iPad iPad too expensive now: will you still buy?

[keksikuningas]

The problem I have with the iPad was that it was really so utterly compromised in every respect

I agree. I only use mine for media consumption and drawing. I read on it during my vacation and while the 13 inch screen is amazing on my Air, it was a little too heavy to enjoy reading in bed for extended time (I hurt my leg and was mostly lying for several days. I was visiting my grandfather in the countryside so thankfully I didn't spend a week in my hotel bed while on an expensive trip I planned out)

iPadOS is just too gimped for a lot of use cases that aren't artistic (music creation, video editing, photography or graphics). while file browsing is there with network storage support and whatnot and they even added window managing and external display support, it's still a far cry from a proper personal computer where you can run whatever software you want and not the one that is sanctioned by apple. We'll see how far we go in the next couple years. I am not holding my hopes up and just gonna continue using my iPad as the Procreate and YouTube machine

 

[maflynn]

The iPad imo, is a luxury item that you can live without, the iPhone and your computer (laptop/desktop) are needed but the iPad is a nice to have. Money is tighter then ever, so nice to haves are the first to be sacrificed

 

[Dave245]

Considering i have a MacBook Air and an iPad Pro, i’m waiting until Apple’s event on Wednesday to see what they do with their foldable. I may replace my iPad with the foldable iPhone, considering i only really use my iPad to watch YouTube, scroll the web and use WhatsApp. It may be the ultimate device, replacing my iPhone and iPad in one.

 

[snipr125]

Apple sells more iPads than Macs, though.

That being said, I am looking forward to the delivery of my first MacBook in over a decade, during which I have made quite a lot of use of iPads.

Also Apple will always want iPads to sell more because of the App Store. Me personally, i just love my iPads + Magic keyboard combo (have 2 of them), so much fun and satisfying to use in a way my MacBooks can never really replicate.

 

[klasma]

Firstly, you just haven't tripped over any use cases in your life yet which the thing will figuratively punch you in the face with which it isn't suitable for. That will happen at some point. Usually the day that someone decides you need desktop Chrome browser only to deal with some horrible government web site and Safari doesn't work (and no Chrome on iOS is not Chrome - it's still Safari)

Secondly, you haven't had an ecosystem crap out yet. A proper computer can exist outside the ecosystem so if anything goes wrong you can still get your stuff back and use it because it's files on readable, navigable disk.

While I do prefer desktops over tablets (but I can’t carry around the desktop, and I despise laptops), these arguments aren’t very convincing. You can temporarily rent a PC or Mac in the cloud and use it via the iPad should that rare edge case arise. As for files, you can (which I do) use independent cloud storage like Dropbox, and/or a NAS. I’m not bound to Apple’s ecosystem by using an iPad.

 

[klasma]

The iPad imo, is a luxury item that you can live without, the iPhone and your computer (laptop/desktop) are needed but the iPad is a nice to have. Money is tighter then ever, so nice to haves are the first to be sacrificed

I use the iPad much more than the iPhone, so if I had to economize, I would rather cut down on the phone and buy a cheap used one. Of course, people who absolutely can only afford a single device will opt for the phone, but those probably weren’t iPad buyers in the first place.

 

[Fr. Guido Sarducci]

I'll be mighty bold then and say that it can't replace a true computer.

Firstly, you just haven't tripped over any use cases in your life yet which the thing will figuratively punch you in the face with which it isn't suitable for. That will happen at some point. Usually the day that someone decides you need desktop Chrome browser only to deal with some horrible government web site and Safari doesn't work (and no Chrome on iOS is not Chrome - it's still Safari)

Secondly, you haven't had an ecosystem crap out yet. A proper computer can exist outside the ecosystem so if anything goes wrong you can still get your stuff back and use it because it's files on readable, navigable disk.

Chrome? Never going to happen with me. I have almost 100% de-Googled and life has been much better.

In March of this year I gave my iMac to my wife, along with an iPad that was a couple years old. She uses them along with her Macbook depending on her needs at that moment. I did this in favor of getting a 13” M5 iPad Pro as my primary device. Since this transition, there has not been one time that I couldn’t do something on the iPad and needed a computer. If there had, I would have just gone to the Apple Store and bought another iMac. What am I doing wrong? Rhetorical question of course. I’m quite happy with my choice, and fully realize many people have other needs. But there are also many of us that don’t need a laptop or desktop.

 

[Luftkopf]

I use the iPad much more than the iPhone, so if I had to economize, I would rather cut down on the phone and buy a cheap used one. Of course, people who absolutely can only afford a single device will opt for the phone, but those probably weren’t iPad buyers in the first place.

I keep thinking about a dumb phone/iPad mini combo. It’s a really tempting idea, since I don’t name many actual phone calls, and my iPhone is my portable, general purpose computing device.

Maybe I just keep my iPhone 14, since I love it so much, and use it until it doesn’t connect to the network anymore, and just add an iPad mini when it’s getting a bit too long in the tooth?