I get the impression they're trying to market this to laptop users. I'm still very skeptical of iPads as a productivity device. The problem isn't the hardware, it's the OS, the app store and the model for selling apps. Apple's app store policies make it hard to sell expensive software (which most productivity apps are somewhat expensive), it also makes it hard to distribute free software (as in open source -- because someone has to pony up for a developer account and deal with the app store feedback), and the App-centric focus of the OS itself is a problem (most projects need to be file centric)
tyleo 11 hours ago [-]
I did a performance test over the weekend of compilation times across 4 projects using 4 devices.
My M4 MacBook Pro is faster than my modern i9 desktop that work spent $$$ on...
iPad feels like a genie trapped in a bottle to me. It has that same M4 but there's so much less to use it for. Too bad I can't just set it by my PC and throw workloads at the processor or something. Continuity works well enough as a second screen but I'd love a second M4 CPU.
dstroot 11 hours ago [-]
Second CPU idea is brilliant. I’d buy an iPad for second screen, second CPU and occasional plane/hotel Netflix/Youtube.
walterbell 7 hours ago [-]
Mac Mini = iPad minus screen, minus iOS restrictions, with Apple Silicon and optional 10GbE wired.
joshmn 10 hours ago [-]
For those just looking for a second screen with their iPad or MacBook, Universal Display does exactly this, given you’re already in the Apple ecosystem.
Second CPU would be nice, too.
tyleo 10 hours ago [-]
What is Universal Display?
The built-in MacOS feature that does this called continuity… but I know it was renamed once (used to be sidecar). Maybe you’re referring to an old name? Or is it a product?
Edit: I looked it up and it appears that the app is continuity and “Sidecar” and “Universal Control” are features. IDT those names show up in the OS UX though.
I am looking forward for real competition to Apple which ironically will be better for Apple users/developers. You don't buy a McClaren for transporting your kids to the school faster.
PS: I don't think GPU continuity will work well over USB-C.
adav 7 hours ago [-]
EXO Labs are doing interesting things with LLM clusters on commodity hardware. I'd quite like to plug my MacBook next to my iPad and get the extra local AI oomph.
bobbylarrybobby 9 hours ago [-]
There's also the issue of iOS virtual memory limitations. Whereas macOS lets apps use swap space (duh), on iOS apps will be killed if their memory use is too high and they move into the background. (And possibly if it's too high while they're in the foreground, idk.) Which means you can't leave apps open in the background — they might be killed at any moment. And this makes true productivity basically impossible.
davidcollantes 11 hours ago [-]
For work I need an SSH client to access remote servers, and a web browser for when ClickOps is needed. Long battery life, and a tack sharp touch screen are gladly accepted. An iPad is the perfect "laptop" for me.
AppleBananaPie 10 hours ago [-]
Do you use this as your main driver or just to check on things?
Just trying to imagine the workflow :)
I personally prefer a ~32" 4k screen for main work but I could see the convenience of an iPad to quickly remote in and check on stuff or maybe it's enough on it's own and I can learn from ya'll!
Terretta 2 hours ago [-]
iPad Pro supports external 4K screen and you can drag and arrange windows.
vel0city 10 hours ago [-]
Por que no los dos?
Just dock your iPad in the office and get a desktop class experience. Pick it up and go and have your same apps and sessions and data anywhere.
Would be nice. It's the experience I had with a Surface but I get Windows isn't applicable to all users and workloads.
8 hours ago [-]
ragazzina 8 hours ago [-]
> Just dock your iPad in the office
The fact that you can't turn off the iPad screen while it's docked drives me crazy.
ahmeneeroe-v2 7 hours ago [-]
You can? As long as you have keyboard/mouse (which the Magic Keyboard qualifies as)
AppleBananaPie 10 hours ago [-]
Yeah I need a local mac for builds / debugging :( Thanks for the info, I'll dream of better days ;)
Terretta 2 hours ago [-]
Not really, Xcode Cloud will auto-build from an event hook on a GitHub commit.
You can use this to fix bugs in iOS apps from the park and try new TestFlight builds within minutes.
masklinn 8 hours ago [-]
GP is not talking about “an iPad” tho, but an iPad Pro with a literal laptop-class CPU.
pancsta 8 hours ago [-]
iPad Pro is a great terminal, I shred code on it daily. Running a build server on a portable is a bad strategy (battery, wait times, session resume). It’s the top layer of 3 layers in total (portable, GUI, build server). It handles realtime audio / video well, which are the only things that cant be remoted. You dont need OS26 for it to be a very productive terminal, it’s been possible for years. You do however need a proper backend stack, which can also be portable (but separately).
Do you know whats better than an iPad? 2 iPads (yes, shredding code on 2 simultaneously).
wpm 52 minutes ago [-]
I never tried, but do UIKit text fields support the proper readline shortcuts like NSTextFields do on the Mac? It’s one of the most achingly wonderful things I miss so much when I work on Linux.
varispeed 11 hours ago [-]
I bought iPad Pro M4 and I am yet to find a use case for it. Combined with non-secure cloud backup in the UK, I see it as a toy device.
Watch YouTube, casually browse web (I am yet to install VPN).
So far the most use I had with it was recording meetings, so that later I can relisten.
If I was able to run Ubuntu on it or even macOs - that would have been a different story...
technofiend 38 minutes ago [-]
It's $10,000 worth of tires on a $500 car. IOS is so crippled, it's complete overkill.
red_hare 9 hours ago [-]
I've gotten 7 years out of my 2018 iPad Pro and, for my use case of video, browsing, and Procreate, it feels like new. And I believe a big part of that is that the A12X was wildly overpowered when I bought it.
I think someone deciding between an M4 and an M5 today should consider its value 5 years down the road, rather than its value today.
doctaj 3 hours ago [-]
Same. Also have a super old iPad Pro, and it still works amazing. I always ponder upgrading, knowing that I’ve gotten so much use and enjoyment out of it, but then get wrapped around the axle about how the CPU is absurdly overpowered for what I do with it (YouTube, podcasts, music, drawing/note taking, reading). It’s my main device at home, too, so I never feel like I need to upgrade my phone - it’s definitely saved me money in that regard, too. :P
thaw13579 11 hours ago [-]
Thanks for mentioning the non-secure backup in the UK, I missed the memo on that, and fyi, for any one else who did: https://support.apple.com/en-us/122234
someNameIG 5 hours ago [-]
My cheap Samsung tablet can do all that with a low powered exonous chip, and when it gets Android 16 it will be able to run a Linux VM.
I don't know why Apple is putting full M series chips in their iPads but limit the software they can run. Either open it up to desktop apps or just put a cheaper A series chip in them.
Tade0 10 hours ago [-]
You're not far off, as over the years it grew into a capable gaming machine:
iPad is also the best ebook reader in my opinion, which is pretty much the only reason I have one.
SkyPuncher 14 hours ago [-]
My sister in law has used an iPad as here primary compute device for school. Frankly, it works absolutely fine for her. 95% of her need is reading, email, and writing papers (in Google Drive).
yjftsjthsd-h 11 hours ago [-]
> 95% of her need is reading, email, and writing papers
Sure, it's great for that kind of (computationally) light work, but then what's the point of putting a monster like the M5 chip in it?
You put a bigger chip in so you can run it at lower power consumption levels. Essentially, there are two ways this can pan out:
* Overall utilization can remain lower, keeping it in a more power efficient band.
* Expensive actions complete faster, thus using less power (since they run for less time).
From an overall business perspective, there also doesn't really seem to be a reason to _not_ standardize the lineup on a single chip. I have to imagine is less overhead from a manufacturing standpoint and it's not like there's a particularly meaningful difference in manufacturing costs of these chips.
recursive 11 hours ago [-]
Smooth animation for throw-away-coded SPAs.
overgard 11 hours ago [-]
The target hardware for vibe coded startups!
apparent 11 hours ago [-]
Yep, I have the original 11" iPad Pro from 2018. It still works flawlessly and would be perfect for this use case. Someone who needs a device for school should buy a used iPad like this, not a new one that would be overpowered for the task and would cost double. Even with the edu discount, it's over $1k with the keyboard case. Why not just buy an MBA at that point?
thaw13579 10 hours ago [-]
Two reasons for are the cellular connection and smaller form factor. Would love to have a MBA with those
kcplate 4 hours ago [-]
This has been my reasoning for years and it has been great for that. If I have to leave in the middle of the workday for errand or appointment it’s with me in the Logitech folio case and I have connected computing power in my hands in a form factor that is roughly the size of a moleskine.
lostlogin 11 hours ago [-]
This probably matches most users experience. It’s just that the remaining 5% makes you want to hurl the device out the window.
overgard 11 hours ago [-]
I guess that's fine, but if that's all you're doing you could easily just get a hundred dollar chromebook. The marketing for this references things like transcode performance for Final Cut Pro. Implying that you would use it for some sort of serious computing task.
JumpCrisscross 11 hours ago [-]
> you could easily just get a hundred dollar chromebook
Terrible battery life by comparison. Worse display. Not as swift at video playback. And with LLMs on the rise, less locally capable.
overgard 11 hours ago [-]
I don't think the "I just need to edit things in google drive crowd" overlaps much with the "I want to run a local LLM on a tablet" crowd.
Anyway my point isn't that people shouldn't buy iPads, my point is that it's silly that Apple has hardware that is incredibly capable and is held back entirely by terrible software policies.
monkmartinez 11 hours ago [-]
My parents use their iPad(s) for 100% of their compute needs. At 70+ years old, they will tell you those needs are minimal.
If you use one program at a time, do not need an actual file system, have no need to install software from a variety of places (Github, Vendor sites, etc), have no problem installing multiple "apps" that only work behind paywalls or not at all and you don't care about replacing a functional device whenever Apple obsoletes it... iOS is the best thing since sliced bread.
If you need anything outside of iOS's limited list of abilities, its a trash operating system that has crippled amazing hardware.
vessenes 12 hours ago [-]
For the haters here - Apple sells roughly 2x as many iPads as Macs (including MacBooks). Roughly as many iPad Pros as laptops.
I've cycled through using an iPad Pro as my main device on and off over the years - particularly the cellular modem has been a draw. For coding, they're terrible, as they are for longer form writing. I've ultimately shrunk down to the small size and use it as a kindle/gaming replacement. I think with a foldable iPhone I'd probably skip buying one.
All that said there's a large market for them. I use mine enough that every two cycles I update just for battery reasons.
bertili 12 hours ago [-]
I didn't believe this at first, but it seems valid.
Apple earnings on Mac and iPads are in the same ballpark and if iPads cost half of a Mac its indeed a 2x.
iPads have way more common with phones than laptops. They are more prone to damage and many people treat them like fashion accessories, promptly buying new devices upon launch even if the old one is perfectly fine.
