13 ms·

The key sentence here is: > This is the fundamental difference between the Mac (a platform that basically lets developers and users do anything they want) and

• pavel_lishin 3y ago
  > You'd think depending on the person, they'd travel with EITHER their phone OR their iPad OR their laptop, depending on whether they are private people, non-technical "creatives" or IT/technical/dev folks, but instead, everybody appears to be travelling with ALL THREE devices instead I can't answer a call or text my family with my laptop while I'm on the go. I can't plug my macbook into a car to use maps or play music. I can't use my macbook on the beach to take a picture of my child playing in the surf. I can't really use my phone to type out anything shorter than a quick text. (Caveat, for the pedants: yes, I could do all those things, but with terrible inconvenience.)
  • hahajk 3y ago
    More importantly for an airplane, you can't watch Netflix (or most streaming movies) offline on a laptop. Though I've never used a Surface, maybe you can do that with some kind of mobile app that runs on a hybrid thing.
    • j45 3y ago
      Netflix seems to provide an app for Windows Laptops to watch titles offline. Chromebooks here too. https://help.netflix.com/en/node/54816 https://help.netflix.com/en/node/54816 MacOS is absent, but I'm sure it's not too far off using an Google Chromebook emulator with Google Play Store in UTM if it's a must.
      • WWLink 3y ago
        the M1/M2 macs should be able to just run the iOS app. Not sure if it allows storing stuff. Or if netflix lets you run the ios app on a mac (probably not lol)
        • fouc 3y ago
          Unfortunately it doesn't seem like Netflix has allowed their app to show up in under the "iPhone & iPad Apps" section in the MacOS app store.
        • j45 3y ago
          While the underlying silicon might share similarities I would love to get an idea from where you've seen the ability to arbritrarily run iOS apps on M1/M2. I did consider an emulator in xcode, but that's not quite what I'm after.
    • orthoxerox 3y ago
      That's what files are for.
      • raverbashing 3y ago
        Ah but the new generation doesn't know what a "file dialog" is. I wish I was kidding
  • makeitdouble 3y ago
    Parent's point still stands as in a decent ecosystem you'd get down to at most two. For instance a phone and a Surface Pro covers 100% of the use cases, there's no gap for a 3rd device. For some this gets down to one device with a Galaxy Fold and DEX. People might have different preferences and/or be locked in the Apple ecosystem anyway, but we have working products showing things done differently ("think different" was such a good copy)
    • nicbou 3y ago
      The iPad is a much better tablet than the Surface. The art and note apps are incomparably better. The ebook reader apps too. iPad OS is limited, but it's fine for reading, writing and sketching. It's good to do that on a separate device that is not connected to work stuff. I can bring my iPad in the bedroom because it's just a fancy book. Windows is also far too needy for this sort of device. I returned my Surface after a day because of updates, notifications, tracking and a complete lack of respect for the user. My iPad is such a calm device by comparison.
      • makeitdouble 3y ago
        It comes down what you actually want to do. My time spent on the iPad was defined by what I couldn't do, and it was extremely frustrating, I ended up not doing it instead of go getting the laptop from across the house. Windows is not refined nor optimized for tablet use by any measure, but it actually does the job, instead of showing a cute and extremely refined middle finger half the time. The breaking point for me was the reader apps, where I'd have a file and just no way to read it, short of taking 10 min on a desktop to somewhat convert it to what the iPad can handle (see below). Since they're also in a pissing match with Amazon, the reading experience is just subpar. What's the point of a simple and elegant interface if I'm still babysitting what's going in there and have to constantly think about work-arounds that also end up clunky and broken ? > Art and note apps Adobe suite, ClipStudio etc. are all there, in their actual, professional, full-blown version, and not some compromised "on the go" version. Same for One-note, obsidian etc., there's no lack of them on Windows while it was a fresh market on the iPad. > ebook reader apps I think iBooks is the only reader you don't get (is there a web version ? I have no idea). Granted I buy most of my books on kindle, the in-browser reader works well enough (in the end, I'm full screen turning pages, so makes no difference). I'd argue getting the read the book straight from the page I bought them is pretty great. I didn't bother with the android subsystem version but it would be an option if there is any limitation on the web part. I also have a bunch of old ebooks and scans from way before there were stores, and of course they were better handled by the windows apps (at some point I was using CloudReader on iOS, and it just disappeared).
