Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPad Pro vs Google Slate

W

whitedragon101

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 11, 2008
1,349
339
The new Google Slate product totally baffles me. It has all the cons of a Surface Pro with none of the benefits. What customer will buy this? If you want a desktop on the go you get a Surface Pro, if you want more power at a lower price and can live without desktop apps you get an iPad Pro.


iPad Pro
Pro = Very fast, fair price (so far)
Cons = No desktop apps

Surface Pro
Pros = Desktop Windows Apps (a big pro)
Cons = Massive price, even $1700 i7 slower than an iPad Pro

Google Slate
Pro = ?
Cons = Massive price, even $1700 i7 slower than an iPad Pro, No desktop apps
 
Too early to really know. We will see once these things hit the market and how well they actually work and how long the hardware lasts.
 
I genuinely think google doesn’t release these products to become a major consumer hardware manufacturer. Any Google products are still reference items for me.
 
ipad pro has some desktop apps..like affinity photo and in the near future full desktop photoshop app
chromeOS is a more pleasant to use touch than windows 10...and is also more secure than win 10
 
  • Like
Reactions: whitedragon101
fokmik said:
ipad pro has some desktop apps..like affinity photo and in the near future full desktop photoshop app
chromeOS is a more pleasant to use touch than windows 10...and is also more secure than win 10
Click to expand...

I am hoping apples cross IOS MacOS software compatibility project comes to fruition. If apps become universal then that a big win for the Mac ecosystem.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mabus51
A lot of people spend most of the their time in web-based apps. In the original iPad keynote, Jobs laid out the key tasks he felt a tablet needed to excel in to be viable.

While I won't be buying one, the Google Slate seems to do those things very well as both a tablet AND a laptop. It doesn't do much beyond that, sure, but for many that is all they need. Despite the great value the iPad is still a tablet/touch first device and Surface is still a laptop/pointer first device (yes, I know there are exceptions on both platforms!). Early reviews suggest that the Slate is actually a better hybrid.

Will that matter with the price being so high and the apps being so limited? Who knows? Enough people bought the previous Pixelbooks (including a brother of mine) that seem much more limited and lower value IMO.
 
If you live inside Google's ecosystem and rely on Gmail, Google Keep, and Google Docs, Android apps, and want to access some Linux apps, the Pixel Slate is an excellent device. Bloggers and tech journalists are especially well served by this machine, and since they dominate press reviews, you should expect to see generally very positive reception among the tech press. Also, remember that Chrome OS devices have done exceptionally well in school, so older students are very happy to rely on a web/Android device like this.

It's not necessarily the same crowd served by the iPad or Surface, but there's definitely a customer base.

Surprised, however, that they are still not offering an LTE option. Just like many people find an LTE-equipped iPad much more convenient than tethering, there should be a significant population who'll be well served by an LTE Pixel Slate
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mabus51
sosumi99 said:
If you live inside Google's ecosystem and rely on Gmail, Google Keep, and Google Docs, Android apps, and want to access some Linux apps, the Pixel Slate is an excellent device. Bloggers and tech journalists are especially well served by this machine, and since they dominate press reviews, you should expect to see generally very positive reception among the tech press. Also, remember that Chrome OS devices have done exceptionally well in school, so older students are very happy to rely on a web/Android device like this.

It's not necessarily the same crowd served by the iPad or Surface, but there's definitely a customer base.

Surprised, however, that they are still not offering an LTE option. Just like many people find an LTE-equipped iPad much more convenient than tethering, there should be a significant population who'll be well served by an LTE Pixel Slate
Click to expand...
I think the answer to your question regarding an LTE option is the customer base. Those interested in ChromeOS in my opinion want cheap and keep it cheap as possible. Which the original idea with the Chromebook was a $200 capable laptop. The new slate I feel misses the mark and at the price range it’s going to fail. There are much better options and capable machines at this price range. If you don’t want Apple or it’s eco system, you’ll be better off with a Surface GO than a ChromeOS equipped tablet.
 
  • Like
Reactions: whitedragon101
whitedragon101 said:
The new Google Slate product totally baffles me. It has all the cons of a Surface Pro with none of the benefits. What customer will buy this? If you want a desktop on the go you get a Surface Pro, if you want more power at a lower price and can live without desktop apps you get an iPad Pro.


iPad Pro
Pro = Very fast, fair price (so far)
Cons = No desktop apps

Surface Pro
Pros = Desktop Windows Apps (a big pro)
Cons = Massive price, even $1700 i7 slower than an iPad Pro

Google Slate
Pro = ?
Cons = Massive price, even $1700 i7 slower than an iPad Pro, No desktop apps
Click to expand...
As with anything, it is highly subjective and greatly depends upon what one is looking for in a device. There are quite a few benefits to the Google Slate, some of which are simply not available on the iPad Pro. But if those benefits aren't something that are important to you, then you won't see the value in them.

