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The biggest problem is the OS, not the hardware.

I have an iPad Pro 12.9 2017. For using the pencil and consuming media it's an amazing device, but iOS has many limitations that prevent an iPad Pro from being a complete laptop replacement for a lot of people:
  • App sandbox (this greatly limits developers who might want to have a terminal and a code editor).
  • Stupid restrictions all over the place.
  • No mouse support and desktop UI. Touch UIs for fat fingers have to be BIG which wastes a lot of space.
  • No third party browsers with extensions.
  • Etc.

It's a different approach to computing, that's all.
 
That is incredible. With those kind of year on year advances there’s no way they won’t drop intel in the coming years, in laptops and probably desktops eventually even.
 
Or at least a light weight text editor like Atom.

Light weight? That's a good one. Atom is anything but light weight. It's built on the Electron framework, which is built on Chrome. Nearly 820MB for a "light weight" text editor?

$ du -sh Atom.app TextMate.app
819M Atom.app
31M TextMate.app

(Unless this went over my head and you were actually trying to be funny...)
 



A series of benchmark results have shown up on Geekbench for the new iPad Pro, and its new eight-core A12X Bionic chip is truly a powerhouse....

This is all good news, BUT without real access to the file system and mouse/trackpad support, it is still too crippled to replace a MacBook (of any stripe) much less a MacBook Pro. It would be great if I could practice with an iPad Pro only, and I would love to do so, but it is still not practical despite the beast they have built, and to be real frank I don't think Apple really wants a business professional being able to do so.
 
I am no engineer, but doesn't this sort of performance show promise for an Apple developed chip if given the proper space, cooling, and components needed to be a laptop/desktop processor that rivals Intel? The type of task you are describing should obviously take place in a traditional computer, but the potential is there for Apple to make the chip to do so.

Agree here, good point. Chips are looking promising.
 
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Why does the iPad need to become a Mac? Especially if Apple is working on their own CPUs for the Mac? At the event this week Intel wasn’t mentioned on stage once. It seems very clear Apple is looking to eventually be free of Intel.

I think apples vision is iOS replacing Mac in the future. That’s long term definitely but apple knows the money isn’t in macOS. The control they want is in iOS.
 
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All great but you still need MacOS. Sorry Tim, ipad is awesome but as companion tool not really a replacement for a real Mac.

Yes and no. It could easily replace a "real Mac", if they just introduced pro level apps on iOS, like Logic, FC, etc. In terms of the interface, I've got no issues using it in place of a Mac when I'm out and about.
 
They're clearly aiming these iPad Pros to be a creative alternative to laptops but iOS is still limited compared to MacOS.
 
How exactly do I "develop" on the iPad Pro? Is there XCode on it? Visual Studio? is there even cursor support so I can quickly edit and manage text content?

The shame is that Apple wants to brag about how much performance their iPad Pro has but then cripple is ability to be used as a development platform because they refuse to implement even a cursor in iOS and refuse to bring XCode or any app/web development tools to the platform.

If these benchmarks can be believed and Apple has brought their ARM based CPU to parity with Intel processors, then the ball is in Apple's court to make iPad Pro a REAL professional development and content creation platform and not choose to keep it a casual mobile platform with a few novel professional-lite applications on it.
Our app hyperPad lets you develop on the iPad. (we've been around since iPad1).
While you're not writing code on a touch screen, we've created a visual drag and drop behaviour system that is designed for touch. It's also getting more and more robust with each update (our upcoming update brings some great new power features).

There are already a bunch of apps in the app store that were created entirely on our platform.


If Apple would loosen some of the app store guidelines we'd even take this to the next level. Though they have definitely been improving their guidelines since our first release on iPad1.
 
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I get your point....but we have been seeing these exact headlines for 2 years about iPad pro performance. I see the future here for creatives and its hobbling along on a walker. Affinity is so far ahead of adobe and the only reason they got in the game now. Adobe's mobile strategy has been a mess (at best) on iPad, releasing a dozen apps to do the job of one.

