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iPad Pro vs MacBook
- Thread starter jonny301
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I have both iPad Pros, and a 12" Macbook. I prefer the 12" Macbook on a few tasks:
1. Google Sheets. The iOS version is just nowhere as nice as the web based one on desktop.
2. Some apps. Not everything is optimized for the 12.9" screen, and sometimes split view on the 9.7" screen doesn't cut it
3. working with the file system. Have you tried saving a file to iCloud Drive from Safari? The UI is terrible. I put everything in iCloud, so my iCloud Drive folder is massive. The UI for saving to iCloud Drive has every single folder expanded for whatever reason, and you can't minimize them. It'd probably take me 30 minutes just to find the right place to put the file. So what I do is save it to Preview (because it's towards the top of the list) and then organize it later.
With that said, I use my 9.7" iPad Pro for most tasks.
1. Google Sheets. The iOS version is just nowhere as nice as the web based one on desktop.
2. Some apps. Not everything is optimized for the 12.9" screen, and sometimes split view on the 9.7" screen doesn't cut it
3. working with the file system. Have you tried saving a file to iCloud Drive from Safari? The UI is terrible. I put everything in iCloud, so my iCloud Drive folder is massive. The UI for saving to iCloud Drive has every single folder expanded for whatever reason, and you can't minimize them. It'd probably take me 30 minutes just to find the right place to put the file. So what I do is save it to Preview (because it's towards the top of the list) and then organize it later.
With that said, I use my 9.7" iPad Pro for most tasks.
And you are absolutely right as well.
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I think you are going to offend, you know who, our local IOS advocate here.
Good luck with that. You'd be trading an excellent notebook and excellent tablet for a decent notebook that can also serve as a mediocre tablet.
Ok, now THIS makes sense.
OP didn't say anything about the Pencil, and again, you can buy a Bluetooth keyboard for much less than the Smart Keyboard costs.
Post #1
but I'm in the process of buying a new laptop, which obviously getting a MacBook is ideal. But with the iPad Pro and the attachable keyboard, it is almost a laptop.
Post #9
Spending extra money for keyboard and pen (replacement of a mouse) for the same price is not ideal.
Pretty sure you said to read OP's first post.
...
Yep. You did. Sorry I didn't go back and read everything else.
Regardless, you don't need a Pencil on an iPad. Your finger works just fine for input. You don't need the Pencil unless you're drawing or writing on the iPad, so you can't compare that to the cost of a MB without also adding something like a Wacom tablet to the Mac's cost.
Another example of Mac Zealots coming to the iPad forum to deride iPad users. Are you guys really so unhappy in your lives that you need to cut down others?
OP, this is subjective. I'll be clear though - I run my entire business, handle all my media, photos, files, etc from an iPad Pro and iPhone 6S Plus.
On iCloud; There's free iCloud storage available. Use it, get more if you need it. Most don't need more.
Regarding the cost, it's easy to say "oh they're the same" if you're tacking on the top tier accessories. Yes. A maxed 12.9" Pro with LTE, paired with ASK and AP will be close to the base Macbook. It will also be the faster device of the two by a significant margin, and will have a more comfortable keyboard to use. The base model Macbook is a crippled device that benchmarks below most current iPhones, not to mention the iPad Pro. Further, spending the same amount gets you full LTE support. Always available internet is a game changer compared to the Macbook.
From posts of mine on this forum, it's easy to see where I lean. Your needs may be different, but don't let the few naysayers skew your view.
OP, this is subjective. I'll be clear though - I run my entire business, handle all my media, photos, files, etc from an iPad Pro and iPhone 6S Plus.
On iCloud; There's free iCloud storage available. Use it, get more if you need it. Most don't need more.
Regarding the cost, it's easy to say "oh they're the same" if you're tacking on the top tier accessories. Yes. A maxed 12.9" Pro with LTE, paired with ASK and AP will be close to the base Macbook. It will also be the faster device of the two by a significant margin, and will have a more comfortable keyboard to use. The base model Macbook is a crippled device that benchmarks below most current iPhones, not to mention the iPad Pro. Further, spending the same amount gets you full LTE support. Always available internet is a game changer compared to the Macbook.
From posts of mine on this forum, it's easy to see where I lean. Your needs may be different, but don't let the few naysayers skew your view.
So two average drinks from starbucks will cover an entire year of iCloud storage. Just to throw some perspective on that.
Even if they did want to use an app that would rapidly become dated, they could still go re download it in their purchased apps. It's a 100% non issue.
Just another thought, to muddy the waters: the iPad Pro (12.9-inch model) is larger than the MacBook. The screen sizes are about the same, but the iPad had a bit more overheard because of the TouchID sensor and FaceTime camera regions at the bottom and top, respectively.
You can only download the app if it is still avaliable on the app store. It will not show up on the list of purchased apps.
This may be a non issue to you, but many people have apps that either have changed, or no longer exist. Making my original point 100% correct... There still are uses for a computer.
Just this weekend, I had to use itunes to reset a friends iphone 6s stuck in the infinite loop of white screen with black apple logo. None of the tricks worked. Had to connect it to itunes to reset the device.
Another example where a computer/itunes is not 100% obsolete.
Infinite loops of death, zombie apps... this is all very appropriate to Halloween.