  • IggleSniggle 3y ago
    I had my "single device for everything" experience with the original Galaxy Note. I would plug in a keyboard, mouse, and monitor and use it as a computer (it required a special OTG USB to HDMI adapter). It connected to my car. It had a big enough screen to be a mobile Tv. It was fun for sketching with the included pressure sensitive pencil. I had a game-controller that it could click into, making it into a handheld game machine. And it had a graphics chip that gave it more graphics ability than comparable mobile computing devices of the time. It even had a cool thing where it could emulate and magnetic credit card swipe, making it compatible with credit card readers that didn't yet support tap-to-pay! Truly a miracle device. Yet for all that, I replaced it with a Moto X just 2 years later, and it's the Moto X that I really miss, with its superior voice control and its preference to remain in my pocket, and the little dimple in its wooden back.
    • emodendroket 3y ago
      Do-it-all devices tend to not really satisfy in anything. I got a Lenovo Yoga that was meant to be “convertible” between laptop and tablet and I never really did use it anywhere near as much as the technically much less powerful iPad Air I bought after.
      • imhoguy 3y ago
        I keep old Yoga 13 in a drawer. I think it happened still too early for its time - too heavy as tablet, fans, small screen vs form factor, font hinting quite bad in vertical mode, Windows8 clunky interface, battery... I think today's Macbook Air M2 with 360deg hinges, touch and some iPad like UI-mode would be a holy grail for the article author.
        • tomatocracy 3y ago
          I find the Microsoft Surface Pro works in this niche much better than the Yoga devices - they're lighter, smaller and the keyboard cover can be removed entirely for a tablet experience.
          • 3y ago
  • j45 3y ago
    Screen Mirroring is possible, but it has to be a little creative. iPad is super handy but I'm not sure a laptop has turn by turn nav, maybe it could via an emulator.
    • zx8080 3y ago
      > maybe it could via an emulator As a programmer with serious mobile experience I fully understand it. But it sound a bit crazy that a powerful and more superior (and open! In both hard and sometimes soft - if with an opensource OS) platform need so _emulate_ an embedded one (mobile, usually at least partially proprietary one) to provide turn-by-turn nav: what appears to be a first-order need of anyone in the modern world.
      • nine_k 3y ago
        Navigation from Google us not free. You can run OSM in navigation mode, I suppose.
      • PaulHoule 3y ago
        I used to have a pink netbook that ran Microsoft Streets and Trips that I used together with a Bluetooth GPS. I had a power adapter that plugged into the cigarette lighter of the car and also a line in cable for the stereo. I could play music with Windows Media Player and have turn-by-turn directions work flawlessly. It was particularly good for road trips with a navigator in the passenger's seat as it had a great user interface for managing large numbers of points of interest and making routes that hit multiple points. It was the best satnav I ever had. I remember the time I was heading south from Syracuse in an area notorious for state police speedtraps when I had pulled alongsides a greyhound and my son had logged into the WiFi on board the bus. The bus driver got pissed at us and got up to 95 mph to shake us. I gave up first but I figured he'd have a lot more to lose from getting a ticket than I would.
        • selestify 3y ago
          Why would the bus driver know or care that you’re using their WiFi?
  • mvdtnz 3y ago
    Maybe it's an American thing but I don't think I know a single person who owns or uses an ipad, with the exception of rich parents who use them exclusively to distract children. I certainly don't notice a lot of ipad users in airports or trains.
    • camillomiller 3y ago
      I think it’s generational. In Berlin I see plenty of students that now actively use it while studying in cafés for example.
      • fouc 3y ago
        Yeah it's amazing how many iPads + Apple Pencils students have these days. I notice this in Thailand universities as well.
        • QuarterReptile 3y ago
          Almost all of the students in the undergrad engineering courses I teach seem to use them. 10 years ago, I had a Samsung Note tablet that was great for coursework: it made comparatively trivial the then-daunting task of keeping all your coursework organized and having it with you when you needed it. It was great back then, and now they're significantly cheaper with Apple. If the Samsung options were comparably cheap and sporting reading-friendly screen ratios, I would've skipped Apple altogether.
      • jdshaffer 3y ago
        I'm seeing an increase in college students in Japan with iPads and Apple Pencils. And most of the visiting students from other countries have them for sure.
