iPad When do you think iPads will replace laptops?

[TWO2SEVEN]

That is one benchmark, but not all. For me, whenever iOS allow true multitasking like OS X or Windows do and multi-windows, then i would consider replacing my laptop with iPad, until then, no,

By the way, you still need a laptop or desktop to sync your iPad. So whenever that is not necessary, you can truly say, iPad could replace laptop.

P.S. 10 inch is still to small for me to do any meaningful work. I cannot stand typing documents on iPad. Larger iPad is required for any meaningful work.

I do not use my computer to sync either iPad or iPhone in our house.

I do meaningful work, including creating documents for school on my iPad.

You do not use iTunes to sync does not mean other won't. There is no way for me to download stuff on iPad or iPhone in a simple way. I have to use computer to download music, videos, documents then transform to my iPad.

If you ever written any lab report or mathematical document, you will know how Pages on iPad sucks in big time.

YOU are the one making generalizations here. Your post used "you" as if you were telling other people what their needs are. My post used "I" because I was speaking for myself.

I have no use for writing lab reports, so the last point does not apply or matter to me.

 

[SpyderBite]

Laptops just recently made their way in to the avid gaming community as a viable platform at the $1800-$4000 range.

I think the tablet will absolutely replace the notebook platform for some of the business/casual/minimalist users inside of two years if it hasn't already.

But, the laptop/notebook footprint isn't going anywhere soon until tablets can match the video demands of the gaming genre.

 

[pward]

So sick of hearing this ... People who proclaim that an iPad is useless for content creation, just because they can't create anything on it!!!!

There are so many professional artists, composers, writers, performers using iPads exclusively. And ... In other types of serious professional use .... are those surgeons using iPads in operations really just watching YouTube?

Please don't misquote me. I did not say that iPads are useless for content creation, just that for some tasks they aren't so good.

Would you care to name some of the many professional artists, composers, writers, performers who are using iPads exclusively?

I don't doubt surgeons are using iPad apps to assist with operations, but he/she will no doubt have a desktop in his/her office...

 

[Menel]

So you don't own any gadget that would require its firmware updated? Ok. If you can avoid all these use cases and have no need to, say, reply to an email chain and attach a document, for example, the iOS will work fine for you. Otherwise you will need a little more oomph than the iPad.

I love my iPad. And I can get a LOT done with it. Just not everything I need.

I have a desktop at home. Many do. Cheap, more storage for media. For CPU/GPU for gaming and encoding. Dual 24" displays for productivity. Stuff a laptop is no good for. Works for Garmin type devices and firmware updates.

But on the go. IPad only.
I know few people with Laptops these days.

Either casual users with iPad only.
Or Desktop + iPad. iPad has often and very easily replaced the laptop use case.

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Tablets are very useful depending on your needs.

They are not a laptop replacement for serious computing.

For the average consumer, tablets are fine.

Laptops are not for serious computing. Convenient stand in when a workstation isn't convenient.

Often, an iPad is adequate, and even more convenient.

 

[PDFierro]

I have a desktop at home. Many do. Cheap, more storage for media. For CPU/GPU for gaming and encoding. Dual 24" displays for productivity. Stuff a laptop is no good for. Works for Garmin type devices and firmware updates.

But on the go. IPad only.
I know few people with Laptops these days.

Either casual users with iPad only.
Or Desktop + iPad. iPad has often and very easily replaced the laptop use case.

I kind of find that hard to believe. I mostly use my laptop at home, but often times I do need to take it out to the coffee shop or go somewhere mobile with it. And I think this is the situation for a lot of people, a desktop is only good when you are at home where as with a laptop you can still use a Mac on the road.

I've seen far more people with a laptop + iPad combo. Desktops aren't for me.

 

[gnasher729]

I'm sure Tim Cook uses Microsoft office

Or

he took time to understand how to use numbers

One of these is true

I'd hope he knows how to use Numbers. I'm sure he uses neither Office nor Numbers but has an exceedingly clever assistant who can use both much faster and at a much lower salary than Cook can.

