Tim Cook: iPad Pro Will Replace Notebooks and Desktops for 'Many, Many People'

[d21mike]

A guy I work with has a Surface Pro 3. When his desktop failed he got a docking station for the SP3 which works fine. But he as a very large screen, wireless keyboard and mouse. And when he leaves he takes it with him. The SP3 in Desktop Mode needs Mouse/Trackpad support but in Tablet Mode it does not. When setting at my desk doing a lot of typing and "work" I need a good keyboard and trackpad. No way do I want to reach up and touch the screen then back to typing ect.

 

[Daalseth]

Many many people? I guess that's less than a handful in my perspective. The thing isn't much more useful than a 300$ iPad Mini and it can cost as much as a MacBook, I guess there are only a few artists that can take advantage of the Stylus game for real

I'm one. At least that's my plan. Between my artwork and writing, and games, and reading and misc stuff. I already use my iPad for around 3/4 of my computing. More space and some optimized apps and It'll be at 100%. At that point my MacBook Pro will go on the shelf. Might make a good server for the home.

 

[PowerBook-G5]

Can it run Xcode or other IDEs? No. Can it run any of the full desktop Adobe Suite? No. Can it run the full MS Office Suite? No.

Can it replace notebooks for "many, many people"? No.

To be fair, most people don't need to use Xcode, other IDEs. The people are excluded from the "many, many" who will supposedly use an iPad Pro instead of a laptop. Though I do think his statement is still ********.

With that said, I don't see how the iPad Pro is any more of a laptop replacement than an iPad Air, even with the increased screen size, faster processor/more RAM, and Apple Pencil support. There's nothing they've done software wise that would be able to lure me from my MacBook.

 

[rillrill]

Gotta love that apple spin machine. Get real, cook.

 

[AdonisSMU]

Some very valid for and against posts here. I can understood what Tim Cook means and agree to an extent. As some folks only computer is a phone, so that could be the case here too.

Unless my upcoming studies absolutely demand an iPad Pro, I'll be waiting quite some time for this. The lack of a file system, full blown OS and the price make this is no-go right now. Along with that extra super dependable iOS software, it's a definite watch and wait.

Name another operating system that's more dependable than iOS? There isn't one currently. OSX has 2.5 stars on App Store. MSFT is a no go for many people as they don't actually like the OS at all other than to use MS Office. That already exists on iPads so... MSFT is great at Office Software, Google is great at internet services like Gmail, Apple is great at hardware and platforms.

Apple execs are in full blown desperation mode, or just in complete denial. Why buy a PC? I say why buy a iPad Pro...

My sister and dad only uses her iPhone and the iPad I bought them as their primary computing devices. My two roommates use their android phones for their computing devices.

For those claiming people don't want to touch their displays... what do you think people are doing with their iPhones and iPads now seeing as they are designed for this use case? I see my coworkers on the Windows 8.1/10 laptops swiping on the display all the time.

 

[k1121j]

Don't think so Tim. Just because it's larger it doesn't change anything

 

[Daalseth]

Uh, no.
iPad in general is geared toward content consumption.
Laptop is geared toward content creation.

Interesting. Last Friday I performed a play that I wrote and edited on my iPad.

 

[swingerofbirch]

Maybe.

But who is going to pay so much to see if it's true? With the keyboard, you're paying as much as you would for a high-end laptop. With that much money at stake, I'm not sure how many will take the leap to see if it works as well as a laptop.

If people already had one, and the choice were ad libitum, I could see it possibly being the case. With the iPhone, there was an existing market--a very good one, in which people had a need for a phone and were buying new ones every two years. And with laptops, students have to buy them for college, or people use them for work.

It may be a great product, but how will it get into the hands of anyone except those with a lot of disposable cash?

 

[Realityck]

Tim Cook.. living in a dream world.

Notebooks maybe possibly, desktops not a chance, people have desktops for a reason, either screen size or power they have, the iPad Pro has neither compared to a desktop.

He revisiting Alan Kay's knowledge navigator. The problem is that was created back in the days where the amount of information to interact with a computer was fairly simple. This is akin to using Siri to do basic things like show me my email, or tell me the weather, or show me a magazine. Do I personally think a oversized adaption of a iPhone in the guise of a gigantic tablet will replace a powerful laptop, desktop or workstation. Never. But for a lot of people the size will be the biggest negative. It will be like Howard Hugh's Spruce Goose for most people, just too big to fly.

