The headline implies Apple is promoting iPad Pro as a laptop repaclemnt but nowhere did the commercial say that. It merely said that it can be your next computer. My "next computer" is my iPad Pro 11.
iPad can be the next computer for many people but it won't be the primary computer for me as a software developer. I must have macOS with Intel inside.
iPad Pro is DEFINTELY more powerful than most laptops but the iOS is nowhere as powerful as MacOS.
Yes. For those who want to experience the power of full macOS in an iPad footprint there is the Retina Macbook. Still not satisfied? Then there is the new Macbook Air. If iPads were a “replacement” then none of these Macbooks would exist. Apple just offers an alternative. Alternative does not mean “necessity”.
This is exactly what I've been asking. All this talk of turning an iPad into a MacBook/Pro totally misses the point that Apple already has a robust MacBook/Pro lineup with macOS, replete with an open file system, a plethora of external storage options, trackpad, full keyboard, time tested pro apps, and optional lightweight, slim form factors. It's kind of getting old to read over and over again what is essentially "Apple, please turn the iPad into a MacBook" missive.
So what exactly would this new Super iPad Pro Plus X with liquid super retina file system do that you cannot currently do with a MacBook Pro?
Apple obviously has a vision of where it thinks truly personal computing is heading and the iPad and iOS are part of the expression of that vision. The fact that you can give an iPad to your 92 year old mother and it gets used on a daily basis is a hint that Apple may be on to something here. No, she's not asking for a keyboard, trackpad, or file system that can save to external SSD drive. She just wants to FaceTime with her family, play card games, and keep track of news and weather. To some people, perhaps the vast majority of consumers of technology, it is what the machine delivers that matters, not the machine itself. To these people the machine should be as invisible as possible and get the hell out of the way as they use it as a means to an end. No computer has ever come as close to fulfilling the desire to just "get the hell out of the way" better than does the iPad.
Most of the people on technology forums are infatuated with technology for technology's sake. We are part of a culture that worships computers and computing machinery just like our ancestors (and even some of us) worshipped automobiles, tractors, all manner of internal combustion engines, motorcycles, airplanes, bicycles, manual transmissions, etc. To these people the functionality and purpose of the machinery that was developed to improve the state of industrial, productivity, or human lifestyle is inextricably entangled with our fascination with the machines themselves. It matters not only to us that we are able to FaceTime with anyone, anywhere, at anytime but that we doing it on a machine that we love. The machine we love empowers us in our work so we bring our work home with us so we feel empowered at home too. Nothing as sweet as running a full XCode rebuild in my home office on my industrial strength workstation or ginning up some awesome little Excel macros from my sofa. We change our lifestyles, our homes, our discretionary spending habits, our daily routines, and our personal relationships to accommodate our love for computing machinery and the empowerment it provides us. Screw the dinnertime family conversation, I've got to check my FaceBook on my new iPhone XS, and son, please move to the side a little so I can get a better view of my awesome new 4K television with the slimmest bezels known to man.
Finally, Apple is not asking us to make a choice between the "invisible" computer and the "in your face" computer. They are happy to accommodate both cases. For the "invisible" crowd there is the iPad family and for the "in your face" crowd there is the Mac family. Why would we want to give up the choices that Apple has so thoughtfully given us?
Please please add a trackpad to the add on keyboard. The irony about what Craig Federighi statement: “We really feel that the ergonomics of using a Mac are that your hands are rested on a surface, and that lifting your arm up to poke a screen is a pretty fatiguing thing to do.” is that is exactly what they've created with an ipad pro because they wont allow for a trackpad or mouse to be attached just a keyboard. Please please allow us to add one Apple.
Add a trackpad?
THEY DID! THEY DID THAT ALREADY! (at least for typing)
While typing on either the iPhone or the iPad, hold the space bar down for a second or two and the keyboard is replaced with a touchpad.
So, now the question is: "When will they provide that ability to an external touchpad?"
The question is no longer IF but WHEN?
Detailed instructions on how to do this are from CNBC:
Please please add a trackpad to the add on keyboard. The irony about what Craig Federighi statement: “We really feel that the ergonomics of using a Mac are that your hands are rested on a surface, and that lifting your arm up to poke a screen is a pretty fatiguing thing to do.” is that is exactly what they've created with an ipad pro because they wont allow for a trackpad or mouse to be attached just a keyboard. Please please allow us to add one Apple.
Add a trackpad?
THEY DID! THEY DID THAT ALREADY! (at least for typing)
While typing on either the iPhone or the iPad, hold the space bar down for a second or two and the keyboard is replaced with a touchpad.
So, now the question is: "When will they provide that ability to an external touchpad?"
The question is no longer IF but WHEN?
Detailed instructions on how to do this are from CNBC:
I pointed this out earlier. This is from Apples website:
It works like a computer. And in ways most computers can’t. iPad Pro works with a keyboard when you need one. The full‑size onscreen keyboard lets you respond to an email or write a paper, and it even acts as a trackpad. And if you want a full‑size physical keyboard, just attach the Smart Keyboard Folio for a great typing experience and front and back protection.