Apple needs to stop with the gaming stuff too. Touch based games and some indie stuff? Sure. But no way in hell me or anyone else is dumping their XBOX or even Switch for a damn iPad. Its just silly. Apple has nothing in place to work with developers to bring AAA gaming (which requires a controller) to lure hardcore gamers to the platform. That ship sailed in 2013 when everything went to "Free to Play". Apple is way too stubborn to let gaming companies , who are experts in their field, tell apple what controllers to make and how to make the games work properly. So the game demos every year are just getting silly at this point.

I love my iPad, but right now I see little strategy other than to just make more money with high priced iPads. My 10.5 pro will run the new photoshop nearly as well as the new ones. Just as millions of users are using older ipads just fine for basic home computing. The 329 iPad will be fine for 80 percent of people. The 10.5 is the like the XR and the others are like the XS. Nice but not really needed nor worth the money. I'll be curious to see how anyone justifies spending well over $1000 on an iPad (with added accessories). But who knows, people are ok with $1500 iPhones soooooo.

The prices are hard to swallow, but I see them positioning these new Pro's as computer replacements. If your goal is to simply use them for content consumption, the $329 iPad can do that just fine. We have seen these headlines for some time now, but Apple keeps adding to this strategy and at some point, we are going to hit a tipping point. I really think this machine is built for iOS 13 which is supposed to be a big redesign for iPad. I also expect WWDC 19 to bring more 1st party apps from Apple to the iPad, which will certainly help.
 
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Have you tested yours? The i9 is really only 5300?

My 13 i7 gets to 5500 single core

I'm going off MacRumors' doc. I haven't tested mine but I'm very happy with it. I only use the iPad for reading and am fully invested as a Mac OS user but for a lot of people, these numbers are great.
 
Pretty useless stat, since the iPad Pro is still very limited due to its OS. It will open Safari faster, yippekayee.

A MacBook Pro is the complete package, full OS, mouse support, external HDs, displays, it's a work horse. I can see an iPad Pro work well for on the field, check ups, but no proper heavy duty work.
^ this ^ ... you can't really compare performance without comparing overall workflows. Lack of mouse support and using iOS vs MacOS are huge differences between the laptop and iPad.
 
How long until ARM macs? I wonder if they will ever allow you to partition part of your iPad for iOS so that you can plug it into a monitor, use a mouse and keyboard and it becomes a Mac!
 
Its funny how people berate the ipad and iOS in general always sighting the versatility of "real" computers.
But I remember before ipads and iOS there were loads of the different apps that were not being made because the form factor of the pc didn't suit it.

You never had cashier apps like square, handheld music control devices, using it to keep recipes whilst your cooking, drawing diagrams on the screen, controlling synths etc.. from your mac/macbook like you do with the ipad.
When you actually look at it, its the ipad that is far more versatile and configurable than the "real" computer!

The holy grail was Office, Photoshop and the file system. The things that meant that regardless of what the ipad could do a "real" pc was much better. Well, Office has been here for a while, the file system isnt that bad now and finally, photoshop is here (despite having Affinity already..).

Then it was the raw power that meant "real" computers were better... well thats not the case now being that it's pretty much faster than any mac under $2k!

And this with 10hr battery life, rugged durability (hardly any moving parts etc..), plus an OS that is designed not to waste power like a normal pc (that allow anything to run in the background, all the time).

For me I feel like people have to stop pretending that "real" computers are better for everyone right now. Desktop pc's are becoming far more specialist. If I wasnt a programmer I wonder why I would need macOS? Now that you can hook these ipads up to 5k screens and video edit or whatever, I think its a game changer.

Even music wise, I prefer making music on my mac because I'm just used to it. But what cubasis and beatmaker 3 are doing, you can easily make records on an ipad, no problem.

I just think the narrative has to change. The ipad is really the future of computing. Steve knew that, most of Apple internally understand that. I dont see how the whole wintel thing can grow further than it has now.

Nice spin

No support for multitasking = "designed not to waste power" :D
 
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I think there is a difference between laptop replacement and 'what can be achieved'. This is the digital environment we are now in.

