The same views were expressed when the iPad mini was released. Apple doesn't care which of their devices they sell as long as their logo is on it.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Replacing MacBook Pro with iPad Pro
- Thread starter MICHAELSD
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I've tried to rationalise such a move, but in the end I just can't. IOS is still falling far short in many areas. I'm not talking about the file system thing which you can very easily work through especially now that lots of stuff just lives in cloud containers with "traditional" file systems. Just too many things that don't work from a workflow perspective. I mean, look to "improve" ergonomics we go right back to the traditional input device we all know and love - the dedicated keyboard.
I could go on and on. The IPP is a genuinely nice leap forward and for some applications it is actually better. For the rest....were just not there yet.
I could go on and on. The IPP is a genuinely nice leap forward and for some applications it is actually better. For the rest....were just not there yet.
I have a Late 2013 rMBP and I'm considering replacing it with the iPad Pro. It still has a year of warranty which makes it worth a shiny penny, aside from the value of the computer itself. I'm not using it for what I bought it for right now and I live in a town that is heavily artist based, I'm confident I can find a photographer or videographer who needs a mobile unit with enough RAM and power to handle Premiere and Lightroom. It should work out to an almost 1:1 trade money wise.
Yeah, I have to agree with this. I wish they'd bundle the pencil & keyboard as a package deal or something but Apple just doesnt do that. I require cell support too and the only model that has cell support is the 128 GB model so Id have to get that one. A single USB port would have more pro-like too. Its a great looking tablet but I feel it falls slightly short for what it costs & comparing it to what else is available in this price range.
You can buy a crackin' MacBook Air, a refurbed MB pro, or almost a new MacBook for the same price and those have stronger specs all around.
This.
I have a mid-2012 rMBP, and it continues to be a truly fantastic system. I would never replace it with a laptop, ESPECIALLY one running IOS. Apple has done a terrible job of ensuring quality of the last few IOS releases, and that really irks me. But OSX has been just spectacular. Pain free. I like a tablet, but the IPP display makes it way too big to carry around like I can my iPad3. I would consider getting an iPad Air if the 3 model ever comes out, but it would be in addition to my rMBP, not in place of it. Never.
To each their own.
I sold my rMBP to get the pro. I need the extra freedom of the pencil and better portability of the iPad. Plus iOS does EVERYTHING I need except exporting Word Docs to my school. They need to allow that in the next update (iOS 10 or or sooner)
But now I just want Apple to hurry up and release the iPad Pro already. lol
Kal.
Last edited:
Looking at my workflow I could not see the pro replacing my macbook pro. I still need it to do some of the heavy lifting, ie full photoshop, illustrator, indesign and being able to run solidworks and keyshot. I see the pro as allowing me to leave my 12in cintiq at home and being able to sketch and do light renders in procreate.
When it takes over three minutes to analyze stabilization in iMovie for a 15 second 4K clip recorded on an iPhone, it makes the entire 2012 system seem outdated despite it being graphically on par or better than current rMBP base models. Surely the iPad iMovie would be better-optimized and be blazing.
The iPad Pro, Apple try to penetrate to some work field, this is my opinion. The previously released iPad, just entertainment tool to most user. If you want to replace the Mac Book Pro, the iPad Pro could handle it well in some place, but it still an iPad, it have some limitations.
I have given a lot of thought to the idea of replacing my MacBook Pro with an iPad, and most recently with an iPad Pro. I use my iPad Mini 2 for as many hours during the day as I use my MBP, but primarily for entertainment (videos, books, browsing, gaming). Many of the things that have kept me from going all-in have been addressed: iOS 9 split-screen multitasking (not as flexible as a full windowed environment, but a big step forward), significant improvements to productivity software like Office 2016, Adobe's CC apps, Procreate, etc..., increased memory/storage capacities, and the large screen / full-size keyboard option of the iPad Pro.
