iPad Pro ipad pro 11 instead of a small laptop

[537635]

I would like to have a small laptop, which I would never think twice about taking it with me (backpack). I never owned a 12'' Macbook, but I checked it out a couple of times in Apple Stores and for me this would be a perfect laptop. iPad Pro 11 is a bit larger and 150g heavier, which is kinda ridiculous, but this is as light as it gets with Apple if you want to have a screen and a keyboard.

I mostly work with browser based apps for work, lots of text input, emails... nothing fancy.

I don't need a touchscreen really. FaceID is a big plus, I find TouchID quite unreliable. Also 120Hz screen is nice, I'd need to get a Macbook Pro to have that.


So this is a question to all 11 Pro users with Magic Keyboards... is it viable as a netbook or not?
Of course there is also the price issue, but I guess I can swallow that because of FaceID and OLED.

 

[xxFoxtail]

I was in the same boat. I wanted a smaller laptop and got the 11" iPad Pro. I still keep my 13" MacBook Air around, though it mostly stays at the desk. The screen is much better than the Macbook's and I much prefer Face ID as well. Touch ID works for me for about a week before it just doesn’t anymore.

As far as if its worth it or not. Mine was partially a Christmas present (I only bought the MKB and Pencil Pro). I'd say it's certainly viable as a netbook replacement. It replaced almost all of my iPhone and MacBook usage. It fits in my bag a lot easier than my MacBook. But, after three months of using it as my main device, it's very safe for me to say that I don’t really need it, but I do really like that I have it, if that makes any sense. My Macbook/iPhone combo worked fine, and the iPad is just another device I need to manage. With that said, I'm more likely to sell off or gift the MacBook before the iPad if I ever want to get rid of one. Being able to use it as a tablet as well as a laptop is a huge plus to me as I’ve been reading a lot of ebooks lately. And I can use it on the treadmill, etc.

Since your usage sounds like it'd be perfectly fine with the iPad, it sounds like it would work for you. The best way I can see if you’re able to use the iPad as a laptop replacement or not - is checking to see if you can do something on your iPhone. Can you open this certain website or app on an iPhone? Then you shouldn’t have an issue with it on the iPad. OLED and Face ID definitely help justify the cost, but it is still a minimum of ~$1400 you'll be spending on it with accessories. Whether or not that's worth it to you, only you can decide.

I'd also recommend checking out this thread

iPad as a laptop replacement

I've have a MacBook Pro Retina for a year now, and quite frankly, it’s simply overkill for what I use the computer for on a daily basis. I would have been fine with a MacBook Air but elected to spend the extra cash for a nice screen. I use writing intensive programs (Final Draft, Pages, etc)...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[SnowCrocodile]

I would like to have a small laptop, which I would never think twice about taking it with me (backpack). I never owned a 12'' Macbook, but I checked it out a couple of times in Apple Stores and for me this would be a perfect laptop. iPad Pro 11 is a bit larger and 150g heavier, which is kinda ridiculous, but this is as light as it gets with Apple if you want to have a screen and a keyboard.

I mostly work with browser based apps for work, lots of text input, emails... nothing fancy.

I don't need a touchscreen really. FaceID is a big plus, I find TouchID quite unreliable. Also 120Hz screen is nice, I'd need to get a Macbook Pro to have that.


So this is a question to all 11 Pro users with Magic Keyboards... is it viable as a netbook or not?
Of course there is also the price issue, but I guess I can swallow that because of FaceID and OLED.

iPad will be fine for 85-90% of what people may do on a laptop, but these 10-15% may drive you nuts.

Two biggest differences are the lack of a proper filesystem and the lack of proper multitasking.

Things like synchronizing two folders, making backups, copying info between different apps, using file links, using more than two apps at the same time (e.g. copying info from emails into an excel spreadsheet and a reference notebook) are either near impossible, or feel very clunky.

Using external drives with an iPad is possible but the transfer speeds are s.l.o.w.

Using the iPad in a desktop config with a large external monitor, full size BT keyboard and a mouse is actually surprisingly nice but the mouse behavior feels clunky - there’s no way to fine tune it like on MacOS. It’s still not a “real” desktop OS. But it’s a lot nicer than I’ve expected.

“Lots of text input” means you need a keyboard, so here goes one of iPad’s main advantages - portability.

“Don’t need a touchscreen” - there goes annother advantage.

TouchId is very reliable on both my MBA and iPad Air. You may be used to older phones? Although FaceID is nicer, no doubt.

 

[537635]

Thanks for taking the time to write this. Great sum-up. The thread is 300 pages long . There are tons of YT videos, which do this comparison, but it's always the same - "Final cut doesn't work as well." and "There is no XCode", etc.
Personally I don't like ipadOS and would very much prefer a macOS on a such a device. I would pay good money for a 11'' Macbook Pro with FaceID and OLED screen.

Also great idea about iPhone and yes, everything works in Safari on iPhone, it's only cumbersome to use because of screen layout.

I also have a Mac mini at home, so I would also like to stay in the "ecosystem",

 

[rappr]

I’ll preface this with saying that I use the 13 inch iPad Pro as my primary personal device, but also have the 11 inch.