    • fouc 3y ago
      I notice it more on airplanes when people want to watch their own movies. I would also say that about 1/3 of people that work primarily from their laptop, and travel a lot (no easy access to a desktop monitor), will probably have an iPad as a second display as well.
  • PeterisP 3y ago
    > I can't answer a call or text my family with my laptop while I'm on the go That's interesting, for me, any texting (usually via whatsapp or signal) is far, far more convenient on the laptop than on the phone, so far that if I expect a longer response, I'll rather find a place to sit and pull out the laptop than try to type all of it on the phone; and for calling people also videocalls on laptop are more convenient for me than the phone, so again, if it's more than a one-minute conversation, I'll rather put down the phone and call them through the laptop.
    • deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
    • ubermonkey 3y ago
      Apple people, and people who have shifted away from "texting" to using some other platform (e.g. whatsapp) often shift between computer and phone for this job. But in the US at least, people outside those groups typically don't. I don't think you can (easily) send SMS from a laptop as though it were your phone. (Yes, it could be argued that the two groups in the first paragraph are actually ONE group, since Apple "texting" is silently-to-the-user shifted to iMessaging, i.e. another app.)
      • ghaff 3y ago
        >I don't think you can (easily) send SMS from a laptop as though it were your phone. Sure you can--at least with Macs. I do it all the time to both Apple and non-Apple users.
        • BuckRogers 3y ago
          Those days are over. I’ve been using Intel Unison on my 11th gen desktop for a long time now. Microsoft Phone Link also works but isn’t limited to Intel, it’s inferior but it does the job. Both work with iOS.
        • ubermonkey 3y ago
          I mean, the point of my post was that it IS easy for Apple users; just not people outside the group.
  • eggy 3y ago
    I have an Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo as my main home and travel computer. I am upgrading my Samsung Ultra Note 20 to a Samsung Fold 5. I can work off of my Note now, and leave the Asus laptop at the place I am staying. I spent 6 months in Saudi Arabia working this way. You can run MS 365 and Dex on the phone. I use the Note to annotate photos in the field and to annotate during Zoom calls. I've typed proposals, spreadsheets, and more just on the phone. Because I do CAD, physics sims, and rendering, I can't lose the laptop, but for everything else, I could get away with the phone. I think the Fold 5 will make it even more capable for what I use it for. I still have a 2015 iPad Pro, a 2011 27 in. iMac, but I've left the Apple ecosystem for a while now. Android, Windows, and Linux for me mainly in that order.
    • rcarr 3y ago
      I came close to purchasing a fold this year but I find the decision to have a camera bump absolutely bizarre. If they just added a few extra millimetres to the case it would then sit flat on the table rather than rocking about, which means you could then use the pen with it properly as a note taking device. I can understand having camera bumps on phones, but it seems really weird here given that this is meant to be a phone that can also replace your tablet.
      • eggy 3y ago
        The case that fits the pen remedies this I am told. I'll have to confirm.
    • ddingus 3y ago
      I have an older Samsung phone, and have basically the same experience. One can do a LOT on Android. There are days when my phone can do all I need.
• crazygringo 3y ago
  > You'd think depending on the person, they'd travel with EITHER their phone OR their iPad OR their laptop But why would you think that? I don't want to have to pull out my laptop (or even iPad) for phone calls or to check a quick e-mail. Obviously there are types of real serious work that can only be done on a laptop. And then I'm bringing the iPad to read books on, which takes up a lot less space than if the books were physical. It's far nicer reading on the iPad than the other devices. It's also far easier to position the way I want on my tray table for a movie. I have zero complaints. My phone doesn't take space away from anything else, and my laptop+iPad together are slimmer and weigh less than a single laptop did in the pre-Air days. And much less when you consider I no longer bring physical books/magazines.
  • ChrisMarshallNY 3y ago
    > a single laptop did in the pre-Air days. I used to travel with the first Apple Luggable[0] (and extra lead/acid batteries). Times have changed. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_Portable https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_Portable
• jfengel 3y ago
  They each fit a different use case. You don't stop having those use cases just because you're not at home. You make a tradeoff between the extra weight and the convenience of the right tool for the job. None of those devices are all that heavy. It would be very different if they each weighed ten pounds.
