For the price they ask. That thing better wash your car. Clean your house. Get you laid. Something... lmao!!
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iPad Pro Reviews Roundup: Blazingly Fast With a More Balanced Design, But Some Face ID and USB-C Quirks
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It is a 2lb laptop that can use touch interfaces and supports multi monitor and full I/O. Yes. It is windows hardware, and software, which both immediately introduce issues. However it has a great keyboard. Like I said, if you want to call the iPad Pro a replacement to the PC, look at the Surface. It is light, fairly powerful, portable, dockable, and provides a full PC environment.
Yes, but there are plenty of other windows laptops out there, likely better or the same as the Surface. I guess I don't see why the Surface specifically is the one to get. It's not a good tablet (let's be honest) and it's an okay laptop. I don't personally want a traditional OS and all the baggage that comes with it (these last two weeks with a Windows machine have been terrible). I moved to iOS only a few years back and I don't think I'd ever go back to a traditional computer.
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Exactly, and it's crazy how much better the iPad Pro is for only $300 more. Apple even went cheaper, the $329 iPad is so much better than the $499 iPad ever was.
I got criticized for calling out the fact that the iPhone X wasn't indeed bezel-less. LOL. People love falling for the marketing.
Anecdotally, Surface users I know long for a real PC. My limited experience is it seems to be a poor tradeoff between a tablet and a PC.
I am not sold on the touch screen on a PC concept. I use my iPad Pro to stand in for my Mac on occasion and I find it painful to have to touch the screen to do things I can easily do with a mousepad and keys on my Mac. The iPad, OTOH, is perfect for email, videos, document reading and web surfing since it is much more portable.
That said, it appears the iPad Pro now has the horsepower to replace a PC for some users; beyond just the email/web/social media use cases. Apple will no doubt take advantage of that hardware power in future iOS releases as well as support easier porting of Mac apps to iOS.
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It would be nice to be able to backup the iPad to an external drive as well as use an external drive for additional storage.
Is being a laptop replacement such a huge deal to everyone here?
Look, I believe you all know my story. I use my iPad Pro 9.7" to teach in the classroom, though I still do the bulk of my lesson prep on my iMac, including converting word documents to pdf format (which then gets synced to the documents app via dropbox) so they can be opened in Notability for annotating.
I don't pretend the iPad can replace my Mac, and honestly, that doesn't bother me. I have two devices, each of which excels in what I need it to do, and they complement each marvellously. I don't need my iPad to run macOS because my iMac already does, and truth be told, I have genuinely come to prefer iOS for its ease of use and intuitiveness. Not saying the iPad is perfect (google docs still sucks on it, for one), but having worked with integrating an iPad into my workflow since 2012, I do find that the iPad has come a very long way since then.
Not too long ago, the phrase “you can’t do real work on an iPad” was thrown around a lot, but as more people have shown that they totally can do their work on iPads, the PC defenders have had to become more specific in their criticisms. Arguments for the continued dominance of the PC have been reduced to “you need it for sharing documents” or “you can’t do development on iOS.” or some other niche use case.
The trend towards eliminating things that iOS devices can’t do is marching on and there’s no reason to think it will stop. With each passing day, people are changing their workflows in ways that make PCs less relevant, while iOS (and Android) are making changes to fill the gaps that are still there.
PCs will exist for a long time, and I have no doubt that they will remain relevant for many people, but it continues to become more and more clear that the future is not macOS or Windows, but iOS and Android. As such, I am neither surprised nor dismayed that Apple continues to favour development of iOS over the Mac.
We really should be beyond debating whether the iPad can be used for content creation. That discussion is over and those still arguing that it cannot are saying more about themselves than about the iPad with every passing day.
Look, I believe you all know my story. I use my iPad Pro 9.7" to teach in the classroom, though I still do the bulk of my lesson prep on my iMac, including converting word documents to pdf format (which then gets synced to the documents app via dropbox) so they can be opened in Notability for annotating.
I don't pretend the iPad can replace my Mac, and honestly, that doesn't bother me. I have two devices, each of which excels in what I need it to do, and they complement each marvellously. I don't need my iPad to run macOS because my iMac already does, and truth be told, I have genuinely come to prefer iOS for its ease of use and intuitiveness. Not saying the iPad is perfect (google docs still sucks on it, for one), but having worked with integrating an iPad into my workflow since 2012, I do find that the iPad has come a very long way since then.
Not too long ago, the phrase “you can’t do real work on an iPad” was thrown around a lot, but as more people have shown that they totally can do their work on iPads, the PC defenders have had to become more specific in their criticisms. Arguments for the continued dominance of the PC have been reduced to “you need it for sharing documents” or “you can’t do development on iOS.” or some other niche use case.
The trend towards eliminating things that iOS devices can’t do is marching on and there’s no reason to think it will stop. With each passing day, people are changing their workflows in ways that make PCs less relevant, while iOS (and Android) are making changes to fill the gaps that are still there.
PCs will exist for a long time, and I have no doubt that they will remain relevant for many people, but it continues to become more and more clear that the future is not macOS or Windows, but iOS and Android. As such, I am neither surprised nor dismayed that Apple continues to favour development of iOS over the Mac.
We really should be beyond debating whether the iPad can be used for content creation. That discussion is over and those still arguing that it cannot are saying more about themselves than about the iPad with every passing day.
Forever the Achilles heel of the iPad. Hobbled by the Fisher Price OS.
For me too many of these reviews are laptop minus instead of tablet plus. For some people iPad absolutely could replace their laptop. For others no. Thankfully for those people laptops and desktops still exist. I agree that iOS on iPad still has room for improvement but Apple’s hardware is so good these Pros will handle any software improvements thrown at them in iOS 13/14/15.