 

[ZBoater]

Desktops are most definitely falling in popularity, but they still managed to sell 6 million last year. Compared to almost 24 million mobile PCs, and declining every year. But there will always be a market for a desktop PC. Whether it be professionals, photographers, or anyone who wants more space, more horsepower, whatever. But they are definitely declining in popularity.

So the question is laptop vs. tablet. Tablets are expected to surpass the combined sales of desktops and laptops in 2015. The trends are very clear. But that doesn't mean laptops and desktops disappear. I think they continue to co-exist for many years to come.

 

[Mainsail]

There have been dozens of threads on this topic, and every time it comes up there is a point of confusion that complicates the discussion. Specifically, are we talking about an individual that will have a desktop computer and is looking for a purely mobile computing solution, or are we talking about a person that will use an iPad exclusively for all computing needs.

If an individual has a desktop computer, than all of the posts about being a "producer" and "doing real work" are basically meaningless, since the desktop can be used for heavy lifting back at the office. In the past, you needed to drag along a full laptop everywhere to do basic productivity application (email, calendaring, web research, reviewing PDF, editing and annotating documents, etc..). An iPad can handle all of this with ease, so for most people they really don't need to carry a full laptop to be productive while mobile. Again, heavy lifting is done back at the desktop with large screens, full keyboard and mouse. A few folks' workflow requires substantial content creation away from the office, and for these individuals, a laptop is best.

BTW - I thought that a college student is a great example of someone that needs a laptop, since they need to work on papers at the library and in study groups. I sent my daughter to college with a MacBook Air. However, my nephew (freshman at Rice) had his new Windows touch screen laptop fail on him, and he went though the entire semester using an iPad and the university desktop computers in the dorm and on campus. It worked great for him. Go figure.

 

[Nevaborn]

Ipad replaces a computer when theres an intergrated file system, usb flash drive compatibiliy and iWork gsts some features.

Then computers to me are dead.

 

[Lucille Carter]

The iPad would really have to step up to replace my laptop. Would have to allow me to load and run Win7 Pro via bootcamp for AutoCad, Photoshop and MS Office

 

[xPad]

It already has, just not all the time for all tasks for all people.

I don't think the iPad will ever replace notebooks or desktops just as notebooks have never replaced desktops. There's a place for all of them. Which the OP points out, which makes the question more confusing. What constitutes "replacing"?

I'd say that if you reach for your iPad on a consistent basis for some tasks that you would otherwise have reached for your notebook, then the iPad has already replaced the notebook to some extent. After that, it's just a question of "how much?"

It sounds like the OP has already switched over to the iPad for the vast majority of their computing needs. I'd say that counts.

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When it has basic multitasking.

It wont be an ipad that replaces the laptop first.

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WOW, i guess thats possible if you use the computer for nothing more than email and youtube.

Go home, you're drunk.

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Not everyone needs an ipad air, rMini, laptop, desktop with dual 27s, a chrome book, and an adroit tablet like u

No, don't you understand? Everyone is exactly like Misskitty. 100% with no variation. And those that are different are just plain wrong.

Which, strangely enough, also includes Misskitty as he sometimes buys an iPad Air and complains that the mini is wrong, then buys an iPad mini complaining that the Air is wrong. Then that no one should buy both, but seems to have at least three different tablets himself.

Of course, as we've always been at war with eastasia, that's really not an argument against the universal applicability of kitty's preferences. They always apply to everyone and are always right, even when they change, because they are always right.

 

[darngooddesign]

...I don't think the iPad will ever replace notebooks or desktops just as notebooks have never replaced desktops. There's a place for all of them. Which the OP points out, which makes the question more confusing. What constitutes "replacing"?

Laptops have gotten powerful enough that they can replace desktop computers for a lot of work. You would need to do some heavy duty work for a laptop not being able to suffice.

Having an iPad replace a laptop means just that, being able to use an iPad to do everything you used your laptop for.

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When it has basic multitasking.

iOS has basic multitasking, it just doesn't have advanced multitasking.

 

[GKDAIR]

I haven't switched entirely to using my ipad, but yes I do spend the majority of my sessions on it.

Personally, my macbook air's warranty expires next year, and I was thinking about getting an Imac after that.

Like I stated in an earlier post, you still need a computer to do stuff like research papers and heavy typing sessions, or some extreme video editing, but at what point will the mobile space become more about tablets and less about laptops.