The Google Slate is a tablet with physical dimensions that are comparable to the iPad Pro (12.9). But in addition to that it offers:
  • a full desktop version of Chrome (not just a mobile version that can load the desktop version of a site)... this included support for extensions and plug-ins.

  • system-wide support for trackpad/mouse. Support is optional... if you don't want to use it, touchscreen still works.

  • near full support for USB peripherals. USB thumb drives, wireless keyboards/mice that require dongles, wired mice/keyboards, microphones, gamepads, even custom presentation remote controls.

  • A system-wide accessible file system. Although chrome OS is optimized for the cloud, local storage is fully accessible.

  • Support for Android, Linux, and Windows apps (via CrossOver)

I've spent quite a few years pushing the limits of my 12.9 iPad Pro to get it to cross the divide between tablet and notebook. It came pretty close but was still not where I needed it to be.

I recently bought an 8GB/128GB Google Pixelbook (new at Best Buy for $470 out the door). almost immediately, it went beyond where the iPad Pro took me and got close to that point of convergence.

I can see where the Google Slate could possibly be even better than that for me.

But having said that, not all things are rosey in ChromeOS-land.

The state of tablet-optimized Android apps is only slightly better than Modern UI apps for Windows. There's also not a quantity of quality apps... for the iPad (I've since replaced my 12.9 Pro with a 2018 iPad) there are a mountain of terrific notebook/notetaking apps... (I love GoodNotes!) on the Android side, only Squid comes close. That's what I use for my digital handwritten notes on my Pixelbook since it is optimized for the Google Pen.

In an attempt to be more flexible with my options, I try to standardize my productivity apps on Google's (they work well on the iPad, and even as web apps on my iMac), but when I need MS Office, I find that the online version of MS Office to be surprisingly well featured... far, far beyond the Android and iOS versions.

Chrome OS can't do everything (yet). Specifically video, graphics, and audio production... so for the foreseeable future, I'll be performing those tasks on my iMac.

When Chrome OS 70 is released (timed for the availability of the Slate) it is going to be even better for my purposes since when the Pixelbook is in tablet mode, the UI changes to a more iPad-esque user experience.

Chrome OS isn't for everyone, but I think that the greatest benefit of the Google Slate is to offer stiff competition for Apple to provide some of the above capabilities to the iPad Pro. If Apple were to introduce mouse, file-system, and peripheral support to the iPad Pro, it cause me to go back to the Pro as my primary mobile device.
 
  • Like
Reactions: sparksd, Cape Dave, lbdesign and 2 others
sracer said:
As with anything, it is highly subjective and greatly depends upon what one is looking for in a device. There are quite a few benefits to the Google Slate, some of which are simply not available on the iPad Pro. But if those benefits aren't something that are important to you, then you won't see the value in them.

The Google Slate is a tablet with physical dimensions that are comparable to the iPad Pro (12.9). But in addition to that it offers:
  • a full desktop version of Chrome (not just a mobile version that can load the desktop version of a site)... this included support for extensions and plug-ins.

  • system-wide support for trackpad/mouse. Support is optional... if you don't want to use it, touchscreen still works.

  • near full support for USB peripherals. USB thumb drives, wireless keyboards/mice that require dongles, wired mice/keyboards, microphones, gamepads, even custom presentation remote controls.

  • A system-wide accessible file system. Although chrome OS is optimized for the cloud, local storage is fully accessible.

  • Support for Android, Linux, and Windows apps (via CrossOver)

I've spent quite a few years pushing the limits of my 12.9 iPad Pro to get it to cross the divide between tablet and notebook. It came pretty close but was still not where I needed it to be.

I recently bought an 8GB/128GB Google Pixelbook (new at Best Buy for $470 out the door). almost immediately, it went beyond where the iPad Pro took me and got close to that point of convergence.

I can see where the Google Slate could possibly be even better than that for me.

But having said that, not all things are rosey in ChromeOS-land.

The state of tablet-optimized Android apps is only slightly better than Modern UI apps for Windows. There's also not a quantity of quality apps... for the iPad (I've since replaced my 12.9 Pro with a 2018 iPad) there are a mountain of terrific notebook/notetaking apps... (I love GoodNotes!) on the Android side, only Squid comes close. That's what I use for my digital handwritten notes on my Pixelbook since it is optimized for the Google Pen.

In an attempt to be more flexible with my options, I try to standardize my productivity apps on Google's (they work well on the iPad, and even as web apps on my iMac), but when I need MS Office, I find that the online version of MS Office to be surprisingly well featured... far, far beyond the Android and iOS versions.

Chrome OS can't do everything (yet). Specifically video, graphics, and audio production... so for the foreseeable future, I'll be performing those tasks on my iMac.