Anyway, keeping a laptop/desktop "just in case" strikes me as the digital equivalent of hoarding.
And you can go to an Apple Store for any of these highly unlikely issues.
2TB is $20. I mean really right now I need 1TB so $10. But it's more the principal then anything else.
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My HDD on my MPB is 500GB. I want double that at min becuase of the videos I have that I have on an external drive. But for future a 2TB might be ok for a a few years.
If you're considering a 2016 MacBook 12" or an iPad Pro 12.9", I'd say get the MacBook. It's a great machine, and when compared to the iPad with the keyboard and silicone cover, it's lighter and more portable. I have both, and I rarely use the iPad whereas my MacBook is almost always in my bag. The iPad excels at reading and web surfing in cramped environments, but otherwise the MacBook is the better portable, at least for me.
I don't think SMSes can be backed up to the cloud. Unless you back them up to your Mac, you have to resign yourself to losing all your messages every time you restore your phone.
Good luck with that. You'd be trading an excellent notebook and excellent tablet for a decent notebook that can also serve as a mediocre tablet.
Not to mention that having a notebook AND a tablet allows you to use both devices independently at the same time. An iPad of any sorts makes for a great companion display. You can have reference material shown on the iPad while typing away on the notebook. Oh, and you can copy from the iPad and paste to the MacBook now. Apple is awesome when it comes to having all your devices play together nicely.
The Microsoft idea of one device that can do everything sounds great in theory, but you end up with a lot of compromises in order to make this jack-of-all-trades device and just like the saying, it ends up being a master of none. If you can live with those compromises and you really do need to do something on a tablet that only Windows can do, then Surface Pro/Surface Pro is a good choice.
I don't mean to be blunt but it is clear that you have no real understanding of the capabilities and advantages of iOS.
You say - "also use my iPad Mini4 for short travels and bed side reading / surfing, but for extensive use of Excel, Word and composing emails with screen shots and editing PDF documents with inserts or using multiple scalable windows on the screen to exchange information between them, I would never even dream of using an IOS device. Multitasking on IOS is a joke."
Saying this proves my response because these tasks are very basic iOS tasks and are easily performed on iPad, in fact I would say they are done more intuitively and effortlessly using iPad, just the very loading time to opening the apps required to do this is quicker on iPad Pro.
I agree with M.Gustave & Mr_Killjoy you don't understand iOS or the purpose Apple built iPad Pro for!
Call me an old school if you wish, however I consider myself a highly technical person. I have more PCs Macs and iPads than you can shake a stick at them at my disposal and use all of them all the time.
Okay, please teach me about how to do some of the things I do on my Mac and/or PC.
Sometimes I need to open two or three windows side by side and cut a portion of a screen or copy a portion of an information from one screen to another. Examples are like accessing banks online, where I need to have a recent document in front of me while I enter a pertinent information from that document to the online banking screen. IOS limits me to two screens and they are not entirely scalable. Either a small vertical window or a 50/50 split screen. No room for the third screen if you need it. How do you cut a portion of the screen like you do on a Mac with "cmd-shift-4" and paste it into your document? Perhaps not entirely impossible but cumbersome indeed. I find highlighting to select a portion I want to select a little inconsistent and difficult most of the time with IOS and using fingers.
How do you accommodate different user accounts on IOS, which is a built in feature on almost any OS, be it Windows, Linux or Mac? And don't tell me I can live without it please.
I test many programs using different versions of OSX. Easiest way to do it by booting it from an external drive without a fear of affecting your main work environment. I test different OSs for development and training purposes using virtualization. How do you do that on IOS?
I import video from various sources like Video Tapes, DVD, 8mm tapes, old archival film using a movie projector, convert them to various digital formats to store and distribute. How do you do that on an iPad? Also, is there an IOS version of HandBrake?
I do forensic data analysis on disk images and restore data. I really don't know how to do that with an iPad.
I scan old pictures using a high resolution scanner and store them on my archival RAID storage. I don't know hot to interface my scanner with an iPad.
I assist people with their PC / Mac problems remotely using screen share. While I can access remote computers with an iPad using VLC and such, mouse interface is not all that comfortable compared to TeamViewer or BTMM. Also, I don't know if it's possible to access (screen share) an iPad remotely.
What is the equivalent of the Xcode? How do you write programs for IOS using IOS?
The list is longer than this but these are the first ones I could come up with.
I'm not even going to ask if there is an IOS version of the OSX Server.
I'd be grateful if you could enlighten me how to perform these tasks with an iPad so that I can ditch my Macs and PCs and be like you and M.Gustave.
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Why do you need to 'ditch your Macs and PCs'? Nobody is claiming that an iPad can do every conceivable computing task, and it's utterly ridiculous for you to act as though we are. You're building up a case against a straw man of your own creation.
If you had merely said "my tasks require a Mac and/or PC", or asked can an iPad currently do xyz, rather than deliberately provoking with comments like iOS is "crippled", and implying that an iPad is useless for anything other than an occasional movie in bed, you wouldn't be getting the pushback you have.
Of course, your personal use will dictate everything, but I have an iMac that is my workhorse. For the transportability of working other than at home and doing it effectively, the combination of Dropbox and many apps similar, if not the same as the iMac, can make you an effective and winning combination.