However, there remains one fundamental issue for me and that is file management. Apple has gradually made improvements to its cloud-based file storage option; there are still considerable shortcomings. I have been using Pages and Numbers for active documents, and have enjoyed being able to access/edit them on my mac, my ipad, or a web browser. But the documents have to live in the Pages or Numbers subfolders of iCloud Drive. The new standalone iCloud Drive app allows me to browse all of my files, but if I try to open a Pages or Numbers document, it makes a copy into the Pages/Numbers subfolder. Ironically, while MS 'hides' iCloud Drive in a submenu, it does allow you to directly open and edit documents wherever they are without making copies. MS uses Apple's iCloud better than Apple.
Also: as many have pointed out, cloud storage depends on network access. If I find myself in a situation without network access and didn't have the foresight to predownload all of the documents I intend to work on, I am out of luck. Any device I am going to rely on as my *sole* computing device needs to be able to work effortlessly and reliably offline.
In a perfect world, Apple's own apps would be able to open documents anywhere in its own service without making copies, and iCloud Drive would allow you to pick folders to automatically download locally (syncing back to cloud when network access is available).
I wrote a list of my computing activities in order to figure out how realistic switching to an iPad might be. The ones with an asterisk are the ones that are still problematic to achieve solely on an iPad:
Primary Use Cases
Email, attachments
Contacts/calendars/notes/reminders
Web browsing/bookmarks
Passwords/confidential info management
PDF viewing/editing
* Document archive (see my file management comments above)
Word processing and document layouts
Spreadsheets
* Music management/playlists/ripping and burning CDs (ripping/burning are problematic)
Photo management/sharing/albums/printing
Youtube
* iTunes movies/video library (local family video library is problematic due to size)
Digital books
eCommerce (Amazon, etc...)
Secondary Use Cases
* Backups of key data to external hard drive (backing up iPad directly to hard drive without secondary computer)
Photo editing
Sketching/painting
Maps/directions
Gaming (Hearthstone, Carcassonne, etc...)
* Device firmware updates (infrequent, but critical at times -- like updating car nav system or GPS firmware)
Presentations
Tertiary Use Cases
* Software development (remote development is doable with apps like Textastic, but local dev is not)
Terminal (shell)
I remain optimistic that Apple will continue to improve the iPad hardware, OS, and software, but I think there will always be tradeoffs to be considered. Even my MBP has tradeoffs -- can't draw on its screen, lesser battery life, size/weight, etc... Maybe there isn't one *perfect* computing device.
Richard
However, there remains one fundamental issue for me and that is file management. Apple has gradually made improvements to its cloud-based file storage option; there are still considerable shortcomings. I have been using Pages and Numbers for active documents, and have enjoyed being able to access/edit them on my mac, my ipad, or a web browser. But the documents have to live in the Pages or Numbers subfolders of iCloud Drive. The new standalone iCloud Drive app allows me to browse all of my files, but if I try to open a Pages or Numbers document, it makes a copy into the Pages/Numbers subfolder. Ironically, while MS 'hides' iCloud Drive in a submenu, it does allow you to directly open and edit documents wherever they are without making copies. MS uses Apple's iCloud better than Apple.
Also: as many have pointed out, cloud storage depends on network access. If I find myself in a situation without network access and didn't have the foresight to predownload all of the documents I intend to work on, I am out of luck. Any device I am going to rely on as my *sole* computing device needs to be able to work effortlessly and reliably offline.
In a perfect world, Apple's own apps would be able to open documents anywhere in its own service without making copies, and iCloud Drive would allow you to pick folders to automatically download locally (syncing back to cloud when network access is available).
I wrote a list of my computing activities in order to figure out how realistic switching to an iPad might be. The ones with an asterisk are the ones that are still problematic to achieve solely on an iPad:
Primary Use Cases
Email, attachments
Contacts/calendars/notes/reminders
Web browsing/bookmarks
Passwords/confidential info management
PDF viewing/editing
* Document archive (see my file management comments above)
Word processing and document layouts
Spreadsheets
* Music management/playlists/ripping and burning CDs (ripping/burning are problematic)
Photo management/sharing/albums/printing
Youtube
* iTunes movies/video library (local family video library is problematic due to size)
Digital books
eCommerce (Amazon, etc...)