10 hours ago [-]
themadturk 6 hours ago [-]
My wife uses the previous gen iPad Pro 11 inch for all her computing. Yes, her use is lightweight, and she rarely uses the file system.
It think one of the points of popularity for the iPad is that it's the same (in most respects) as an iPhone, but bigger. The smartphone has become the default computing and communication device for billions of people. My wife can certainly use her iPhone, but she almost never does; the iPad fulfills that need for her. She plays Balatro, Simon's Cat, and Angry Birds, reads and writes email, reads, browses the web, watches video on her iPad.
jillesvangurp 9 hours ago [-]
My mother (75) is on her fourth ipad now. They are amazing devices for non technical users. My father bought her a laptop (some cheap windows thing) before she got her first ipad and asked here "are you happy with it". And she went "it's just a computer". She's not a gamer. Computers were for boring admin and banking stuff in her mind. Something that lives on a desk far away from the living room. Having to go there to browse the internet wasn't fun. She just had no interest in the whole thing. So he brought it back to the store and got an ipad instead. Life changing event.
Key feature: she can sit on the couch and use it. She does that all the time. It's a much more approachable device. She does everything on it. She plays a lot of bridge both on the ipad and in real life. So, she's even playing online games. Really fun when she randomly starts swearing at some dumb witted random co-player on the internet.
I'm not into IOS myself but I appreciate it for what it is and does. Steve Jobs nailed that one. I have a mac book pro but I have an Android phone. For me a phone is dumb read only device. Typing on it sucks. The screen is to clumsy and tiny for properly enjoying content, the camera is alright but I don't use that a lot. It's a device for reading hacker news and a few other things. I actually take most calls via my laptop. It even fails its primary job as a communication device for me.
Anyway, the key thing with this ipad is the built in apple phone chips. No more qualcomm. They can just put this thing in any device now. I'm not sure what's holding them back with their laptops. I'm guessing there's some Qualcomm IP and patents that might make that a bit expensive. But it's 2025. Why can't my laptop not connect to 5G networks without dongles, thethering, or other nonsense? The key blocker was always Qualcomm. Problem solved you'd think. Apparently, they are not going there yet. Maybe next year.
overgard 11 hours ago [-]
I wouldn't call myself a hater, just disappointed. The hardware is incredibly powerful, but it's being held back but an OS that's locked down beyond reason. Maybe they just don't want to cannibalize Mac sales or something.
vessenes 6 hours ago [-]
I thought that too until I turned on the window mode on the new iPadOS. Blech. I gave it a month; I really just didn't want it, even though I thought I did.
I would like a full screen shell that's got a reasonable unix variant underneath it. But I do find other uses for it.
hirvi74 7 hours ago [-]
The most common use case I typically see for iPads is serving as a PoS system for a lot of local businesses in my area. So, I wonder how many are purchased for personal usage vs. some sort of functional purpose, e.g., business, education, etc..
tristor 12 hours ago [-]
I mean, that makes sense given what the "haters" are saying, and indeed what you yourself admit. If this is just a device for passive consumption of entertainment, then ultimately it's a consumer-facing use case, and there are MANY MANY MANY more consumers than there are creators, whether that creation is a photo or a line of code. So of course more devices are sold, because you need a laptop (due to mostly software, rather than hardware reasons) to do most forms of creativity, from writing code to editing photos.
thewebguyd 11 hours ago [-]
It could be a great device for certain types of creation also.
I use mine for editing photos. But, I still have to start and end the process with Lightroom classic on my Mac because of stupid decisions by Adobe to rent-seek with cloud storage, offering no local-stroage workflow option with the iPad app (and deliberately leaving out some features only available in LR Classic).
Likewise, I would love to do all of my photoshop work on the iPad. It's a great immersive experience with the Apple Pencil vs. sitting down with a mouse and keyboard on a computer, but yet again, Adobe cripples the iPad app compared to the desktop app.
And those particular use cases aren't Apple's fault. I'm less and less frustrated with iPad OS as a whole, particularly with windowing in 26 (though it could use some polish). It's got external display support, a file manager, access to external storage, audio input select now, etc. But Adobe (and others) are still making crippled mobile applications for it instead of just doing work to port over the full desktop experience on a device that is now just as capable.
Sure you can't code on it (very well), but I feel like Apple should start putting some pressure on Adobe and the other creative-suite of software companies to beef up the iPad experience, maybe offer some incentive or something.
tristor 9 hours ago [-]
Even on the laptop, Lightroom Classic is missing capabilities and has poor UX for common workflows. I've used Lightroom for 15 years, and at this point I primarily use DXO Photo Lab for editing, I only use Lightroom as a digital library management tool. I can't even fathom using the current Adobe products on iOS to try to do my workflow. That's mostly due to software, but also because I can't connect a high performance CF Xpress reader to a tablet, given the port performance limitations. I have a TB4/USB4 reader and high speed cards for my camera.
thewebguyd 9 hours ago [-]
I'll be honest I haven't tried DXO Photo Lab yet. I've tried CaptureOne but could never get used to it, although I do prefer it's far more advanced color tools. Lightroom is really basic in comparison.
But I'm going to end up with a subscription anyway because of Photoshop so I've just always stuck with LR. That, and I used a LUT I built using Davinci Resolve, blended with the Camera Standard profile that I use as a slider in Lightroom (Classic) and I haven't found a way to do something similar in any other program yet (you can create these creative profiles in photoshop too but Davinci's color grading tools are so far superior). It's a key part of my look.
Also FWIW M1 and newer iPad Pros have thunderbolt 4
sylens 15 hours ago [-]
I have a 2018 iPad Pro that is due for replacement but I cannot bring myself to spend the money on a new iPad. No matter how much I think I'll use it, it becomes a web browsing and YouTube machine on the couch. It's a shame because I think the hardware design is quite good, but the OS itself is so limiting, even with the "improvements" iPadOS 26 introduced.
dialup_sounds 14 hours ago [-]
This may be a controversial statement, but: you don't have to replace things that you're not using.
sylens 14 hours ago [-]
That’s the decision I’ve made here, I was merely using the framing as a way to talk about how my view on the iPad has changed in the intervening years
0x457 12 hours ago [-]
I can understand the reasoning behind - maybe new revision is more usable and make them use it more.
I use my 2018 iPad Pro every day, though. Ironically, that's the reason why I'm not replacing it - it works just fine.
calciphus 13 hours ago [-]
But won't someone think of the shareholder value?
bombcar 15 hours ago [-]
Every iPad I've bought was going to be "the one where I find a use case that uses it" but every time it ends up being a YouTube machine.
recursive 11 hours ago [-]
I bought one just to run Loopy Pro. It has never run anything but the app store, the system settings, and Loopy Pro.
But I had the use case before I bought it. If not for that, I wouldn't own one.
threetonesun 10 hours ago [-]
Loopy Pro is as compelling an argument for buying one on the audio side as Procreate is on the graphics side.
SSLy 7 hours ago [-]
Try Drambo, haha
recursive 7 hours ago [-]
Looks super interesting. I may give it a shot sometime. But I'm mostly interested in recording loops generated and sound-designed outside the box.
SSLy 7 hours ago [-]
Yeah, it's a different kind of… instrument.
bluescrn 13 hours ago [-]
iOS doesn't even make for a very good YouTube machine, you need uBlock Origin for that.
rafram 9 hours ago [-]
You could also subscribe to YouTube Premium. It pays creators better than ads do (versus an ad blocker, which pays them nothing), and it includes YouTube Music, so you can ditch Spotify.
cyberpunk 12 hours ago [-]
Got a vpn subscription? Try exiting in albania, no ads.
rg3 12 hours ago [-]
Side comment: when I watch YouTube content on my iPad, I normally use the Brave browser instead of the app. It has a built-in ad blocker that works well on YouTube.
neckro23 12 hours ago [-]
Psst, you can get uBlock Origin (lite) for Safari now. Works pretty well.
nkotov 13 hours ago [-]
Same but just entertainment device. I still don't understand where the iPad Pro makes sense.
coldtea 12 hours ago [-]
It's great for image retouching and illustration, especially on the go.
It's also very handy for running VSTs (well, AUs really) and jamming with keyboards or guitars (with something like iRig)
apples_oranges 12 hours ago [-]
Garageband and Books for me.. iPad 1 or 2 would suffice..
polynomial 10 hours ago [-]
I literally use mine for the Books app and to play chess.
bschne 12 hours ago [-]
This. I've started thinking of it like this — the iPad, in my case, has an absolutely abysmal cost to usage ratio. On the far other end of the spectrum (and in a similar form factor if you squint) is probably my Kindle.
That being said, _some_ people I know consistently seem to get lots of work use out of their tablets, and I can't quite put my finger on where we differ.
stillworks 11 hours ago [-]
Note taking and Reading are my primary use cases.
Goes without saying YMMV but it works for me.
I had to hand down my iPad Pro 3rd Gen (the one with A12x Bionic chip) to my daughter for her school use.
I got myself a 13" iPad Air (M2 chip) this time and Apple Pencil Pro (from Apple Refurbished store). The larger screen size isn't that much of a botheration as I thought it might be. On the flip side, the screen size is a lot closer to an A4 sheet and writing on it feels much better. I use Paperlike screen cover and pencil tips too.
I don't have Netflix or YouTube installed on it.
I only use it for Apple Books, Kindle, Notes and now Preview app is there as well.
I might this time even use it as Sidekick and remote access IDEs running on my MBP but not sure if I want to do that yet on the iPad.
fuzzy2 14 hours ago [-]
What’s wrong with the iPad being a pure consumption device? It’s really great at this. Granted, you don’t need an iPad Pro for consumption, but you could always go for an iPad or iPad Air, no?
I have a 2017 iPad Pro and once the battery finally dies will replace it with a non-Pro iPad.
crims0n 9 hours ago [-]
I agree with this sentiment, but if you are using it primarily as a consumption device, the OLED screen is probably worth sticking with the Pro line.
gh0stcat 15 hours ago [-]
You could consider getting into drawing/design. They compete incredibly well against the display-based tablets made by wacom, especially these days where you can also do 3d and animation in procreate.
sylens 15 hours ago [-]
If I was starting this as a hobby, my first step would not be to spend several hundred dollars on a tablet and pen. I'd probably grab some sketchbooks and pencils first for <$50 and see if it sticks for more than a month.
criddell 14 hours ago [-]
If you aren't into drawing, what about music? You can download GarageBand for free and it's pretty great once you figure it out.
Or if you aren't a music person, are you into making movies? Final Cut Pro does have a subscription, but it's only $5 / month and the subscription is easy to start and stop. If your needs are simple, the free iMovie is pretty good.
Or maybe video isn't your thing. Are you a writer or poet? There are a lot of great choices for writing apps and the battery life of the iPad means you can work away from your desk all day.
