how it’s on my mind that this iPad plus keyboard plus Pencil combo costs more than a 16GB / 512GB MacBook Air with zero of the limitations. On this basis they agreed a full refund so that I could buy a Mac.
I really, really didn’t think they’d make an exception or be able to help but they did. I will wipe the dev beta from the iPad and get it returned tonight or tomorrow. I thought I’d share that as it might give hope to others trying a risky path like this and maybe also finding that it has too many fences to jump.
The question now is… what next. I’m going to use that old HP crap-book for a while. I might even slip a 2TB drive into it. Along with the iCloud utilities and have a hybrid set up for once. The easy, safe option is to buy a Mac. I could put some more money in and get an Air with up to 2TB. Though no more stunning screen, certainly no more note taking, it’ll feel a bit like my MacBook Pro M1 which wasn’t bad.
The iPad in the keyboard case, with a load such as playing Minecraft with brightness 70%, I noticed would refuse to charge due to temperature. The thing was piping hot. I tried using it without the keyboard losing the amazing controls of the trackpad / keyboard… Eventually it would slowly die until I had to leave it for like 20 minutes which it took to cool down before charging to still under 20.
The same at work, using also genuine chargers / adapters from Apple and my external display for a textbook along with the iPad for notes and the iPad would slowly die until/ stay around the same % at best. Part of the issue might be the developer beta but it’s a big chance to take to think it’s that much better come release.
I mention that as the passive cooling on the M4 cuts it from performing well, or charging… MacBook Air is fanless - so can I expect the same? You guys helped me realise I don’t need a Pro or Max chip and that’s so true. But even at that, something like Minecraft, running on Windows via Parallels for this version too… will the Air with M4 fail to match my M1 with fan in reality? How about charging it, on the M1 Pro, this gave downloads and other processes as much juice to sip as the fans ramped up and it gave me a noticeable increase versus battery alone (even into its 4th/5th year of dev practice). Is the Air M4 limited in the same way? I know most people browse Facebook on their Air’s - but that most of you on here aren’t those users.
The iPad is amazing to sit back with, reading books (text books in my case). Even holding it in hand or on the table at Starbucks this last few weeks, iPad OS 26 split screen with Notability and I’ve been writing notes like I’m back at uni… I’m taking in the information more about networking / data / GitHub. Sure, I can’t really practice or follow first hand but in terms of questions and diagram answers, it’s better!
This all leads me to the final point… a tablet did sort of work. But Apple is iPad for Tablet, Mac for no limits. What about Windows, or Linux? Should I opt for a Windows/Linux tablet, get my ebooks or physical text books on there or in print, and keep it up? I really would like the 2TB of headroom more so than I need any powerful performance. If it can play Minecraft in my downtime, and is capable of building apps for practice and compiling etc, then it’s honestly fine.
Confused… stay on Apple or branch out. Apple did me a solid this time with the returns, that alone makes me feel like my loyalty IS well placed.
I was honest with them. I said I bought this to replace my Mac as a software dev student and that my workflows would benefit from a tablet and the freedom it brings, but ultimately I have found things like the apps refreshing and multitasking limitations are an issue. I also told them that I had high hopes for remote access and even emulation / AI stuff but that the apps were too limited and didn’t use the M4 as well as I hoped. I also mentioned how it’s on my mind that this iPad plus keyboard plus Pencil combo costs more than a 16GB / 512GB MacBook Air with zero of the limitations. On this basis they agreed a full refund so that I could buy a Mac.
I really, really didn’t think they’d make an exception or be able to help but they did. I will wipe the dev beta from the iPad and get it returned tonight or tomorrow. I thought I’d share that as it might give hope to others trying a risky path like this and maybe also finding that it has too many fences to jump.
The question now is… what next. I’m going to use that old HP crap-book for a while. I might even slip a 2TB drive into it. Along with the iCloud utilities and have a hybrid set up for once. The easy, safe option is to buy a Mac. I could put some more money in and get an Air with up to 2TB. Though no more stunning screen, certainly no more note taking, it’ll feel a bit like my MacBook Pro M1 which wasn’t bad.
The iPad in the keyboard case, with a load such as playing Minecraft with brightness 70%, I noticed would refuse to charge due to temperature. The thing was piping hot. I tried using it without the keyboard losing the amazing controls of the trackpad / keyboard… Eventually it would slowly die until I had to leave it for like 20 minutes which it took to cool down before charging to still under 20.
The same at work, using also genuine chargers / adapters from Apple and my external display for a textbook along with the iPad for notes and the iPad would slowly die until/ stay around the same % at best. Part of the issue might be the developer beta but it’s a big chance to take to think it’s that much better come release.
I mention that as the passive cooling on the M4 cuts it from performing well, or charging… MacBook Air is fanless - so can I expect the same? You guys helped me realise I don’t need a Pro or Max chip and that’s so true. But even at that, something like Minecraft, running on Windows via Parallels for this version too… will the Air with M4 fail to match my M1 with fan in reality? How about charging it, on the M1 Pro, this gave downloads and other processes as much juice to sip as the fans ramped up and it gave me a noticeable increase versus battery alone (even into its 4th/5th year of dev practice). Is the Air M4 limited in the same way? I know most people browse Facebook on their Air’s - but that most of you on here aren’t those users.
The iPad is amazing to sit back with, reading books (text books in my case). Even holding it in hand or on the table at Starbucks this last few weeks, iPad OS 26 split screen with Notability and I’ve been writing notes like I’m back at uni… I’m taking in the information more about networking / data / GitHub. Sure, I can’t really practice or follow first hand but in terms of questions and diagram answers, it’s better!
This all leads me to the final point… a tablet did sort of work. But Apple is iPad for Tablet, Mac for no limits. What about Windows, or Linux? Should I opt for a Windows/Linux tablet, get my ebooks or physical text books on there or in print, and keep it up? I really would like the 2TB of headroom more so than I need any powerful performance. If it can play Minecraft in my downtime, and is capable of building apps for practice and compiling etc, then it’s honestly fine.
Confused… stay on Apple or branch out. Apple did me a solid this time with the returns, that alone makes me feel like my loyalty IS well placed.