 

[coltman75]

"PCs are going to be like trucks. They are still going to be around. However, only one out of x people will need them."
- Steve Jobs

For a lot of people, this idea that only some people need a full fledged laptop or desktop computer is already a reality. Us techie people don't see it though, because we love our computers. We're the truck drivers.

This is exactly it. Most regular people (most of which are "professionals") don't use a computer for 8 hours at work and then go home and spend another 8 hours in front of their computer.

For lots of people, an iPad is all they need outside of the workplace. My parents (both of whom are "professionals") haven't turned in their iMac since I was at their house last December. Their iPhones and shared iPad are all they need for all of their technological needs.

But people here don't want to look outside of their own experience to see that they aren't reflective of the average technology user.

 

[Smeaton1724]

I don't like this Tim Cook guy, but in this case I must say HE IS RIGHT....

IF...

There is some way to back it up and offload data to an external disk drive. Not that creepy "iCloud" thing, but a real HD sitting next to the iPad Pro on a desk. Otherwise, he's smoking' some heavy dope. It will also rely on better apps, but that's not necessary for most people to switch to this product instead of having an OS X notebook/desktop.

It can be done now using GoodReader/Toshibas own app to connect to a wireless Toshiba Hard Drive.

That is the next generation of portable hard drives, with USB-C/USB3.0 and wireless.

 

[OneMike]

Found this title funny.

I think the iPad pro will have a nice market, but don't see it replacing desktops and laptops for certain people.

If so, said people would be using a regular iPad now.

 

[jpgr15]

He's right, except most of those people don't hang around places like this or other tech sites. I use a Windows PC every day at work. The last thing I want to do when I get home is fire up a PC. The only reason I still keep a PC is for those few times I have to use iTunes on the desktop. Someone should ask Cook when Xcode is coming to iPad Pro.

Literally the exact same situation here. By 5PM, I have zero desire to use a computer. An iPad Air and a couch are all I need after 5.

Professionally, I need a PC. Personally, an iPad is sufficient so long as I have a PC at work.

 

[ActionableMango]

I agree that the iOS UI isn't designed for a mouse

Mouse support would be wonderful for Remote Desktop sessions on the iPad. In fact, bluetooth mouse support has been in iOS for a long time, it's just turned off.

 

[oneMadRssn]

It does more than a standard Retina MacBook.

No it does not. There is no "more" or "less", it's just different. I can make list of things a Macbook does that an iPad cannot do (one example: mail merge an excel spreadsheet and word document). I can also make a list of things an iPad does that a Macbook cannot do (one example: draw with a stylus on an astronomy app). I can summarize both lists - Macbook can run all sorts of enterprise / developer / professional editing apps that are unavailable or highly limited on iPad; iPad can run all sorts of touch-based drawing apps and games that are unavailable or not as good on Macbook. Comparing these lists and trade-offs, and factoring in price, is key. For some, the iPad Pro might be worth it. At that price, not for most though.

 

[JimmyHook]

MacRumors: the only "Apple enthusiast" (it no longer is, it's a site for haters to vent) blog where a persons individual use case gets conflated with a mass market.

Ex:

"How can it replace it for most people when I need (insert something here most consumers don't give a flying eff about)"?

I've seen diatribes against it for lack of mouse support (which literally makes me laugh out loud). I've seen diatribes about hard drive support (yeah, you can buy external HD for it). I've seen diatribes about XCode (really.... wow). This site is so full of fail. Sorry mods, I'm outta here. This site is infected with people who don't use Apple products. Time for 9to5Mac

 

[The Cappy]

I'll be buying an iPad Pro. I think that it has the potential to be a genuine pro device. But there's also the very real possibility it'll be no more than a big iPad.

As I see it, there's a few things that'll have to happen for it to replace my laptop. First, the autocorrect can't be so flaky. When I'm messaging, there are some absolutely embarrassing "corrections" that slip past me. In a pro environment that can't happen. The solution appears to be to turn off autocorrect entirely, and that sucks too. I like the ability to type 'didnt' and get 'didn't'. There needs to be a dictionary you can edit to cull the silly corrections. Second, smart quotes. So long as the default is dumb quotes, this is not a business machine (the mechanism for manually putting in the correct shape quote and apostrophe is terrible). Third, devs needs to actually create pro apps. I'd like a Swift IDE and a 3D app. No offense to the people who put hard work into the 3D apps on the app store, but compared to what's on the desktop, the iPad apps are hardly tech demos; I don't need Maya, but something capable of real work would be nice. The iPad Pro seems to be powerful enough now... Maybe the RAM isn't enough, but I'm hoping.