Yes indeed, as the one reviewer noted, it is time for the iPad to start gaining more desktop style abilities. I don’t necessarily think that should be a mouse but I think some simple things to start would make it very useful:
1. Access to external drives
2. Let us compile things and execute them on the iPad — even if it’s only signed to work only on this iPad and not redistributable
3. Let us change some defaults such as browser, mail client, etc. The current things can stay default but let us be able to change it
To me, those three things would instantly make the iPad a more interesting device without totally compromising the vision for what an iPad is meant to be.
1. Access to external drives
2. Let us compile things and execute them on the iPad — even if it’s only signed to work only on this iPad and not redistributable
3. Let us change some defaults such as browser, mail client, etc. The current things can stay default but let us be able to change it
To me, those three things would instantly make the iPad a more interesting device without totally compromising the vision for what an iPad is meant to be.
You mean like the one they just announced this spring that starts at $329?
It’s a little rich for tech sites to be knocking Apple over this when they do the same thing. Anything with tiny bezels gets referred to as edge to edge.
Yea and that makes sense to me, longing for a traditional PC. I just don't buy the Surface as a tablet and think it has crappy hardware. Moving to iPad only definitely had an adjustment period for me, but I found myself doing things I didn't really need to focus on for my job. I really cleared out all of the operational tasks I was handling, and focused on productivity and people management. My position has obviously allowed for me to use just an iPad. Agreed, the power on these things is pretty incredible. Once they open the iOS just a little bit more, it will be a great option for a lot of people. I also am excited to see the macOS computers they build once they move to ARM in the next year or 2. I've always used iCloud backup, so never really a need for me there, or my NAS for my files. It helped a ton in the transition.
Good points. I see na inevitable convergence between the two devices. At some point, it will simply be one OS that runs on a touch screen device to which you can add a keyboard and touchpad. What is important is running programs people want. As an illustrative case, look at game consoles. If your PS4 lets you browse the web and access TV shows does it matter that it is a game console and not a set top box or PC? No, it's meeting the user's needs that matter.
As internet access speeds get better and data caps higher, much of the heavy lifting can be transferred to machines dedicated to certain tasks, such as doing the calculations for a game and pushing the info to a device to play the game. It could be a PC, table, a phone, game console or even a smart TV.
Users will adapt. 20 plus years ago laptops were expensive and performed worse than desktops. Today, the desktop is becoming rarer and rarer.
iOS on the iPad sucks. It could be forgiven for a "dumb" media consumption device but now that the prices have taken the iPad well into laptop territory, it doesn't cut it anymore. Hardware performance is exceptional but that's not enough.
Know your intended use.
I appreciate the thorough vetting of the iPad Pro's strengths and weaknesses, especially as it pertains to Apple's assertion that it's a proper desktop replacement.
However, I never bought in. iOS' achilles heel has always been its intended use: mobile utility. I use my device for media consumption, web browsing, and note taking only.
Until Apple embraces that continuity can exist with deep, meaningful differences between the iOS experiences for the iPhone and iPad, the capabilities will always be hobbled by arbitrary limitations.
I appreciate the thorough vetting of the iPad Pro's strengths and weaknesses, especially as it pertains to Apple's assertion that it's a proper desktop replacement.
However, I never bought in. iOS' achilles heel has always been its intended use: mobile utility. I use my device for media consumption, web browsing, and note taking only.
Until Apple embraces that continuity can exist with deep, meaningful differences between the iOS experiences for the iPhone and iPad, the capabilities will always be hobbled by arbitrary limitations.
I wish I could do illustrations on my iPhone like I can on my iPad Pro.
I also wish I could do full vector UI designs on my iPhone like I can on my iPad Pro and Affinity Designer.
I also wish I could have two apps at once on the screen and drag & drop between them on my iPhone like I can do on my iPad Pro.
I also wish I could edit photos with a pencil on my iPhone, like I can on my iPad Pro.
iOS has limitations, for sure, and I want Apple to address them - but saying an iPad Pro is predominantly a "big iPhone" experience is wrong. Just wrong.
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I don't often agree, but the iPad lineup is one that Apple seems to be on the ball with. The highest end stuff can be expensive, But the fact that the regular iPad sits at a decent price point for the tablet market is a great option. this is how most of the lineups should be built around.
your flagship can be somewhat pricey. especially if it's got bleeding edge tech in it.
But, your bulk of device sales are always going to be the "lower" price points. And good on Apple in the iPad sector for having both. Not all of us need the power and features of the Pro.
So while the old "top of the line" iPad was 499, and the new one is 899, theres still an option that's now even cheaper than the 499 we would have had to pay.
as I said in my last post, once the design language filters down to the iPad, It'll be a hot seller for those like myself who are on an Air (or prior) who haven't really seen sufficient reason to update/replace.
Just one look at the still forced grid arrangement of the rediculously spaced out icon arrangement on the iPad is enough to let anyone know — this is still just an iPad with all its frustrating limitations. At this point, it could have 32 cores and run at 4 GHz but it would still be a dog to use. iOS is its downfall.
I know it'd be slower, but can't you at least use the 10W iPad chargers with a USB-A to UBC-C cable? Trickle-charge on the go?
I think the fact that it’s a “big iPhone” is what makes it appealing. My GF is in graduate school. Not a single person uses an iPad for their work. It’s not possible. Windows application monopoly extends its claws as much today as it did 10 years ago. Most consumers can get away with using an iPad to replace their laptop. The “idea” that the iPad is a one stop solution is miles away. A lot of things are out of Apple’s hands on this one.