All in on iPad Pro! | MacRumors Forums

A couple of months ago, I picked up a 12.9 5th gen and Magic Keyboard second hand for about half of what Apple sells it for. Since then, I’ve used my M1 MacBook Air maybe 4 times tops. I absolutely love the experience that I get using the iPad Pro. I have yet to run into anything that cannot be done on the IPP. Sure there were some workflow changes that took a while to get used to, but now I much prefer the way those tasks are accomplished on iPad OS. While it still lacks a few common sense features, I have no doubt they will be implemented in future updates.

Yesterday I decided to dust off the M1 Air and list it for sale on Swappa. Less than 24 hours later, it sold. While I have been contemplating a full jump to ipad only for some time now, I hesitated to make sure that I didn’t need the M1 Air for anything. I am finally confidant that everything I do can be accomplished on the IPP.

Has anyone else ditched their MacBook for an iPad, and if so, how has the experience been?

Yes! Had the 11" IPP for a month with the magic keyboard and I am in love. Just today got the 12.9 since 11 was too small, and listed both the 11 and MBP for sale. I still have Mac Pro for heavy lifting. I just love the IPP, I am all in for it to be my laptop replacement.

Do you like the 12.9 better than the 11? I kicked around the idea of an 11 just for additional portability, but I think I’d miss the additional 2 inches of screen real estate.

Nice! I have an MBP and a couple of iPads but I definitely use the tablets much more; they’re more convenient to use and I like to draw.

capathy21 said:

Do you like the 12.9 better than the 11? I kicked around the idea of an 11 just for additional portability, but I think I’d miss the additional 2 inches of screen real estate.

I have both. The 12.9 stays docked in the Magic Keyboard most of the time, as a secondary laptop, while the 11 is for portability. I also have a Mini 6 for ouside the home portability. But thst's probably overkill for most.

I have 11” but iPad Pro is still very limited to complete tasks, particularly running macro and custom applications that cannot be run on iOS. I do mostly replace my iPhone with iPad apart from phone calls and SMS, a different direction than OP goes.

I don’t get the point when some people say they have the 12.9 that stays docked and then the 11 for portability. If you are keeping the 12.9 docked it makes more sense to have a MBA and the 11. You then get the best of both worlds and are not just stuck with iPad OS. Also it would be the cheaper option.

scupking said:

Also it would be the cheaper option.

Not necessarily. You need to pay the money for two devices. So there’s that. A base model 11” iPad Pro and baseline MBA can run you about $2000, enough to get higher capacity 12.9” iPad Pro.

Since I got the 1st 12.9 iPad Pro released in 2015 I gave myself 2 months before sellling my 2015 15 inch MBP and not till Late 2020 I got the New M1 Mac Mini only for video editing everything elso is done on my 2021 5th Gen 12.9 iPad Pro i haven looked back My side job required a little higher level video editing app Final Cut then Luma Fusion but for everything elso i do personally Luma Fusion is plenty hope this helps OP (edit) (I did try the 2018 11” model and it is good for probability but would rather have bigger screen no need for 2 IPP it may work for some not for me to much to keep track of Magic Keyboard is a requirement for me )

I bought an iPad Pro 12.9 about 16 months ago. It quickly became my primary and go-to device. I passed on my XPS laptop to a friend shortly after as stopped using it. Admittedly my computing needs are very basic, but I am all in on my iPad Pro 12.9. I no longer want or need a traditional computer. I use my iPad Pro in portrait mode 90% of the time so it just works better for me than say a MacBook Air that I can only use in landscape.

scupking said:

I don’t get the point when some people say they have the 12.9 that stays docked and then the 11 for portability. If you are keeping the 12.9 docked it makes more sense to have a MBA and the 11. You then get the best of both worlds and are not just stuck with iPad OS. Also it would be the cheaper option.

Not necessarily. The Air does not have a touch screen or pencil - or cellular (call it a backup for internet if your home connection fails). Plus, it still can be more portable than an Air when undocked.

capathy21 said:

Do you like the 12.9 better than the 11? I kicked around the idea of an 11 just for additional portability, but I think I’d miss the additional 2 inches of screen real estate.

It's thirty percent of screen area. You'll notice.

Additionally, you get a full size keyboard with the 13. No shrunken keys or truncated edges.

Argon_ said:

Additionally, you get a full size keyboard with the 13. No shrunken keys or truncated edges.

This was probably the main reason I switched to 12.9!

