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Who is using an iPad as their only computing device?

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Liquid Light said:
Actually, I´d fully agree. The moment all software and apps (well, at least the most relevant ones) are available for the iPad OS, my point becomes mute.
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The word that you were after is moot.

-Subject to debate, dispute, or uncertainty.

"whether they had been successful or not was a moot point"
 
Liquid Light said:
AndyGordon said:
Liquid Light said:
graybalanced said:
bmoag said:
If you can convert to all touch input and live with the limits of that type of GUI and what you can't do on the iPad versions of apps (see Photoshop), don't need software for which there is no web based equivalent, don't need things like calibration and color managed printing, multi monitor support etc: it can work.
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Some of that info is wayyyyy out of date.

"All touch input" Where did that come from? The iPad has long supported an external keyboard and mouse. In fact they are required to make full use of the Multi-monitor support that is there (see below) even though you said it wasn't.

Calibration: If you have a recent iPad Pro, it will have Reference Mode just like Mac displays have Reference Mode. It is possible to calibrate this Reference Mode similarly to how the Apple XDR and Studio displays are calibrated. Go to the link above and scroll down to "Use Fine-Tune Calibration". No, it still doesn't support custom profiles, but if all you want is native accuracy you can have that.

Multi-monitor support. This is nothing new, it's been in iPad OS for some time but works better in iPad OS 26. I've already done it with my M1 iPad Pro. I was going to verify it again today by plugging my iPad Pro into my 27" monitor, but then I thought, wait a minute, why dig out extra cables? Instead, I unplugged my MacBook Pro from the Thunderbolt dock where I have the 27" monitor plugged in, and I plugged the Thunderbolt dock cable into the iPad Pro instead. Voila, the 27" monitor attached to the dock lit up as an extended display (I had selected Extended Display on the iPad previously). OK so maybe you want to use 2 or more external displays, it can't do that. But let's face it, most people only plug in 1.

I was able to use all the iPad OS abilities like moving windows between iPad and external monitor, multiple freely resizable windows, etc. The new menu bar in iOS 26 is a big step forward in my view, it is going to open up a lot of apps and makes it SO much easier to find keyboard shortcuts.

Printing at a professional level is still very weak though.

The iPad still can't replace my Mac 100%, but it is so much closer to a "real computer" now. When I was using the iPad with my 27" monitor, external keyboard and mouse, I seriously started to forget it wasn't my Mac.

There are so many iPad debates online right now that are filled with outdated thinking. Folks, when you debate the merits of the iPad, please make sure you're completely up to date on how the iPad works right now, in iOS 26, with the M4/M5 models. Otherwise, severe levels of misinformation are possible, and you don't want it to come from you.
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Ironically, pointing out the need for the most recent generations of the iPad and OS to make it work like a device with a desktop OS highlights the biggest limitation.

How long does the iPad exist now, and how long has it taken Apple to get to this point? I´d say way too long.

All debates about the capabilities of an iPad have one simple root cause: Apple´s refusal to equip the iPad with a MacOS, or to make a pen-/touch enabled MacBook. Which they could´ve easily done a looooong time ago.
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I'd argue that the biggest problem is the app eco system. Until other software vendors actively support the platform it will always lag. That being said however my iPadPro (and previous iterations before) have access to:

Office software

MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc to the extent that these will do most of what people do depending on their level of need. For example I can run my business on this - and I do interchangeably with my laptop (MBP M3Pro) which gets less and less use

Apple Pages, Numbers and Keynote - the same

Photography software

Capture One - coming along nicely now. I can get pretty much do 90+% of what I would on my laptop on my iPad - lagging features are DAM, but that is covered in another app

Affinity Photo, Publisher, Designer - covers all my pixel level imaging needs along with printing layout

Nitro - covers the DAM need and again is improving massively

Adobe - don't use it, but have checked out LR - good, PS less good on the iPad, but I'm not an adobe user

Printing

Epson Print Layout

Works well for my P700, doesn't work at all for my P800 - so A2 printing is a no, but on the P900 is a yes (I don't have one of these) - A3+ on my P700 is fine

Multi-Monitor and others

I use with an external BenQ 27" display, the iPad or Laptop depending is attached via a docking station. iPad has the apple keyboard, but I also use it with my MBP's Magic Keyboard and mouse. External speakers etc etc - the list goes on.