Secondary Use Cases
* Backups of key data to external hard drive (backing up iPad directly to hard drive without secondary computer)
Photo editing
Sketching/painting
Maps/directions
Gaming (Hearthstone, Carcassonne, etc...)
* Device firmware updates (infrequent, but critical at times -- like updating car nav system or GPS firmware)
Presentations
Tertiary Use Cases
* Software development (remote development is doable with apps like Textastic, but local dev is not)
Terminal (shell)
I remain optimistic that Apple will continue to improve the iPad hardware, OS, and software, but I think there will always be tradeoffs to be considered. Even my MBP has tradeoffs -- can't draw on its screen, lesser battery life, size/weight, etc... Maybe there isn't one *perfect* computing device.
Richard
Photoshop on the IPad Pro? Please point me to something stating this will be available, I'd like to see it. Based on what I've read, if your workflow includes PS - you need to look at some other device than the IPad Pro.
I agree, I think Adobe is going to support the iPad Pro only with smaller satellite apps vs full up Photoshop. I am not a power Photoshop user by any means, but even with my workflow, I can't imagine being able to say manually blend exposures from several images with complicated masking and layers in "Photoshop Fix".
I don't think Adobe considers the iOS app versions stand alone either. Here is their statement from their press release: Creative Cloud mobile apps are powerful in their own right but gain even more impact through deep integration with our industry-defining desktop tools, such as Photoshop CC and InDesign CC. (https://blogs.adobe.com/conversatio...ivity-apps-during-apple-ipad-pro-keynote.html )
So if the OP gives up their macbook pro to use Photoshop on a iPad Pro, I suspect they may be disappointed.
I agree also, I don think adobe will do a full photoshop for the ipad in the near future. The closest you are going to get to photoshop on the ipad is procreate. I have it on my ipad but haven't used it much since i cant find a decent stylus. Im really interested to see how well procreate will work on the pro, since apple chose to use them for one of the demos.
Seeing a lot of these posts about people getting rid of their macbook pro or other laptop to get an iPad Pro. Seems that if you can successfully replace your laptop with an iOS tablet or phone either:you never needed a laptop in the first place or are a glutton for punishment as you kludge workarounds on the reg and convince yourself how much better you have it now. If you can't replace your laptop with an Air 2 today, I don't think you'll be happy with the Pro.
Reading some of replies from this post... I didnt expect to see a day would arrive when an iOS device would cannibalize osx devices. I thought IPA would be the main device that would be replaced by IPP. I speculate Apple's profit from IPP sale would be marginal since its target is a niche segment to begin with.
Last edited:
I think if you use your Mac for fun and an iPad for fun... sure. OS X has learned a lot from iOS. The first time I saw OS X I thought, wow that's like an iPhone, notification centre and app folders. The iPad is my favourite Apple device. If your not married to Mac and have Windows for just work tasks sure. My iPad Mini is my Mini Mac. 
You don't expect to see the iPad pro and iPad large screens be utilized more?
Each year iOS telegraphs what's coming next. iOS 8 and size classes created the foundation for split screen and slide over.
Extensions allowed apps to interact more.
I expect next year to allow apps that are side by side to interact better (I.e. Drag and drop across screens).
Just curious but do you do a lot of iMovie iPad editing? I ask because I actually use the iPad a lot for video editing and I feel the experience is awful.
Yes it works and yes they are optimizing the App for the iPad Pro but without a mouse then it is NOT an optimal workflow.
I don't even have an iPad anymore but would've bought a new one if Apple released a new Air.
Why not get a 12" MacBook? You'd get the portability along with the no compromise OSX. Unless you need a stylus of course.
