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I don't see what people expect. The iPad is a portable touch-first device with a small screen and a locked-down operating system. The first two are by-design fo

by planb 3y ago

I don't see what people expect. The iPad is a portable touch-first device with a small screen and a locked-down operating system. The first two are by-design for the tablet form factor, so this will never change. And I don't expect Apple to open up the system, but it does not sound as if this was the main concern in this article. So why not simply get a MacBook Air, which is a completely capable, awesome coding device?

vonwoodson 3y ago
I can answer this honestly: We want to believe that the iPad is the answer to so many of computer's problems, that the iPhone is So Amazing to be able to do so much of what we need a computer to do that a Bigger iPhone would be the ideal computer. I don't quite know why Apple doesn't see the iPad as a developer machine. Being able to program the machine that you're working on is a, if not the, meaning of a general purpose computer and we all want it to work So Bad. But, this blog really echos what any of us who have really tried to untether ourselves from the traditional keyboard/monitor or mainframe programming have discovered: The iPad (and the iPhone) are appliances and not actual computers.
raverbashing 3y ago
Pretty much this This sounds like a person caught in the hype
tommek4077 3y ago
To have a locked down, consume first, small display device?
- planb 3y ago
  I guess the OP wasn't looking for a Linux workstation under their desk and then went for the iPad form factor instead.
sublinear 3y ago
Or, just get any laptop really. There's nothing special about a Mac unless you need to do native development for Apple devices, and I'd suggest a Mac Mini for that.
- mmcnl 3y ago
  That's what I did. I have a HP Elitebook that runs Linux + Windows 11 (really, Windows is not the Windows from 10 years ago, developer experience is pretty great these days, I much prefer it to macOS). For iOS app development I have a Mac Mini.
- siddbudd 3y ago
  Nothing special indeed about a Macbook Air M1. I need to hear my machine working, but this thing does not even have a cooling fan. I can always put on noise-cancelling headphones if my machine sounds like it's about to lift off. Not to mention Apple Silicon is a joke, the Threadripper in my almost mobile workstation beats it any time. Meanwhile the battery cannot even last a standard Earth day, so why not just stick to power outlets? All kidding aside, the (lack of) ports and the non-upgradability can be meaningfully criticized, but then again a lot of competitors are copying those anti-features. But to say there is nothing special about these machines... well, maybe not to you. Some people hate noisy laptop fans, and this total silence is a game changer.
- speedgoose 3y ago
  You haven’t used a Mac laptop recently I assume.
  - DennisAleynikov 3y ago
    no I've just been using arm64 devices for like 6 years now and the advantages of the m1/m2 are present in any laptop or tablet that is arm64. endless battery, fanless design, excellent performance for the kinds of tasks a developer does. only downside is the m2 is probably faster in cpu/compilation times for certain things because of how fast it is
    - senttoschool 3y ago
      That's funny. It compiles so fast for a laptop that your break times are shorter. Bosses are happy. You're not.
ulfw 3y ago
My iPad 12.9 is larger and heavier than my 13.6 Macbook Air and the screen is comparable in size. Not sure I buy your small screen argument.
devsda 3y ago
Remember the 'What's a computer Ad' of iPad Pro from 2017? I'm not saying that OP fell for that marketing and is gullible, but Apple marketed the iPad Pro as a replacement for a computer, so it may not be completely unreasonable to expect a reasonably similar experience on an iPad after 6 years and the n number of iPad generations that went by.
- planb 3y ago
  Computers can be used for other things than coding. And I guess an iPad is a perfectly capable device for many of those tasks.
- nkuttler 3y ago
  > Apple marketed the iPad Pro as a replacement for a computer Nah, they were using an extremely narrow definition of computer, one where you can buy and consume stuff and do "cool" social media with the device. If that's not your use case you want a different kind of computer.
  - DennisAleynikov 3y ago
    you can't even do social media on an ipad, it runs it in that small iphone emulator mode
    - prime17569 3y ago
      That's the fault of the developer, not Apple. For example, Instagram hasn't ticked the box in Xcode to support the iPad screen sizes.
      - oneeyedpigeon 3y ago
        And, presumably, they're also only talking about native apps. You can still do whatever social media you want using Safari†. †Apart from, I guess, any really bad social media things that only exist as apps. I think there's one or two.
    - 3y ago
nicbou 3y ago
My reason: it’s too big. I can’t comfortably carry a big MacBook plus an iPad if I walk around a lot. The iPad is my reading and drawing device. I settled for an iPad Mini and a 12” MacBook and I’m reallY happy with that combo. I just wish they made a faster M2 version.
wiseowise 3y ago
How are you supposed to use MacBook Air lying in bed? There’s now iPad and iPad Pro. If you want media consumption then just use iPad.
- veave 3y ago
  Why would you want to code lying in bed?
  - wiseowise 3y ago
    I don’t. That’s the point. I want to have device that adjusts to my needs instead of keeping a zoo of specialized devices. iPad Pro has powerful enough hardware to be a full blown productivity machine when connected to a keyboard, but convenient enough interface to be a media consumption device in bed.
    - oneeyedpigeon 3y ago
      "Zoo" is quite the exaggeration; we're talking two devices instead of one. I'd rather have an iPad Pro for the bedroom (!) and a high-powered desktop Mac for the office than something that tries to be both of those things and ends up failing at both.
      - wiseowise 3y ago
        > I'd rather have an iPad Pro for the bedroom (!) and a high-powered desktop Mac That’s not what people in the thread suggest though. They’re talking about MacBook Air. Which is also a nice point, good luck bringing your beefy desktop Mac anywhere with you.
      - arsome 3y ago
        Yeah but you still need a phone and then we're looking pretty zoo like.
        oneeyedpigeon 3y ago
makeitdouble 3y ago
The iPad is the only Apple device with a 13"(roughly A4) portable rotating screen and touch support. A Macbook Air doesn't fit in that category and is sub-par to read A4 formated docs. Arguably a Surface Pro (or Z13 Flow) would be a better choice if programming is also something you want to do.
Syzygies 3y ago
Or get both? As a research mathematician, my iPad Pro is for drawing mathematics and reading papers, to get me away from a 32" screen when I'm not coding. The MacBook Air is for when I can't be at my 32" screen. Coding intricate data structures is like teaching the computer chess. It helps if you understand chess. I can't imagine understanding what I want my code to do, without an involved process of drawing everything repeatedly in many variations. Someday there will be an iPad drawing editor like Emacs, arbitrarily scriptable using further drawings, never putting down the Apple Pencil. We're still at the earliest stages of "word processing" technical art; this evolution is still to come.

