I have been going back and forth for years now, alternating between reading my newspaper on my iPad and on the physical print edition. I still cannot choose which I prefer? Reading on the iPad looks much better but passing back and forth with a physical paper is so much easier. Then there's the cost, the digital editions being much cheaper. I have got into the habit of buying a paper when on my daily walk. It just seems to be part of the walk, to buy something, to go to a shop and a paper is the most obvious daily "treat". But then, always having news content on a digital device is pretty nice....

I'm just interested to know if anyone has gone the whole nine yards and ditched physical newspapers (or magazines) in favour of using their iPad (or computer). How do you find it and why do you prefer it? Thanks.

I understand what you are saying. I have ditched all magazines and newspapers for digital access to read. On the plus side it has decreased my recycling load. I find the most digital access gives me more information and in some cases it’s even additional articles for digital editions as well. It started with my daily paper, and has increase with apple news + service. Now with news plus weighing in its even cheaper on a monthly basis.

And I suppose another plus for digital is that it can be updated throughout the day. I have Apple News + but not really explored it yet.

I grew up as a kid in the early 90s asking neighbors and friends for their discarded newspapers/magazines. When I was in high school I saved up for LA Times, WSJ, Economist, and all the magazines I could afford (US News, Scientific American, Newsweek, etc). Absolutely loved reading all that stuff. Kept this up till about 2010.

Imo, around 2010 the quality of all those print magazines/newspapers took a pretty steep dive and the prices started skyrocketing - advertisements became obnoxious. News became less about informing and more about shocking/grabbing attention/outraging. That and the iPad came out. By the iPad 3 I was 100% digital because I could block advertisements and read without having to keep track of 6-7+ newspapers/magazines. I dropped most of my newspaper/magazine subscriptions back then around 2013-15 - some of them made cancelling such a chore (like AOL), I promised never to sign up for another one.

Now days I try to maintain a WSJ (through work), Economist, and ArsTechnica subscription and I do a little bit of Apple News but .... news isn't what it used to be. I've been 100% digital for years now (a decade?) and it seems like the last few years, accessing magazines / newspapers has gotten a lot easier as they're finally starting to grasp digital. I've got 8 magazines set to download on Apple News but I don't read them as much because of the insane number of advertisements in the Apple News app. I prefer to read via Safari with 1Blocker. That and I'm reading more books now than ever before.

Using Libby to borrow a book from my local library and read it on the iPad in the Kindle app is far more of a pleasant experience than trying to read the news, getting blasted in the face by bright moving advertisements every screen swipe. I really hate ads especially if I'm paying for something.


I use my iPad for all my note taking (and thought processing) - Notability with the Apple Pencil 2. Been doing this for 3-4 years now. It's nice having 1 device for almost everything. My iPhone/iPad has access to my 360 book library (I haven't read most of them), news, my email, access to my handwritten notes (Notability), and I use them to read for hours and hours every day. On the weekends I'll use my iPad for 6-8 hours reading either books or news or Macrumors!

Great post. Thanks for that. I was going to point you in the direction of the Kindle vs iPad thread but see you're already there! Out of interest, which iPad are you using?

AVBeatMan said:

Great post. Thanks for that. I was going to point you in the direction of the Kindle vs iPad thread but see you're already there! Out of interest, which iPad are you using?

I started out using an iPad 3, then went to a mini 2, didn't like that, then went to an Air 3? - that was fine but I wanted more so got a 10.5 pro in 2017. In 2018 my wife and I got iPad Pro 11 each. Best iPads we've ever owned. Wife is still using her 2018 iPad Pro 11 daily. I got an M1 iPad Pro 11 earlier this year (I shouldn't have, the 2018 11' is still plenty fast) - will be using that for 3-5 years easy.

My wife and I have been using the iCarez matte screen protectors - making the glare significantly less of an issue and the Apple Pencil less slippery when writing.

I have read hundreds of books and thousands of hours on the 11' iPad Pro - it is the perfect reading device for me. I usually put a couch pillow on my lap (or a body pillow upstairs) and rest the iPad on that and can read for half a day no problems. Brightness down as far as I can stand it and black/grey background with white text (or sepia depending on how I feel and brightness in the room).

BigMcGuire said:

I started out using an iPad 3, then went to a mini 2, didn't like that, then went to an Air 3? - that was fine but I wanted more so got a 10.5 pro in 2017. In 2018 my wife and I got iPad Pro 11 each. Best iPads we've ever owned. Wife is still using hers and I got an M1 iPad Pro 11 (I shouldn't have, the 2018 11' is still plenty fast) - will be using that for 3-5 years easy.

My wife and I have been using the iCarez matte screen protectors - making the glare significantly less of an issue and the Apple Pencil less slippery when writing.

I have read hundreds of books and thousands of hours on the 11' iPad Pro - it is the perfect reading device for me. I usually put a couch pillow on my lap (or a body pillow upstairs) and rest the iPad on that and can read for half a day no problems. Brightness down as far as I can stand it and black/grey background with white text.

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I've got the 2020 11" Pro. I put a PaperLike screen protector on it which I love. I also recently got the iPad mini 6 which I love for the portably. Strangely, I subscribe to the Times (London) and while the text fits the 11" screen it misses a bit off on the mini which makes reading the Times on it impossible. V Strange....

For some years I have read newspapers only on ipad. Much preferred. But it does depend somewhat on the format of the digital edition. In UK, The Times and Sunday Times ipad editions are an excellent format for me. I also access The Guardian via Readly app and subscription; I prefer some of its content but format is not as freindly. That app gives access to other newspaper, which I do not generally read, plus lots of magazines, some of which I do read regularly.

I read all my newspapers via digital subscriptions on either my laptop tied to a 4K monitor or my iPad; probably 95% is done on the laptop/monitor combo.