iPad Pro to replace laptop?

[mab]

Has anyone dumped their laptop in favour of an iPad Pro?

I’m planning to donate my current iPad to my son, and my MacBook Pro is over 10 years old... so I thought the one purchase could kill two birds.

I use my laptop maybe a couple of times a month for Word / Excel purposes, to categorise photos into folders (I don’t currently use iPhoto), etc. Does the file structure (presumably ‘Files’) on the iPad work anywhere close to how Finder works on the Mac, or will I lose my mind trying navigate a flawed file manager on the iPad because Apple’s tablet software simply can’t offer (at least today) the same experience as that of a Mac?

Anything else where the iPad fundamentally falls short?

I’d likely buy the 11” as that’s a better size for normal iPad activities, and when I need a larger screen I believe I can simply connect it to a monitor via USB-C.

I’d welcome your learned views.

[Omegamanic]

I use an 11, but im on my Mac book every day if im doing anything work wise or keyboard intensive over an above a regular email.

[kultschar]

Its still too cumbersome and too much pratting about. (iPad Pro and Macbook Pro owner)

[Templogin]

I have got a MacBook Air, iPad Pro 12” (gen 1) iPhone 8, and an iPad mini. I mostly surf, email, and do some very occasional writing. I have OmniFocus as a task manager that is well used. As is the photos and music apps. I keep a couple of spreadsheets and have my banking app. I don’t use Files. I have just moved almost everything from Dropbox to iCloud. The vast majority of my data is on the Air, backed up to a 2TB drive.

I hardly ever used the iPad Pro, in fact I am only using it now because the iPad Mini is at Apple for a new battery. If I want to type something long-ish then I use the Keyboard on the MacBook Air. If the piece is very long I plug in a Matias keyboard. For short stuff like this then the keyboard on either iPad is fine. If I can’t take the MacBook Air then I take an Apple Bluetooth keyboard with me.

There are plenty of YouTube vids about going solely iPad Pro that might give you some inspiration.

If I could only have 2 devices it would be the mini and the Air.

[Dave O'Sullivan]

Until they sort out proper mouse support, you’ll struggle.
I’ve got an 11 with the Brydge keyboard and it is VERY good. However, when I have a glut of work to do, I still reach for the laptop.

[mrsammyp]

If they made a Microsoft surface type device then I’d be all over it.

[mab]

I work for the man and have work-provided kit for that purpose (the heart of which is a Microsoft Surface Pro, interestingly enough).

Personal use of my personal laptop is fairly minimal, literally the odd document here and there, so I don’t envisage ever having anything particularly ‘intensive’ to do on it. Even so, the fact that most of you still reach for the laptop so frequently, and the apparent cumbersome nature of the OS, suggests it’s perhaps a little too early to make the shift.

I’ll take a look at the YouTube vids as suggested.

Thanks all.

[Vampire]

Until they sort out proper mouse support, you’ll struggle.
I’ve got an 11 with the Brydge keyboard and it is VERY good. However, when I have a glut of work to do, I still reach for the laptop.

Mouse support has been in iOS since I think iOS12? It's quite well hidden in the accessibility options and Apple didn't really announce or promote it much. It works though, I got a Logitech bluetooth mouse and paired it to an iPad. The pointer is a sort of bullseye dot with a circle around it.

YMMV, I stopped using it after a few days.

[NickGaters]

I have done exactly this. My old XPS 13 is just sat there 99.9% of the time. The iPad is great for 80-90% of wha I do, but we when it comes to proper multi tasking or easy file system access I do find it frustrating. Keyboard support is great, and I’ve not needed a mouse so can’t comment on the mouse. The file system access works just about, but it’s nowhere near as intuitive as a proper file browser.

My use case is: browsing, email, editing photos with affinity, remote access to work and o365, three one drive accounts and one Apple files. I have the largest current iPad, Logitech folio keyboard and the Apple Pencil. The pencil was a bit of a novelty!

I’d summarise it as ‘very close but no cigar’ as a one device solution.

[alanm_3]

Until they sort out proper mouse support, you’ll struggle.
I’ve got an 11 with the Brydge keyboard and it is VERY good. However, when I have a glut of work to do, I still reach for the laptop.

I have a Hyper-Drive hub on my iPad (12.9"), which allows you to connect USB devices, including a mouse.

https://www.hypershop.com/products/h...19332717412414

[kultschar]

I have done exactly this. My old XPS 13 is just sat there 99.9% of the time. The iPad is great for 80-90% of wha I do, but we when it comes to proper multi tasking or easy file system access I do find it frustrating. Keyboard support is great, and I’ve not needed a mouse so can’t comment on the mouse. The file system access works just about, but it’s nowhere near as intuitive as a proper file browser.

My use case is: browsing, email, editing photos with affinity, remote access to work and o365, three one drive accounts and one Apple files. I have the largest current iPad, Logitech folio keyboard and the Apple Pencil. The pencil was a bit of a novelty!

I’d summarise it as ‘very close but no cigar’ as a one device solution.

Yeah I would say that's about right for me also.

I mean Word docs etc maybe fine but one of my large spreadsheets is tedious and quickly flicking back and forth between different docs is just time consuming and not flexible at all and cannot replace my Macbook for doing proper work. Although IOS13 brought big changes the file system is still not quite there yet - nor proper mouse support features and app support last time I tried. Kind of half way improvement over the accessibility version.

Despite Jobs and Apple swearing why would never do it I'm sure one day the iPad and MacBook will kind of merge in both software and hardware as a option. The new keyboard / trackpad for the iPad Pro is kind of heading there slowly in typical Apple fashion. They have already back tracked on so many things they said they would ever do!

[RobM]

You can make it work. I have made it work... but you have to make it work, it's not a natural swap and you have to re-learn how to do some things that are muscle memory now, such as file management and split-screen / multi-tasking.

If your use case is incredibly mobile then IMO the benefits are well worth it. But, for broadly the same price you could buy a MacBook Air and have a very portable laptop without any of the downsides. It won't be as portable and obviously you won't benefit from the purer tablet use cases (e.g. casual browsing and reading, hand-held and away from a desk), but for everything else it's less of an effort.

For context, I have an 11" Pro and a MacBook Pro, I use the MacBook mostly.

[Dave O'Sullivan]

Mouse support has been in iOS since I think iOS12? It's quite well hidden in the accessibility options and Apple didn't really announce or promote it much. It works though, I got a Logitech bluetooth mouse and paired it to an iPad. The pointer is a sort of bullseye dot with a circle around it.

YMMV, I stopped using it after a few days.

I use a mouse. And the Brydge has a trackpad. I just find it harder to use than a regular computer. I don’t think it is a patch on a ‘normal’ computer.
That said, I am a Techno-numpty so maybe it’s just me.