by planb 3y ago

vonwoodson 3y ago

I can answer this honestly: We want to believe that the iPad is the answer to so many of computer's problems, that the iPhone is So Amazing to be able to do so much of what we need a computer to do that a Bigger iPhone would be the ideal computer. I don't quite know why Apple doesn't see the iPad as a developer machine. Being able to program the machine that you're working on is a, if not the, meaning of a general purpose computer and we all want it to work So Bad. But, this blog really echos what any of us who have really tried to untether ourselves from the traditional keyboard/monitor or mainframe programming have discovered: The iPad (and the iPhone) are appliances and not actual computers.

raverbashing 3y ago

Pretty much this This sounds like a person caught in the hype

tommek4077 3y ago

To have a locked down, consume first, small display device?

planb 3y ago
I guess the OP wasn't looking for a Linux workstation under their desk and then went for the iPad form factor instead.

sublinear 3y ago

Or, just get any laptop really. There's nothing special about a Mac unless you need to do native development for Apple devices, and I'd suggest a Mac Mini for that.

mmcnl 3y ago
That's what I did. I have a HP Elitebook that runs Linux + Windows 11 (really, Windows is not the Windows from 10 years ago, developer experience is pretty great these days, I much prefer it to macOS). For iOS app development I have a Mac Mini.
siddbudd 3y ago
Nothing special indeed about a Macbook Air M1. I need to hear my machine working, but this thing does not even have a cooling fan. I can always put on noise-cancelling headphones if my machine sounds like it's about to lift off. Not to mention Apple Silicon is a joke, the Threadripper in my almost mobile workstation beats it any time. Meanwhile the battery cannot even last a standard Earth day, so why not just stick to power outlets? All kidding aside, the (lack of) ports and the non-upgradability can be meaningfully criticized, but then again a lot of competitors are copying those anti-features. But to say there is nothing special about these machines... well, maybe not to you. Some people hate noisy laptop fans, and this total silence is a game changer.
speedgoose 3y ago
You haven’t used a Mac laptop recently I assume.
- DennisAleynikov 3y ago
  no I've just been using arm64 devices for like 6 years now and the advantages of the m1/m2 are present in any laptop or tablet that is arm64. endless battery, fanless design, excellent performance for the kinds of tasks a developer does. only downside is the m2 is probably faster in cpu/compilation times for certain things because of how fast it is
  - senttoschool 3y ago
    That's funny. It compiles so fast for a laptop that your break times are shorter. Bosses are happy. You're not.

