Why an iPad? (1 Viewer)

[DaveF]

I don't know about Netflix (we have never subscribed), but there have been iTunes / Apple TV apps for Windows and Apple OS laptops / desktops for a long time, and those apps allow downloading for offline viewing. Same with Fandango at Home (formerly Vudu), although I never checked about downloading for offline viewing -- it's not a need for me. I do not know which subscription services allow downloading of their content for offline viewing, but I can access online any service I have ever subscribed to via my laptop -- YouTube TV, Amazon Prime, Peacock, Paramount+, ESPN+, Disney+.

My usage is watching TV on travel and vacation: on airplanes or in hotels with uncertain wifi. So offline (downloaded) viewing is a must.

What I'm thinking of is: Netflix has no desktop app any more. It's web viewing only. It does support UHD, which I didn't realize. But it's online only. There's no offline option for desktop / web use. Max is the same. It looks like Prime has a Mac app. So service dependent.

How to use Netflix on your Mac computer

To use Netflix in your Mac Computer, you need to go to netflix.com, there you will get the follow up steps to either sign in or sign up to a Netflix account.

help.netflix.com

How to download titles to watch offline

Tap the down arrow icon to download titles on iPhone, iPad, and Android phones and tablets.

help.netflix.com

 

[Nelson Au]

I had a couple of thoughts about iPad Pro and iPad usage.

I don’t have an issue with the onscreen keyboard. I’m typing on it now. I can make a lot of typos of course! I’m not a trained touch typist, just self taught hunt and peck and now adequately capable. Of course, I’m nowhere as fast as my young co-workers who use two thumbs to type on their iPhone at warp speed. I prefer to have this over the external keyboard. I did use an early wireless Apple keyboard on a iPad 2 for a while and I just didn’t like it because my hands had to move from the keyboard and to the screen to tap or whatever I needed to do. It felt awkward. the only issue I have to the onscreen keyboard is on the HTF typing posts. Often the keyboard will collapse down and I’m right in the middle of a quick typing action and I tap the links that are on the lower screen of the HTF window. Luckily if I reload the page, my text is still there.

As far as media consumption, I do use it to watch videos that I have stored in its memory. So when I was traveling, I could watch something. But I rarely do this. I have ripped a lot of DVDs and Blu rays for plex, so I can watch from my Plex library too. And of course I watch YouTube and Paramount +. I prefer to do all the watch on my large panel displays via an Apple TV though. But it’s great to have the mobile ability to consume. But it’s not my main usage.

Yes, I surf the web a lot via the iPad, more so than on a desktop.

I must be the only person or one of the few creating content on the iPad Pro with the Pencil doing my sketching and drawing for work and for my own fun. I have used Apple’s version of PowerPoint and Excel as well as Microsoft’s PowerPoint and Excel. I created spreadsheet with Numbers and wrote with Pages.

Also at work, we use Teams and Microsoft 365. So I can use the Teams app and Outlook. Those work fine on the iPad Pro and iPhone. I like calling into Teams meetings on the iPad Pro too if I am remote.

I use the Notes and Reminders lists a lot recently. Those are linked to iCloud so I can access on my other iPads and iPhone. That’s powerful for work! I’m learning how to use the iPad more for work. But I really like the digital note taking over a pen and paper book. Not that I’ve given up on analog pen and paper, I still draw on paper too.

Sometimes I feel like the outlier as my younger coworkers who are doing a lot on their iPhones still can’t get used to an iPad. They tried but gave up. And I’m the older guy!

This thread has reminded me that I should experiment with Adobe products. At work I use Photoshop and Illustrator on my desktop Mac and work PC. We have Creative Cloud at work. I should try Photoshop and illustrator to see how they work on the iPad.

I think someone in the thread commented how awkward it was to work with images and save them for a task? I’ll go back to the thread to understand the issue.