In the first part of that pitch about the onscreen keyboard, they emphasiseze the importance of having a trackpad, yet in the second part about the keyboard folio, suddenly there’s no mention of it. Someone unfamiliar with it might assume the external keyboard likewise has a trackpad incorporated into it.
its terrible technology, and doesn’t work well at all when I’ve used it. By the time I get it to do what I want, I probably just should have pulled out a Pencil.
Why are people so offended by iPad and the term computer? It’s so bizarre to me how much iPad upsets some people. But it’s not like Apple has put a gun to your head and said you can only use iPad. If it doesn’t work for you use something else.
In part I believe what’s bothering people so much is the price of an iPad Pro considering how the software works.
Considering that the software works excellently and identically to their desktop counterparts (AutoCAD, MS Office, GarageBand, iMovie, Pages, Number, Keynote, Pixelmator, the incoming Photoshop...) and even more precisely and creatively thanks to Pencil, the price of the iPad Pro is actually bargain.
So many people complain that the iPad Pro can't replace their computer. Well, it's true that the iPad Pro can't REPLACE their computer, but remember this. In 1984, the 128K Macintosh couldn't replace my IBM Selectric typewriter. For instance, where do you put the piece of paper? What? You have to buy something extra to print something out? Well, that's not a replacement! Therefore, the Macintosh must have been garbage! It's now 2018, and I haven't used an IBM Selectric in 31 years. One of these days, I will no longer use a Macintosh. This isn't that day, but it's coming sooner than you expect. And some of the reasons are explained in this commercial.
The difference is the IBM you mentioned could do less things than a Mac, but a Mac can do more things can an iPad and faster. So your analogy isn’t a great one. When I say faster I don’t mean processor speed, but power and precision.
Not always. With Pencil you get better precision than the mouse or trackpad. Even a Wacom tablet can't get that close considering other usage cases of Pencil and the mobility the iPad provides.
Please please add a trackpad to the add on keyboard. The irony about what Craig Federighi statement: “We really feel that the ergonomics of using a Mac are that your hands are rested on a surface, and that lifting your arm up to poke a screen is a pretty fatiguing thing to do.” is that is exactly what they've created with an ipad pro because they wont allow for a trackpad or mouse to be attached just a keyboard. Please please allow us to add one Apple.
Add a trackpad?
THEY DID! THEY DID THAT ALREADY! (at least for typing)
Please please add a trackpad to the add on keyboard. The irony about what Craig Federighi statement: “We really feel that the ergonomics of using a Mac are that your hands are rested on a surface, and that lifting your arm up to poke a screen is a pretty fatiguing thing to do.” is that is exactly what they've created with an ipad pro because they wont allow for a trackpad or mouse to be attached just a keyboard. Please please allow us to add one Apple.
Add a trackpad?
THEY DID! THEY DID THAT ALREADY! (at least for typing)
While typing on either the iPhone or the iPad, hold the space bar down for a second or two and the keyboard is replaced with a touchpad.
So, now the question is: "When will they provide that ability to an external touchpad?"
The question is no longer IF but WHEN?
Detailed instructions on how to do this are from CNBC:
I pointed this out earlier. This is from Apples website:
You guys seem very resolute about keeping your iPads all the time on your desks but this is not what the iPad is for. The iPad that sits all the time on a desk is no longer an iPad, it is just a less capable laptop. You'd do better with a true laptop in that case.
Besides, a trackpad's resolution never compares to the resolution of the iPad on top of which the Touch interface is built. This is why your fingers, so dumb and rough on the trackpad become magically precise when using iMovie on the iPad. This is also what makes playing 3D games on the iPad possible, with a trackpad you can never play 3D games as fluently as you can on the iPad.
The headline implies Apple is promoting iPad Pro as a laptop repaclemnt but nowhere did the commercial say that. It merely said that it can be your next computer. My "next computer" is my iPad Pro 11.
iPad can be the next computer for many people but it won't be the primary computer for me as a software developer. I must have macOS with Intel inside.
iPad Pro is DEFINTELY more powerful than most laptops but the iOS is nowhere as powerful as MacOS.
Yes. For those who want to experience the power of full macOS in an iPad footprint there is the Retina Macbook. Still not satisfied? Then there is the new Macbook Air. If iPads were a “replacement” then none of these Macbooks would exist. Apple just offers an alternative. Alternative does not mean “necessity”.
This is exactly what I've been asking. All this talk of turning an iPad into a MacBook/Pro totally misses the point that Apple already has a robust MacBook/Pro lineup with macOS, replete with an open file system, a plethora of external storage options, trackpad, full keyboard, time tested pro apps, and optional lightweight, slim form factors. It's kind of getting old to read over and over again what is essentially "Apple, please turn the iPad into a MacBook" missive.
So what exactly would this new Super iPad Pro Plus X with liquid super retina file system do that you cannot currently do with a MacBook Pro?
Apple obviously has a vision of where it thinks truly personal computing is heading and the iPad and iOS are part of the expression of that vision. The fact that you can give an iPad to your 92 year old mother and it gets used on a daily basis is a hint that Apple may be on to something here. No, she's not asking for a keyboard, trackpad, or file system that can save to external SSD drive. She just wants to FaceTime with her family, play card games, and keep track of news and weather. To some people, perhaps the vast majority of consumers of technology, it is what the machine delivers that matters, not the machine itself. To these people the machine should be as invisible as possible and get the hell out of the way as they use it as a means to an end. No computer has ever come as close to fulfilling the desire to just "get the hell out of the way" better than does the iPad.
