I really wanted it to work. A couple of weeks ago I closed my MacBook on a Friday afternoon with no plans to open it for a week. I was not going on vacation, but I was testing the theory that the iPad could actually be “a computer”.
My setup was as high as possible: a 12.9-inch iPad Pro with 1TB of storage and cellular connectivity, a Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil, a setup that’s more expensive than the 13-inch MacBook Pro I got it from. 2016. It looked great on my desk and felt like the future that Apple sells. When I put the iPad in its magnetic case, I really hoped that I could replace my MacBook with a sleek, modern and versatile device.
Unfortunately it did not work. I spent more time fighting my iPad than loving it, and when the time came, it was just too difficult to do things as quickly and efficiently as I do on my Mac. Part of this is muscle memory, of course, but there are still fundamental problems with the iPad that prevent it from being the first device that Apple wants it to be. So I’m giving up.
While there’s a lot I like about the iPad Pro and Apple’s full tablet experience, it’s not as simple as a trackpad that is the missing link between it and the Mac.
The cursor is not revolutionary.
The iPad Pro not only got a trackpad, it also got a “reinvented cursor experience” that Apple says is “the most important thing that has happened to the cursor since you point and click.” Its circular design is definitely unique, but I found it more frustrating than fun.
IDGThe cursor needs some help.
From size to slight parallax effect when the cursor moves over an icon, the whole system feels surprisingly amateurish and cheap. Even beyond aesthetics, the cursor felt more laborious than it should. Contextual awareness took too long with some fields, wasn’t always recognized by text fields, and made me long for the classic arrow on my Mac.
Multitasking really isn’t good
IDGSwitching between apps is great on iPad, but multitasking is a confusing mess.
One of the main reasons Apple separated iPadOS from iOS is its multitasking advantages. But although multitasking with my Mac is simple and effortless, on the iPad it’s a confusing mess, especially when using the trackpad. Split View apps must be opened from the Dock, it is impossible to close a Slide Over window without touching the screen, and resizing is basically a guessing game.
I understand that iPad is different from Mac, so floating windows don’t make sense, but iPad multitasking still feels that Apple would address these confusions in iPadOS 14, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Working with text is not fun
IDGWhether using the touch pad or trackpad, working with text on iPad Pro is frustrating.
As a writer, I work a lot with text and have a lot of shortcuts and muscle memory built into my workflow. Most of it is thrown out the window on the iPad. Selecting text with the touchpad is not as intuitive as it is on the Mac, and depending on the application I used, I often had to touch the screen just to make sure the selection I needed was highlighted correctly. Some fields needed an extra click to switch to the keyboard. And worst of all, the spell checker was much more aggressive than it was on Mac, so the words often changed to things I didn’t want to write.
Using a second screen is ridiculously bad
The iPad Pro has support for a second monitor, which I use regularly on my Mac. But I can’t imagine why anyone would want to. When you connect your iPad to an external monitor, which is as easy as finding the correct USB-C cable or dongle, you’ll see exactly what’s on your iPad in the same aspect ratio. That means your widescreen will have black bars on the sides, just like when you watch an older TV show on a newer TV.
IDGThis is not going to cut, Apple.
Some apps can use the two screens together to add additional functionality, like iMovie and iPhotos, but none that I use regularly benefited from the extra space. So where I can expand my screen on the Mac and gain three times the space for apps, connecting my iPad to the same screen just made it a little bigger.
The iPad desperately needs a desktop mode, but unless Apple has a surprise up its sleeve, it looks like we’ll be waiting for at least iPadOS 15.
The magic keyboard is not so magical
As soon as I put my fingers on the Magic Keyboard keys, I fell in love. Typing is a million times better than my Butterfly MacBook Pro and Smart Keyboard, and I really hated to quit. I really like it, actually I just bought a Bluetooth Magic Keyboard to go with my MacBook.
Michael Simon / IDGWith the Magic Keyboard attached, the iPad Pro is roughly the same size as the 13-inch MacBook Pro, but it’s much heavier.
But the magic ends there. It is too heavy, too stiff, and too difficult to open. The iPad doesn’t come off easily like it does in Apple’s marketing photos. The trackpad is too small compared to my Mac, and it lacks a row of functions. And the Apple logo is still on the side when it restarts.
I like being able to use it on my lap thanks to its excellent weight distribution, but the iPad Magic keyboard is still a few generations away from being perfect.