The first 2 things are within Apple's control, and seriously, it's not picking nits. I'm a doctor. I'd never dream of writing a medical note with such flaky autocorrect poised to torpedo me, but the option of turning off autocorrect entirely is such an asinine alternative. The 3rd isn't within Apple's control. I'm hoping that the power of this new thing will excite devs. I think a lot of pro apps don't get made because nobody wants to pay the necessary prices.

The iPad could've just been a big iPhone but devs saw the potential in the bigger screen and gave us new experiences we couldn't have on the iPhone. I hope they do the same with the iPad Pro. I'll be willing to pay properly for the right app (but please don't make me do subscriptions!)

 

[whodatrr]

I think the classic line here is content consumption vs production.

As a Content Consumption device, the iPP may be king of the class. For people who spend most of their lives surfing the Web, on FaceTime, checking email, etc. this may be just for them. And there are quite a few people in this category - I know quite a few. The range stretches from grandparents to tweens, with lots of pockets in-between.

For content production, I guess artists would be high on the list, but most of them that I know need a real file system. They also occasionally need more horsepower, as well as general productivity apps (if Art is their profession, and more than a hobby). So, it's a nice supplement to a PC, but certainly not a replacement.

For this to work as a replacement, it needs: a file system, a pointing device, good docking capabilities, etc. But more than all of that, it needs genuine content proaction apps.

 

[MLMcMillion]

Can it run Xcode or other IDEs? No. Can it run any of the full desktop Adobe Suite? No. Can it run the full MS Office Suite? No.

Can it replace notebooks for "many, many people"? No.

So you think most people run Xcode or the Adobe Suite?

 

[AdonisSMU]

No it does not. There is no "more" or "less", it's just different. I can make list of things a Macbook does that an iPad cannot do (one example: mail merge an excel spreadsheet and word document). I can also make a list of things an iPad does that a Macbook cannot do (one example: draw with a stylus on an astronomy app). I can summarize both lists - Macbook can run all sorts of enterprise / developer / professional editing apps that are unavailable or highly limited on iPad; iPad can run all sorts of touch-based drawing apps and games that are unavailable or not as good on Macbook. Comparing these lists and trade-offs, and factoring in price, is key. For some, the iPad Pro might be worth it. At that price, not for most though.

I don't know. We haven't seen anything yet. What I do know is that iPads regularly outsell Macs by a 2 or 3 to 1 margin. At those rates Macs will stay a niche and iOS will be the prevailing OS....it already is in Apple land. We are only at the beginning of this trend. If my whole group of family and friends except for me thinks an iPad is good enough for their computing needs it probably is. I'm a developer so I need a computer. For everyone else though an iPad Pro is more than enough and it's way more sturdy than traditional computing devices.

 

[The Cappy]

MacRumors: the only "Apple enthusiast" (it no longer is, it's a site for haters to vent) blog where a persons individual use case gets conflated with a mass market.

Ex:

"How can it replace it for most people when I need (insert something here most consumers don't give a flying eff about)"?

Um, that's pretty universal behavior, not confined to MacRumors. You should get out more. Everybody has a hard time distinguishing their own personal needs to the needs of the world.

 

[iSee]

Did you read the OP? Seriously. It's about this being a desktop and laptop replacement. No mouse = no replacement.

It's not the mouse that makes the desktop or laptop. It's the capability of the hardware and the available software. The point is, for "many" people, the iPad is already there. (Not everyone is as stuck on the mouse as you apparently are.)

 

[Daalseth]

It can be done now using GoodReader/Toshibas own app to connect to a wireless Toshiba Hard Drive.

That is the next generation of portable hard drives, with USB-C/USB3.0 and wireless.

THANK YOU. That was the missing piece I needed to move over to tablet all the time. someplace outside of iCloud to store my 170GB of photos, and 100GB of movies I've made, and so fourth.

 

[oneMadRssn]

I don't know. We haven't seen anything yet. iPads regularly outsell Macs by a 2 or 3 to 1 margin. At those rates Macs will stay a niche and iOS will be the prevailing OS....it already is in Apple land.

iPads outsell Macs when they're 1/3 the price. If Macbook Airs were priced in the range $270 at the low-end and maxed out at $830, I highly doubt iPads would outsell Macs as much.

 

[Poochi]

How many people really need to run full Microsoft office or full Adobe? I guess if you use a lot of Excel macros and Visual Basic you would need to but is that as many people as we think? My guess is Cook was talking about general consumers not professionals. I know lots of people whose only home computer is a Chromebook. They are surviving just fine without Microsoft Office.

Then the naming is misleading. I am okay with it if it was named iPad Plus.