Or if you like writing software, Swift Playground is fun. I found this to be a great resource:
If you are into photography, Affinity Photo is fun. It doesn't have the AI features that Photoshop has, but for amateurs, it can get you pretty far. Plug in an external drive to your iPad and you can use it with a huge photo library.
ncphillips 13 hours ago [-]
All of this is cool...but you can do them all on a laptop and you'll probably have a better time.
And those cheap/free things are only available after dropping $1000 on a new iPad
criddell 13 hours ago [-]
The person I replied to already has the iPad.
As for having a better time on the laptop, YMMV. My iPad is my most used computer by a mile.
kimbernator 14 hours ago [-]
Gear Acquisition Syndrome. It's interesting how many people try to pick up new hobbies to justify large purchases when it rarely works out that way
thewebguyd 11 hours ago [-]
It'd be better if we could just all be honest with ourselves.
If you have the disposal income, no need to justify it outside of "it's a cool gadget and I want to play with it."
kgwgk 13 hours ago [-]
“I really want that large truck that I don’t need. Maybe I should start a landscaping business!”
skylurk 14 hours ago [-]
Drawing with undo, layers, gradients, transparency, and infinite brushes is very different from sketching on paper. I don't think a sketchbook is anything like it.
Just borrow someone else's underused ipad if you want to give it a try.
gh0stcat 14 hours ago [-]
I mean yes, but if you have an incredibly impressive machine compared to SOTA 10 years ago just lying around, I'd have fun with that too. :)
Plus you can use it for more "practical" stuff like logo design or editing or even just note taking... I wanted to provide some examples of not just youtube machine.
drcongo 14 hours ago [-]
But then they wouldn't have anything to moan about on HN.
runjake 14 hours ago [-]
I did this. I bought a Pencil Pro. I bought Procreate. Doodled for a couple weeks.
Now it's just a YouTube device.
Just buy a sketch book and some colored pens and pencils.
Teever 10 hours ago [-]
Can you use your iPad as a Wacom quality comparable table for input on your macbook?
walkabout 14 hours ago [-]
I'm still on an older 12.9" Pro but will definitely upgrade at some point—and may not bother with another (personal—work-supplied is another matter) MacBook when my M1 starts to get long in the tooth in a couple years, now that Preview is available on iPads.
It beats the hell out of either laptops or phones, for me, for these tasks:
- Music. Excellent as a sheet music display; can record and edit midi quite well; play tutorial videos; act as a tuner, tone generator, or metronome (my phone beats it on that front due to portability, but still, if I already have the iPad out on the stand...); plenty good enough at audio recording and editing for my extremely-amateur purposes, plus its ability to play loops and beats and such.
- Reading. It's especially amazing for comic books (in landscape mode a 12.9 incher is almost the same size as an open comic book! You can read two-page side-by-side on it, no problem) and PDFs. I prefer iPad mini sized devices for prose books in ordinary ebook formats, but the 12.9" pro is damn near perfect for those two things. Laptops and desktop computers also work for comic books and PDFs, but are a pretty big downgrade, UX-wise.
- Drawing. Obviously.
- Long-form writing. Laptops work great for this too, of course, but you still need a separate keyboard if you want decent ergonomics. iPad doesn't have an attached keyboard taking up space that I could instead use for a separate keyboard.
It's also just as good as a laptop (to me) as a remote SSH terminal, VNC terminal, video/music player, web browser et c. I can't really think of much I do on my (personal! Not work-supplied) laptop that I can't do just as well on an iPad, maybe supplemented by a headless RPi hanging off my router, or a cheap VM rental (or just the Linux server in an old desktop workstation tower that I already have anyway).
f311a 10 hours ago [-]
> - Long-form writing. Laptops work great for this too, of course, but you still need a separate keyboard if you want decent ergonomics. iPad doesn't have an attached keyboard taking up space that I could instead use for a separate keyboard.
The screen is still small. Also, for technical writing, I think a lot of software is missing. There are a lot of small tools that technical writers use to do diagrams, illustrations. Also, long-form writing can be in different file formats. I think support for LaTeX and typst is very limited.
13 hours ago [-]
GeorgeTirebiter 11 hours ago [-]
I have an M1 12.9" iPP -- I find it's almost useless for reading because it weighs so much. I ended up buying a $ 90 Android 11" tablet which has a 'good enough' screen for reading. (Obv also does email, photos, AI, etc).
If I could develop on the iPP, FOR the iPP --- build professional-quality apps on the iPP --- I would be happier. The Logitech detachable kbd is remarkably good, I have no complaints typing on it all day. iOS is a straightjacket.
Washuu 12 hours ago [-]
I have an iPad Mini. I got it mainly for studying and reading. However, it also has become great for being an instrumentalist. I can toss it in my bag, setup it up with the folding case for sheet music, tuning, and everything else. It saves me from having to carry my sheet music books, tuner, and other bits around.
stormed 15 hours ago [-]
I use my iPad solely for just artwork at this point. I don't respect the App Store and needing to pay subscriptions for things you can get for free on a computer. That, and having to rely on web apps
whimsicalism 14 hours ago [-]
the walled-garden completely destroys the ipads potential as a productivity device.
walkabout 14 hours ago [-]
How? I've never understood this. There's tons of good software for creating things in the App Store.
bluescrn 13 hours ago [-]
Far less open-source software for it, no compilers, emulators banned until recently.
And as for paid software, almost everything a bloodys subscription even for things like note-taking apps, that or loaded with ads and microtransactions.
And anything touch-centric encourages dumbed-down limited-functionality software to begin with. More advanced software requires more precise input devices.
sylens 13 hours ago [-]
I want to be able to write code in an editor or IDE and push that to source control from the device.
Please don't move the goal post to "I also want to compile and run code" because I got nothing for that. I just ssh to my home server and use my normal shell and neovim there.
whimsicalism 11 hours ago [-]
i don’t find the code-server experience particularly good. this “functionality” in blink is basically just safari
also no local git
0x457 9 hours ago [-]
What do you mean, no local git? There is local git...it's just another app. I know it sucks. Also pretty sure code-server has working git functionality?
I don't find that experience good either, but I mostly write rust, so not having rust tool chain and its component is a dealbreaker for me.
I'm just saying you can write code and commit from iPad directly. I'd rather get the ability to use jetbrains IDEs via their remote client, but I don't think it will ever happen.
skinnymuch 12 hours ago [-]
A lot of extensions don’t work well with that. Like the UI is all messed up.
bottlepalm 11 hours ago [-]
iPad has the power to play a majority of Steam games, Windows apps, linux distributions, etc.. but due to it being so locked down, it's essentially a youtube machine. iPad is a joke.
1-more 13 hours ago [-]
My relaxing on the couch creative activity is writing code in compiled languages, running a server, and seeing it go in the browser. This is impossible on an iPad.
There are many other creative workflows possible on an iPad, but I'm not really interested in getting good at those when I have the one that I'm already working on, you know?
And I own exclusively Apple hardware; I'm not some contrarian anti Apple fanboy, I promise.
nickpp 14 hours ago [-]
You can't know what is missing because it hasn't even been invented - because of those limitations.
Devices usually have killer apps that determine their success. The iPad is conspicuously lacking one.
reaperducer 14 hours ago [-]
There's tons of good software for creating things in the App Store.
But none yet that will automate the essential task of posting the phrase "walled garden" on social media.
There could also be an in-app purchase which uses AI to grind ancient axes about butterfly keyboards and Snow Leopard.
whimsicalism 13 hours ago [-]
or a terminal or a decent ide or an ability to script anything. lots of companies rely on custom bespoke software made by an employee who got fed up by something, basically no possibility of doing that on an ipad, etc etc.
but sure, just call me an NPC, you’re so unique and good at noticing patterns and not rude
There have been terminal programs for the iPad since at least 2017, when I started using the one above.
As for "custom bespoke software," why would you try to run that on an iPad in the first place? My company has plenty custom in-house programs, but I don't complain that they won't run on a toaster, or a Commodore 64, or a Cray. That's like saying you won't buy a speedboat because it can't carry all the iron ore that your company's dump truck can haul. It just makes no sense.
ApolloFortyNine 9 hours ago [-]
It's wild to me the levels someone will go to defend a corporation's right to lock away the ability to install anything the user wants.
In a perfect (from their pov) world Apple would prefer the internet didn't even exist, that way they could put up a walled garden AppleNet and take 30% of everything there too.
I chose your comment to respond to but there's a handful of you going to war in the comments, it's just wild to me.
1-more 13 hours ago [-]
Prompt lets you log into some other computer and run programs there, not run programs on your iPad. Hell, I used it to fix a production bug from my phone in like 2013.
walkabout 13 hours ago [-]
> Hell, I used it to fix a production bug from my phone in like 2013
LOL, there are tens of us, I'm sure!
Fixed a production bug on my phone from the passenger seat of a friend's car, somewhere around 2013 or 2014.
hylaride 11 hours ago [-]
I did the same, but with iSSH (which I still mourn).
coldtea 12 hours ago [-]
Sounds like you don't have a tablet specific use case though, you just want to use it as a glorified laptop, so why not just use a laptop?
A tablet specific use case would be as portable writing machine on the go, for illustration, for audio units, or something like that, all the way to flight maps for recreational flying.
ljlolel 12 hours ago [-]
It’s the standard for musical notes
w-m 14 hours ago [-]
The A10X processor in my 2017 iPad Pro has always felt ridiculously overpowered for a couch machine. Recently it had gotten sluggish, hot, hung for times and lost battery quite quickly and I thought its time had finally come.. but no, after resetting the OS, it's as fast as ever. So hopefully it'll last me til Apple finally gives the iPad Air a 120Hz display.
forgotoldacc 13 hours ago [-]
I use it professionally as an art machine. It's excellent for concept art and drawing in general.
minimaxir 13 hours ago [-]
I have a M1 iPad Pro and I'm open to doing a trade-in for a new M5 iPad Pro: however the problem is the accessories. I rely on the Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil and they would have to be repurchased since they are not compatable, which upps the total price too much.
SkyPuncher 14 hours ago [-]
I follow largely the same path. I basically find that mine ends up used for only two things:
1. Reading technical papers where I use the pen to make notes
2. Sketching household projects (a few of the apps are very nice for this).
Outside of that, I simply want a real, physical keyboard most of the time.
ncphillips 13 hours ago [-]
I love my Kindle, but I have never been able to use my iPad for reading.
I got HumbleBundle with a bunch of Pathfinder 2e PDFs cheap but I'm still tempted to buy the physical copies.
ako 11 hours ago [-]
I really like using my iPad with the Nuphy air 75 Bluetooth mechanical low profile keyboard, physical keyboard is a solved problem.
WillAdams 13 hours ago [-]
This is why I replaced my Samsung Galaxy Book 12 w/ a Galaxy Book 3 Pro 360.