Most of the people on technology forums are infatuated with technology for technology's sake. We are part of a culture that worships computers and computing machinery just like our ancestors (and even some of us) worshipped automobiles, tractors, all manner of internal combustion engines, motorcycles, airplanes, bicycles, manual transmissions, etc. To these people the functionality and purpose of the machinery that was developed to improve the state of industrial, productivity, or human lifestyle is inextricably entangled with our fascination with the machines themselves. It matters not only to us that we are able to FaceTime with anyone, anywhere, at anytime but that we doing it on a machine that we love. The machine we love empowers us in our work so we bring our work home with us so we feel empowered at home too. Nothing as sweet as running a full XCode rebuild in my home office on my industrial strength workstation or ginning up some awesome little Excel macros from my sofa. We change our lifestyles, our homes, our discretionary spending habits, our daily routines, and our personal relationships to accommodate our love for computing machinery and the empowerment it provides us. Screw the dinnertime family conversation, I've got to check my FaceBook on my new iPhone XS, and son, please move to the side a little so I can get a better view of my awesome new 4K television with the slimmest bezels known to man.
Finally, Apple is not asking us to make a choice between the "invisible" computer and the "in your face" computer. They are happy to accommodate both cases. For the "invisible" crowd there is the iPad family and for the "in your face" crowd there is the Mac family. Why would we want to give up the choices that Apple has so thoughtfully given us?
Nice except it's Apple who's claiming the iPad Pro is a computer replacement. There's pricing it that way too. I don't think any of these threads would exist if Apple wasn't the one making this claim.
Please please add a trackpad to the add on keyboard. The irony about what Craig Federighi statement: “We really feel that the ergonomics of using a Mac are that your hands are rested on a surface, and that lifting your arm up to poke a screen is a pretty fatiguing thing to do.” is that is exactly what they've created with an ipad pro because they wont allow for a trackpad or mouse to be attached just a keyboard. Please please allow us to add one Apple.
Add a trackpad?
THEY DID! THEY DID THAT ALREADY! (at least for typing)
Please please add a trackpad to the add on keyboard. The irony about what Craig Federighi statement: “We really feel that the ergonomics of using a Mac are that your hands are rested on a surface, and that lifting your arm up to poke a screen is a pretty fatiguing thing to do.” is that is exactly what they've created with an ipad pro because they wont allow for a trackpad or mouse to be attached just a keyboard. Please please allow us to add one Apple.
Add a trackpad?
THEY DID! THEY DID THAT ALREADY! (at least for typing)
While typing on either the iPhone or the iPad, hold the space bar down for a second or two and the keyboard is replaced with a touchpad.
So, now the question is: "When will they provide that ability to an external touchpad?"
The question is no longer IF but WHEN?
Detailed instructions on how to do this are from CNBC:
I pointed this out earlier. This is from Apples website:
You guys seem very resolute about keeping your iPads all the time on your desks but this is not what the iPad is for. The iPad that sits all the time on a desk is no longer an iPad, it is just a less capable laptop. You'd do better with a true laptop in that case.
Besides, a trackpad's resolution never compares to the resolution of the iPad on top of which the Touch interface is built. This is why your fingers, so dumb and rough on the trackpad become magically precise when using iMovie on the iPad. This is also what makes playing 3D games on the iPad possible, with a trackpad you can never play 3D games as fluently as you can on the iPad.
I would say that you guys are trying to lock us into an either / or scenario -- when an iPad is obviously capable of both.
Admittedly, its not going to be as good a laptop as a pure laptop. But for a person who's needs are 70% tablet and 30% laptop (say a high school kid), it should meet their needs quite nicely -- once they expand the touchpad capability from the online screen to its external keyboard. And, I would predict we will be seeing that somewhere in the near future -- if not from Apple then from a third party (like they did with the external keyboard for the Gen6 iPad).
The fear among the Mac loyalists is is that the iPad will replace the MacBook. That is unlikely. Very unlikely.
Rather, it will be a multipurpose, highly portable, works anywhere device. And, its biggest limitation, like the watch or the iPhone, will be screen size. A laptop works easily and well with a 13", 14", 15" or 17" screen. A tablet is probably too big once it goes over 10" or 11".
... Apple is great at engineering and design -- but screen size can't be overcome by either.
....... Make it too small and it sucks as a laptop. Make it too big and it sucks as a tablet.
............... But Apple will overcome all the other limitations. It's when, not if.
Please please add a trackpad to the add on keyboard. The irony about what Craig Federighi statement: “We really feel that the ergonomics of using a Mac are that your hands are rested on a surface, and that lifting your arm up to poke a screen is a pretty fatiguing thing to do.” is that is exactly what they've created with an ipad pro because they wont allow for a trackpad or mouse to be attached just a keyboard. Please please allow us to add one Apple.
Add a trackpad?
THEY DID! THEY DID THAT ALREADY! (at least for typing)
While typing on either the iPhone or the iPad, hold the space bar down for a second or two and the keyboard is replaced with a touchpad.
So, now the question is: "When will they provide that ability to an external touchpad?"
The question is no longer IF but WHEN?