I’m not trying to eliminate working on a desktop. I still need the desktop for CAD work and I do like to use Illustrator on my Mac and work PC for proper work files. But I want to see how far I can go on the iPad Pro.

My main tool that made the first iPad so powerful for me is Sketchbook Pro, now called Sketchbook. They quickly made it work on the first iPad. I used the crude rubber tipped stylus at the time to draw and it was decent. When the Apple Pencil came out, that was the mic dropping moment. I’ve not wanted to go back to the Wacom Cintiq to digitally draw. Though the Wacom is great for the larger screen. But for the majority of the time, sketching on the iPad Pro 12.9 and 13 and even the 10” have been great!

I’m not making this post to try to convince anyone that the iPad Pro is a replacement for the MacBook Pro or desktop. I’m making it work and experimenting more with it. It does require a shift in how you work. Ideally Apple will eventually make iOS and MacOS into one. So that I can do everything I can do on a Mac on the iPad. I know this will cut into MacBook Pro territory and can disrupt sales of the laptops. It won’t happen but this would be ideal!

In reading the posts here and seeing how my coworkers work, I know I’m in the minority. But that’s ok. I want to see if I can make the iPad Pro more than a consumption device. And at over $1000 and with the new M chips, these devices can be used to their fullest capability. To paraphrase from an episode of Star Trek: I have an illusion and you have reality. May you find your way as pleasant.

 

[Citizen87645]

Maybe I'm old school, but if iOS file navigation could behave a little more like Mac OS, that would make me happier.

The way I interpret user interface decisions for iOS, they prioritize sharing between apps and operating in the cloud, which makes sense given the primary use cases for mobile devices. But working locally seems really convoluted as a result. E.g. Download a photo from Google Photos and it doesn't save it to Downloads, it saves it to iOS's Photos Camera Roll, so I have to do another export from iOS Phoots to iOS Files. But that option is way down on the list of choices and easy to miss if you don't know where to look. Now that I know, of course it's not that hard, but that first time trying to download a photo to bring into another app took WAY too long to figure out.

 

[Nelson Au]

Hey Cameron- I’m not a Google user so I’m not going to be much help. I have coped photos from emails and saved them in folders locally as well as in my iCloud storage and of course the photos app. What are you trying to do to the photos?

 

[Citizen87645]

Just import them into another app, specifically a photo booth app. Ultimately I think it's a combo of the way Google apps behave within iOS and iOS itself. Which is why I think an Android tablet would be preferable since it's not multiple ecosystems trying to play together. I didn't have a choice in devices though since this was at work.

 

[Sam Posten]

Sorry I missed this @Ronald Epstein

You know I’m done trying to convince others that the iPad Pro is the best mobile computer ever made, but I hope your purchase puts you on the bandwagon to joining me in that belief. I like the bigger one, but have not tried the smaller one. I recommend LTE over tethering. I get serious work done with mine then have it for fun stuff too. Hope you dig it.

 

[Nelson Au]

Just import them into another app, specifically a photo booth app. Ultimately I think it's a combo of the way Google apps behave within iOS and iOS itself. Which is why I think an Android tablet would be preferable since it's not multiple ecosystems trying to play together. I didn't have a choice in devices though since this was at work.

Cameron, I’ve never used Photo Booth before and I had to look it up. Found a quick YouTube video explaining how it works on an iPad. Looks pretty easy and straightforward. It’s a photo editing app that uses pre-set filters, right? If you only want to use that app, it looks like it’s works well in iOS in the YouTube video. But I’m not there, so I can’t see what the issue is you are having. Maybe you just prefer the way the app works on another device. Hate to see you leave the iPad, but you have to do what you have to do.

 

[Citizen87645]

Cameron, I’ve never used Photo Booth before and I had to look it up. Found a quick YouTube video explaining how it works on an iPad. Looks pretty easy and straightforward. It’s a photo editing app that uses pre-set filters, right? If you only want to use that app, it looks like it’s works well in iOS in the YouTube video. But I’m not there, so I can’t see what the issue is you are having. Maybe you just prefer the way the app works on another device. Hate to see you leave the iPad, but you have to do what you have to do.