I'd give my interest in Hell for there to be a tablet Mac w/ a Wacom stylus --- as it is, I'm seriously considering a Mac Mini and Wacom Movink 14 and a 3D printed shell.... (but first, I'm going to try out an rPi 5 w/ Wacom One 13 Gen 2 w/ touch).
fkyoureadthedoc 14 hours ago [-]
> it becomes a web browsing and YouTube machine on the couch
My 4090 and m4 iPad Pro share this fate, with some occasional gaming.
diamondfist25 12 hours ago [-]
I rented pcs from shadow game, cuz i know if i build a pc w gpu it’d face the same fate
lolive 13 hours ago [-]
As a synth, the iPad is a GODSENT !
raw_anon_1111 14 hours ago [-]
What else does the OS need to do? There are real windows and real background processing.
wlesieutre 14 hours ago [-]
It's a useful device if you're an artist, if you're a developer the best thing you can do with it is buy the cellular model and use it as a very thin VNC client
fkyoureadthedoc 14 hours ago [-]
There's a whole spectrum of use cases between artist and software developer. Honestly most people that I see at work just use Office software, web browser, and Teams.
wlesieutre 12 hours ago [-]
Office is a great use for a $350 regular iPad. Honestly the same one I'd recommend to developers, or worst case an $800 iPad Air for the 13" screen size.
The $1000+ iPad Pro isn't helpful for any of that.
fkyoureadthedoc 11 hours ago [-]
That's true, and I would have gone for a 13" iPad Air when they were introduced, but ultimately went for the iPad Pro because I liked the OLED and 120Hz.
raw_anon_1111 14 hours ago [-]
Yes and developers are a very small slice of the computer using consumers.
0x457 12 hours ago [-]
> buy the cellular model
You probably have your iPhone with you every time you got an iPad with you, so just use that.
raw_anon_1111 11 hours ago [-]
With T-Mobile, I have unlimited data on my iPhone and iPad. But limited tethering data. My iPad data plan is $20-$25 a month.
akdev1l 11 hours ago [-]
Except the iPad battery will last longer and will not kill your phone while you do stuff
>inb4 buy a battery bank
0x457 10 hours ago [-]
Hmm, I will be honest, I was either always close to a power outlet or it lasted long enough for me. You only need to tether if there is no Wi-Fi.
I have a 20000mAh with me when I intend to work remotely though. Either way cheaper than paying for another plan for iPad and buying a more expensive iPad.
majormunky 10 hours ago [-]
It would be great if they allowed JIT compilation in apps. This would allow things like Dolphin (Wii, Gamecube emulator) to run.
gedy 14 hours ago [-]
Normal-ish files and filesystem access, and dev types could use access to the terminal (on the system)
raw_anon_1111 14 hours ago [-]
What’s not “normal” about the files and why do most people need access to the file system and not a method to share files across apps that’s already available?
JodieBenitez 14 hours ago [-]
> a method to share files across apps that’s already available
like a filesystem ?
raw_anon_1111 13 hours ago [-]
You didn’t answer the question, what feature can’t you do with the Files App and the ability to save and load files across applications?
monkmartinez 11 hours ago [-]
How do you know you have the right application to open the file? I have tried at least a dozen apps to open *.stl files... some work, most don't. Some have features I need and don't work opening files. Some are sensitive to stl's that require repair and stop working... and I could go on and on for different file types. The point is; sharing isn't "guaranteed" to work across apps and is generally far, far from "it just works". You have almost zero control over the actual files because there might not be a way to save different formats from the app you are using, or the files app doesn't recognize the extension, or you can't find the folder for the other app, or it doesn't have a user accessible folder, or it will not load files from the "files app"... or <insert 50000 more "what if's here>. The whole things just sucks so, so bad.
raw_anon_1111 11 hours ago [-]
And how do you know a Word file will work seamlessly across other word processors on a computer that are suppose to read Word files or export to Word? What modern productivity software doesn’t support using the Files app? It has been around for well over a decade.
mbgerring 11 hours ago [-]
- Rename, organize, and delete files that span across a number of different applications
- Convert one file type to another
- Choose which application to use to open a file
- Inspect the details of files in a consistent manner
raw_anon_1111 11 hours ago [-]
On your computer, do you inspect the details of a file using Explorer? On the Mac do you do that with the Finder. Or do you actually open the file with an application?
Do you expect to use Windows explorer or the Finder to “convert file types”?
Using iOS 26 on my phone, I held down a file and there is an “Open With” option that gave me a choice of how to open the file.
Across applications? Applications these days save files using the File dialog, they may by default store them in a folder accesible by Files. Yes I know some apps still store their data in their own sandbox. But that’s not the case generally for standard productivity apps.
mbgerring 7 hours ago [-]
If I need to know the details of a file (eg file extension, size, location, etc) I generally use the Finder for that, yes.
I do frequently convert file types through the Finder. Bulk converting a bunch of photos, for example, is easier to do through a file browser. Even if I were opening a different app to do that, a standard file browser would be the interface I would want for that.
It’s great if more iOS applications are storing files as regular files on the filesystem now. Apple should have encouraged that in the first place. There was some goofy notion they were going to get rid of the idea of “files” with iOS, but that’s not actually a good idea.
raw_anon_1111 7 hours ago [-]
> If I need to know the details of a file (eg file extension, size, location, etc) I generally use the Finder for that, yes.
As you would with the Files app…
> Even if I were opening a different app to do that, a standard file browser would be the interface I would want for that
Which iPad apps that allow you to work with files don’t use the standard files app interface when you open and save a file? How else would they work?
> It’s great if more iOS applications are storing files as regular files on the filesystem now. Apple should have encouraged that in the first place.
The Files app and the APIs were introduced in 2017.
Do you use "files"? Its garbargio on steroids. You can't just open a <insert about 100 file extensions here> file from the files app. Moving files around is cumbersome at best and downright infuriating most of the time. The "sandbox" nature of iOS is simply not intuitive enough to know how things will react when you move and try to open a file in another app. It just sucks so bad.
Furthermore, "sharing" is broken. Does it copy the file? Does it move the file? Am I duplicating this 200mb pdf when I move it to books? How the ____ do I know? There is a dearth of information and I imagine most people, like myself, give up and use it to read before bed or watch a few videos on the couch. I am never going to by another iPad until the OS is useful beyond drawing, creating music or reading.
raw_anon_1111 11 hours ago [-]
You can’t open random file extensions on a computer either unless you have an application that understand the format.
Moving files around works just like on Windows and Macs - cut and paste.
And it has the same semantics as Windows and Macs - if I drag a file from one place to another on the same drive - it moves it. If I drag it to another storage location - ie another hard drive on a computer or another storage provider in Files - iCloud, Google Drive, etc it copies it.
It never ceases to amaze me that when computer “experts” criticize people for not wanting to learn how things work - do the same.
drcongo 15 hours ago [-]
I've produced two albums and done quite a few remixes on mine. Trying hard not to sound like a dick here, but if you pick up an iPad and all you can think to do with it is watch YouTube it seems weird to blame the iPad for that.
runjake 14 hours ago [-]
Point noted. For me, I find too much friction and distraction using the iPad for creative. Sure, I'll do something in a pinch, but there's just something about it where I can't focus on non-consumption activities.
I'm not sure what it is about the iPad -- maybe the physical ergonomics? It's kinda hard to position comfortably for focus.
drcongo 13 hours ago [-]
I specifically use my iPad for the music because it's not the MBP I spend all day on for work. I'm sure there's music stuff that would be much easier to achieve on the laptop than the iPad, but the second I open my laptop I'm basically on-call and the distractions too great - the separation helps.
Do agree with the ergonomics point though - it can be hard to spend a lot of time actually working on it.
whycome 14 hours ago [-]
Can you share your stack? What hardware are you using if you're doing vocal/instrument inputs?
drcongo 13 hours ago [-]
I don't do vocals, so hardware is a TD-3, a Roland T-8, TB-03, Arturia MiniFuse 4 as the audio interface, Arturia MiniLab keyboard / controller and various Intech controllers (highly recommended). I believe the MiniFuse would do your vocal inputs pretty well.
Even with all that though, I do 99% of it directly in Logic on the iPad, sometimes 100%.
whalesalad 15 hours ago [-]
Agreed. I am forcing myself to start using my iPad Air more and more but it generally just collects dust. The 10Hz refresh rate has made me want to look at getting a proper one with a fast display - but then I remind myself that it will also probably collect dust most of the time.
GeekyBear 14 hours ago [-]
The additional GPU performance will be very helpful for the upcoming Blender port to iPad.
> The M5 chip is built on TSMC's N3P node and has a faster GPU that can deliver 1.6x more FPS in games, 20% faster multi-core CPU performance, and 1.7x quicker render times in Blender — all versus the M4.
What is the use case for an iPad Pro vs the regular iPad or the iPad Air that I didn't knew even existed?
I have the feeling that everything one could do with the Pro could be done as well with the less expensive models. Apart from the handful of travel youtubers that might want to edit and render their videos in an airport terminal I think the use cases would be very niche. Yet a lot of people seem to prefer it over the other variants, I guess just because it exists and it is at the top of the line?
pretext-1 10 hours ago [-]
All my other devices have 120Hz and switching from any of these to my 5 year old 60Hz iPad Pro gives me physical pain. If the iPad Air had 120Hz I would probably buy that right now. I think I’ll wait for another year though as I’m pretty sure the next iPad Air generation will have 120Hz, now that the non-Pro iPhone has it as well.
I know not everyone is as sensitive to this as I am, so I recommend going to the store and trying both the Air and the Pro. If you’re like me you will notice the difference immediately.
prmoustache 8 hours ago [-]
I think I never had a screen with more than 60Hz and 1080p. Ignorance is bliss I guess as I don't miss something I never experienced.
gyomu 10 hours ago [-]
As a photographer, the OLED screen is truly gorgeous and it is kind of ironic that it is the best display available on any Apple device (the blooming on miniLED is pretty horrendous, and it’s beyond me how anyone deemed it a viable technology to ship in products aimed at professional visual artists/designers).
_ph_ 9 hours ago [-]
Yes, I got the 13" M4 Pro mostly because of the display. I use the iPad Pro as my photo album and its just fantastic for that. The M4 flies of course. Thanks to more and more multi-windowed support on iPad OS it gets more useful for light tasks.
throw-10-13 14 hours ago [-]
Put a grown up OS on it and I’ll consider it.
Insanity 12 hours ago [-]
I currently have an m1 iPad pro, and I use it daily. Do I get the pro performance out of it? Probably not. I might still upgrade to the m5 for the better display though. These are my use-cases FWIW:
- Goodnotes w/ the apple pen during work
- YouTube during dinner
- Kindle App for technical books (and regular Kindle device for fiction)
- Browsing the internet
- Streaming games with Xbox streaming
I travel for work one week per month-ish, and I don't take a personal laptop anymore since getting my iPad.