• Johnny555 3y ago
  >You'd think depending on the person, they'd travel with EITHER their phone OR their iPad OR their laptop I don't want to pull out my iPad or laptop when I need to make a call, or while standing in line. I don't want to do everything on my phone, I appreciate the larger screen of an tablet or laptop. When I need to be reachable for work I carry a laptop too -- I'm not allowed to do work on my personal device, but even if I could, I wouldn't, that would mean giving my employer far more control over my personal device than I want to (the same reason I wouldn't use my work laptop for personal use)
• nicbou 3y ago
  I bring all three on a bicycle trip. My iPad replaces a book and a notebook, so I pack just as much as before. My laptop is an actual work machine that does a lot more. I tried to combine both with a Windows tablet, but it was just the worst of both worlds: a slow and needy Windows PC, and a tablet with bad UX, bad apps and poor battery life.
• ksec 3y ago
  Which is precisely what Apple wants. They want each devices to be their own, they want you to buy them all, and to carry them all.
  • heisenbit 3y ago
    > An iPod, a phone, an internet mobile communicator... these are NOT three separate devices! And we are calling it iPhone! Apple got there by tearing down device barriers. Now …
  • inkyoto 3y ago
    Buy them all – maybe. Carry them all – hardly. Apple has invested a lot of time and effort into making full continuity across their entire computing ecosystem actually work, which allows the user to pick only one device that is the best poised for the task at hand. The user can switch devices as they please and carry on on another device from where they left off on the previous one. It is seamless. Of course, the user can also choose to use all of the devices at the same time if that is what they want or it merely suits them. Microsoft and Linux ecosystems, however, do not have the same level of completeness and continuity and convenience.
    • tomjen3 3y ago
      Not really. Handoff doesn’t work if my starting device is not on when I begin to switch. My flow is to put my MacBook in sleep mode and then grab my phone. No handover there.
• evilduck 3y ago
  Besides any of its standalone functions, an iPad makes a useful secondary display when traveling with a Mac, plus it serves as pretty large external battery pack for any other devices if needed. I’m not backpacking everything, I usually have a carry on, but it never felt more cumbersome than toting a magazine around.
• nine_k 3y ago
  It's simple. A laptop is a keyboard-oriented device, packing a,lot of computing power. It has the shortest battery life, and requires a desk, or at least a seat, to operate comfortably. A phone is a handheld device, one which is always on you. It necessarily has a smaller screen, no separate keyboard, and only has a decent battery life because it sleeps most of the time. It can have serious peak performance, but has a hard time sustaining it (ask Ingress players). An iPad (or another tablet if you feel fancy) is a two-hands device with a good, easy to use touchscreen, and software built around it. It's a natural choice for a graphic artist, for instance. An iPad has a more tolerable onscreen keyboard than a phone. Also its screen is large enough to enjoy movies, etc, so it's a convenient visual media consumption device, more so than a phone. I had laptops with touchscreens; they were fun, but not nearly as handy. (For the record: I travel with a phone and a Linux laptop.)
  • asu_thomas 3y ago
    Having worked in many graphics roles for 20 years, I have never heard of a professional wanting to use an iPad for their work, yet this thread is full of people claiming the iPad is some artist dream tool. It is not even close to true.
    • dinkleberg 3y ago
      While you may not have seen it, the number of professionals using procreate on the iPad Pro is significant.
      • ClumsyPilot 3y ago
        you are missing thr point - can they use 'Only' iPad?
        • dinkleberg 3y ago
          Who said anything about only? The article is about using iPad only specifically for travel. And the parent was discussing iPads in general.
• JohnBooty 3y ago
  You'd think depending on the person, they'd travel with EITHER their phone OR their iPad OR their laptop You're missing a few major scenarios. - The iPad works as a second monitor for a Mac laptop. Great for creative/tech people. - If people are traveling for work, they are bringing their work laptop which may have corporate lockdown/spyware software installed. Therefore using their work laptop for entertainment might not be possible or optimal. (Not to be crass, but: watching porn in a hotel room is a pretty common use case) I'd prefer to travel lighter (and I do when possible) but I don't find iPad+Macbook to be an onerous load for a airplane carry-on bag. Although, a smaller person or somebody with an injury or disability might feel differently. At least - thanks to the EU - soon they can all share the same USB-C charger. But, they already can? You do need a separate cable for the iPhone of course, which is annoying. https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Four-Port-Charger-USB-C-Ports/dp/B087MFJY22 https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Four-Port-Charger-USB-C-...