ulfw 3y ago

My iPad 12.9 is larger and heavier than my 13.6 Macbook Air and the screen is comparable in size. Not sure I buy your small screen argument.

devsda 3y ago

Remember the 'What's a computer Ad' of iPad Pro from 2017? I'm not saying that OP fell for that marketing and is gullible, but Apple marketed the iPad Pro as a replacement for a computer, so it may not be completely unreasonable to expect a reasonably similar experience on an iPad after 6 years and the n number of iPad generations that went by.

planb 3y ago
Computers can be used for other things than coding. And I guess an iPad is a perfectly capable device for many of those tasks.
nkuttler 3y ago
> Apple marketed the iPad Pro as a replacement for a computer Nah, they were using an extremely narrow definition of computer, one where you can buy and consume stuff and do "cool" social media with the device. If that's not your use case you want a different kind of computer.
- DennisAleynikov 3y ago
  you can't even do social media on an ipad, it runs it in that small iphone emulator mode
  - prime17569 3y ago
    That's the fault of the developer, not Apple. For example, Instagram hasn't ticked the box in Xcode to support the iPad screen sizes.
    - oneeyedpigeon 3y ago
      And, presumably, they're also only talking about native apps. You can still do whatever social media you want using Safari†. †Apart from, I guess, any really bad social media things that only exist as apps. I think there's one or two.
  - 3y ago

nicbou 3y ago

My reason: it’s too big. I can’t comfortably carry a big MacBook plus an iPad if I walk around a lot. The iPad is my reading and drawing device. I settled for an iPad Mini and a 12” MacBook and I’m reallY happy with that combo. I just wish they made a faster M2 version.

wiseowise 3y ago

How are you supposed to use MacBook Air lying in bed? There’s now iPad and iPad Pro. If you want media consumption then just use iPad.

veave 3y ago
Why would you want to code lying in bed?
- wiseowise 3y ago
  I don’t. That’s the point. I want to have device that adjusts to my needs instead of keeping a zoo of specialized devices. iPad Pro has powerful enough hardware to be a full blown productivity machine when connected to a keyboard, but convenient enough interface to be a media consumption device in bed.
  - oneeyedpigeon 3y ago
    "Zoo" is quite the exaggeration; we're talking two devices instead of one. I'd rather have an iPad Pro for the bedroom (!) and a high-powered desktop Mac for the office than something that tries to be both of those things and ends up failing at both.
    - wiseowise 3y ago
      > I'd rather have an iPad Pro for the bedroom (!) and a high-powered desktop Mac That’s not what people in the thread suggest though. They’re talking about MacBook Air. Which is also a nice point, good luck bringing your beefy desktop Mac anywhere with you.
    - arsome 3y ago
      Yeah but you still need a phone and then we're looking pretty zoo like.
      - oneeyedpigeon 3y ago

makeitdouble 3y ago

The iPad is the only Apple device with a 13"(roughly A4) portable rotating screen and touch support. A Macbook Air doesn't fit in that category and is sub-par to read A4 formated docs. Arguably a Surface Pro (or Z13 Flow) would be a better choice if programming is also something you want to do.

Syzygies 3y ago

Or get both? As a research mathematician, my iPad Pro is for drawing mathematics and reading papers, to get me away from a 32" screen when I'm not coding. The MacBook Air is for when I can't be at my 32" screen. Coding intricate data structures is like teaching the computer chess. It helps if you understand chess. I can't imagine understanding what I want my code to do, without an involved process of drawing everything repeatedly in many variations. Someday there will be an iPad drawing editor like Emacs, arbitrarily scriptable using further drawings, never putting down the Apple Pencil. We're still at the earliest stages of "word processing" technical art; this evolution is still to come.