When Chrome OS 70 is released (timed for the availability of the Slate) it is going to be even better for my purposes since when the Pixelbook is in tablet mode, the UI changes to a more iPad-esque user experience.

Chrome OS isn't for everyone, but I think that the greatest benefit of the Google Slate is to offer stiff competition for Apple to provide some of the above capabilities to the iPad Pro. If Apple were to introduce mouse, file-system, and peripheral support to the iPad Pro, it cause me to go back to the Pro as my primary mobile device.
Click to expand...

Woh woh woh hold the phone. Did you say it can run Windows apps?

Everything else just seems like a toy version of Windows without the main benefit of Windows being, yep runs everything.
If this can run any app that runs on Windows that’s a significant advantage. Does Windows apps run as fast and stably as on a surface pro?
 
whitedragon101 said:
Woh woh woh hold the phone. Did you say it can run Windows apps?

Everything else just seems like a toy version of Windows without the main benefit of Windows being, yep runs everything.
If this can run any app that runs on Windows that’s a significant advantage. Does Windows apps run as fast and stably as on a surface pro?
Click to expand...
It doesn't run Windows apps natively... but using CrossOver for Chrome OS (in the Google Play store), I have been able to install a few Windows apps on my Pixelbook and run them quite adequately. CrossOver is the commercial version of WINE that is a "wedge" that enables Windows apps to run on macOS, Linux, Android, and Chrome OS without the need to use a virtual machine.

If you rely heavily on Windows apps then I would not recommend anything other than a Windows tablet/laptop. Things like CrossOver are simply to help fill the gap of those 2 or 3 oddball apps that have no native alternative.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dk001, muzzy996 and whitedragon101
sracer said:
As with anything, it is highly subjective and greatly depends upon what one is looking for in a device. There are quite a few benefits to the Google Slate, some of which are simply not available on the iPad Pro. But if those benefits aren't something that are important to you, then you won't see the value in them.

The Google Slate is a tablet with physical dimensions that are comparable to the iPad Pro (12.9). But in addition to that it offers:
  • a full desktop version of Chrome (not just a mobile version that can load the desktop version of a site)... this included support for extensions and plug-ins.

  • system-wide support for trackpad/mouse. Support is optional... if you don't want to use it, touchscreen still works.

  • near full support for USB peripherals. USB thumb drives, wireless keyboards/mice that require dongles, wired mice/keyboards, microphones, gamepads, even custom presentation remote controls.

  • A system-wide accessible file system. Although chrome OS is optimized for the cloud, local storage is fully accessible.

  • Support for Android, Linux, and Windows apps (via CrossOver)

I've spent quite a few years pushing the limits of my 12.9 iPad Pro to get it to cross the divide between tablet and notebook. It came pretty close but was still not where I needed it to be.

I recently bought an 8GB/128GB Google Pixelbook (new at Best Buy for $470 out the door). almost immediately, it went beyond where the iPad Pro took me and got close to that point of convergence.

I can see where the Google Slate could possibly be even better than that for me.

But having said that, not all things are rosey in ChromeOS-land.

The state of tablet-optimized Android apps is only slightly better than Modern UI apps for Windows. There's also not a quantity of quality apps... for the iPad (I've since replaced my 12.9 Pro with a 2018 iPad) there are a mountain of terrific notebook/notetaking apps... (I love GoodNotes!) on the Android side, only Squid comes close. That's what I use for my digital handwritten notes on my Pixelbook since it is optimized for the Google Pen.

In an attempt to be more flexible with my options, I try to standardize my productivity apps on Google's (they work well on the iPad, and even as web apps on my iMac), but when I need MS Office, I find that the online version of MS Office to be surprisingly well featured... far, far beyond the Android and iOS versions.

Chrome OS can't do everything (yet). Specifically video, graphics, and audio production... so for the foreseeable future, I'll be performing those tasks on my iMac.

When Chrome OS 70 is released (timed for the availability of the Slate) it is going to be even better for my purposes since when the Pixelbook is in tablet mode, the UI changes to a more iPad-esque user experience.

Chrome OS isn't for everyone, but I think that the greatest benefit of the Google Slate is to offer stiff competition for Apple to provide some of the above capabilities to the iPad Pro. If Apple were to introduce mouse, file-system, and peripheral support to the iPad Pro, it cause me to go back to the Pro as my primary mobile device.
Click to expand...


Spot on and wholeheartedly agree.

What drove me away from Android tablets was my desire for something better for handwritten note taking and handwritten annotation of large PDF files. It comes down to what workflows we are all comfortable with and it took me a while to settle into some workflows on my iPP 12.9 . . . now that I have, I'm hesitant to drop money on ChromeOS and risk losing what I have in GoodNotes and PDF Expert on the iPad.

