MacBook Air experience after 3 years on iPad Pro

[Jonathantuba]

I have recently got a MacBook Air, as I require to run some business software I require. That is after 3-years of mostly using iPad Pro for all my business and leisure computer use.

I last had one of the earlier MacBook Air and the first thing that struck me was how much better the display is on the 2018 edition. In fact very similar definition as on my iPad Pro. I do like the dark mode and now can’t wait for dark mode to come to the iPad. It works well and I enjoy using a lot more than I expected. In some areas, like selection lists on some websites it is better to use than the iPad. I do keep on reaching for the screen to select things and am sorry it does not have touch screen. But I expect I will get used to using the touch pad, although can’t see what advantage that has against reaching directly to the screen.

However people do complain the iPad Pro is lacking against a Mac, but I do find some iPad features I miss on the Mac, such as;

1. Face ID, and quicker password filling
2. Direct filling of authentification codes received by text (is there any way to do that on Mac?)
3. Lack of a camera to scan documents
4. Flexibility of use (such as portrait or landscape orientation)
5. Lack of Apple pencil support
6. No built in SIM card (why can’t Mac have this like iPads?)
7. Lack of touch screen making manipulating things (such as enlargening pictures) on screen slower, at least for me

They are both good devices which I enjoy using, but no doubt when travelling, if I am taking one device, it will continue to be the iPad Pro.

 

[Jimmy James]

It always surprises me when people use or recommend an iDevice as a computer replacement. Almost everything I do with my laptop either can’t be done via iPad or it’s terribly cumbersome. Interesting post.

 

[Painter2002]

It always surprises me when people use or recommend an iDevice as a computer replacement. Almost everything I do with my laptop either can’t be done via iPad or it’s terribly cumbersome. Interesting post.

I think a lot of the hindrance to using an iPad is the lack of functionality for a mouse in the UI. If they were to implement a mouse functionality I think the iPad could become a viable option for lighter professional use. As it stands now, only having touch/pen input is very limiting when it comes to business applications.

 

[Altis]

It always surprises me when people use or recommend an iDevice as a computer replacement. Almost everything I do with my laptop either can’t be done via iPad or it’s terribly cumbersome. Interesting post.

I'm the same way. Everything is far slower and more cumbersome on an iPad, and the ergonomics are atrocious.

 

[omelet1978]

They are both good devices which I enjoy using, but no doubt when travelling, if I am taking one device, it will continue to be the iPad Pro.

I travel for my job and spend 2 or 3 nights a week in hotel rooms, so I do the same thing. When I’m traveling I’ll use the iPad (with LTE) and when I’m at home I’ll use my MacBook.

I did the same thing and went iPad only for a while. You can make either one work if you are just doing basic things.

 

[Jonathantuba]

Interesting different people’s perspective. I have never felt the need for use of mouse on an iPad. I can move around the screen with my finger a lot quicker than finding a mouse pointer and manipulating - and when exact manipulation is requiried, then the Apple Pencil works perfect. While the lack of touch support on the MacBook is what I most miss when using. I keep on instinctively reaching for the screen and then remember when there is no response. I guess it is all what we are accustomed? I wish Apple sold touch screen MacBook - I would be first in line to buy.

I know there are things that can’t be done on an iPad, mostly due to software limitations, but with a bit of research whand acquiring the best apps, 98% of my work can be done on iPad Pro. Friends are amused that I literally run an international business from my iPad.

 

[Ghost31]

I went from iPad exclusively to the MacBook Air recently and honestly, remember how often I defended iPad as a work device made me cringe so hard. Starting to use the MacBook, I instantly knew what people were talking about when they said things were just so much easier. I fiddled with workarounds and trying to get things done super slow on iPad just because I really wanted to justify my iPad purchase but really, MacBook Air is just so much better for a lot of things. tabs, copy and paste, real file systems, audio sources playing in the background with no issues, connecting things, resizable windows, a real keyboard for once instead of a floppy wannabe keyboard, etc.

I may get an iPad again at some point, but just for reading and notes. Maybe. I would never get one and even attempt to do any real work on it.

But I appreciate you making this post. Its always interesting to see new opinions on what its like to go from device to device.

 

[imrazor]

However people do complain the iPad Pro is lacking against a Mac, but I do find some iPad features I miss on the Mac, such as;

1. Face ID, and quicker password filling
2. Direct filling of authentification codes received by text (is there any way to do that on Mac?)
3. Lack of a camera to scan documents
4. Flexibility of use (such as portrait or landscape orientation)
5. Lack of Apple pencil support
6. No built in SIM card (why can’t Mac have this like iPads?)
7. Lack of touch screen making manipulating things (such as enlargening pictures) on screen slower, at least for me

They are both good devices which I enjoy using, but no doubt when travelling, if I am taking one device, it will continue to be the iPad Pro.

