I will be starting college next month and I was am torn between a Macbook Pro and iPad Pro 12.9in. The only thing that is stopping me from choosing is whether the iPad Pro will have the ability to use/download certain softwares that could be needed for classes. With the IOS 11 coming up with the Files being a part of it, is this possible to run certain softwares with the iPad Pro, or will it be best to just stick with a laptop?
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iPad Pro vs. Macbook Pro
- Thread starter Tclipner1a1
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The upcoming Files functionality being exposed in iOS 11 is not going to change the fact that the software ecosystem of iOS is still tightly controlled and limited exclusively to what is available through the iTunes app store. You're not going to be able to, for instance, run Photoshop on an iPad Pro. You can find many iOS software equivalents to desktop Mac programs (say, Affinity Photo in place of Photoshop), and many of those will be quite full-featured. At the end of the day, however, this is a situation that you can evaluate right now in advance of the release of iOS 11: you can go the iOS app store, and search for the apps that accomplish what you want to accomplish. If you can find what you need to today, then you can perhaps live within the limitations of an iPad Pro. All that Files is going to do is provide a little more freedom in terms of accessing files stored in iCloud; they won't necessarily need to have been created by a certain iOS app to be able to be opened by that iOS app (right now one has to share a file from the app that created it, to the app that you want to access it with, and sometimes developers have not foreseen that particular path, i.e. you can't do it).
[doublepost=1499373553][/doublepost]I should also say that since your use case seems to be focused on what software instructors are going to require you to run for a given class, if you think that you're going to need more than text processing (Pages, or Microsoft Word) or spreadsheets (Numbers, or Microsoft Excel) then you're better off with the laptop. For instance, if you anticipate that your instructors are going to expect you to run engineering software like CAD or schematic entry, then you're not going to find that in the iOS app store. You don't say which laptop you're considering as an alternative; you should know that "laptops" like a Chromebook are going to have many of the same limitations as an iPad when it comes to running software: generally speaking, you can't run arbitrary software on a Chromebook, you can only run what it is possible to download from Google Play store. And of course Windows is more dominant and accepted in many settings, which might mean that you wouldn't necessarily be able to run a Windows program on a Mac laptop without using a virtual machine, etc.
[doublepost=1499373553][/doublepost]I should also say that since your use case seems to be focused on what software instructors are going to require you to run for a given class, if you think that you're going to need more than text processing (Pages, or Microsoft Word) or spreadsheets (Numbers, or Microsoft Excel) then you're better off with the laptop. For instance, if you anticipate that your instructors are going to expect you to run engineering software like CAD or schematic entry, then you're not going to find that in the iOS app store. You don't say which laptop you're considering as an alternative; you should know that "laptops" like a Chromebook are going to have many of the same limitations as an iPad when it comes to running software: generally speaking, you can't run arbitrary software on a Chromebook, you can only run what it is possible to download from Google Play store. And of course Windows is more dominant and accepted in many settings, which might mean that you wouldn't necessarily be able to run a Windows program on a Mac laptop without using a virtual machine, etc.
If you tell people the type of programs you are going to require for college, people will be able to help you more.
As an iPP 12.9 + MBPr owner, I can honestly say that the iPP is not a serious 'pro' workstation... yet. The one single app that made me reconsider that claim was Affinity Photo for iPad. As a photographer, it's a seriously impressive piece of software. In fact, it's the only true 'pro' app I've used (or even seen) on the iPP to date which is a shame because it's a lightning fast device. Maybe it will inspire developers as to its potential.
My MBPr, on the other hand, can do about anything I can throw at it. Although it cost me over twice as much.
Overall I'd say if you require more sophisticated programs (like CAD, full Adobe apps etc) then you'll need to consider a more capable rig.
As an iPP 12.9 + MBPr owner, I can honestly say that the iPP is not a serious 'pro' workstation... yet. The one single app that made me reconsider that claim was Affinity Photo for iPad. As a photographer, it's a seriously impressive piece of software. In fact, it's the only true 'pro' app I've used (or even seen) on the iPP to date which is a shame because it's a lightning fast device. Maybe it will inspire developers as to its potential.
My MBPr, on the other hand, can do about anything I can throw at it. Although it cost me over twice as much.
Overall I'd say if you require more sophisticated programs (like CAD, full Adobe apps etc) then you'll need to consider a more capable rig.
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