It's not Apple's Photo Booth app, it's a third party one called LumaBooth. In any case, I know how to do what I need it to do now. I just don't like the number of steps iit takes to get there. And it's really more an issue iof Google Suite and iOS playing nice together.

Google Suite fully operating on the iPad is ultimately the problem. On one hand I guess you shouldn't expect it to since Google is a competitor, but on the other, why provide the app at all if you're going to make it suck?

So I guess I should walk back my comments a little and say productivity tasks are probably fine as long as you're using iOS native apps. The same would be said about using Apple apps on Android, but it's not even an option and there lies the difference.

 

[Nelson Au]

It's not Apple's Photo Booth app, it's a third party one called LumaBooth. In any case, I know how to do what I need it to do now. I just don't like the number of steps iit takes to get there. And it's really more an issue iof Google Suite and iOS playing nice together.

Google Suite fully operating on the iPad is ultimately the problem. On one hand I guess you shouldn't expect it to since Google is a competitor, but on the other, why provide the app at all if you're going to make it suck?

So I guess I should walk back my comments a little and say productivity tasks are probably fine as long as you're using iOS native apps. The same would be said about using Apple apps on Android, but it's not even an option and there lies the difference.

hi Cameron, fair enough. The YouTube video was for an app called Photobooth from foxtecc. Not an app I have any familiarity with. I’ll move on.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Been reading the replies from all of you. Thanks for chiming in.

The iPad is a completely different and more enjoyable experience for me this time.

Two years ago, I used the iPad with the Magic Keyboard as a portable laptop. As such, it created quite a bit of frustration for me as I had to "think differently" and do things outside the box as I would on a normal laptop. The biggest complaint to this day that I read about the iPad is that it doesn't work as effortlessly as Mac OS X.

And, I understand why Apple will never make the two devices more similar in their user experience. Both pieces of hardware serve different needs.

I needed a portable laptop that would allow me to easily deal with my daily HTF workflow. I was able to do it on my iPad but it always required an extra step or two. I ultimately ditched the 12" iPad Pro and went with a Macbook Air.

But this time around, I'm doing things differently.

No Magic Keyboard. I refuse to use this iPad as a laptop. I have the Macbook Air and Macbook Pro for that.

Instead, I am using it for content consumption, which fits perfectly with the 11" form factor. I can hold the iPad comfortably in my hand, and using the pencil, I can scroll through TikTok, read the news, as well as access my automated home.

I get Sam's point: It is a powerful computer and it can be used as a laptop replacement, but as I noted, everything needed a workaround compared to Mac OSX. As far as LTE is concerned, I didn't want to spend too much money on both an upgraded iPad and an additional subscription cost so I am very happy tethering the iPad to my iPhone. I don't even think I use the 30-50GB a month that is included with my current plan.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Oh, an iPad tip…

Want to avoid ads on YouTube videos?

Download BRAVE browser. I use it exclusively for browsing YouTube

 

[Ted Todorov]

I love my 11" iPad Pro M4 -- I went from the original iPad (got it day one of the cellular version) to the iPad 3 to the iPadAir to the iPad Pro 9.7, to the iPad Pro 10.5, to the iPad Pro 11", to the current M4. All of them stayed in use until they died, ones that were on AppleCare I replaced with new batteries or hairline fractured screens. My family and close friends inherited various ones. My original 2015 iPadPro is still in use by a close friend.

