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I’ve been force-feeding myself the new iPad Pro with magic keyboard as my primary laptop for the past few months (why? So I can experience what kids are largely

by jquery 6y ago

I’ve been force-feeding myself the new iPad Pro with magic keyboard as my primary laptop for the past few months (why? So I can experience what kids are largely experiencing these days, and empathize). It’s definitely a “real computer”, just optimized in a different way than I’m used to. Doesn’t feel like a budget computer either, it’s incredibly powerful for something that uses less than 18 watts and has no fan. IPadOS has some rough edges but they’ve been getting quickly smoothed out.

varjag 6y ago
Well I very much need Emacs and Unix-like environment for work, so iPad doesn't quite cut it. That said I've got a 11" Pro: mostly as a portable second display via Sidecar for MB12 but also some pen-based apps like Sketchr3d. It's nice and if you have a workflow that suits it, no doubt it's usable.
- read_if_gay_ 6y ago
  Get a cloud VM and Blink.sh, an SSH/mosh client. You can totally have a Unix environment on the iPad. It's limited, but still pretty powerful.
  - varjag 6y ago
    I'm sure it's possible, but just as you say - limited, so I see little point.
    - read_if_gay_ 6y ago
      It's no question that a "real" Unix system is more powerful, but a VPS has been surprisingly usable to me. Many commandline tasks are more enjoyable on the iPad than on my desktop. The rest, I just fall back to my desktop. Try it - you might be surprised how powerful it is.
      - varjag 6y ago
        Thanks for the tip, I might try it at some point, would need the keyboard folio first tho. Am no stranger to bizarre setups. Have used remote shell on Palm PDA with foldout keyboard over IRDA via cellphone GSM modem; now this was cumbersome setup. Had Agenda VR3 Linux PDA and coded on it. It's really comfy with mb12 now tho and I like network independence. I code on the planes all the time, somehow it's really easy to get in the flow. So I like how this setup works on the foldout tray and without network to count on. Doing tons of field work too. In late January had to code for 6 hours with my ass on a tunnel tarmac north of Trondheim. Though of course most of the time I work within network range.
  - tedk-42 6y ago
    Pretty sad to see people touting this as a workaround solution. It's still a workaround - possibly the most basic one for any kind of thin client there is. I want a consistent IDE as well and right now, you can't run vscode properly on an iPad. I'm still hopeful that future apple silicon macs will be able to do local development with more grunt than current macs. I guess we'll see.
    - read_if_gay_ 6y ago
      Yes you can. Look at code-server. And yes, for doing development on the iPad basically everything is a workaround, but that doesn’t automatically make it worthless. Neither does the fact that it’s basic. I don’t get your criticism.
      - tedk-42 6y ago
        Well aware of code server. Again if your making a bunch of work around, it gets in the way of actual work. With your rational, I could do development on my phone as a thin client.
        read_if_gay_ 6y ago
        > Again if your making a bunch of work around, it gets in the way of actual work. Yes. But it’s not getting in the way that much. code-server is exactly what you were asking for, an IDE on iPad. You’re moving the goalposts here and not even specifying why and where to. > With your rational, I could do development on my phone as a thin client. No. You’re taking my argument ad absurdum. I’m saying the tradeoff isn’t that bad on iPad. That says nothing about phones.
        tedk-42 6y ago
        Web IDES have been around forever. They don't qualify as a real IDE. I'm not moving the goal posts. You're making them bigger to fit your needs.
        6y ago
spideymans 6y ago
I am so tempted to go buy an iPad Pro, demoting my Mac to a development-only machine. Everything on iPadOS just seems more refined, more fluid and more fun than on MacOS. Everything from 120 Hz display, to instant waking from sleep, to battery life that is actually consistent. The overall user experience just seems lightyears ahead of the Mac, assuming your workflows are compatible with the software limitations.
- read_if_gay_ 6y ago
  If you have the cash, I'd suggest you do it. I bought one kinda on a whim and I don't regret it at all. It's pretty much replaced my ThinkPad. iPadOS is indeed more refined, but not all of it - there's a fair number of very specific things that are a total PITA on the iPad but a breeze on my desktop Mac. That makes doing serious work on the iPad a little challenging, though it's still possible, but for most serious work I still use the desktop. But for almost anything else, I prefer the iPad's mobility and UX. It's the best drawing tablet, ebook reader, web browsing and netflix machine I've ever had, all in one.