Detailed instructions on how to do this are from CNBC:
I pointed this out earlier. This is from Apples website:
It works like a computer. And in ways most computers can’t. iPad Pro works with a keyboard when you need one. The full‑size onscreen keyboard lets you respond to an email or write a paper, and it even acts as a trackpad. And if you want a full‑size physical keyboard, just attach the Smart Keyboard Folio for a great typing experience and front and back protection.
In the first part of that pitch about the onscreen keyboard, they emphasiseze the importance of having a trackpad, yet in the second part about the keyboard folio, suddenly there’s no mention of it. Someone unfamiliar with it might assume the external keyboard likewise has a trackpad incorporated into it.
its terrible technology, and doesn’t work well at all when I’ve used it. By the time I get it to do what I want, I probably just should have pulled out a Pencil.
The on-screen touchpad introduced in iOS 12 is likely only the first, preliminary cut at a true touchpad. It carries the same limitations as using a pencil as a pointing device and thus blocks the iPad from becoming a true laptop replacement.
But, it destroys the claims of all those who say the iPad will never get a touchpad.
All they have to do now is port it over to the external keyboard and they will have the laptop killer they've been promising. (It won't kill off the higher powered laptop for those who need a laptop most of the time, but it will take out the lower powered ones for the casual user -- say high school kids.)
You guys at AI bang on about the iPad being a good laptop replacement almost as much as Apple themselves... Just because they say something is the case doesn't make it so, as many many commenters and generic tech sites have pointed out.
If anyone actually buys iPads with the impression that is is a computer replacement they're gonna be sorely disappointed, and will accuse Apple - quite possibly reasonably - of false advertising. I wouldn't be surprised if the fairly strict Advertising Standards Agency in the UK tells Apple they aren't allowed to run these ads.
iOS DOES have an open file system. Every app’s every file is open to every other app. Simply its organization is different. It just doesn’t have the desktop metaphor, that’s all. For those who want to access to kexts, drivers, daemons and alike, the point is for what? Get a conventional computer for deep UNIX work, on that sort of computer called iPad, the operating system does not permit to access its guts, take it or leave it...
If the point is to easily assemble files in folders per project or task basis, then there is the Files app and iCloud. One no longer needs to keep Pages documents in the Pages app’s directory, these days have long gone. Yet iOS does not prevent anyone from using third party file storage and sharing systems, such as Dropbox, OneDrive or Google Drive. There’s no sharing in Cloud Drive but alternatively Apple provides full collaboration in its productivity apps, which is multiple times better than that primitive form of collaboration called file sharing.
Try moving 20 files from one folder to another in the Files app. Let me know how long it takes you. Oh and let me know how you get on hooking up your iPad to a non-Airprint printer, or sending your 5GB 4k movie to a PC-toting friend. Also good luck compiling software on the iPad. The point of access to the OS is to make the device a powerful, professional device that everyone can use as a full blown computer. Not just this subset of people you like to claim are the majority of users. It's a "Pro" device that is realistically no more capable than the non-pro iPad that's $700 less.
So many people complain that the iPad Pro can't replace their computer.
Nope. It’s so many people posting on anonymous tech blogs that the iPad Pro can’t replace their computer. Apple deals with the real world and real markets. Desktop and laptop traditionalists who rant on tech blogs are not the real world nor are they the real market. In the real world and real markets the iPad continues to make inroads in the Enterprise, education, home use. The iPad naysayers are the crowd that, when Apple changes a single feature or option, blows a gasket because their “workflow” has been disturbed, making their whole installation “useless”.
Apple seems to be driving these inroads in reverse then, since iPads have all but given way to Chromebooks in education, and iPad sales have dropped of significantly. I have an old iPad 2, it was great when I bought it, but iOS has barely any more capabilities now than then so I never replaced it. If you're paying $1000+ for a tablet, you shouldn't have to change your workflow to Apple's convoluted inefficient iOS metaphor. People have often perfected their workflow over years and made it as efficient as possible, but iOS is not efficient for many tasks; it's too restrictive.
I wonder how my big fingers not so precise on my MBP’s trackpad becomes so precise on the iPad. I admit that spreadsheet work is hard and you need a lot of display to see the whole worksheet at once. But even in the limited display of the iPad it is a pleasure to work in Numbers provided that you get used to. It may be confusing at first because there is so much parameters for formatting and calculations and you may not figure out immediately what is where. The accurate touch interface of iOS is what makes working with cells so easy. Are any of these shortcomings? Well maybe, depending on the lifestyle and work habits. But despite all of those limitations you get an unprecedented mobility and versatility in organizing your daily tasks, which make the iPad a correct investment.
Because the MBP's trackpad has acceleration. A large movement of your finger at low speed moves the cursor only a few millimetres, so it's much more accurate. Without a cursor, acceleration is impossible with the iPad because the input point is always where your finger is. Why do you think Apple added trackpad mode with acceleration to the iPad for text selection if you can be just as accurate with one finger? What was the point of that?