There's other software vendors who don't support the iPad and that's the problem. DXO don't etc

And if we go down the non iPad route, I've read any number of complaints about my PC (mainly) doesn't do this or that with - name your manufacturer of choice for this one.

What the iPad does well is editing with touch - obviously not an option on a Mac, and kind of so so on a surface last time I had one. T

he platform is what it is. It works well for what I want to the extent that my M3Pro, 36gb ram sits untouched most of the time.

Photo editing is done in the main using my iPadPro, Capture One, Affinity Photo, Nitro and Epson Print Layout. And I'd say the editing experience is more enjoyable in C1 & Affinity on the iPad than it is on the MBP - my view, yours may vary

I dip into my MBP for some stuff for work when I need software that isn't available natively on an Mac (Visio and MS Project) unless I can get away with the cloud versions, and since I've picked up a M43 camera maybe DXO for those files

I also use Fuji 100mp GFX cameras and the files are handled smoothly in the software on the iPad - which makes me think my MBP is well over specced - but that's another story...

It has the capability to do many things, it works well for me and others, but that's a personal thing same as Windows vs Mac.

Choice is great though

Andy
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Actually, I´d fully agree. The moment all software and apps (well, at least the most relevant ones) are available for the iPad OS, my point becomes mute. However, much though there is already available for the iPad eco system, it usually comes with a pretty big caveat (Photoshop being the most prominent case in point).

A friend of mine, a freelance illustrator, once told me that working with Adobe Illustrator on iPad was so tedious she had to go back to the regular OS. Everything took her 3 times as long compared to Adobe Illustrator on Mac OS/Windows.

Still, the eco system for the iPad is already extensive and growing. I wish it were this good for Android, b/c I believe that the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9/10/11 Ultra is better than the iPad Pro, mainly due to considerably more screen real estate.

And this would actually be my main complaint if all apps were equally available on iPad: A larger screen, and much more RAM.
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That was my exact experience with using iPad when my laptop wasn't working. Things took longer, never worked as good etc. I was wondering if it were just my iPad, but it sounds like it's still being hampered by software. I use it to watch videos, read magazines and books, and general stuff. But my laptop and workstation will always be in rotation as my main systems.

thanks everyone for confirming what I was experiencing.
 
Can I use the iPad for for editing photos with Lightroom Classic when I travel? That is can I import from my Cfe card reader and will the iPad manage the photos as I am used to when I use a laptop? And when I am home can I export the catalog and photos to my desktop?
 
The Point and Shoot Pro said:
That was my exact experience with using iPad when my laptop wasn't working. Things took longer, never worked as good etc. I was wondering if it were just my iPad, but it sounds like it's still being hampered by software. I use it to watch videos, read magazines and books, and general stuff. But my laptop and workstation will always be in rotation as my main systems.

thanks everyone for confirming what I was experiencing.
Click to expand...
If you look at reviews comparing the M1/M2/M3 etc. iPad Pro with it´s closest equivalent in the Windows world, the Microsoft Surface Pro 8/9/10 etc., something funny is happening: The iPad is more powerful, has considerably better battery life, a better display, better loudspeakers, etc... etc...., but in the end the MS SP winds up being the workhorse that does it all, though with much less fanfare and glamour (and takes longer at comparable tasks).

Which is why, as you pointed out, many times the iPad is primarily used as a media consumption device.

Gotta say one thing though: There´s no equivalent to Noteful on an iPad for note taking in the Windows world (if there is, I definitely want to hear about it!). If I were a student, I´d get myself an iPad Pro and never print out a single sheet of lecture notes again.
 
Liquid Light said:
The Point and Shoot Pro said:
That was my exact experience with using iPad when my laptop wasn't working. Things took longer, never worked as good etc. I was wondering if it were just my iPad, but it sounds like it's still being hampered by software. I use it to watch videos, read magazines and books, and general stuff. But my laptop and workstation will always be in rotation as my main systems.

thanks everyone for confirming what I was experiencing.
Click to expand...
If you look at reviews comparing the M1/M2/M3 etc. iPad Pro with it´s closest equivalent in the Windows world, the Microsoft Surface Pro 8/9/10 etc., something funny is happening: The iPad is more powerful, has considerably better battery life, a better display, better loudspeakers, etc... etc...., but in the end the MS SP winds up being the workhorse that does it all, though with much less fanfare and glamour (and takes longer at comparable tasks).