I absolutely use it more than my iPhone. And I'll spend whole days without my Mac, just with my iPad (yes and the iPhone, I couldn't drive without it - it is the car keys, it feed my podcast and music addictions) - but for text input I always use my iPad instead of my iPhone, and when away from home for a whole day instead of my Mac as well. Have always had the cellular versions -- for travel especially it is beyond crucial

 

[Ronald Epstein]

This is an incredibly informative video by THE VERGE. I believe the information that begins at 12:31 effectively encapsulates the financial reason why Apple will never release Mac OS on their iPad:

 

[Clinton McClure]

There’s that and using a desktop OS on a mobile device is a horror show.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

... and using a desktop OS on a mobile device is a horror show.

I don't know that's necessarily so. I don't prefer it (partly because I was never even a fan of laptops in first place), but I didn't find Windoze on Surface Pro tablets to be that bad, if at all, all things considered.

I do suspect they'd likely need some redesign or substantial tweaks for MacOS to play truly well enough (to live upto Apple's rep, etc). And they should likely require the use of an Apple Pencil Pro for it -- probably sell MacOS + Pencil Pro bundle targeted only for iPad Pros, if they do it at all.

_Man_

 

[Robert Saccone]

If the theory in the video is correct then it makes more sense to keep growing the power of the iPad so it eats away at the Mac user base where everyone eventually shifts to iPad and all those content creation style apps come from the iOS App Store including iOS development tools. I actually think that’s what Apple has been trying to do in the Pro line but albeit in very small steps. Where that falls apart is those compute hungry tasks that require an active cooling system. Those just don’t fit on an iPad device.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

If the theory in the video is correct then it makes more sense to keep growing the power of the iPad so it eats away at the Mac user base where everyone eventually shifts to iPad and all those content creation style apps come from the iOS App Store including iOS development tools. I actually think that’s what Apple has been trying to do in the Pro line but albeit in very small steps. Where that falls apart is those compute hungry tasks that require an active cooling system. Those just don’t fit on an iPad device.

Hi Robert!

Do you really feel people will migrate away from a laptop to an iPad?

I don’t agree with that assessment, considering the iPad’s limited capabilities. The man in the video is absolutely correct that, despite its impressive power, the iPad can still be cumbersome to use compared to a laptop for certain tasks.

Apple has made it abundantly clear that they will never release Mac OS on an iPad. In my opinion, to entice customers to purchase both devices, it’s crucial to maintain their distinctiveness. I think Apple has been very smart about that.

 

[Robert Saccone]

Hi Robert!

Do you really feel people will migrate away from a laptop to an iPad?

I don’t agree with that assessment, considering the iPad’s limited capabilities. The man in the video is absolutely correct that, despite its impressive power, the iPad can still be cumbersome to use compared to a laptop for certain tasks.

Apple has made it abundantly clear that they will never release Mac OS on an iPad. In my opinion, to entice customers to purchase both devices, it’s crucial to maintain their distinctiveness. I think Apple has been very smart about that.

I agree that macOS will never be brought the iPad. I do think there will be a use case for the Mac Book Pro and its siblings for the foreseeable future.

I think Apple will continue to chip away and make improvements iPadOs to try and overcome those areas where there is friction and it is cumbersome. How quickly they do that is the question. They been moving at a slow pace and in some cases there’s been misfires but I think they are compelled to try as the device has too much untapped potential and users hold onto them far longer than what would be expected in a normal upgrade cycle. Makes it hard to continue to sell a it as a Pro device if the Pros have issues with it. Basically I expect the set of use cases that were once Mac only to become viable on the iPad Pro overtime as has been the case for sometime now.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Where that falls apart is those compute hungry tasks that require an active cooling system. Those just don’t fit on an iPad device.

I suppose they may push for Macs to run iPadOS (or a rebranded version of iPadOS) if/when they get that far, haha...

_Man_

 

[Ronald Epstein]

This is interesting

Apple's 18.8-Inch Foldable Device to Enter Mass Production in Late 2026

Along with an iPhone "Fold," Apple is believed to be working on a larger foldable device that's somewhere around 19 inches, and one...

www.macrumors.com

Rumors surface again about a touchscreen Mac