  • theshrike79 3y ago
    I got a single Anker 120W GaN charger with 2x USB-C and one USB-A for my travel needs. It charges pretty much every single device I own at max power.
  • JimDabell 3y ago
    > The iPad works as a second monitor for a Mac laptop. Great for creative/tech people. You need to be logged into the same Apple ID, which is a huge hassle for everybody who has a different Apple ID for personal and work use. There’s tonnes of Apple features that break because of this. Apple’s view is that there’s a 1:1 correspondence between Apple IDs and people, and everything they do is designed around that fact. > At least - thanks to the EU - soon they can all share the same USB-C charger. I have a MacBook Pro, an iPhone, an Android phone, an Apple Watch, an iPad, and AirPods Pro; so I have fairly demanding charging needs. I have the MagSafe Duo Charger and a Minix Neo P3 to plug into the wall. I have a lightning cable to plug the Duo Charger into the Minix. From there, the Duo Charger can charge both phones, the watch, and the AirPods. I have a USB-C cable I can use to charge the laptop and the iPad from the Neo P3. Obviously I can’t charge absolutely everything simultaneously, but I never need to because most of the batteries last days and I don’t use all the devices simultaneously anyway. So all of those devices but I just need a wall charger, a Duo and two cables. The “oh no, everything is so complex because Apple refuses to use USB-C” hand wringing is massively overblown. Does it really matter that my iPhone, my AirPods, and my watch don’t have USB-C when all I do to charge them is put them down on a pad when I’m not using them? Sure, my Android phone has a USB-C port, but I charge my iPhone and my Android phone the same way – by putting them down on a pad. What is the EU forcing Apple to add a USB-C port on the iPhone actually achieving for me if I never use the Lightning port on the current models?
• emodendroket 3y ago
  Well that or one or more of those are work devices. I’m not going to do all my personal stuff on a work-provided machine so I’ll still bring my iPad along.
• andromeduck 3y ago
  Foldable iPhone Plus could probably narrow it down to two but I've also seen people go with ipad mini + apple watch + airpods where the duties of the phone split between the iPad/watch.
• binkHN 3y ago
  It's very simple for me. The three devices are rather specialized. The phone always comes with me, so that's a given. The tablet is primarily for content consumption (why use my tiny phone screen for this when my nice 10-inch tablet works perfectly?) and the laptop, well, let's me get work done. Each has a fairly specialized function and each performs that function exceedingly well. Forcing one of the devices to perform a function that another device was designed for just gets frustrating.
  • shreyshnaccount 3y ago
    And that's my problem with it- if I buy a device and what to do whatever with it, who is the company to specifically stop me from doing that? I'm not asking them to design anything special for me, just allow open access to the device so that the community can build whatever we want
    • noduerme 3y ago
      I'm not defending Apple here (I'm not an iPad or iPhone user) but why would you expect a tablet to substitute for a general computing platform? My "tablet" is a Boox Nova Air C that runs full Android on an e-ink screen, but I only use it to read books, sketch, and to hand-write notes. I don't let it connect to any website I have to login to, because I don't trust the software. I don't even have a keyboard for it. Once you're planning to use it for productivity, you have to carry a keyboard. At that point, what's an extra couple inches of screen size to just use a high-performance laptop?
      • diffeomorphism 3y ago
        Because a surface does that and so have all tablet pcs since Windows XP times. > once you are planning to carry a keyboard. Apple sells you a keyboard cover, Samsung does, Microsoft does. They are ridiculously expensive for what they are (buy a few HHKBs), but seem very popular. > at that point. That is the point. After adding all that, you would expect your tablet to do all that. Hardware wise it totally could, but it is not "allowed to" unless you put a linux VM on it or something.
• llm_nerd 3y ago
  Pretty incidental comment, but just had to bite- "At least - thanks to the EU - soon they can all share the same USB-C charger." The EU is basically the guy that at 5am declares that the sun must soon rise or else. By the time the EU decided on their USB-C dictum, Apple -- a co-inventor and standards participant of USB-C -- had switched their laptops fully to USB-C, their desktops to USB-C, and half their pad line to USB-C, with the rest coming not long after. Most people fully expected the 14 to be USB-C just because it was starting to be silly, and by the 15 it would be ridiculous if they still had lightning. Apple was already switching. Which is exactly why the EU could go ahead and faced little resistance. The EU deserves zero credit. And FWIW, the EU in 2010 dictated that all smartphones use micro-USB. Apple provided an adapter as they moved their entire line to lightning, thankfully, as micro-USB was a garbage connector in every way.