Working with photos is a struggle
The iPad has come a long way as a productivity tool, and there’s a lot I can do now that I couldn’t before. My VPN and CMS worked very well, my external hard drive was instantly recognized and working with Word was very easy. In fact, I only had to open my Mac twice. To print (see below) and correctly crop a photo I took.
On my Mac, working with photos is easy. Just insert the card, transfer the images to my desktop, open them in Photoshop and make the necessary modifications. On the iPad, it is not that simple. Although my camera card was recognized, it was not so easy to edit my photo, and all I had to do was crop it to a specific size. Photoshop doesn’t recognize RAW, Lightroom wouldn’t let me easily customize a crop, and Photos refused to properly import images so other apps couldn’t access them. I couldn’t even find a way to rename a photo in Photos to upload it to my CMS. Fortunately, my Mac came to the rescue when I was getting desperate, but the iPad still has a long way to go when it comes to photo editing.
Not enough USB-C ports
Michael Simon / IDGThe only USB-C port on iPad Pro is not good enough.
Even if you choose the Magic Keyboard, you will only get two USB ports on the iPad Pro, and only one of them will be able to handle peripheral devices. If you want to connect a monitor and a hard drive, you have no luck with buying a hub.
And while I want it, it’s in the wrong place. It should be close to the bottom edge so you don’t need to see a cable hanging every time you need to plug something in.
Face ID is great with an annoying limitation
IDGFace ID would be a welcome improvement over Touch ID on the MacBook.
When it works, Face ID is nothing less than a revelation. Open your iPad, look at the screen and violate, it is unlocked. The same goes for logins and authentication. It is far superior to Touch ID and needs to get to the MacBook.
But that magical experience stops at the App Store. Face ID supports app buying, of course, but the system isn’t as perfect as it is with unlocking password managers and other apps. Like your iPhone, you need to double-click the power button to confirm your purchase, which is not the easiest thing when docked. It may seem like a small thing, but when you buy a few things every day, you take it out of your element.
Printing is annoying
I have a relatively old Brother printer that works perfectly with my Mac, Chromebook, and PC. But when I connected it to my iPad to print something I needed to work, nothing happened. This is because, despite its USB-C port, the iPad only works with AirPrint-compatible printers. Apple lists many of them on its support site, but I don’t see any reason why iPad can’t work with any USB printer.
A stock calculator is really important
It’s easy to point to one of the numerous calculators on the App Store or accept the ridiculous excuse that Apple won’t send one until “we can do it really, really well,” but the fact remains: a stock calculator. The app is missing. It’s not the kind of thing you think about until you need it, and on more than one occasion I had to search for my iPhone just to solve a simple math problem. All I want is the Mac app in a PIP window when I need to do quick calculations, and it seems like I’ll wait at least another year to get it.
I miss pinned tabs
IDGPinned tabs in Mac Safari are more useful than they seem.
If this were the iPad’s only problem, you could probably overlook it, but when you add it to the others here, it’s just another frustrating example of the iPad’s unexplained shortcomings. On my Mac, I can keep small tabs on the left tagged with favicons so they are easily accessible without interfering with my other tabs. Even with the changes coming to iOS 14, pinned tabs are still elusive on iPad, making Safari on Mac superior.
And speaking of tabs, why doesn’t Ctrl-Z accidentally undo a closed tab like it does on Mac?
Many apps have a frustrating combination of mobile and desktop controls
On iPhone and Mac, you know what you get. The touch targets are great, the navigation and menus are reasonable, and the user experience is smart and responsive. This is not exactly how it is on the iPad. With an environment that encompasses iPhone and Mac, I often felt like I was struggling with the interface. No matter how fast they went, the applications often seemed too simple and complicated at the same time. From Word to Tweetbot, even Photoshop, the interfaces didn’t know if they wanted to be mobile or desktop, forcing my actions to be more deliberate than with my Mac. Even after a week, I never felt so comfortable with any of the interfaces like with phone or PC, especially when keyboard was connected. Consequently, I worked slower than on any device.
Back to the Mac
Suffice it to say, I’m writing this on a MacBook Pro. There are a lot of things I like about the iPad Pro: the design, the display, the face ID, and the overall flexibility, but it’s not ready to replace my Mac just yet. Maybe I never will. will do. With the upcoming transition to Apple’s own processors, the line between Mac and iPad Pro will blur even more, but if anything, the core differences will only deepen.
My main issues here (multitasking, screen extension, and cursor) could never get to the point where longtime Mac users are comfortable with them, which could be the point. My biggest problem with the iPad Pro is not that it is not a Mac, it is that Apple has not clearly defined what it is or why.