A good tablet is the same price as a below average laptop.

 

[nightlong]

Please don't misquote me. I did not say that iPads are useless for content creation, just that for some tasks they aren't so good.

Would you care to name some of the many professional artists, composers, writers, performers who are using iPads exclusively?

I don't doubt surgeons are using iPad apps to assist with operations, but he/she will no doubt have a desktop in his/her office...

David Hockney, for example has been doing all his art on iPad and exhibiting with whole walls of them. gorillaz, for example, wrote most of an album on an iPad. Many more, less famous than them, but doing professional work, such as musicians using banks of iPads, and some performance artists doing very interesting things with them. Do a search on You Tube for some examples.

The problem with the central question here and on numerous other threads is ... Too black and white, and it's not a constructive argument. Speak for yourself, what you do or don't do and don't presume that applies to everyone else. A limitation for your needs and processes might not be the case for someone else.

There are some amazingly capable apps in art and music particularly that are also very cheap, allowing musicians on a budget to do a lot, and as always limitations, in art anyway, can inspire ingenuity.

 

[ZBoater]

...The problem with the central question here and on numerous other threads is ... Too black and white, and it's not a constructive argument. Speak for yourself, what you do or don't do and don't presume that applies to everyone else. A limitation for your needs and processes might not be the case for someone else...

THIS should be made a sticky.

 

[nightlong]

Tablets are very useful depending on your needs.

They are not a laptop replacement for serious computing.

For the average consumer, tablets are fine.

Black and white! There are only two kinds of computer use in the known universe?

What does "serious computing" mean?

How are you defining power-user?

All iPad users are "average consumers"?

So the technology defines "serious" work, rather than the person operating it?

 

[PDFierro]

One only needs to look at how many people there are buying Macs for nothing more than web browsing, movie watching, and Facebook. People can do serious work on either device, just like they can be an average consumer on either.

 

[rajpatel]

iPads will replace laptops when pigs fly, when hell freezes over, and when a black man becomes president. Or sometimes around the end of that black mans first term. By the end of his second term, hopefully the pc industry will b dead and apple will be tasked by world govts with the job of providing people's I devices.

Sterile little things designed for the baby in all of us. Easy to use and easy to sell. Easy to have so much of ones budget drained with the new apple toys every year.

 

[xPad]

Laptops have gotten powerful enough that they can replace desktop computers for a lot of work. You would need to do some heavy duty work for a laptop not being able to suffice.

Define "suffice". What I'm referring to are things like gaming, photo/video work where you need very large screens, mass storage, and processing intensive apps. Your description implies really just the latter.

You can do every single one of these things on a notebook, yet desktops still exist. They all "suffice" on a notebook, but are often done better on a desktop.

And this is key. It illustrates that "replace" is too vague. Some posters here are being overly literal and suggesting that if there's even one thing a notebook can do that an iPad can't, then this is impossible. Others think that so long as notebooks exist, or are better at something, then this hasn't yet happened. Some say that even if you use the iPad 90% of the time! the other 10% means this hasn't happened.

And yet others have replaced their notebooks with iPads, suggesting it has already happened.

The catch is, they're all correct. Just not completely correct because they are all part of the same whole picture. That picture is that iPads have been increasingly replacing notebooks since day one.

I think the question is mostly meaningless without defining the parameters more specifically.

Having an iPad replace a laptop means just that, being able to use an iPad to do everything you used your laptop for.

No it doesn't. It means actually doing so. And every time you do so, that replacement is happening.

So if you are reading this in your iPad right now, you've already replaced your notebook with your iPad. You just (most likely) haven't done so 100% of the time, but I think that's an absurd requirement.

And some people have. Many, in fact.

 

[bingeciren]

I have a motorcycle and a bicycle. I use both. Let me tell you, my bicycle will never replace my motorcycle! Same goes with my Macbook and my iPad. Simple as that.

 

[AppleFanatic10]

I see it happening eventually, but not too soon. I already started using my computer/iPhone less and less since I got my iPad mini. If I need to write a huge paper or have to do a lot of research I'll use my MacBook, or if it's something like math I'll have to use my computer. Other than that I'm using my iPad. I feel like I'll always need my MacBook for something.