I'm intrigued with the Slate because of all of the things it can do that you've mentioned above, just worried about whether or not there are comparable workflows and software that would meet my needs. Because of that concern the smart thing for me to do is enjoy what I have for another year or two and let the ChromeOS tablet market mature a bit more - a decision I made this spring when I purchased the IPP to begin with.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dk001 and sracer
sracer said:
It doesn't run Windows apps natively... but using CrossOver for Chrome OS (in the Google Play store), I have been able to install a few Windows apps on my Pixelbook and run them quite adequately. CrossOver is the commercial version of WINE that is a "wedge" that enables Windows apps to run on macOS, Linux, Android, and Chrome OS without the need to use a virtual machine.

If you rely heavily on Windows apps then I would not recommend anything other than a Windows tablet/laptop. Things like CrossOver are simply to help fill the gap of those 2 or 3 oddball apps that have no native alternative.
Click to expand...

Ahh WINE how I remember thee. Like balancing a horse on a unicycle, what could go wrong ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cape Dave and sracer
whitedragon101 said:
Ahh WINE how I remember thee. Like balancing a horse on a unicycle, what could go wrong ;)
Click to expand...
rotflmao.gif

All too true. It's gotten a bit better... it's more like a panda driving a quad now. :p


muzzy996 said:
Spot on and wholeheartedly agree.

What drove me away from Android tablets was my desire for something better for handwritten note taking and handwritten annotation of large PDF files. It comes down to what workflows we are all comfortable with and it took me a while to settle into some workflows on my iPP 12.9 . . . now that I have, I'm hesitant to drop money on ChromeOS and risk losing what I have in GoodNotes and PDF Expert on the iPad.

I'm intrigued with the Slate because of all of the things it can do that you've mentioned above, just worried about whether or not there are comparable workflows and software that would meet my needs. Because of that concern the smart thing for me to do is enjoy what I have for another year or two and let the ChromeOS tablet market mature a bit more - a decision I made this spring when I purchased the IPP to begin with.
Click to expand...
Bingo. Exploring non-Apple options has been a long-term project for me... at least for the last 2 years. It takes time, a little creativity, and the right hardware to come along. My experimenting with the iPad Pro to take it where I needed it to be made it easier (I was already in that mindset).

I recommend keeping an eye out for what is going on re:Chrome OS to see how much progress it is making. In the meantime, fully enjoy what you have! That iPad Pro is a great device... with a long productive life ahead.
 
  • Like
Reactions: muzzy996
hey if you keep your production output low enough and price it in a way that every 1 out of 100,000 buy it, you can profit from it - google's way. its heritage.
 
Google slate with celeron 7 gen is too slow for 2018...i bet like surface GO...when you use 2 or 3 apps it will lag as hell...
If you need a smooth experience that come close to the ipad, you have to go with 8gb ram and 8th Intel i5 cpu so you are looking at 999$ starting point...so, in this case, if you are not true security sensible, surface pro 6 is the thing for you if you need more capabilities than ipad has
 
fokmik said:
Google slate with celeron 7 gen is too slow for 2018...i bet like surface GO...when you use 2 or 3 apps it will lag as hell...
If you need a smooth experience that come close to the ipad, you have to go with 8gb ram and 8th Intel i5 cpu so you are looking at 999$ starting point...so, in this case, if you are not true security sensible, surface pro 6 is the thing for you if you need more capabilities than ipad has
Click to expand...
I can see why Google took that approach with the Slate. It makes it more approachable to folks than the $999 starting price of the Pixelbook. Since the Core i5 version retails for $999 but doesn't include the keyboard, it ends up being more expensive than the Pixelbook.

My 14" Acer Chromebook has a Celeron (slower than the one in the Pixel Slate) and it performs quite well and it doesn't lag with only 3 or 4 apps running. When I get up to 6 going, things start to slow down a bit but even then, it performs as well as my Macbook Air. I suspect that the entry level Slate will be just fine for typical use.
 
eltoslightfoot said:
Why would anyone get this over a Surface Pro 2018 or an iPad Pro?
Click to expand...
See my post (#13) above. There are quite a few things that the Pixel Slate can do that the iPad Pro can't. The Slate is a tablet first whereas the Surface Pro is essentially an ultrabook that can do tablet-y things in a pinch.
 
eltoslightfoot said:
Why would anyone get this over a Surface Pro 2018 or an iPad Pro?
Click to expand...
over surface pro because of the close OS and security...for me ipad pro > chromeOS > windows 10S
ipad still and will have the best and pro apps for touch input, and now that adobe is working for their full desktop apps for ipads its clear they will take the advantage of that Apple silicon
 
  • Like
Reactions: eltoslightfoot, muzzy996 and sracer
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back