  • Dylan16807 3y ago
    I doubt they would have switched on the same timeframe. They dragged their feet for so long and they also fought against this regulation. And they saw it coming, so doing prep work doesn't show they wanted to change. A big part of the reason people thought Apple would change is because everyone knew these rules were coming. Also I don't think micro-USB ever got mandated, and 2010 was before lightning even existed. And given the pin burnout problems I'm not even sure if micro USB is worse than lightning with USB 2.0
    • llm_nerd 3y ago
      Apple moving the iPhone to USB-C was incredibly obvious, even if you ignore the recurring noise about the EU. Again, every single bit of evidence was that Apple was switching their entire product line. Having the iPhone hanging around with the slow, dated lightning connector started to be embarrassing. Apple started bragging about the fast speeds and capabilities of USB-C on iPads, and they're going to use it as an upgrade feature on the 15. Apple moved their laptops to USB-C in 2015. The iPad started switching in 2018. Thunderbolt 3 & 4, created by Apple and Intel use USB-C. And yes, the EU dictum before was a voluntary agreement, and Apple provided an adapter and then went from the bad 30-pin to the much better lightning. Which is Apple's resistance to the EU saying "this is it...the eternal connector".
• iraqmtpizza 3y ago
  if it takes me more than three seconds to edit a url i'm out. sorry but lol no
• zol 3y ago
  You’re even forgetting the supercomputer they’re carrying on their wrists.
  • Steko 3y ago
    Yeah I also travel with a battery pack and, if I'm overseas, a pocket wifi. And my airpods, although lots of people like big headsets too. Apple also thinks their VR rig is great for air travel. So potentially 7-9 devices. I'm personally not as bothered by the number of devices as much as all the forced redundancy. Like the core devices could have 3 desktop quality processors, 13 microphones, 3 selfie cameras, 2 rear cameras, 2-3 cellular modems, etc. I'd love a design where the phone is my chip, 5g radio and storage. The camera can be worn as a bodycam (for lifestreaming or personal safety) but also docks to the phone. The phone speakers and mics are a 2nd set of airpods you can cycle in to keep them charged (both sets can be docked at once). The tablet is just a bigger screen with extra battery/storage and the phone docks to that. The watch screen is weaker and monochrome so the battery life is better and it keeps the health functions.
    • yard2010 3y ago
      Why count devices, In a few decades this number could be x10
• squeaky-clean 3y ago
  Don't forget people like me who have to travel with my locked-down work laptop as well as my personal laptop. I used to bring my Switch on long trips too but I've honestly stopped because I would take up like 4 bins at the TSA scan and it's awkward. They always tell me to put each piece of electronics in a separate bin. Now it's laptop, laptop, ipad+shoes+belt+phone.
  • dntrkv 3y ago
    Get TSA PreCheck. Just the fact that I don't have to pull my devices out of my bags makes it worth the cost.
    • squeaky-clean 3y ago
      I really should. I only fly 3-4x a year but it's probably still worth it. I'd probably start bringing my kindle too, which only adds to the irony of the top comment.
• j7ake 3y ago
  3 devices sounds a lot, but what do people normally travel with? Probably 2, laptop and phone? Considering how light the iPad is it’s not a big addition to slip in an ipad in your bag. Sounds great you just use your thinkpad ubuntu, but what’s the battery life on that compared to iPad? My experience has been that installing Ubuntu on laptops dramatically reduced its battery life.
  • tomatocracy 3y ago
    I travel a lot for work. For a one day or one night trip I tend to take 3 devices: work laptop, work phone, personal phone. For longer trips I tend to also take personal laptop, e-reader, plus external keyboard, mouse, headset (works better for me than airpods), laptop stand, mouse mat, and streaming stick so I can watch Netflix etc in hotels (tend to use the Amazon Fire sticks these days). Plus assorted chargers.
  • skydhash 3y ago
    All of them (MBA, iPad Air, iPhone, e-reader). And they’re still lighter than my old inspiron).