 

[Rodster]

The iPad and tablets will never replace laptops but they are having a profound impact on PC sales. This year has been one of the worse on record and Mac's have taken a hit as well.

What you will probably see is a morphing of what the Lenovo Yoga Pro 2 is doing. It's a convertible that's part tablet and part laptop. They need to get the size and weight down before they are the norm.

 

[rowspaxe]

I know few people with Laptops these days.


puh-lease. nearly everyone has a laptop.

A more interesting question is will ios supplant OSx? Work will always require keyboards, screen space and often a point device. So tablets have limitations inherent in the form factor. But there are edge use cases: you may not want to author a spread sheet on a tablet--but you might be happy to review one on a tablet.

I think the numbers/pages give away is apple laying the predicate of ios as a productivity platform--but perhaps not the ipad as a productivity device.

 

[rowspaxe]

What does "serious computing" mean?

In this context--"serious work" means requiring x86 software. And an exposed file finder or tree. A lot of serious work requires MS Word--as it is an exchange standard.

On a related note: how defensive can you be? I consider Houdini Fluid Sims serious work--scientists at JPL would not. I would hardly take offense.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

THIS should be made a sticky.

Amen brother. But then this site would fall to about 8 posts a day.

Didn't you hear: how about 85% of Apple fans use their Apple hardware is the ONLY way it should be used. Everybody else wanting to use it any other way is simply wrong, shortsighted, "stupid", a Samsung/Google/Windows/etc "troll", or not in the 99% (as in, "99% of users would never" or "99% use it") though they've very likely never surveyed anyone beyond maybe themselves and made observations much beyond their tiny social circle.

I like Apple stuff as much as the next guy but I'm glad the next guy is not locked into only seeing the world as I see it or only using their tools as I use mine. I heard that 99% of people feel the same way.

Then again, look at the OP post below. He asked the question and is getting answers different than he wants them and is somewhat finding fault with those not sharing his view. OP- great for you but your experiences & expectations are not representative of everyone. There is a world full of desktops & laptops running Windows (far, FAR more machines than OS X & iOS) and they are not all wrong, nor could they do all they are doing on an iPad (even one probably 10 generations from now). I'd need to check the numbers but there are probably way more Windows computers running Windows XP than all of the OS X and iOS machines currently in use. If so, they are not all wrong either. If a relatively cheap iDevice could do the work of those machines at least as good, lots of them would be replaced by cheap iDevices.

I don't mean to offend people, but I think some people are living too much in the now.

For example, burning CDs? I can't tell you the last time I burned a CD. My MacBook Air doesn't even have a cd drive. Never needed to use one except one time to set up a printer. Cd drives haven't gone the way of the dodo, but they are headed that way.

File management will also go the way of the dodo when cloud computing takes off. Hell, my Mac already wants to download everything to the cloud. Also with apps liked Dropbox I can already send papers to professors, if my professors didn't have PCs from 1995.

Apple wants you to use heir ecosystem, but there are plenty of options on the App Store to use different ecosystems.

While I still believe android is still too rough around the edges, they have things like file management already. I wouldn't use it. But that's my opinion.

People never thought we'd be able to play San Andreas on a phone, yet here we are.

To the guy trying to imply that the volume of iPads being sold as evidence that laptops are on the way out, see the bottom the article that seems to support the idea: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2414200,00.asp But look at the numbers. In a year where it feels like tablets are thoroughly king, there were still almost as many laptops sold. If the world beyond here believed they could do everything they want to do on those laptops on an iPad instead, why are so many buying laptops? Even if the numbers get to something like 400M vs. 100M, that's still 100M choosing to probably spend more money on a laptop than taking the typically cheaper option to conceptually be able to do "everything" just as well on a cooler, thinner, lighter & "magical" iPad.

Obviously, I just don't see it happening for a very long time. I like and use my iPad a lot. But I can say the same for the laptop. There's situations where each is THE needed tool. I don't see one eliminating the other for a long time. Perhaps I'm nearly alone in this view of both tools or perhaps the question is just getting a lot of tablet enthusiasts with usage needs that can fully get by on a tablet?