Now.. do I really _need_ to upgrade? Probably not, my M1 still runs fine. Decisions Decisions :)
bottlepalm 11 hours ago [-]
These use cases are so sad for a device with so much power. Look what Apple has reduced us to.
leakycap 10 hours ago [-]
Life's most precious resource is time. A newer device is often much faster at a person's current routines. Why would you want a fast device to do harder things? Fast alone is worth it.
max51 7 hours ago [-]
because if they allowed you to boot linux/macos/windows and dock it to get a full desktop experience, it could replace laptops and even desktop PC for most people. It legit has the cpu power of a >2k$ gaming PC. For the average person buying the ipad pro, the ipad will be the fastest computer in the house, by a very very wide margin.
bottlepalm 7 hours ago [-]
Not even an iPad, iPhone A series are as powerful laptops and can do just about everything users need to do - even gaming. A19 has over 20 billion transistors it's absurd. How restricted it is, is absurd as well. The most capable chip that has been constrained to tiny subset of potential applications and use cases.
leakycap 6 hours ago [-]
> The most capable chip that has been constrained to tiny subset of potential applications and use cases.
Having run Asahi Linux on an M1, it's obvious that a A and M chips were purpose built/designed together for the software Apple creates.
I have a 2018 MBP that dual boots to Windows. Everything from the color of the screen to the CPU performance is totally unrefined in Bootcamp on Windows compared to the macOS side. Same hardware. A lot of it comes down to how much effort is put into making the hardware and software work efficiently and well together.
steelbrain 11 hours ago [-]
Unrelated to the discussion at hand but information for people that game stream on their Apple Devices: If you experience unexplained stuttering, change the 5ghz wifi channel to 149.
seviu 15 hours ago [-]
I really want this but I can’t justify such a machine just for watching YouTube.
I cannot even give it to my kids since I don’t have multiple accounts with it.
Kind of sad that the most interesting device Apple has will never show its true potential due to their greed.
Terretta 2 hours ago [-]
> I cannot even give it to my kids since I don’t have multiple accounts with it.
For watching YouTube you just need the cheapest iPad not a Pro.
seviu 14 hours ago [-]
A generalization I would say
I really dig that Oled screen
ErneX 14 hours ago [-]
Those will trickle down eventually I suppose.
ihsw 11 hours ago [-]
[dead]
mwexler 15 hours ago [-]
Or an even cheaper android tablet.
qingcharles 13 hours ago [-]
I bought an $80 8th Gen iPad off eBay and it runs 26 great and works perfectly for watching brain-rot and doing my Duolingos.
dylan604 13 hours ago [-]
People keep saying their iPad is a YT consumption device, but without ad blocking, how do you stay sane? I'm assuming if you're consuming that much YT content you've moved to a premium account or something? I don't use my tablet primarily for YT content, so it's rather jolting when I click a link somewhere and see the hell that is unblocked YT
akdev1l 11 hours ago [-]
> I'm assuming if you're consuming that much YT content you've moved to a premium account or something?
Yes
Krssst 11 hours ago [-]
Even with YT Premium, sponsor announcements are still an annoyance. Firefox with SponsorBlock helps with that, not sure if that's usable on iPad.
However, the YouTube Labs “Jump Ahead” feature is basically the same thing. When a sponsor segment starts, double tap the right side of your screen and a “jump ahead” button will usually appear (it’s algorithmic based on user viewing patterns). It skips the ad just about every time.
You’ll have to have Premium and enable this manually. And it might go away, it’s experimental.
But also, iSponsorBlockTV is a great project. But it only works on Apple TV and other streaming TV YouTube apps.
ako 11 hours ago [-]
Yes, YouTube premium, use it a lot to practice my guitar playing by playing along YouTube music videos with chords displayed.
amelius 10 hours ago [-]
Locked down by nanny Apple, therefore a toy.
fkyoureadthedoc 8 hours ago [-]
Any tablet or tablet mode laptop I've used on windows is fucking miserable, so I've always assumed it was more a user experience thing rather than some plot to artificially limit neckbeards
wpm 51 minutes ago [-]
Windows is miserable on the desktop too so idk
Wanting to run whatever I want is not a “neck beard” thing. The only reason normies don’t care is because they don’t understand.
mark_l_watson 14 hours ago [-]
Looks wonderful but I have an old iPad Pro with an M1 and 16G memory and I already feel my old iPad Pro is powerful enough to run local LLMs, write books, use SSH/Mosh to my servers, etc.
EDIT: oh, the prices are much lower now than what I paid 3+ hears ago, that’s nice.
cheeze 7 hours ago [-]
You're running local LLMs on an ipad?
PoorlyNamed 4 hours ago [-]
There are a number of apps that do this.
omnibrain 15 hours ago [-]
They will probably keep the other iPads at 60Hz displays in future. I don't need the other Pro features.
pjmlp 15 hours ago [-]
Great hardware spoiled by a toy OS.
raw_anon_1111 14 hours ago [-]
What doesn’t the OS do as of OS 26 that most ordinary people care about?
poisonborz 14 hours ago [-]
"Ordinary people" wouldn't care about anything above even an M1 CPU. The post is about the iPad Pro. The target audience would care about having the software features that macOS has.
ako 11 hours ago [-]
Not true, it’s a pretty good machine to edit videos on, extra cpu/gpu power is welcome there. I connect it to an external monitor, keyboard and mouse and use Final Cut Pro to edit videos. On holidays I can connect my action cam to the iPad, download the videos and edit them, without having to bring a laptop.
wpm 49 minutes ago [-]
Yeah… but you had to bring an iPad?
I’d choose the laptop every time as I can do all of that in addition to using a non-bullshit browser if I need to do something online.
raw_anon_1111 14 hours ago [-]
Im talking about the operating system.
eptcyka 13 hours ago [-]
The ability to run Xcode? Maybe run Linux in a VM (no, emulation does not count). Maybe run nvim with python/node/rust/go/gcc toolchains on the iPad? How about Wireshark? I really liked using Nixdroid on my Pixel, why can't I have something similar on iOS/iPadOS?
Android can run Android Studio. Why can't an iPad run Xcode?
raw_anon_1111 13 hours ago [-]
Yeah those are things most people want on an iPad with 6GB RAM…
eptcyka 13 hours ago [-]
The pros come with 12 and 16 GB of memory. That is plenty.
raw_anon_1111 12 hours ago [-]
I would not want to run XCode let alone Android Studio with an Android emulator with 12GB RAM or a VM. Even the lowest end MacBook Air comes with 16GB RAM.
eptcyka 11 hours ago [-]
It depends entirely on your target - you don’t need an emulator if you are already running an android device.
Xcode on my macbook doesn’t need 12GB. It is of course a different story if you need to also run clang-analyzer or rust-analyzer in addition to xcode/studio, but still, 16GB would be enough to get by for a sizeable chunk of devs.
raw_anon_1111 9 hours ago [-]
(I replied to the wrong comment originally)
I haven’t done mobile development for ages, but isn’t it always slower to have to update the app on the phone all of the time?
pjmlp 12 hours ago [-]
My first computer had 48 KB, 6 GB are a lot when not juggling Electron processes.
raw_anon_1111 10 hours ago [-]
I haven’t done mobile development for ages, but isn’t it always slower to have to update the app on the phone all of the time?
pjmlp 9 hours ago [-]
Why should mobile development the only reason for a rich OS experience?
raw_anon_1111 9 hours ago [-]
I replied to the wrong comment - my bad
raw_anon_1111 11 hours ago [-]
Really? Are we going to compare development in what 1980 to today? I got my start programming on an Apple //e in 1986 in assembly and it had 128KB of RAM.
6GB is not plenty when you are expected to run an IDE and in the case of Android an emulator that is also emulating a phone with 4GB+ RAM.
iOS development has never used an “emulator”, when you ran in the simulator even on x86 computers, it compiled your code to x86 and ran against an x86 version of the iOS framework.
icedchai 7 hours ago [-]
Modern software is absurdly bloated, no matter how you look at it. I started programming on an Apple II, but the first computer I ran anything approaching an "IDE" on was an Amiga 500 with 3 megs of RAM. (Lattice C!)
The only reason you can't run a full blown OS on an iPad is Apple doesn't want you to. It would eat into low-end Mac sales.
raw_anon_1111 6 hours ago [-]
Did you run an IDE and a separate emulator/simulator for a completely different computer? The video memory of a modern computer is much more than 3MB of RAM.
Why wouldn’t Apple rather you spend more on an iPad Pro + keyboard than a MacBook Air?
pjmlp 10 hours ago [-]
Really, because iPadOS fails short of being a proper Dynabook.
Who needs an emulator when running on device?!?
raw_anon_1111 9 hours ago [-]
Now you are going to list exactly how. Just a reminder before you start playing the old guy card - I’m 51 and started coding in 1986.
You would need an emulator if you wanted to run Android Studio or use the much flowery process of updating the phone every time you made a change.
pjmlp 9 hours ago [-]
Than I wonder why you think using Android Studio on an iPad is the only reason to have a proper OS experience with the same capabilities as macOS.
As for Dynabook like experience, given our age, you can certainly find the difference on your own.
> The ability to run Xcode? Maybe run Linux in a VM (no, emulation does not count). Maybe run nvim with python/node/rust/go/gcc toolchains on the iPad? How about Wireshark? I really liked using Nixdroid on my Pixel, why can't I have something similar on iOS/iPadOS?
Android can run Android Studio. Why can't an iPad run Xcode?
How much of that could you do on your Dynabook? How was web browsing? The office suites? Video and audio editing? The office suites? Even the games?
pjmlp 8 hours ago [-]
Maybe one day iPadOS users will get what using a full blown OS on a tablet actually means.
This compact tablet runs on a Snapdragon X Plus chip and is built for casual browsing and office work. It’s not high-end
The screen has a semi-high brightness IPS panel, 2196×1464 pixel resolution, and a 60 or 90 Hz frame rate. You’ll have to set it up manually; dynamic frequency is not supported. It’s not full pro quality on the screen,
With a 12-inch screen and 3:2 aspect ratio
The processor doesn’t even stack up well against the cheap base model iPad.
pjmlp 8 hours ago [-]
That is not thinking different.
raw_anon_1111 7 hours ago [-]
So it’s slower, a worse display, a worse aspect ratio for a tablet, and Microsoft’s x86 emulator is notoriously slow and there are many fewer ARM native apps?
pretext-1 9 hours ago [-]
A lot of small things. For example importing Live Photos. On macOS when you drag and drop an image and video file with the same name into the Photos app, the Photos app combines both into a single Live Photo. On iOS/iPadOS this does not work.