Using Numbers for spreadsheet work on iPad is a massive faff. It moves to different cells half the time, it's a rigmarole to enter numbers and different types of data and to style that data. Half the time you're waiting the 200ms or so for the iPad to recognise that you're only going to single tap instead of double, and that's impossible for Apple to fix without a cursor. "Accurate touch" isn't a thing, Jobs admitted that when he introduced the iPhone and used that as a reason not to put Mac OS on the iPhone and later iPad, the touch targets are too small to be touched accurately with a finger.
iOS DOES have an open file system. Every app’s every file is open to every other app. Simply its organization is different. It just doesn’t have the desktop metaphor, that’s all. For those who want to access to kexts, drivers, daemons and alike, the point is for what? Get a conventional computer for deep UNIX work, on that sort of computer called iPad, the operating system does not permit to access its guts, take it or leave it...
If the point is to easily assemble files in folders per project or task basis, then there is the Files app and iCloud. One no longer needs to keep Pages documents in the Pages app’s directory, these days have long gone. Yet iOS does not prevent anyone from using third party file storage and sharing systems, such as Dropbox, OneDrive or Google Drive. There’s no sharing in Cloud Drive but alternatively Apple provides full collaboration in its productivity apps, which is multiple times better than that primitive form of collaboration called file sharing.
Try moving 20 files from one folder to another in the Files app. Let me know how long it takes you.
So what? That will depend on the size of the files, obviously...
or sending your 5GB 4k movie to a PC-toting friend.
Connect the iPad to the PC on USB. The PC will see the iPad's Photo Library as "camera storage" and you will drag & drop the 5GB 4K movie on Windows desktop. If that movie is not in the Photo Library then use iTunes File Sharing from the app that stores it. If that app does not support iTunes File Sharing then transfer it into another app that supports it. Anything else? Oh, compile software...
Those living in your fantasy world need that luck. Apple has never made such a claim regarding software development on iOS. Yet there are several utilities in iOS AppStore that help software development written and submitted by the developers themselves.
The point of access to the OS is to make the device a powerful, professional device that everyone can use as a full blown computer. Not just this subset of people you like to claim are the majority of users. It's a "Pro" device that is realistically no more capable than the non-pro iPad that's $700 less.
It is very well capable than that $700 less iPad. Tech spec are there, people will compare and decide then again what is your point? Apple has never made such a claim that everyone can use the iPad as a full blown computer. That's your fantasy.
Why are people so offended by iPad and the term computer? It’s so bizarre to me how much iPad upsets some people. But it’s not like Apple has put a gun to your head and said you can only use iPad. If it doesn’t work for you use something else.
In part I believe what’s bothering people so much is the price of an iPad Pro considering how the software works.
Considering that the software works excellently and identically to their desktop counterparts (AutoCAD, MS Office, GarageBand, iMovie, Pages, Number, Keynote, Pixelmator, the incoming Photoshop...) and even more precisely and creatively thanks to Pencil, the price of the iPad Pro is actually bargain.
So many people complain that the iPad Pro can't replace their computer. Well, it's true that the iPad Pro can't REPLACE their computer, but remember this. In 1984, the 128K Macintosh couldn't replace my IBM Selectric typewriter. For instance, where do you put the piece of paper? What? You have to buy something extra to print something out? Well, that's not a replacement! Therefore, the Macintosh must have been garbage! It's now 2018, and I haven't used an IBM Selectric in 31 years. One of these days, I will no longer use a Macintosh. This isn't that day, but it's coming sooner than you expect. And some of the reasons are explained in this commercial.
The difference is the IBM you mentioned could do less things than a Mac, but a Mac can do more things can an iPad and faster. So your analogy isn’t a great one. When I say faster I don’t mean processor speed, but power and precision.
Not always. With Pencil you get better precision than the mouse or trackpad. Even a Wacom tablet can't get that close considering other usage cases of Pencil and the mobility the iPad provides.
Personally, I am not offended by calling the iPad a computer. That is exactly what it is, and a very powerful one at that. It is just not a laptop replacement, which is what Apple is marketing it as. I would agree that the pencil has an incredible amount of precision, and would classify it as necessary if you plan on doing significant work on an iPad.
I have not used AutoCAD, MS Office or iMovie on my iPad, but after 6 months of trying, Pages and Numbers do not work identically on the iPad. They are adaptations with compromises to accommodate iOS that make them significantly more difficult to use, bordering on painful at times. They also do not have the complete feature set. Apple Mail also lacks feature parity. The Preview app is a very powerful part of macOS that is basically absent in iOS if you want to do anything except view documents.
On top of this, many third party apps also lack feature parity. The developers have them more as sidekicks to the full desktop versions. Not apple's fault to be sure, but any computer's functionality is dictated by the software. There are some full-featured apps out there, but figuring out what is what in the App Store is difficult at best.
I wonder how my big fingers not so precise on my MBP’s trackpad becomes so precise on the iPad. I admit that spreadsheet work is hard and you need a lot of display to see the whole worksheet at once. But even in the limited display of the iPad it is a pleasure to work in Numbers provided that you get used to. It may be confusing at first because there is so much parameters for formatting and calculations and you may not figure out immediately what is where. The accurate touch interface of iOS is what makes working with cells so easy. Are any of these shortcomings? Well maybe, depending on the lifestyle and work habits. But despite all of those limitations you get an unprecedented mobility and versatility in organizing your daily tasks, which make the iPad a correct investment.
Because the MBP's trackpad has acceleration. A large movement of your finger at low speed moves the cursor only a few millimetres, so it's much more accurate. Without a cursor, acceleration is impossible with the iPad because the input point is always where your finger is. Why do you think Apple added trackpad mode with acceleration to the iPad for text selection if you can be just as accurate with one finger? What was the point of that?