Which is why, as you pointed out, many times the iPad is primarily used as a media consumption device.

Gotta say one thing though: There´s no equivalent to Noteful on an iPad for note taking in the Windows world (if there is, I definitely want to hear about it!). If I were a student, I´d get myself an iPad Pro and never print out a single sheet of lecture notes again.
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I was thinking of leaving the world of microsoft behind. But, you know what? The devil you know. I know if I got a Mac/iPad combo for my my computing system, I would not be happy. I have used windows for so long that I am comfortable using it and expect every computer to work this way.

I break out my iPad and Linux machine. Use it for a couple of days and then pick up my Windows laptop and it's like....Ahhhhhhhh this is how it's supposed to be. I would love to move to the Macbook air, but the OS is not for me.

--

Fronterra Photography Tours
The Point and Shoot Pro
One Lens, No Problem
 
When the time comes, I'll be getting a Mac Studio. It offers far more performance per dollar than any other Apple platform, IMHO. That's where I will do all of my heavy lifting. If I additionally needed the ability to do stuff while traveling, I'd probably add a MacBook Air or an iPad Air.

Personally, I could not live with the compromises of working solely on an iPad.
 
Tried it. For me, iPadOS isn’t there yet. Look in your utilities folder and note how many you use where the iPad has no functional equivalent to. Depends on your use case but raw cpu power is a pretty low criteria for me.
 
The iPad will become truly useful when Apple puts MacOS on it. IOW when hell freezes over.
 
GonnaSnap said:
The iPad will become truly useful when Apple puts MacOS on it. IOW when hell freezes over.
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iOS 26 allows for windowing apps, just like Mac OS. I haven’t tried it yet, but it’s there.
 
Yes, that is a good point, it isn't as useful as it is on the Mac. The supported standards make it clear that Apple designed it for the same crowd they've been designing the most high-end features of the iPhone for: Revenue-producing serious video creators using iOS devices as production tools. Not so much for still photography.
 
jeffharris said:
GonnaSnap said:
The iPad will become truly useful when Apple puts MacOS on it. IOW when hell freezes over.
Click to expand...
iOS 26 allows for windowing apps, just like Mac OS. I haven’t tried it yet, but it’s there.
Click to expand...
I have been using the new windowing on iPad OS 26, and it's pretty much how I want it to work. No more restrictions on window sizes or placement, now you can position and resize them freely as on Mac and Windows. This is if you have chosen the new Multitasking option called Windowed Apps, so if anyone isn't able to do it, you have to enable it in your Multitasking & Gestures setting.

And as I mentioned earlier in this thread, I have used Windowed Apps when I have a 27" external monitor connected to the iPad, and it is very Mac-like to work across the external and iPad monitor in extended mode. Of course you have to use a connected mouse to control windows on the external monitor.

In iOS 26 and macOS 26, Apple moved the windowing systems closer together. They now share the extended click-and-hold feature set of the 3 stoplight buttons in the top left corner, and they both have keyboard shortcuts and even gesture shortcuts for those functions. They have done a lot of nice work with the windows on both OSs.

BUT...

Free windowing IS NOT the same as "putting macOS on" the iPad. The windowing system is just a tiny fraction of why macOS is more productive than iPad OS. So replying with "iOS 26 allows for windowing apps" is not anywhere close to addressing the complaints of everyone who wants full macOS on the iPad. For example, the nice windowing also doesn't come anywhere close to closing the severe functionality gap between iOS apps and the same apps on Mac/Windows.
 