I think its becoming increasingly for most users that the iPad does that they need: emails, banking, messages, websites etc and tablet specific advantages IE: for artists

However, beyond that, its still not a laptop replacement. Very simple cases can be demonstrated that really are an achilles heal at present:

Try MS word on iPad v on Mac OS. Any writer trying to do something complicated, or more advanced and they will run for the Mac OS version. Also the lack of a file system really undermines the iPad and that's just word...what about pro-apps etc...

I don't agree at all. As with any computer, needs differ from person to person and task to task. People keep saying "it's not a laptop replacement" like it covers all people and all situations. For some people it can. People need to accept that and stop thinking about 1 particular use case (usually their own). At the same time, an iPad isn't for everyone and isn't a viable tool for certain tasks. That's where choice comes in. An iPad is just another computer that Apple offers - choose the one that works for you and stop trying to act like one use case is somehow superior to others.
 
I wanna believe all this benchmark but not until the iOS can run a full blown application without crippling all the features and perform close enough to any Mac. Until then this benchmark is just crunching numbers making it look good by the numbers.
 
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Would be interesting as time goes on if the usb-c connector can be used with thunderbolt soundcards.
With the biggest HD that would be an awesome live machine with music and recording.
I must say, this iPad sounds like it has covered a lot of territory.
Watching the keynote with photoshop, was just crazy slick.
Looking forward to see what options will be opened with the single connector.
I do currently use headphones to check my mix on my 1st gen iPad Pro and hope there is a dongle for usb-c to headphone jack. There are no wireless Bluetooth headphones that compare at this time.
 
I've been saying for years that ARM Macs are coming! The performance increases of Apple's chips every year is astounding and not slowing down except for maybe the iPhone this year. But users always try to say I'm dreaming. Their bigger chips with more cores that can handle higher thermals are really powerful as shown in the iPad Pro, and just imagine what they could do with laptop and desktop thermals with actual fans and big heat sinks? I'm talking 128 core Mac Pros. For real. We ain't seen nothing yet. Be patient.
 
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I think apples vision is iOS replacing Mac in the future. That’s long term definitely but apple knows the money isn’t in macOS. The control they want is in iOS.
If Apple’s vision is iOS replacing Mac it doesn’t really show outside of their chip performance. None of Apple’s pro apps have a desktop class version for iPad. The new iPad keyboard just announced doesn’t have a trackpad. And it’s still a one port machine. I would put more money on the MacBook running an Apple custom CPU than iOS replacing macOS.
 
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Our app hyperPad lets you develop on the iPad. (we've been around since iPad1).
While you're not writing code on a touch screen, we've created a visual drag and drop behaviour system that is designed for touch. It's also getting more and more robust with each update (our upcoming update brings some great new power features).

There are already a bunch of apps in the app store that were created entirely on our platform.


If Apple would loosen some of the app store guidelines we'd even take this to the next level. Though they have definitely been improving their guidelines since our first release on iPad1.

this is my biggest problem with the whole "FUTURE OF COMPUTING" people seem to scream about with ipads

ignore the name. ignore who makes it. Etc.

an iPad/Tablet is a computer. it'sa CPU, memory, storage, controllers etc. it's all essentially the exact same paradigm.

So why is this even a debate? Performance of the hardware in mobile is getting to the point accross the board where the hardware can handle a lot of day to day use cases. keyboard is just input, touch is just input. these are just methods. all computers from tablets to computers are generally hardware capable of using any of them


but when we then get to the iPad we run into this wall of iOS. as you outright say in this post, the problem you run into isn't the hardware. isn't the capabilities of the hardware. It's artificial roadblocks that Apple insists on for their own purposes.

right now, software is the great divide between "PC" and "Tablet" and Apple seems to completely not care to bridge it, or intentionally destroying any bridge.

if the iPad came out with full cursor support, no limit App size, and the full features that you get on Mac OS, than the hardware itself is almost a moot concern.

So what is apples gameplan. Whats the point of ever increasing hardware performance if there's going to be software limits on how much of that you can leverage.
 
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