Using Numbers for spreadsheet work on iPad is a massive faff. It moves to different cells half the time, it's a rigmarole to enter numbers and different types of data and to style that data. Half the time you're waiting the 200ms or so for the iPad to recognise that you're only going to single tap instead of double, and that's impossible for Apple to fix without a cursor. "Accurate touch" isn't a thing, Jobs admitted that when he introduced the iPhone and used that as a reason not to put Mac OS on the iPhone and later iPad, the touch targets are too small to be touched accurately with a finger.
Do you try to teach me what my experience is? I am very fine with Numbers on my old iPad, even without using any pencil or stylus. Oh, maybe you have too many apps open? You know, iOS has no swappable virtual memory like a desktop OS and you must use the available RAM sparingly. If you hate Numbers so much then use Office365, there is a reason Microsoft has made such a huge commitment to iOS. But I don’t think people are eagerly waiting to learn about your Office365 experience on iOS, neither. Submit your discovery of that accelerated trackpad to Apple as a suggestion to include a hardware trackpad, maybe they will !!!
Imagine the future shown in Star Trek: "Computer, resume that thing we were working on before....."
The computer knows/manages EVERYthing about the minutae of your project/analysis/work/play, without even the concept of Files/Folders.
Kirk / Spock don't know folders. Not necessary. AI knows what you mean, corrects errors in what you say, and can learn adapt to your style, and can make style suggestions (and joke with you).
To me the iPad is one microscopic nanostep towards that future, from yesteryear where we spent hours carefully managing our folders in DOS, then visually in Windows 3.11 for workgroups, then a Mac.
Today a wedding photographer probably needs folders for all the weddings s/he does, and needs to manage files manually.
The Star Trek wedding photographer doesn't, "Computer bring up that wedding with the bad purple dresses". "Acknowledge: Showing that wedding from 3 years ago; time hasn't been kind to that fashion trend either." "Thanks Computer, you're right, they're still hideous."
Why are people so offended by iPad and the term computer? It’s so bizarre to me how much iPad upsets some people. But it’s not like Apple has put a gun to your head and said you can only use iPad. If it doesn’t work for you use something else.
In part I believe what’s bothering people so much is the price of an iPad Pro considering how the software works.
Considering that the software works excellently and identically to their desktop counterparts (AutoCAD, MS Office, GarageBand, iMovie, Pages, Number, Keynote, Pixelmator, the incoming Photoshop...) and even more precisely and creatively thanks to Pencil, the price of the iPad Pro is actually bargain.
So many people complain that the iPad Pro can't replace their computer. Well, it's true that the iPad Pro can't REPLACE their computer, but remember this. In 1984, the 128K Macintosh couldn't replace my IBM Selectric typewriter. For instance, where do you put the piece of paper? What? You have to buy something extra to print something out? Well, that's not a replacement! Therefore, the Macintosh must have been garbage! It's now 2018, and I haven't used an IBM Selectric in 31 years. One of these days, I will no longer use a Macintosh. This isn't that day, but it's coming sooner than you expect. And some of the reasons are explained in this commercial.
The difference is the IBM you mentioned could do less things than a Mac, but a Mac can do more things can an iPad and faster. So your analogy isn’t a great one. When I say faster I don’t mean processor speed, but power and precision.
Not always. With Pencil you get better precision than the mouse or trackpad. Even a Wacom tablet can't get that close considering other usage cases of Pencil and the mobility the iPad provides.
Personally, I am not offended by calling the iPad a computer. That is exactly what it is, and a very powerful one at that. It is just not a laptop replacement, which is what Apple is marketing it as. I would agree that the pencil has an incredible amount of precision, and would classify it as necessary if you plan on doing significant work on an iPad.
I have not used AutoCAD, MS Office or iMovie on my iPad, but after 6 months of trying, Pages and Numbers do not work identically on the iPad. They are adaptations with compromises to accommodate iOS that make them significantly more difficult to use, bordering on painful at times. They also do not have the complete feature set. Apple Mail also lacks feature parity. The Preview app is a very powerful part of macOS that is basically absent in iOS if you want to do anything except view documents.
On top of this, many third party apps also lack feature parity. The developers have them more as sidekicks to the full desktop versions. Not apple's fault to be sure, but any computer's functionality is dictated by the software. There are some full-featured apps out there, but figuring out what is what in the App Store is difficult at best.
Apple Mail and Preview are well known omissions in iOS. It is understandable that being a communication feature, email be more adapted to the smartphone simplicity. Yet Mail leverages that with capabilities unique to iPad. We cannot have Apple Mail exactly as it is on macOS, this is a windows-menu-mouse paradigm app. Preview has roots in the very early releases of OS X, as a "preview to Display Postscript" or PDF, more accurately. There is no point in my opinion to carry that legacy to iOS. The PDF "preview" feature is implemented in iOS like any other image viewer, doc viewer, xls viewer etc. available everywhere without requiring a specific app. macOS Preview features are largely included in Adobe Acrobat and other 3d party PDF apps. Regarding other productivity apps of Apple, the differences with desktop versions are not severe enough to call them adaptations ot compromises. With every major iOS version Apple releases a new version of these, worth to check again.