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No, most of that is impossible the way Adobe has it set up. On the iPad, Adobe has Lightroom tied to its own cloud.
BigDG said:
Can I use the iPad for for editing photos with Lightroom Classic when I travel?
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No, not with Lightroom Classic directly on the iPad. There is no Lightroom Classic for the iPad. Only Lightroom. What you can do is use a USB card reader to import direct into the Lightroom app for the iPad, and edit with those features. Then when you get back home, if you have a Lightroom Classic catalog synced to the cloud, the next time you open that catalog, it will pull down all of the images that you imported to the iPad because the Lightroom app will have synced them up to the cloud.
BigDG said:
and will the iPad manage the photos as I am used to when I use a laptop?
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The iPad can manage the photos if you had copied the images from the card to the Files app. But if you import the images directly into Lightroom app, then Lightroom will copy them to its private cloud-synced sandbox and you will only be able to work with them in Lightroom. The images in Lightroom will not be findable in the Files app. The only way to see them in Files app is to export them out of Lightroom.

In other words it does not work like Classic. It works like the cloud version of Lightroom. Because that's what it is, it's the cloud version.
BigDG said:
And when I am home can I export the catalog and photos to my desktop?
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If you imported the images into the Lightroom app on the iPad then you don't have to export anything because as described above ,they will sync through the cloud back to a catalog at your home that is configured to sync with the cloud. In theory it is possible to export from the Lightroom iPad app, transfer the files to the Mac, and import to Classic, but in practice it is clumsy to do that while preserving your iPad edits, and it won't preserve the organization. As I said, they really built it to go through their own cloud. On the iPad they built Lightroom at a time when the Files app wasn't so good, and they have not kept up with the times so if you try to go local it is a major headache to try.

Just remember, on the iPad, Lightroom doesn't work like Classic, so any workflow built around thinking like Lightroom Classic won't work on the iPad.

If you want Lightroom Classic on the road, then you take a laptop. If you want Lightroom Classic on the road in tablet form, you bring a Windows tablet because it can run a full desktop OS that can run Lightroom Classic.
 
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Well, I am back on my iPad 10th gen for the forseeable future. My Dell laptop has returned to its non functioning behaviors. I am done using it and will stay on my iPad for my laptop and use my dell xps for my desktop (for now). I do see me going full apple for my computing, but not for mobile device. I am not a fan of the iPhone anymore.

I am sick of things not working correctly both on the hardware and software side of windows. I will learn Mac/iPadOS over the next little while.

Fronterra Photography Tours

The Point and Shoot Pro
One Lens, No Problem
 
The Point and Shoot Pro said:
Well, I am back on my iPad 10th gen for the forseeable future. My Dell laptop has returned to its non functioning behaviors. I am done using it and will stay on my iPad for my laptop and use my dell xps for my desktop (for now). I do see me going full apple for my computing, but not for mobile device. I am not a fan of the iPhone anymore.

I am sick of things not working correctly both on the hardware and software side of windows. I will learn Mac/iPadOS over the next little while.
Click to expand...
Let us know how you make out.

My iPad has model identifier iPad13,18 and is the iPad 10.9" 10th Gen (Wi-Fi Only), with 4GB RAM, 256GB storage. It runs well for general computing, but I wouldn’t like to commit it to photo work.

My latest toy is a Lenovo i5 Chromebook Plus which is remarkably flexible with Chrome, Linux and Android capabilities in addition native Web-based apps. Runs a 28” 4K external monitor when back at the office. It has similar performance to my son’s Dell i5 notebook, but unfortunately I can’t mess with that as it’s “locked down” by his Uni department.
 
New Wrycuda said:
The Point and Shoot Pro said:
Well, I am back on my iPad 10th gen for the forseeable future. My Dell laptop has returned to its non functioning behaviors. I am done using it and will stay on my iPad for my laptop and use my dell xps for my desktop (for now). I do see me going full apple for my computing, but not for mobile device. I am not a fan of the iPhone anymore.

I am sick of things not working correctly both on the hardware and software side of windows. I will learn Mac/iPadOS over the next little while.
Click to expand...
Let us know how you make out.

My iPad has model identifier iPad13,18 and is the iPad 10.9" 10th Gen (Wi-Fi Only), with 4GB RAM, 256GB storage. It runs well for general computing, but I wouldn’t like to commit it to photo work.

