This is a topic that I often think about as I wonder if I could solely use my iPad as my main device replacing my laptop. So I thought I would share with you all what my thoughts are on this one.
Essentially as with most things, the answer is Yes with the caveat of it will depend on what activities you use your iPad and or PC for. So let’s jump into that a bit and go through what I use my iPad for on a daily basis.
– Writing my Journal ( I use Day One)
– Writing these blog posts
– General Browsing of online content e.g. YouTube, Medium and general streaming
– I use my iPad when I am away or want to work remotely on my content.
I would say that the main thing that allows me to be able to use my iPad Pro for all of the above is the Apple Magic Keyboard. With this, I have a great keyboard that allows me to write my journal and blog posts easily and comfortably. Without this, I don’t think that I would use the iPad Pro half as much.
The other great selling point is how portable it is. I went for the 11inch version of the Pro because of that not that the 12.9-inch version is not as portable I just wanted the smaller form factor. It means that when we go away I don’t need to lug about the 16in MacBook Pro which takes up a fair bit of space and is a lot heavier. I also don’t need to carry such a powerful laptop as I can do everything I need when away on my iPad. It is also great for when I want to go and sit in a coffee shop to write a blog (this blog is being written in one), it is nice to be able to get a change of scenario and not have to take what feels like a whole workstation with you.
I also love browsing the web, streaming and consuming content. I do a fair bit of this on my phone but watching YouTube videos on the iPad Pro is great, it’s a good screen size and the screen is also great. I also tend to read articles on Medium on the iPad as well as ebooks as it is a nice size (granted I prefer the iPad Mini for this). If this is what you mainly find yourself using your laptop for then I would certainly say that the iPad whether it be the Pro or not would be perfect for you.
Now onto why I still have a laptop and why some of you out there might also still be rocking one. There are three main reasons why I still feel that I need to have a laptop.
1) Editing YouTube Videos
So as you may know I also have a YouTube Channel which I am hoping to be more consistent with and grow this year. This means that I need to edit my videos and for this, I like to have a bigger screen also I haven’t come across a good Editing App for the iPad, but even if I did I am not sure that I would use it because I like the larger screen for this.
2) Editing my blog Posts
Now I can do this on my iPad and have done it on the odd occasions but I just find it a lot easier on a laptop and external monitor. Again this comes back to screen real estate and it just being less fiddly, I think that using the iPad adds more time to me editing and publishing my posts on my website. So from a workflow perspective in this instance, the laptop wins ahead of the iPad Pro. But it is more than capable of doing the job this is just my preference.
3) Making updates on my Website
Now, this is something that I would not recommend trying to do on an iPad. I have tried and it was just difficult with the lack of screen real estate and trackpad (I know you can add a mouse but who does?). This is also something that I find very time consuming as I am still learning how to maintain a personal website so I like to be at my desk in front of my big ultra wide monitor.
These are just the pros and cons that I have come across which is why I will still be using both my iPad Pro and MacBook Pro. But I will go back to my opening comment I do believe that for some people the iPad could very much replace a laptop or PC. They are more than powerful enough to handle day to day activities. I would say that iPad IOS maybe would put people off (e.g. no proper external monitor support) a bit but hopefully, we will see some changes in this space, especially as the M1 chip is used in these devices now.
But for now, I will continue with both but looking forward to seeing how the iPad evolves over the next couple of years.