Apple has never marketed the iPad as a laptop replacement. Go a few Keynotes back and you'll see what they said. Don't we say "smartphones replaced computers"? Is it possible that a smartphone can replace a computer in the sense that those haters attribute to Apple's marketing narration? Absolutely not, we all know that but we still stick with more or less the same saying. It is not a laptop replacement, it is a laptop alternative. Why is it too hard to understand that?
Why are people so offended by iPad and the term computer? It’s so bizarre to me how much iPad upsets some people. But it’s not like Apple has put a gun to your head and said you can only use iPad. If it doesn’t work for you use something else.
In part I believe what’s bothering people so much is the price of an iPad Pro considering how the software works.
Considering that the software works excellently and identically to their desktop counterparts (AutoCAD, MS Office, GarageBand, iMovie, Pages, Number, Keynote, Pixelmator, the incoming Photoshop...) and even more precisely and creatively thanks to Pencil, the price of the iPad Pro is actually bargain.
So many people complain that the iPad Pro can't replace their computer. Well, it's true that the iPad Pro can't REPLACE their computer, but remember this. In 1984, the 128K Macintosh couldn't replace my IBM Selectric typewriter. For instance, where do you put the piece of paper? What? You have to buy something extra to print something out? Well, that's not a replacement! Therefore, the Macintosh must have been garbage! It's now 2018, and I haven't used an IBM Selectric in 31 years. One of these days, I will no longer use a Macintosh. This isn't that day, but it's coming sooner than you expect. And some of the reasons are explained in this commercial.
The difference is the IBM you mentioned could do less things than a Mac, but a Mac can do more things can an iPad and faster. So your analogy isn’t a great one. When I say faster I don’t mean processor speed, but power and precision.
Not always. With Pencil you get better precision than the mouse or trackpad. Even a Wacom tablet can't get that close considering other usage cases of Pencil and the mobility the iPad provides.
Personally, I am not offended by calling the iPad a computer. That is exactly what it is, and a very powerful one at that. It is just not a laptop replacement, which is what Apple is marketing it as.
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When Apple added the touchpad to the on-screen keyboard they took a giant step forward in making it a laptop replacement for, I would say, 50%-75% of laptop users. Or, more correctly, I think that will happen when they transfer that functionality over to an external touchpad or mouse -- which I think will happen in the next 12 months.
Yes, there are other weaknesses in the OS when compared to the power and flexibility of MacOS. But for the average user -- the kind you see in the Apple store, it will be a perfectly adequate substitute for a MacBook or MacBook Air.
Yes, the MBP will run circles around it. But most simply don't need that power -- at least not enough to spend another $1,500 on a second machine. An iPad with an external keyboard and mouse will cover both their tablet and their laptop needs.
Comments
So what exactly would this new Super iPad Pro Plus X with liquid super retina file system do that you cannot currently do with a MacBook Pro?
Apple obviously has a vision of where it thinks truly personal computing is heading and the iPad and iOS are part of the expression of that vision. The fact that you can give an iPad to your 92 year old mother and it gets used on a daily basis is a hint that Apple may be on to something here. No, she's not asking for a keyboard, trackpad, or file system that can save to external SSD drive. She just wants to FaceTime with her family, play card games, and keep track of news and weather. To some people, perhaps the vast majority of consumers of technology, it is what the machine delivers that matters, not the machine itself. To these people the machine should be as invisible as possible and get the hell out of the way as they use it as a means to an end. No computer has ever come as close to fulfilling the desire to just "get the hell out of the way" better than does the iPad.
Most of the people on technology forums are infatuated with technology for technology's sake. We are part of a culture that worships computers and computing machinery just like our ancestors (and even some of us) worshipped automobiles, tractors, all manner of internal combustion engines, motorcycles, airplanes, bicycles, manual transmissions, etc. To these people the functionality and purpose of the machinery that was developed to improve the state of industrial, productivity, or human lifestyle is inextricably entangled with our fascination with the machines themselves. It matters not only to us that we are able to FaceTime with anyone, anywhere, at anytime but that we doing it on a machine that we love. The machine we love empowers us in our work so we bring our work home with us so we feel empowered at home too. Nothing as sweet as running a full XCode rebuild in my home office on my industrial strength workstation or ginning up some awesome little Excel macros from my sofa. We change our lifestyles, our homes, our discretionary spending habits, our daily routines, and our personal relationships to accommodate our love for computing machinery and the empowerment it provides us. Screw the dinnertime family conversation, I've got to check my FaceBook on my new iPhone XS, and son, please move to the side a little so I can get a better view of my awesome new 4K television with the slimmest bezels known to man.
Finally, Apple is not asking us to make a choice between the "invisible" computer and the "in your face" computer. They are happy to accommodate both cases. For the "invisible" crowd there is the iPad family and for the "in your face" crowd there is the Mac family. Why would we want to give up the choices that Apple has so thoughtfully given us?
I pointed this out earlier. This is from Apples website:
In the first part of that pitch about the onscreen keyboard, they emphasiseze the importance of having a trackpad, yet in the second part about the keyboard folio, suddenly there’s no mention of it. Someone unfamiliar with it might assume the external keyboard likewise has a trackpad incorporated into it.
its terrible technology, and doesn’t work well at all when I’ve used it. By the time I get it to do what I want, I probably just should have pulled out a Pencil.