by jquery 6y ago

varjag 6y ago

Well I very much need Emacs and Unix-like environment for work, so iPad doesn't quite cut it. That said I've got a 11" Pro: mostly as a portable second display via Sidecar for MB12 but also some pen-based apps like Sketchr3d. It's nice and if you have a workflow that suits it, no doubt it's usable.

read_if_gay_ 6y ago
Get a cloud VM and Blink.sh, an SSH/mosh client. You can totally have a Unix environment on the iPad. It's limited, but still pretty powerful.
- varjag 6y ago
  I'm sure it's possible, but just as you say - limited, so I see little point.
  - read_if_gay_ 6y ago
    It's no question that a "real" Unix system is more powerful, but a VPS has been surprisingly usable to me. Many commandline tasks are more enjoyable on the iPad than on my desktop. The rest, I just fall back to my desktop. Try it - you might be surprised how powerful it is.
    - varjag 6y ago
      Thanks for the tip, I might try it at some point, would need the keyboard folio first tho. Am no stranger to bizarre setups. Have used remote shell on Palm PDA with foldout keyboard over IRDA via cellphone GSM modem; now this was cumbersome setup. Had Agenda VR3 Linux PDA and coded on it. It's really comfy with mb12 now tho and I like network independence. I code on the planes all the time, somehow it's really easy to get in the flow. So I like how this setup works on the foldout tray and without network to count on. Doing tons of field work too. In late January had to code for 6 hours with my ass on a tunnel tarmac north of Trondheim. Though of course most of the time I work within network range.
- tedk-42 6y ago
  Pretty sad to see people touting this as a workaround solution. It's still a workaround - possibly the most basic one for any kind of thin client there is. I want a consistent IDE as well and right now, you can't run vscode properly on an iPad. I'm still hopeful that future apple silicon macs will be able to do local development with more grunt than current macs. I guess we'll see.
  - read_if_gay_ 6y ago
    Yes you can. Look at code-server. And yes, for doing development on the iPad basically everything is a workaround, but that doesn’t automatically make it worthless. Neither does the fact that it’s basic. I don’t get your criticism.
    - tedk-42 6y ago
      Well aware of code server. Again if your making a bunch of work around, it gets in the way of actual work. With your rational, I could do development on my phone as a thin client.
      - read_if_gay_ 6y ago
        > Again if your making a bunch of work around, it gets in the way of actual work. Yes. But it’s not getting in the way that much. code-server is exactly what you were asking for, an IDE on iPad. You’re moving the goalposts here and not even specifying why and where to. > With your rational, I could do development on my phone as a thin client. No. You’re taking my argument ad absurdum. I’m saying the tradeoff isn’t that bad on iPad. That says nothing about phones.
        tedk-42 6y ago
        Web IDES have been around forever. They don't qualify as a real IDE. I'm not moving the goal posts. You're making them bigger to fit your needs.
        6y ago

spideymans 6y ago

I am so tempted to go buy an iPad Pro, demoting my Mac to a development-only machine. Everything on iPadOS just seems more refined, more fluid and more fun than on MacOS. Everything from 120 Hz display, to instant waking from sleep, to battery life that is actually consistent. The overall user experience just seems lightyears ahead of the Mac, assuming your workflows are compatible with the software limitations.

read_if_gay_ 6y ago
If you have the cash, I'd suggest you do it. I bought one kinda on a whim and I don't regret it at all. It's pretty much replaced my ThinkPad. iPadOS is indeed more refined, but not all of it - there's a fair number of very specific things that are a total PITA on the iPad but a breeze on my desktop Mac. That makes doing serious work on the iPad a little challenging, though it's still possible, but for most serious work I still use the desktop. But for almost anything else, I prefer the iPad's mobility and UX. It's the best drawing tablet, ebook reader, web browsing and netflix machine I've ever had, all in one.