iPad Pro iPad Pro or MacBook Pro

[DougiePhresh]

I know there is a thread on this already - but it is ten years old and has 300+ pages of replies. I do not have the time or energy to go through that all.

I have a 2020 M1 MBP and it has gotten increasingly irritatingly slow recently (I just went back to school and have been using it a lot more now than I had been for a few years). When I bought this MBP back in 2020 - I did actually purchase an iPad Pro first - used it for a few days and realized the OS (I do not believe iPad OS had been released yet) was not going to cut it for what I wanted, so I returned it and got the MBP.

I want to know thoughts on whether an iPad Pro, in 2025, can legitimatly replace my MBP for school purposes (writing papers, doing research, etc.) or should I wait for the new MBP to be released and grab one of those? My wife has a 2025 MBA and I hate it - so that is out of the question.

 

[A1423]

I did this a couple of years ago and came to the conclusion that while it theoretically could for office suite tasks, in your example like writing papers and checking email. If you’re using a computer, don’t switch to an iPad. You’ll switch back. I didn’t even make it through the return window at Best Buy.

I still think they are great at augmenting a desktop system. Take your iPad to school, and have all your notes and such on your computer at home. But I personally wouldn’t only have the iPad.

 

[vanilla_prison]

The iPad Pro could definitely fill the needs in your specific workflow. Many people try to make the iPad their main computer and get frustrated then give it up for a “real computer” because they don’t give themselves time to adjust to the operating system. Switching from Windows to Mac will give you headaches because you don’t know how to do what you are used to right away. Switching from Mac to Windows is the same situation. iPadOS is no different. Sure, there are certain limitations (single audio source, no clamshell mode, no terminal, etc), but for basic computing needs it does a fantastic job. I’d say it takes at least a month to get used to a new operating system and how it handles different tasks. iPadOS 26 has brought a lot of changes, especially for multitasking (really window management) that can make lots of different workflows possible. I have a 13” M4 iPad Pro with the MKB and a 15” M4 MBA. I hardly ever touch my Mac, really only for specific use cases. My iPad does 99% of what I need a computer to do. In addition, it is a great two-in-one device. Sometimes I forget that I’m using an iPad when I have it connected to the MKB. But when I do want a tablet, I just take it off the keyboard, attached it to the Smart Folio, and bam! Now I have a device that I can carry around and draw on.