Not always. With Pencil you get better precision than the mouse or trackpad. Even a Wacom tablet can't get that close considering other usage cases of Pencil and the mobility the iPad provides.
Besides, a trackpad's resolution never compares to the resolution of the iPad on top of which the Touch interface is built. This is why your fingers, so dumb and rough on the trackpad become magically precise when using iMovie on the iPad. This is also what makes playing 3D games on the iPad possible, with a trackpad you can never play 3D games as fluently as you can on the iPad.
If anyone actually buys iPads with the impression that is is a computer replacement they're gonna be sorely disappointed, and will accuse Apple - quite possibly reasonably - of false advertising. I wouldn't be surprised if the fairly strict Advertising Standards Agency in the UK tells Apple they aren't allowed to run these ads.
Apple seems to be driving these inroads in reverse then, since iPads have all but given way to Chromebooks in education, and iPad sales have dropped of significantly. I have an old iPad 2, it was great when I bought it, but iOS has barely any more capabilities now than then so I never replaced it. If you're paying $1000+ for a tablet, you shouldn't have to change your workflow to Apple's convoluted inefficient iOS metaphor. People have often perfected their workflow over years and made it as efficient as possible, but iOS is not efficient for many tasks; it's too restrictive.
And yet Apple themselves is suggesting the iPad is a good replacement for a PC. How do you explain that?
Using Numbers for spreadsheet work on iPad is a massive faff. It moves to different cells half the time, it's a rigmarole to enter numbers and different types of data and to style that data. Half the time you're waiting the 200ms or so for the iPad to recognise that you're only going to single tap instead of double, and that's impossible for Apple to fix without a cursor. "Accurate touch" isn't a thing, Jobs admitted that when he introduced the iPhone and used that as a reason not to put Mac OS on the iPhone and later iPad, the touch targets are too small to be touched accurately with a finger.
Does Apple have such a claim? Apple clearly states that the way to print in iOS is AirPrint, so what's your point?
Connect the iPad to the PC on USB. The PC will see the iPad's Photo Library as "camera storage" and you will drag & drop the 5GB 4K movie on Windows desktop. If that movie is not in the Photo Library then use iTunes File Sharing from the app that stores it. If that app does not support iTunes File Sharing then transfer it into another app that supports it. Anything else? Oh, compile software...
Those living in your fantasy world need that luck. Apple has never made such a claim regarding software development on iOS. Yet there are several utilities in iOS AppStore that help software development written and submitted by the developers themselves.
It is very well capable than that $700 less iPad. Tech spec are there, people will compare and decide then again what is your point? Apple has never made such a claim that everyone can use the iPad as a full blown computer. That's your fantasy.
I have not used AutoCAD, MS Office or iMovie on my iPad, but after 6 months of trying, Pages and Numbers do not work identically on the iPad. They are adaptations with compromises to accommodate iOS that make them significantly more difficult to use, bordering on painful at times. They also do not have the complete feature set. Apple Mail also lacks feature parity. The Preview app is a very powerful part of macOS that is basically absent in iOS if you want to do anything except view documents.
On top of this, many third party apps also lack feature parity. The developers have them more as sidekicks to the full desktop versions. Not apple's fault to be sure, but any computer's functionality is dictated by the software. There are some full-featured apps out there, but figuring out what is what in the App Store is difficult at best.
Do you try to teach me what my experience is? I am very fine with Numbers on my old iPad, even without using any pencil or stylus. Oh, maybe you have too many apps open? You know, iOS has no swappable virtual memory like a desktop OS and you must use the available RAM sparingly. If you hate Numbers so much then use Office365, there is a reason Microsoft has made such a huge commitment to iOS. But I don’t think people are eagerly waiting to learn about your Office365 experience on iOS, neither. Submit your discovery of that accelerated trackpad to Apple as a suggestion to include a hardware trackpad, maybe they will !!!
"Computer, resume that thing we were working on before....."
The computer knows/manages EVERYthing about the minutae of your project/analysis/work/play, without even the concept of Files/Folders.
Kirk / Spock don't know folders. Not necessary. AI knows what you mean, corrects errors in what you say, and can learn adapt to your style, and can make style suggestions (and joke with you).
To me the iPad is one microscopic nanostep towards that future, from yesteryear where we spent hours carefully managing our folders in DOS, then visually in Windows 3.11 for workgroups, then a Mac.
Today a wedding photographer probably needs folders for all the weddings s/he does, and needs to manage files manually.
The Star Trek wedding photographer doesn't,
"Computer bring up that wedding with the bad purple dresses".
"Acknowledge: Showing that wedding from 3 years ago; time hasn't been kind to that fashion trend either."
"Thanks Computer, you're right, they're still hideous."
So sure we're not there yet, but it's a step.
E.
Apple has never marketed the iPad as a laptop replacement. Go a few Keynotes back and you'll see what they said. Don't we say "smartphones replaced computers"? Is it possible that a smartphone can replace a computer in the sense that those haters attribute to Apple's marketing narration? Absolutely not, we all know that but we still stick with more or less the same saying. It is not a laptop replacement, it is a laptop alternative. Why is it too hard to understand that?