My latest toy is a Lenovo i5 Chromebook Plus which is remarkably flexible with Chrome, Linux and Android capabilities in addition native Web-based apps. Runs a 28” 4K external monitor when back at the office. It has similar performance to my son’s Dell i5 notebook, but unfortunately I can’t mess with that as it’s “locked down” by his Uni department.
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I will. That's the same iPad I have but mine has LTE as well as I got it from work. I have affinity on it and it edits images without issue. I got my Dell working again, but I do not have high hopes for it, my iPad is sitting next to me ready to go. It's as if the dell acts up, smells me getting the iPad and say better start working again. ha ha.

I did memtest, chkdsk etc all are functioning correctly. As I mentioned earlier this is a common problem with dells of this time frame.
 
jeffharris said:
GonnaSnap said:
The iPad will become truly useful when Apple puts MacOS on it. IOW when hell freezes over.
Click to expand...
iOS 26 allows for windowing apps, just like Mac OS. I haven’t tried it yet, but it’s there.
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It would be a lot easier to just let it run MacOS. That immediately lifts any and all limitations. But Apple is more interested in selling customers more, rather than fewer, devices.

Give me a simple glass slate that can be whatever I want it to be. If I want a simple mobile experience, I'll switch it into iPad mode. If I want to do actual work, I'll switch it into Mac mode. Let me, the user, decide what it can be based on my use case.

One device to rule them all, why not?
 
GonnaSnap said:
jeffharris said:
GonnaSnap said:
The iPad will become truly useful when Apple puts MacOS on it. IOW when hell freezes over.
Click to expand...
iOS 26 allows for windowing apps, just like Mac OS. I haven’t tried it yet, but it’s there.
Click to expand...
It would be a lot easier to just let it run MacOS. That immediately lifts any and all limitations. But Apple is more interested in selling customers more, rather than fewer, devices.

Give me a simple glass slate that can be whatever I want it to be. If I want a simple mobile experience, I'll switch it into iPad mode. If I want to do actual work, I'll switch it into Mac mode. Let me, the user, decide what it can be based on my use case.

One device to rule them all, why not?
Click to expand...
I see the iPad and Mac and iPhone as complimentary devices.
AND they work together pretty seamlessly as one mega or meta device.

A “one device to rule them all” is a jack of all trades, master of none. Not really great with anything.

Kinda like those Microsoft Surface abominations.

Nein, danke!
 
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GonnaSnap said:
It would be a lot easier to just let it run MacOS. That immediately lifts any and all limitations. But Apple is more interested in selling customers more, rather than fewer, devices.

Give me a simple glass slate that can be whatever I want it to be. If I want a simple mobile experience, I'll switch it into iPad mode. If I want to do actual work, I'll switch it into Mac mode. Let me, the user, decide what it can be based on my use case.

One device to rule them all, why not?
Click to expand...
Apple probably isn't willing to do it given the absolute non-existence of proper touch support on macOS. There is no touch mode, so there are still too many tiny controls that would be painful and difficult to use with fingers if all Apple did was enable macOS on the iPad.

Of course you and I know that all Apple has to do is say "You can run macOS on your iPad but you must have a keyboard and mouse connected" because currently that is the only way it wouldn't be a complete pain in the rear. But Apple is so particular about user experience that they probably don't want to allow macOS on the iPad until it can be used with no hardware attached.

The same way they designed the iPad so that although the Apple Pencil augments it, the Apple Pencil is not required. I believe they want to do the same thing with macOS: They won't allow it until macOS is in a state when it would be comfortable to use it without a mouse connected. I would call this a "stand up" OS in that I can see Apple wanting the iPad to be a device you can use while holding it as you're standing. If you require a mouse because macOS controls are still too small for touch, then it's not a stand up OS.

Again, I basically agree with you that I want to just run macOS on my iPad Pro and I don't mind connecting a mouse to do it, but what I am saying is I can see why based on their history, Apple wouldn't want to do it given the sorry state of touch on macOS today.
 
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graybalanced said:
Apple probably isn't willing to do it given the absolute non-existence of proper touch support on macOS. There is no touch mode, so there are still too many tiny controls that would be painful and difficult to use with fingers if all Apple did was enable macOS on the iPad.
Click to expand...
I saw something a few days ago that said the M6 MacBooks will have a touch screen so, I suppose, if so then MacOS will have touch support.
 
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