There is bigger things too. A proper web browser for example. Google Docs is barely usable in Safari on iPad with larger documents. The permanent banner at the top asking you to install the app is so annoying. The Google Docs app is somehow even worse. And it’s not just Google apps. Many iPad apps are just upscaled iPhone apps with lots of features missing compared to the web version. And don’t even think about support for multiple tabs or windows in apps.
For YouTube and Netflix my iPad Pro is great but anything beyond hurts. And this is the „Pro“ model. You can say maybe I’m too advanced for the „Pro“ but most users have _something_ besides of YouTube and Netflix they want to do and will feel these limitations sooner or later. It’s it not a laptop replacement and Apple wouldn’t want it to be.
raw_anon_1111 9 hours ago [-]
Why would you use the web app for GSuite instead of just using the apps?
I use GSuite on my iPad all of the time.
dmitshur 14 hours ago [-]
A random recent example off the top of my head: view photos in AVIF format. It does work in Photos app, but not in Preview app nor in Messages app somehow. At least this the case on iOS 26 and so I suspect iPadOS 26 too. It works on macOS 26.
Edit: I realize that ordinary people might not yet care about exporting to AVIF, but they may receive such photos from other people.
fkyoureadthedoc 14 hours ago [-]
No much imo. I feel more constrained by screen size than I do OS limitations
tempoponet 9 hours ago [-]
Everyone has their own hill to die on, that's the thing about personal computing. It's the same if you ask why they can't switch mobile OS. It's some seemingly trivial app or feature that almost nobody cares about.
micromacrofoot 14 hours ago [-]
they very clearly don't want to cannibalize their macbook sales, lots of people still buying both
dmitshur 14 hours ago [-]
Glad to see that unlike last time with the M4 release, this time they released M5 in more devices than just the iPad Pro at the same time. That said, there’s still room for improvement: the MacBook Air and Mac mini weren’t updated yet.
alberth 15 hours ago [-]
I'm be curious to know the breakdown of Pro vs Air vs Base iPad sales.
Because I have to imagine very few people buy the iPad Pro (and for those who do, what use case are they buying it for).
criddell 13 hours ago [-]
I'm going to order one of these to replace my 2018 iPad Pro which is the computer I use the most.
I'll spend around $2k and I want to get at least 5 years of use out of it. That will make it cost me a little more than $1 / day which, fortunately, I can afford.
cyberpunk 11 hours ago [-]
What size you going for?
criddell 10 hours ago [-]
13 w/ 512 GB + Pencil. I want the nano screen but that would require me to bump the storage to 1 TB and I don't need that. Instead, I'll get a paper-like screen protector. I've had good luck with those in the past.
If the Smart Folio Keyboard was still available, I'd buy that too. It's not, so I'm going keyboard-less for now.
medhir 8 hours ago [-]
would buy this in a heartbeat if I could run macOS… it’s such a shame iPad hardware has been so held back by Apple’s lackluster software strategy for this long
jmull 12 hours ago [-]
I’m waiting for them to put macos on the ipads (or touch/pencil on the macbooks).
tristor 12 hours ago [-]
I have never figured out what the point of a tablet is, except for entertainment. I keep wanting to buy an iPad every time a new one comes out, yet I've never bought one, and keep failing to see any point to it. I have a reMarkable device, which is a sort of tablet, but I use it exclusively for taking notes by hand in meetings, which is basically what it is designed for. I have a Kindle, which is kind of like a tablet, and I use it exclusively for reading which is what it is designed for. An iPad feels like it should replace both, but when I actually analyze it, it cannot replace either one.
What really are tablets for other than being a passive entertainment consumption device?
pretext-1 9 hours ago [-]
I travel a lot for work and don’t want to bring a second MacBook Pro. iPad works well in the plane for watching movies, MacBook not so much, at least not in Economy class. Can’t use my work computer for personal stuff anyway unfortunately. Also can’t download Netflix content offline on desktop.
Another use case is in the kitchen. Recipes, YouTube, FaceTime, etc. I use my iPad Pro in the kitchen every day when I’m at home. Easy to clean up. Using a MacBook while cooking will make it gross very fast.
DamnInteresting 9 hours ago [-]
Apart from watching videos, I use mine for making music (podcast scoring) and for drawing (formal illustrations, doodling, and sketching out designs). There are also a few games that I feel play best on an iPad, such as Balatro.
16 hours ago [-]
14 hours ago [-]
pedalpete 8 hours ago [-]
Is it just me, or does anyone else notice the contrast on this page, as well as the Macbook page almost hides the devices themselves for most of the images?
Maybe it's just my old eyes, but black background, black trim, dark grey device with dark grey keyboard.
What are they selling here?
medlazik 11 hours ago [-]
I don't understand why there isn't a market for 15"+ iPads. 13" is just too small for home use and too heavy for using it without a stand, might as well make it much bigger
gsibble 12 hours ago [-]
This obviously isn't a tablet meant for people who own M4/M2 iPads to upgrade. You wouldn't be getting your money's worth (although the tandem OLED on the M4 is stunning).
This is just a minor update for anyone with an older iPad/iPad Pro in case they want to upgrade.
Many of the people here complaining don't seem to understand they are not the target market.
Also, I love using my iPad as a social media / YouTube content consumption device. It's a fantastic experience. I also use it for a lot of home control (mostly audio but also lighting). It sure is an expensive device but it lasts forever and I get my money's worth.
Definition of the most useless machine - doesn't fit in your pocket, has good specs but refuses to run anything not signed by Apple.. worst of both worlds.
robinhood 15 hours ago [-]
For you. Not for many other users who definitely do not agree with this statement.
To me this will be the kind of computers I'll tell my parents to use as soon as their crappy laptops die. They do not need literally anything else: sending emails, write a few ones, check Youtube and browse the web. For this use case, it's the most useful machine. Never breaks, infinite battery, no support needed.
And I hate Apple. So this says a lot.
maleldil 13 hours ago [-]
You don't need an iPad Pro with M5 for that, though.
robinhood 13 hours ago [-]
Of course not. I was just answering the comment about the form factor and the device's philosophy as a whole.
ErneX 14 hours ago [-]
The iPads have become very capable for 3D and illustration, I think they are good also for music.
I don’t have a use for the Pro model but I use my Air a lot.
zb3 14 hours ago [-]
My laptop folds and has a touchscreen too.. there are ones which support advanced pens - none of this requires the OS to be as locked as iOS.
raw_anon_1111 14 hours ago [-]
I have never used a touch screen laptop that wasn’t compromised - heavy, wrong screen ratio and if it’s an x86 laptop it runs hot with poor battery life
walkabout 13 hours ago [-]
Yeah the nice thing about (non-cellular) iPads vs. the competition (including Android tablets last time I tried them, but maybe they've gotten a ton better since then) is that you can leave them in a drawer for a couple weeks, take them out, they'll wake up ~instantly, and still have a useful amount of charge. x86 laptops and (again, last I tried) Android tablets always gave me "where's the nearest outlet?!" anxiety, or were just dead when I picked them up to use them. iPads are chill.
hbn 10 hours ago [-]
No desktop OS works as well with a touchscreen as iPad OS.
It's a touch-first OS, for better and for worse. Anything else it was tacked onto a UI/UX made for a keyboard and mouse
criddell 13 hours ago [-]
You've chosen your computer and OS and are looking for compatible apps. I've gone the other way. I want to run Procreate and the best environment for running it is the iPad with Apple Pencil.
Both are reasonable ways to make a decision.
dcreater 12 hours ago [-]
At this point, I think its just very irresponsible of Apple putting these kind of chips in the iPad and then given 99% of the users no way to actually harness that power. Occupy TSMC line time and cause global geopolitical struggles for what??
cedws 11 hours ago [-]
I think Apple hardware must be incredibly underutilised across the board. Every new generation of iPhone or MacBook they boast about lofty performance gains, but who is actually complaining about their iPhone not being fast enough? Nobody I know pushes their iPhone so hard it starts to lag. It's not like you can really do anything computationally heavy on your phone besides games, but people mostly play simplistic 2D games on iOS anyway.
leakycap 10 hours ago [-]
Having performance available when you need it is the alternative to waiting.
Even a simplistic 2D game loads data, runs routines, and while the person is doing that they expect the phone to stay connected to a network, keep up with notifications... you act like Apple is doing something bad.
Intel/Chromebooks still are being sold in the USA at Best Buy with the Celeron N4000-series and Pentium-4200 series chips if you prefer to have zero performance overhead on your devices.
bottlepalm 11 hours ago [-]
Somehow the most powerful capable chips hardware wise, are at the same time the least capable software wise. I thought Apple was supposed to be the 'bicycle for the mind', what happened?
leakycap 10 hours ago [-]
"bicycle for the mind" was something from the late 1970s-era Apple
> what happened?
1978 was 47 years ago
tempodox 12 hours ago [-]
So they can ruin this beautiful hardware with shitty and locked down software. For most people, games are the only kind of software that comes close to actually utilizing all this power, but dedicated game consoles are cheaper. So what’s the point any more?
My M4 MacBook Pro is faster than my modern i9 desktop that work spent $$$ on...
iPad feels like a genie trapped in a bottle to me. It has that same M4 but there's so much less to use it for. Too bad I can't just set it by my PC and throw workloads at the processor or something. Continuity works well enough as a second screen but I'd love a second M4 CPU.
Second CPU would be nice, too.
The built-in MacOS feature that does this called continuity… but I know it was renamed once (used to be sidecar). Maybe you’re referring to an old name? Or is it a product?
Edit: I looked it up and it appears that the app is continuity and “Sidecar” and “Universal Control” are features. IDT those names show up in the OS UX though.
https://www.apple.com/macos/continuity/
PS: I don't think GPU continuity will work well over USB-C.
Just trying to imagine the workflow :)
I personally prefer a ~32" 4k screen for main work but I could see the convenience of an iPad to quickly remote in and check on stuff or maybe it's enough on it's own and I can learn from ya'll!
Just dock your iPad in the office and get a desktop class experience. Pick it up and go and have your same apps and sessions and data anywhere.
Would be nice. It's the experience I had with a Surface but I get Windows isn't applicable to all users and workloads.
The fact that you can't turn off the iPad screen while it's docked drives me crazy.
You can use this to fix bugs in iOS apps from the park and try new TestFlight builds within minutes.
Do you know whats better than an iPad? 2 iPads (yes, shredding code on 2 simultaneously).
Watch YouTube, casually browse web (I am yet to install VPN).
So far the most use I had with it was recording meetings, so that later I can relisten.
If I was able to run Ubuntu on it or even macOs - that would have been a different story...
I think someone deciding between an M4 and an M5 today should consider its value 5 years down the road, rather than its value today.
I don't know why Apple is putting full M series chips in their iPads but limit the software they can run. Either open it up to desktop apps or just put a cheaper A series chip in them.
https://github.com/albertquiroga/awesome-ios-game-ports?tab=...