I’ve been all iPad since the iPad 6. My old crappy laptop died and realized I never really used it. Upgraded to the 11 pro and never looked back

I tried, too small a screen on it's own, 12.9" M1. So got a 24" iMac as well.

I probably used my MBP for like an hour at most since I got my iPad Pro 6 months back. it’s the best product apple makes IMO.

scupking said:

I don’t get the point when some people say they have the 12.9 that stays docked and then the 11 for portability. If you are keeping the 12.9 docked it makes more sense to have a MBA and the 11. You then get the best of both worlds and are not just stuck with iPad OS. Also it would be the cheaper option.

I ran a 12.9 IPP in laptop mode with a Magic keyboard for over a year. I decided to try a 13" M1 MBP and have ended up selling the IPP. The M1 still runs the couple of iPad apps that I really liked, and has much more storage and usable ram than did the IPP plus regular MacOS.

I still have an 11" IPP with cellular. I use it with the pencil for annotating research articles that I keep in Notes. Having the cellular is a bit more convenient if I head out for coffee or lunch and want to keep busy while I am out.

Posting once again just to iterate how enchanted I am with the 12.9 IPP and the magic keyboard for iPad - I got the white one. The keyboard is very expensive, but I simply do not see the keyboard as just a keyboard - I see it as a docking station, a protective case, a stand, and a touchpad.

For me personally the advantages to a laptop are simple:

- I use it as a secondary display with sidecar, can't do that with a laptop
- I can detach it from the keyboard and use it as a tablet, can't do that with a laptop
- There is noting for me personally I can't do on the IPP (but that is personal based on usage)

Based on my usage of my MBP (that was not some heavy workflow) I can clearly state IPP is my laptop replacement.

But there is one more thing...

I also have an 11" at my possession at the moment... and I am torn whether to keep it or to sell it. The 12.9 is great with the keyboard and all, but it doesn't fit in my shoulder bag, meaning I can't carry it around that much. Would you keep both tablets to serve different purposes?

vddobrev said:

I also have an 11" at my possession at the moment... and I am torn whether to keep it or to sell it. The 12.9 is great with the keyboard and all, but it doesn't fit in my shoulder bag, meaning I can't carry it around that much. Would you keep both tablets to serve different purposes?

Yep, I do this. Having spares is also useful when the other iPad needs charging or needs to be repaired or something. Besides, I still use each iPad way, way more than I use my laptops.

rui no onna said:

Yep, I do this. Having spares is also useful when the other iPad needs charging or needs to be repaired or something. Besides, I still use each iPad way, way more than I use my laptops.

I’ve seen you mention your use of several iPads on many threads. Very curious, but what do you do for work that enables you to rely primarily on your iPads? And other than the charging issue, are you really using all of those iPads each day? You don’t find yourself drawn to one in particular if for no other reason than because it’s more convenient to use one device as opposed to many?

thelookingglass said:

I’ve seen you mention your use of several iPads on many threads. Very curious, but what do you do for work that enables you to rely primarily on your iPads? And other than the charging issue, are you really using all of those iPads each day? You don’t find yourself drawn to one in particular if for no other reason than because it’s more convenient to use one device as opposed to many?

I'm an office drone. I use Windows PCs provided by my employer for work. I don't need to take work into consideration when buying personal devices.

My personal devices are primarily used for consumption, mostly reading. On a given day, I might use one more than the other but throughout the year, the usage balances out. I might prefer a particular size depending on current usage. With cloud syncing though, I don't find switching iPads to be particularly inconvenient.

Indeed, if I used just one iPad almost exclusively, I'll probably end up killing the battery prematurely (happened with my Pro 9.7 and Pro 10.5).

I take my 12.9 with me everywhere but there's no way I'll ever get rid of a real computer connected to a large screen.
PC or mac doesn't matter. iPad OS is a child in comparison to a desktop OS.

Grohowiak said:

I take my 12.9 with me everywhere but there's no way I'll ever get rid of a real computer connected to a large screen.
PC or mac doesn't matter. iPad OS is a child in comparison to a desktop OS.

Likewise. There are many things that a Mac can do that my iPP 12.9" cannot do. And these days I only travel with the iPP. I have considered getting a laptop but have not found a great reason to do so.

Grohowiak said:

I take my 12.9 with me everywhere but there's no way I'll ever get rid of a real computer connected to a large screen.
PC or mac doesn't matter. iPad OS is a child in comparison to a desktop OS.

I have iPads and Macbook Pro. I got myself a Dell 23 inch touchscreen monitor and bought a driver from Touch-Base (expensive, but works really well) and...tada! A touchscreen Mac