I'll admit that I haven't used an iPad extensively, but I vastly prefer my 2017 Macbook Air to an iPad. It has a quality backlit keyboard that's great to type on. I particularly hate on-screen keyboards as there is no feedback (unless iPads have Force Touch?) and touch typing is impossible. As someone else said, having a floppy keyboard with little travel is not desirable either, and typing in dim light is impossible. That said, I have not used an iPad Pro (just an iPad Air), so maybe that keyboard is better/larger than the iPad accessories I'm used to.

I'll try to answer your specific points as best I can. In some cases, using an iPhone as a companion device can solve some of those problems.

1. Face ID - Does your new Macbook Air not have Touch ID? I thought the new ones had that functionality on the power button. I'm still getting used to FaceID on my iPhone XR, and so far I think I actually preferred TouchID.
2. This article discusses how to forward SMS authentication codes from your iPhone to your Mac. https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/use-secure-code-autofill-ios-12-macos-mojave/
3. Likewise, documents can be photographed with your iPhone and 'forwarded' to your Mac pretty seamlessly with Continuity. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209037
4. Well, turning your laptop sideways wouldn't work very well, so I don't have a good response to this one.
5. I'm mystified why Apple doesn't offer any sort of touchscreen option for any Mac at all. This may tie into their rumored plans to converge iOS and OS X.
6. You can either plug your iPhone into your Mac with a Lightning cable and use it as a network adapter (which is inconvenient), or use Personal Hotspot on your iPhone to connect to the Internet.
7. See #5.

 

[Dave245]

While i do love to use my iPad Pro daily, i still love to use a Mac. I use my iPad Pro for photo editing in Pixelmator Pro, but when i'm at my desk i also use my iMac for Pixelmator Pro, i love the fact that i can start project one one device and pick it up on another. I personally still prefer to use a Mac for things like long writing sessions, i know there is the smart keyboard for the iPad Pro, i just prefer to use a Mac for that.

I plan on picking up the new Macbook Air, my setup will be the iPad Pro for photo editing in Pixelmator Pro, some light mobile gaming, drawing and content consumption. The new Macbook Air will be used for writing sessions, watching videos, editing photos in Pixelmator Pro and watching some Netflix videos, i may also do some light video editing in iMovie.

I think the iPad Pro and Mac work well together, i don't see it as buying one or the other i prefer to own and use both based on their own merits and usefulness.

 

[alvincth]

While i do love to use my iPad Pro daily, i still love to use a Mac. I use my iPad Pro for photo editing in Pixelmator Pro, but when i'm at my desk i also use my iMac for Pixelmator Pro, i love the fact that i can start project one one device and pick it up on another. I personally still prefer to use a Mac for things like long writing sessions, i know there is the smart keyboard for the iPad Pro, i just prefer to use a Mac for that.

I plan on picking up the new Macbook Air, my setup will be the iPad Pro for photo editing in Pixelmator Pro, some light mobile gaming, drawing and content consumption. The new Macbook Air will be used for writing sessions, watching videos, editing photos in Pixelmator Pro and watching some Netflix videos, i may also do some light video editing in iMovie.

I think the iPad Pro and Mac work well together, i don't see it as buying one or the other i prefer to own and use both based on their own merits and usefulness.

My iPad Pro cannot replace entirely my laptop due to website management, but has indeed created some opportunities for me in life like sketching and publishing in social media and websites. After a few months of thinking I feel I can figure out the unique roles of every device. I will keep writing (drafting indeed) on my iPhone and my iPad Pro as I can have ideas more easily when I'm outside. Sketching, of course, continues to be done on iPad. Some researches are also easier on these machines. The coming MacBook Air for me will be to manage things like website, photos, notes and various kinds of files. I don't usually spend time on surfing social media on mobile devices due to time wasting, but doing that on MBA in a small block of time is usually more efficient.

 

[Peepo]

I recently had to rename about 200 files in different sub-folders on a network share. Although technically I could have done this on an iPad Pro, it would have been a very tedious process. I used my MacBook Pro with A Better File Rename and was done in minutes.
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They are both good devices which I enjoy using, but no doubt when travelling, if I am taking one device, it will continue to be the iPad Pro.

I like to think of all my Apple devices as one big system that work together- MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and iPhone. People who only have one device are missing out on a lot of good features how Apple makes all the devices work together.

BTW, you can scan directly to MacOS from iPhone using continuity.

 

[redheeler]

I think a lot of the hindrance to using an iPad is the lack of functionality for a mouse in the UI. If they were to implement a mouse functionality I think the iPad could become a viable option for lighter professional use. As it stands now, only having touch/pen input is very limiting when it comes to business applications.

The lack of developer tools is another issue preventing me from seriously considering anything running iOS to replace my 2012 rMBP. This won't be resolved until Apple loosens up the sandboxing restrictions, allows access to the file system and command line, and it's unlikely that'll happen anytime soon.