Sure, it's great for that kind of (computationally) light work, but then what's the point of putting a monster like the M5 chip in it?
You put a bigger chip in so you can run it at lower power consumption levels. Essentially, there are two ways this can pan out:
* Overall utilization can remain lower, keeping it in a more power efficient band.
* Expensive actions complete faster, thus using less power (since they run for less time).
From an overall business perspective, there also doesn't really seem to be a reason to _not_ standardize the lineup on a single chip. I have to imagine is less overhead from a manufacturing standpoint and it's not like there's a particularly meaningful difference in manufacturing costs of these chips.
Terrible battery life by comparison. Worse display. Not as swift at video playback. And with LLMs on the rise, less locally capable.
Anyway my point isn't that people shouldn't buy iPads, my point is that it's silly that Apple has hardware that is incredibly capable and is held back entirely by terrible software policies.
If you use one program at a time, do not need an actual file system, have no need to install software from a variety of places (Github, Vendor sites, etc), have no problem installing multiple "apps" that only work behind paywalls or not at all and you don't care about replacing a functional device whenever Apple obsoletes it... iOS is the best thing since sliced bread.
If you need anything outside of iOS's limited list of abilities, its a trash operating system that has crippled amazing hardware.
I've cycled through using an iPad Pro as my main device on and off over the years - particularly the cellular modem has been a draw. For coding, they're terrible, as they are for longer form writing. I've ultimately shrunk down to the small size and use it as a kindle/gaming replacement. I think with a foldable iPhone I'd probably skip buying one.
All that said there's a large market for them. I use mine enough that every two cycles I update just for battery reasons.
Apple earnings on Mac and iPads are in the same ballpark and if iPads cost half of a Mac its indeed a 2x.
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/05/01/apple-2q-2025-earnings/
iPads have way more common with phones than laptops. They are more prone to damage and many people treat them like fashion accessories, promptly buying new devices upon launch even if the old one is perfectly fine.
It think one of the points of popularity for the iPad is that it's the same (in most respects) as an iPhone, but bigger. The smartphone has become the default computing and communication device for billions of people. My wife can certainly use her iPhone, but she almost never does; the iPad fulfills that need for her. She plays Balatro, Simon's Cat, and Angry Birds, reads and writes email, reads, browses the web, watches video on her iPad.
Key feature: she can sit on the couch and use it. She does that all the time. It's a much more approachable device. She does everything on it. She plays a lot of bridge both on the ipad and in real life. So, she's even playing online games. Really fun when she randomly starts swearing at some dumb witted random co-player on the internet.
I'm not into IOS myself but I appreciate it for what it is and does. Steve Jobs nailed that one. I have a mac book pro but I have an Android phone. For me a phone is dumb read only device. Typing on it sucks. The screen is to clumsy and tiny for properly enjoying content, the camera is alright but I don't use that a lot. It's a device for reading hacker news and a few other things. I actually take most calls via my laptop. It even fails its primary job as a communication device for me.
Anyway, the key thing with this ipad is the built in apple phone chips. No more qualcomm. They can just put this thing in any device now. I'm not sure what's holding them back with their laptops. I'm guessing there's some Qualcomm IP and patents that might make that a bit expensive. But it's 2025. Why can't my laptop not connect to 5G networks without dongles, thethering, or other nonsense? The key blocker was always Qualcomm. Problem solved you'd think. Apparently, they are not going there yet. Maybe next year.
I would like a full screen shell that's got a reasonable unix variant underneath it. But I do find other uses for it.
I use mine for editing photos. But, I still have to start and end the process with Lightroom classic on my Mac because of stupid decisions by Adobe to rent-seek with cloud storage, offering no local-stroage workflow option with the iPad app (and deliberately leaving out some features only available in LR Classic).
Likewise, I would love to do all of my photoshop work on the iPad. It's a great immersive experience with the Apple Pencil vs. sitting down with a mouse and keyboard on a computer, but yet again, Adobe cripples the iPad app compared to the desktop app.
And those particular use cases aren't Apple's fault. I'm less and less frustrated with iPad OS as a whole, particularly with windowing in 26 (though it could use some polish). It's got external display support, a file manager, access to external storage, audio input select now, etc. But Adobe (and others) are still making crippled mobile applications for it instead of just doing work to port over the full desktop experience on a device that is now just as capable.
Sure you can't code on it (very well), but I feel like Apple should start putting some pressure on Adobe and the other creative-suite of software companies to beef up the iPad experience, maybe offer some incentive or something.
But I'm going to end up with a subscription anyway because of Photoshop so I've just always stuck with LR. That, and I used a LUT I built using Davinci Resolve, blended with the Camera Standard profile that I use as a slider in Lightroom (Classic) and I haven't found a way to do something similar in any other program yet (you can create these creative profiles in photoshop too but Davinci's color grading tools are so far superior). It's a key part of my look.
Also FWIW M1 and newer iPad Pros have thunderbolt 4
I use my 2018 iPad Pro every day, though. Ironically, that's the reason why I'm not replacing it - it works just fine.
But I had the use case before I bought it. If not for that, I wouldn't own one.
It's also very handy for running VSTs (well, AUs really) and jamming with keyboards or guitars (with something like iRig)
That being said, _some_ people I know consistently seem to get lots of work use out of their tablets, and I can't quite put my finger on where we differ.
Goes without saying YMMV but it works for me.
I had to hand down my iPad Pro 3rd Gen (the one with A12x Bionic chip) to my daughter for her school use.
I got myself a 13" iPad Air (M2 chip) this time and Apple Pencil Pro (from Apple Refurbished store). The larger screen size isn't that much of a botheration as I thought it might be. On the flip side, the screen size is a lot closer to an A4 sheet and writing on it feels much better. I use Paperlike screen cover and pencil tips too.
I don't have Netflix or YouTube installed on it.
I only use it for Apple Books, Kindle, Notes and now Preview app is there as well.
I might this time even use it as Sidekick and remote access IDEs running on my MBP but not sure if I want to do that yet on the iPad.
I have a 2017 iPad Pro and once the battery finally dies will replace it with a non-Pro iPad.
Or if you aren't a music person, are you into making movies? Final Cut Pro does have a subscription, but it's only $5 / month and the subscription is easy to start and stop. If your needs are simple, the free iMovie is pretty good.
Or maybe video isn't your thing. Are you a writer or poet? There are a lot of great choices for writing apps and the battery life of the iPad means you can work away from your desk all day.
Or if you like writing software, Swift Playground is fun. I found this to be a great resource:
https://github.com/uraimo/Awesome-Swift-Playgrounds
If you are into photography, Affinity Photo is fun. It doesn't have the AI features that Photoshop has, but for amateurs, it can get you pretty far. Plug in an external drive to your iPad and you can use it with a huge photo library.
And those cheap/free things are only available after dropping $1000 on a new iPad
As for having a better time on the laptop, YMMV. My iPad is my most used computer by a mile.
If you have the disposal income, no need to justify it outside of "it's a cool gadget and I want to play with it."
Just borrow someone else's underused ipad if you want to give it a try.
Now it's just a YouTube device.
Just buy a sketch book and some colored pens and pencils.
It beats the hell out of either laptops or phones, for me, for these tasks:
- Music. Excellent as a sheet music display; can record and edit midi quite well; play tutorial videos; act as a tuner, tone generator, or metronome (my phone beats it on that front due to portability, but still, if I already have the iPad out on the stand...); plenty good enough at audio recording and editing for my extremely-amateur purposes, plus its ability to play loops and beats and such.
- Reading. It's especially amazing for comic books (in landscape mode a 12.9 incher is almost the same size as an open comic book! You can read two-page side-by-side on it, no problem) and PDFs. I prefer iPad mini sized devices for prose books in ordinary ebook formats, but the 12.9" pro is damn near perfect for those two things. Laptops and desktop computers also work for comic books and PDFs, but are a pretty big downgrade, UX-wise.
- Drawing. Obviously.
- Long-form writing. Laptops work great for this too, of course, but you still need a separate keyboard if you want decent ergonomics. iPad doesn't have an attached keyboard taking up space that I could instead use for a separate keyboard.
It's also just as good as a laptop (to me) as a remote SSH terminal, VNC terminal, video/music player, web browser et c. I can't really think of much I do on my (personal! Not work-supplied) laptop that I can't do just as well on an iPad, maybe supplemented by a headless RPi hanging off my router, or a cheap VM rental (or just the Linux server in an old desktop workstation tower that I already have anyway).
The screen is still small. Also, for technical writing, I think a lot of software is missing. There are a lot of small tools that technical writers use to do diagrams, illustrations. Also, long-form writing can be in different file formats. I think support for LaTeX and typst is very limited.
If I could develop on the iPP, FOR the iPP --- build professional-quality apps on the iPP --- I would be happier. The Logitech detachable kbd is remarkably good, I have no complaints typing on it all day. iOS is a straightjacket.
And as for paid software, almost everything a bloodys subscription even for things like note-taking apps, that or loaded with ads and microtransactions.
And anything touch-centric encourages dumbed-down limited-functionality software to begin with. More advanced software requires more precise input devices.
Please don't move the goal post to "I also want to compile and run code" because I got nothing for that. I just ssh to my home server and use my normal shell and neovim there.
also no local git
I don't find that experience good either, but I mostly write rust, so not having rust tool chain and its component is a dealbreaker for me.
I'm just saying you can write code and commit from iPad directly. I'd rather get the ability to use jetbrains IDEs via their remote client, but I don't think it will ever happen.
There are many other creative workflows possible on an iPad, but I'm not really interested in getting good at those when I have the one that I'm already working on, you know?
And I own exclusively Apple hardware; I'm not some contrarian anti Apple fanboy, I promise.
Devices usually have killer apps that determine their success. The iPad is conspicuously lacking one.
But none yet that will automate the essential task of posting the phrase "walled garden" on social media.
There could also be an in-app purchase which uses AI to grind ancient axes about butterfly keyboards and Snow Leopard.
but sure, just call me an NPC, you’re so unique and good at noticing patterns and not rude
Here ya go: https://panic.com/prompt/
There have been terminal programs for the iPad since at least 2017, when I started using the one above.
As for "custom bespoke software," why would you try to run that on an iPad in the first place? My company has plenty custom in-house programs, but I don't complain that they won't run on a toaster, or a Commodore 64, or a Cray. That's like saying you won't buy a speedboat because it can't carry all the iron ore that your company's dump truck can haul. It just makes no sense.
In a perfect (from their pov) world Apple would prefer the internet didn't even exist, that way they could put up a walled garden AppleNet and take 30% of everything there too.
I chose your comment to respond to but there's a handful of you going to war in the comments, it's just wild to me.
LOL, there are tens of us, I'm sure!