The 11 inch iPad Pro with a keyboard can absolutely be a viable netbook/laptop alternative. However, the most important thing to remember is to use it like an iPad with a keyboard and not like a Mac. Where people run into trouble is that they try to use iPadOS like macOS.

iPadOS does things differently than macOS, Windows, or Linux, and you really just have to acclimate yourself to it’s norms.

 

[Aka757]

I have gone back and forth between the 11” and 13” M4 iPad Pro since they were unveiled last May, and think that either can easily work as a main device, especially if your usage is light (which it appears to be, like mine is). I will say between the 2 sizes, the 13” works better if it’s your only laptop style device, because of the extra screen real estate. It doesn’t feel that much heavier, but it feels much more productive. With the full-size on-screen keyboard you can also lug it around without the Magic Keyboard as well! But ultimately it comes down to personal preference; either should work.

 

[snipr125]

My iPP M4 11 + MKB is more or less my main “laptop”, where i only use my mac for “desktop” tasks like burning my DVD/CD collection, file management etc. The iPP is much more fun and engaging to use though with its modularity, amazing screen, portability, snappyness, optimised Apps etc, and Stage Manager extended display is great to use and will get better with further refinement.

 

[rui no onna]

I mostly work with browser based apps for work, lots of text input, emails... nothing fancy.

Make sure all your web apps work first. I've noticed some stuff like Google Sheets don't work as well on the iPad as they do on desktop.

Granted, maybe using Chrome or Firefox instead of Safari might help. I know they all use Webkit but it seems there are still some differences in how they handle websites.

 

[alecgold]

I’ve been using the 11” as my main device for a long time. For all the basic stuff it works perfect.
To give you an idea what I do, I’ll make a list of my daily things:
- use mail.app for private mail
- use iCal for private appointments
- use outlook.app for work mail and work appointments
- constantly compare between private calendars and outlook if transit/travel times work out.
- use the windows.app for some 1986 legacy programs (that is no fun on a 11” and since last month I need to do this daily instead of once a month, so I switched to a 13”)
- hand write meeting notes in Goodnotes and search through Goodnotes to find previous appointments back
- hand write notes (and add pictures, graphs etc) at training sessions
- connect a large screen, BT mechanical keyboard and a trackpad to work with several documents (pdf, docs, xls) while using the iPad as my notepad with my todo-list in goodnotes
- simple excel files
- read enormous amounts of pages in iBooks, documents 5 (for pdfs) and dedicated apps for newspapers and magazines (WSJ, Times, FT, Economist, OECD/ECB/FRB reports etc etc)
- use iMessage, signal, whatsapp and whatsapp work
- sketching / doodling / mind-mapping when working on new ideas.

Oh and the 5G version is awesome for me while travelling. Tethering to a phone is possible, but eats the battery of the phone in a few hours tops.

So until last month the 11” with MKB, 1Tb + 5G and pencil was my main device. Unfortunately it now has become the 13” with MKB, 1Tb+5G and nano. Advantage of the 13 is reading magazines and A4 pdf files. Disadvantage is that it is heavier and a little bit unwieldy.

 

[Greenmeenie]

I ditched my macbook pro for an 11” iPad Pro in 2018 & haven't looked back. Everyone was telling me to go for the 13” iPad Pro, not only because it’s screen was closer in size to a macbook’s screen, but also because I’m an artist & bigger is better for drawing on too. But for me, the 11” iPad Pro is the perfect size. Not too big that it’s cumbersome to hold or carry around, yet big enough to get serious work done on it. The perfect compromise. And it totally works for me. My iPad Pro is not only the best digital sketchbook, I enjoy doing everything on it more than i did on my macbook. I prefer surfing the web on it, writing emails, editing photos/videos & consuming media on it. Ultimately tho, it’s a very personal choice. I’d go down to your local Apple Store and compare the two sizes side by side. Spend a good half hour holding & using them how you intend to use them. Then decide.

 

[FrozenDarkness]

i personally think it's 13" or bust. 13" actually creates more UI space (most of the time it's an additional column of information), so it's not just stretching things out which 11" ipad is from say an iPhone..

 

[roguester]

Currently considering this. PC as my main workhorse. iPad and iPhone as the daily drivers.

 

[UltraAppleFan]

I currently have a M3 MBA and M4 13inch iPad Pro. Traded in the MBA and went with a m4 mac mini 24GB RAM.
Seemed redundant to have both a MBA and 13 inch iPad. With trade in the mac mini is only costing me $150. Now I'll have a good desktop setup and my portable device

 

[Ctrlos]

If you're doing a lot of browser work you might find the iPad wanting. I'd recommend hunting down a Pixelbook Go.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

If you're doing browser-based work, you should be fine. Just keep in mind iOS hates multitasking, so Safari will constantly be unloading and reloading your tabs if you switch apps a lot.

My 11" iPad Pro is my primary computer. Mine has cellular, and it's a game changer to be able to work anywhere effortlessly like that. Still, iOS sometimes makes me want a real desktop OS.

 

[phrehdd]

From description, if keyboard use is most of the time and "touch" not really a requirement, the MBA would be *my* first choice over the iPad. To each their own.

 

[art6969]

I don't think that everyone will replace their Macbook with an iPad, but it seems like a pretty good replacement for me. My job is all about meetings, brainstorming, touching up paperwork, and stuff like that, not a lot of graphic-intensive stuff, so the light weight, and how easy it is to carry it around, make this a much better solution for me.