4 ms·

Sadly, to fully use the M1/Ax processors I think the best thing to do with it is to sell it and buy a MacBook, and encourage others to not buy the high end iPad

Sadly, to fully use the M1/Ax processors I think the best thing to do with it is to sell it and buy a MacBook, and encourage others to not buy the high end iPads right now.

user_7832 4y ago
That is what I too think, however there are 2 issues that come to mind immediately: 1. There is a market for tablets - for note taking or reading magazines, it really is convenient. You could probably switch to a Samsung tablet and likely get a very decent experience, but a lot of the "good" apps are still iOS-only (Procreate, Goodnotes, Notability etc). Not to mention a decent aspect ratio. 2. If buying a proper computer, personally unless you only use MacOS it's prudent to get an x64 chip. Intel's 12th gen chips are (fortunately, finally!) again competitive even with M1s. An Intel/AMD chip can run Windows/Linux/MacOS/BSD/most OSes, but M1 Macs unfortunately can't. Ironically I plan to upgrade from my Air to a Pro for the high refresh rate. Getting a 90hz phone really spoiled me in the most first-world way possible. - Things 3 is another classic example of an app that would be very easy to port to other platforms if so wished, but the devs aren't interested in going outside Apple's Walled Garden. And if it makes them good money I can't even blame them.
- kayodelycaon 4y ago
  The base iPad with an Apple Pencil under $500. I find 64gb to be workable, but if you want 256gb, it’s another $150 (ouch). Granted, it’s not Samsung tablet cheap.
  - sudosysgen 4y ago
    Samsung also makes very expensive and very high quality tablets. All they're missing imo is a bit more processor oomph.
- kitsunesoba 4y ago
  > Things 3 is another classic example of an app that would be very easy to port to other platforms if so wished, but the devs aren't interested in going outside Apple's Walled Garden. And if it makes them good money I can't even blame them. A big factor is likely the quality of the UI frameworks on other platforms. On Windows, only the older "legacy" frameworks come close to the depth of AppKit but are a bear to work with (and in questionable maintenance status). GTK isn't the worst, but version 3 and up makes no attempt to fit in on non-Linux desktops. Qt probably comes closest but it comes with the caveat of being tied to C++ or Python, and distribution can be a pain. With Electron you have to bring your own everything. I follow some Apple platform devs (on top of being one myself) and there's will from them to produce software for other platforms, but only once there's an option as nice as AppKit/UIKit to do so with.
  - user_7832 4y ago
    Yeah that's quite understandable. I just wish Microsoft/Google would attempt to improve this aspect - they probably already are doing things but from the sound of it not enough.
- user_7832 4y ago
  (Replying because I can't edit - the italics are accidental, I intended to use an asterisk for the Things 3 point)
sudosysgen 4y ago
A touch screen and pen support is just too good to pass up sometimes. I would love an M1 class android tablet that had all of this - thankfully we're getting close.
wumpus 4y ago
> and encourage others to not buy the high end iPads right now. My entire group at work bought iPads as dedicated Zoom devices at the start of the pandemic. Did we make a mistake because our needs are different from yours?
- hedora 4y ago
  You probably did make a mistake if you paid for top storage specs, keyboards and pencils, all exclusively for zoom.
- mattnewton 4y ago
  Nope! Specifically meant this advice in the context of people who looked at the top of the line iPads and were hankering "to fully use the M1/Ax processors" to the point where they had considered cracking the hardware open or jailbreaking it. If you are looking for a computing appliance on the happy path then an iPad could be perfect. Personally I would say I don't really know what the top of the line iPads are _for_ that the midrange ones can't handle but I can imagine there are apps out there that stress them when multitasking. My point is that if you want a general purpose computer to fully use the hardware we should just buy those instead of trying to make an iPad one of those.
  - wumpus 4y ago
    Ah, I had no idea that's what you meant. Thanks for explaining.

Sadly, to fully use the M1/Ax processors I think the best thing to do with it is to sell it and buy a MacBook, and encourage others to not buy the high end iPads right now.

user_7832 4y ago

That is what I too think, however there are 2 issues that come to mind immediately: 1. There is a market for tablets - for note taking or reading magazines, it really is convenient. You could probably switch to a Samsung tablet and likely get a very decent experience, but a lot of the "good" apps are still iOS-only (Procreate, Goodnotes, Notability etc). Not to mention a decent aspect ratio. 2. If buying a proper computer, personally unless you only use MacOS it's prudent to get an x64 chip. Intel's 12th gen chips are (fortunately, finally!) again competitive even with M1s. An Intel/AMD chip can run Windows/Linux/MacOS/BSD/most OSes, but M1 Macs unfortunately can't. Ironically I plan to upgrade from my Air to a Pro for the high refresh rate. Getting a 90hz phone really spoiled me in the most first-world way possible. - Things 3 is another classic example of an app that would be very easy to port to other platforms if so wished, but the devs aren't interested in going outside Apple's Walled Garden. And if it makes them good money I can't even blame them.

kayodelycaon 4y ago
The base iPad with an Apple Pencil under $500. I find 64gb to be workable, but if you want 256gb, it’s another $150 (ouch). Granted, it’s not Samsung tablet cheap.
- sudosysgen 4y ago
  Samsung also makes very expensive and very high quality tablets. All they're missing imo is a bit more processor oomph.
kitsunesoba 4y ago
> Things 3 is another classic example of an app that would be very easy to port to other platforms if so wished, but the devs aren't interested in going outside Apple's Walled Garden. And if it makes them good money I can't even blame them. A big factor is likely the quality of the UI frameworks on other platforms. On Windows, only the older "legacy" frameworks come close to the depth of AppKit but are a bear to work with (and in questionable maintenance status). GTK isn't the worst, but version 3 and up makes no attempt to fit in on non-Linux desktops. Qt probably comes closest but it comes with the caveat of being tied to C++ or Python, and distribution can be a pain. With Electron you have to bring your own everything. I follow some Apple platform devs (on top of being one myself) and there's will from them to produce software for other platforms, but only once there's an option as nice as AppKit/UIKit to do so with.
- user_7832 4y ago
  Yeah that's quite understandable. I just wish Microsoft/Google would attempt to improve this aspect - they probably already are doing things but from the sound of it not enough.
user_7832 4y ago
(Replying because I can't edit - the italics are accidental, I intended to use an asterisk for the Things 3 point)

sudosysgen 4y ago

A touch screen and pen support is just too good to pass up sometimes. I would love an M1 class android tablet that had all of this - thankfully we're getting close.

wumpus 4y ago

> and encourage others to not buy the high end iPads right now. My entire group at work bought iPads as dedicated Zoom devices at the start of the pandemic. Did we make a mistake because our needs are different from yours?

hedora 4y ago
You probably did make a mistake if you paid for top storage specs, keyboards and pencils, all exclusively for zoom.
mattnewton 4y ago
Nope! Specifically meant this advice in the context of people who looked at the top of the line iPads and were hankering "to fully use the M1/Ax processors" to the point where they had considered cracking the hardware open or jailbreaking it. If you are looking for a computing appliance on the happy path then an iPad could be perfect. Personally I would say I don't really know what the top of the line iPads are _for_ that the midrange ones can't handle but I can imagine there are apps out there that stress them when multitasking. My point is that if you want a general purpose computer to fully use the hardware we should just buy those instead of trying to make an iPad one of those.
- wumpus 4y ago
  Ah, I had no idea that's what you meant. Thanks for explaining.