Fixed a production bug on my phone from the passenger seat of a friend's car, somewhere around 2013 or 2014.
A tablet specific use case would be as portable writing machine on the go, for illustration, for audio units, or something like that, all the way to flight maps for recreational flying.
1. Reading technical papers where I use the pen to make notes
2. Sketching household projects (a few of the apps are very nice for this).
Outside of that, I simply want a real, physical keyboard most of the time.
I got HumbleBundle with a bunch of Pathfinder 2e PDFs cheap but I'm still tempted to buy the physical copies.
I'd give my interest in Hell for there to be a tablet Mac w/ a Wacom stylus --- as it is, I'm seriously considering a Mac Mini and Wacom Movink 14 and a 3D printed shell.... (but first, I'm going to try out an rPi 5 w/ Wacom One 13 Gen 2 w/ touch).
My 4090 and m4 iPad Pro share this fate, with some occasional gaming.
The $1000+ iPad Pro isn't helpful for any of that.
You probably have your iPhone with you every time you got an iPad with you, so just use that.
>inb4 buy a battery bank
I have a 20000mAh with me when I intend to work remotely though. Either way cheaper than paying for another plan for iPad and buying a more expensive iPad.
like a filesystem ?
- Convert one file type to another
- Choose which application to use to open a file
- Inspect the details of files in a consistent manner
Do you expect to use Windows explorer or the Finder to “convert file types”?
Using iOS 26 on my phone, I held down a file and there is an “Open With” option that gave me a choice of how to open the file.
Across applications? Applications these days save files using the File dialog, they may by default store them in a folder accesible by Files. Yes I know some apps still store their data in their own sandbox. But that’s not the case generally for standard productivity apps.
I do frequently convert file types through the Finder. Bulk converting a bunch of photos, for example, is easier to do through a file browser. Even if I were opening a different app to do that, a standard file browser would be the interface I would want for that.
It’s great if more iOS applications are storing files as regular files on the filesystem now. Apple should have encouraged that in the first place. There was some goofy notion they were going to get rid of the idea of “files” with iOS, but that’s not actually a good idea.
As you would with the Files app…
> Even if I were opening a different app to do that, a standard file browser would be the interface I would want for that
Which iPad apps that allow you to work with files don’t use the standard files app interface when you open and save a file? How else would they work?
> It’s great if more iOS applications are storing files as regular files on the filesystem now. Apple should have encouraged that in the first place.
The Files app and the APIs were introduced in 2017.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/files/id1232058109
Furthermore, "sharing" is broken. Does it copy the file? Does it move the file? Am I duplicating this 200mb pdf when I move it to books? How the ____ do I know? There is a dearth of information and I imagine most people, like myself, give up and use it to read before bed or watch a few videos on the couch. I am never going to by another iPad until the OS is useful beyond drawing, creating music or reading.
Moving files around works just like on Windows and Macs - cut and paste.
And it has the same semantics as Windows and Macs - if I drag a file from one place to another on the same drive - it moves it. If I drag it to another storage location - ie another hard drive on a computer or another storage provider in Files - iCloud, Google Drive, etc it copies it.
It never ceases to amaze me that when computer “experts” criticize people for not wanting to learn how things work - do the same.
I'm not sure what it is about the iPad -- maybe the physical ergonomics? It's kinda hard to position comfortably for focus.
Do agree with the ergonomics point though - it can be hard to spend a lot of time actually working on it.
Even with all that though, I do 99% of it directly in Logic on the iPad, sometimes 100%.
> The M5 chip is built on TSMC's N3P node and has a faster GPU that can deliver 1.6x more FPS in games, 20% faster multi-core CPU performance, and 1.7x quicker render times in Blender — all versus the M4.
https://www.tomshardware.com/laptops/macbooks/apple-launches...
I have the feeling that everything one could do with the Pro could be done as well with the less expensive models. Apart from the handful of travel youtubers that might want to edit and render their videos in an airport terminal I think the use cases would be very niche. Yet a lot of people seem to prefer it over the other variants, I guess just because it exists and it is at the top of the line?
I know not everyone is as sensitive to this as I am, so I recommend going to the store and trying both the Air and the Pro. If you’re like me you will notice the difference immediately.
- Goodnotes w/ the apple pen during work
- YouTube during dinner
- Kindle App for technical books (and regular Kindle device for fiction)
- Browsing the internet
- Streaming games with Xbox streaming
I travel for work one week per month-ish, and I don't take a personal laptop anymore since getting my iPad.
Now.. do I really _need_ to upgrade? Probably not, my M1 still runs fine. Decisions Decisions :)
Having run Asahi Linux on an M1, it's obvious that a A and M chips were purpose built/designed together for the software Apple creates.
I have a 2018 MBP that dual boots to Windows. Everything from the color of the screen to the CPU performance is totally unrefined in Bootcamp on Windows compared to the macOS side. Same hardware. A lot of it comes down to how much effort is put into making the hardware and software work efficiently and well together.
I cannot even give it to my kids since I don’t have multiple accounts with it.
Kind of sad that the most interesting device Apple has will never show its true potential due to their greed.
You can, but it's not advertised this way:
https://support.apple.com/guide/deployment/shared-ipad-overv...
There are ways to supervise besides get into a full MDM:
https://support.apple.com/guide/deployment/about-device-supe...
I really dig that Oled screen
Yes
However, the YouTube Labs “Jump Ahead” feature is basically the same thing. When a sponsor segment starts, double tap the right side of your screen and a “jump ahead” button will usually appear (it’s algorithmic based on user viewing patterns). It skips the ad just about every time.
You’ll have to have Premium and enable this manually. And it might go away, it’s experimental.
But also, iSponsorBlockTV is a great project. But it only works on Apple TV and other streaming TV YouTube apps.
EDIT: oh, the prices are much lower now than what I paid 3+ hears ago, that’s nice.
I’d choose the laptop every time as I can do all of that in addition to using a non-bullshit browser if I need to do something online.
Android can run Android Studio. Why can't an iPad run Xcode?
Xcode on my macbook doesn’t need 12GB. It is of course a different story if you need to also run clang-analyzer or rust-analyzer in addition to xcode/studio, but still, 16GB would be enough to get by for a sizeable chunk of devs.
I haven’t done mobile development for ages, but isn’t it always slower to have to update the app on the phone all of the time?
6GB is not plenty when you are expected to run an IDE and in the case of Android an emulator that is also emulating a phone with 4GB+ RAM.
iOS development has never used an “emulator”, when you ran in the simulator even on x86 computers, it compiled your code to x86 and ran against an x86 version of the iOS framework.
The only reason you can't run a full blown OS on an iPad is Apple doesn't want you to. It would eat into low-end Mac sales.
Why wouldn’t Apple rather you spend more on an iPad Pro + keyboard than a MacBook Air?
Who needs an emulator when running on device?!?
You would need an emulator if you wanted to run Android Studio or use the much flowery process of updating the phone every time you made a change.
As for Dynabook like experience, given our age, you can certainly find the difference on your own.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45594747
> The ability to run Xcode? Maybe run Linux in a VM (no, emulation does not count). Maybe run nvim with python/node/rust/go/gcc toolchains on the iPad? How about Wireshark? I really liked using Nixdroid on my Pixel, why can't I have something similar on iOS/iPadOS? Android can run Android Studio. Why can't an iPad run Xcode?
How much of that could you do on your Dynabook? How was web browsing? The office suites? Video and audio editing? The office suites? Even the games?
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/devices/surface-pro
Think different.
https://www.pcworld.com/article/2795490/microsoft-surface-pr...
This compact tablet runs on a Snapdragon X Plus chip and is built for casual browsing and office work. It’s not high-end
The screen has a semi-high brightness IPS panel, 2196×1464 pixel resolution, and a 60 or 90 Hz frame rate. You’ll have to set it up manually; dynamic frequency is not supported. It’s not full pro quality on the screen,
With a 12-inch screen and 3:2 aspect ratio
The processor doesn’t even stack up well against the cheap base model iPad.
There is bigger things too. A proper web browser for example. Google Docs is barely usable in Safari on iPad with larger documents. The permanent banner at the top asking you to install the app is so annoying. The Google Docs app is somehow even worse. And it’s not just Google apps. Many iPad apps are just upscaled iPhone apps with lots of features missing compared to the web version. And don’t even think about support for multiple tabs or windows in apps.
For YouTube and Netflix my iPad Pro is great but anything beyond hurts. And this is the „Pro“ model. You can say maybe I’m too advanced for the „Pro“ but most users have _something_ besides of YouTube and Netflix they want to do and will feel these limitations sooner or later. It’s it not a laptop replacement and Apple wouldn’t want it to be.
I use GSuite on my iPad all of the time.
Edit: I realize that ordinary people might not yet care about exporting to AVIF, but they may receive such photos from other people.
Because I have to imagine very few people buy the iPad Pro (and for those who do, what use case are they buying it for).
I'll spend around $2k and I want to get at least 5 years of use out of it. That will make it cost me a little more than $1 / day which, fortunately, I can afford.
If the Smart Folio Keyboard was still available, I'd buy that too. It's not, so I'm going keyboard-less for now.
What really are tablets for other than being a passive entertainment consumption device?
Another use case is in the kitchen. Recipes, YouTube, FaceTime, etc. I use my iPad Pro in the kitchen every day when I’m at home. Easy to clean up. Using a MacBook while cooking will make it gross very fast.
Maybe it's just my old eyes, but black background, black trim, dark grey device with dark grey keyboard.
What are they selling here?
This is just a minor update for anyone with an older iPad/iPad Pro in case they want to upgrade.
Many of the people here complaining don't seem to understand they are not the target market.
Also, I love using my iPad as a social media / YouTube content consumption device. It's a fantastic experience. I also use it for a lot of home control (mostly audio but also lighting). It sure is an expensive device but it lasts forever and I get my money's worth.
Oh, and Lightroom on it is fantastic!
Apple M5 Chip
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45591799
To me this will be the kind of computers I'll tell my parents to use as soon as their crappy laptops die. They do not need literally anything else: sending emails, write a few ones, check Youtube and browse the web. For this use case, it's the most useful machine. Never breaks, infinite battery, no support needed.
And I hate Apple. So this says a lot.
I don’t have a use for the Pro model but I use my Air a lot.
It's a touch-first OS, for better and for worse. Anything else it was tacked onto a UI/UX made for a keyboard and mouse
Both are reasonable ways to make a decision.
Even a simplistic 2D game loads data, runs routines, and while the person is doing that they expect the phone to stay connected to a network, keep up with notifications... you act like Apple is doing something bad.
Intel/Chromebooks still are being sold in the USA at Best Buy with the Celeron N4000-series and Pentium-4200 series chips if you prefer to have zero performance overhead on your devices.
> what happened?
1978 was 47 years ago