• sfjailbird 3y ago
  > 3 full-blown computing devices It's four now, with the smart watch. With LTE, the smart watch can conveniently replace the phone a lot of the time. But not ALL of the time, so, again, you'll probably be carrying both.
  • esperkin39 3y ago
    I feel like Smartwatches are to phones what tablets are to laptops: a supplementary device that doesn't work as well without the primary computer. While many people might work entirely from a tablet, or even a Chromebook, you'll run into so many issues that you're better off carrying a laptop to cover all bases. In a pinch, a watch or tablet can pinch-hit for the device they supplement, but using them as a primary device every day gets old really quick.
• anonzzzies 3y ago
  I bring a galaxy fold and xreal and a foldable keyboard. Works well for everything (I am a fulltime dev).
• bemusedthrow75 3y ago
  I end up travelling with all three but (as a web developer) I could just about pull off travelling with just my iPad. But I do want to observe that there is really no such thing as a non-technical creative person, and if there were, they would likely have a laptop, because using an iPad to fully replace a specific workflow on a laptop is, as the article suggests, eventually a more complex challenge than using a laptop. If you have one specific creative application to run that means anything it’s likely to need a traditional desktop/laptop OS scenario, because the iPadOS versions are generally still compromised. The “non-technical person” is an IT industry trope we should retire. Very few such people really exist; people are just “technical” in ways that IT folk don’t recognise. At best it’s a fiction that IT people use to describe those who have the good sense to not care about the minutiae of computers. But in this day and age, no creative person has the opportunity to know nothing about technology.
  • ImPostingOnHN 3y ago
    A "non-technical person" is someone who is not skilled in technology, usually IT, not someone who knows nothing about technology. The fact that there exists nobody who knows nothing about technology is a good clue that the term doesn't mean that, or else it'd be a useless term, as you pointed out > people are just “technical” in ways that IT folk don’t recognise. yes, perhaps they can work an abacus, or throw a javelin, or arrange Skittles by color. Those are all technical, but they aren't what IT folks mean when they say technical vs non-technical, and are mostly useless technical skills in that context (e.g. if FAANG was looking for "technical person", they likely do not need help arranging Skittles)
    • bemusedthrow75 3y ago
      OK so you're making my point for me. "Non-technical" is just an IT trope that we should stop using if we're not talking about employees. And indeed, nobody specified that we were talking about employees, much less FAANG employees. The bit about the abacus just underscores what I mean. It's derisive. Consider not using the word "non-technical" until you've grasped this.
• rcarmo 3y ago
  I did a lot of personal travel with an iPad Mini (plus BT mouse and keyboard) and do just fine with RDP connections to my office and home as needed. In fact, I’m typing this on the second iteration (the 5th Gen one) and hope to get a new one as soon as it’s launched. There is certainly a lot you can do with an iPad if you have the right apps (I run full-fledged vim, with plugins, inside a-Shell and code Python, Lua, Janet and Guile inside a-Shell or iSH as required). I also dabble in music (plenty of amazingly cheap synth apps), but most people don’t have the patience to try these things out (and Jason Snell’s audio woes are something that runs deeper).
• freetanga 3y ago
  You forgot the e-reader! Mine actually has Android on it and had allowed me to leave my iPad at home for some trips.
• leon1717 3y ago
  I'm long way out of tech community talks, but I have been highly interested in ARM powered Windows laptops. They thinner, lighter, last longer on one charge and can be really powerful. Overall, they can be more efficient than the Apple devices, since you only need one. But can someone explain what happened to ARM powered x86 development? Is there some conspiracy behind the scene like how Hydrogen powered vehicle got murdered?
• eru 3y ago
  > At least - thanks to the EU - soon they can all share the same USB-C charger. My Macbook's MagSafe charging cable already plugs into a USB-C charger, so I already only need one charger (but two cables) for my (Android) phone and (Apple) laptop. But, of course, the bureaucrats know better than the customers and engineers. Btw, from what I've read, Apple is contemplating removing the charging ports from their iPhones completely and going with wireless charging only. So much for banning everything but USB-C charging ports..
  • ClumsyPilot 3y ago
    > banning everything but USB-C charging ports You ahve it backwards - you Must include a USB-C chsrging port. No-one is banning you from having additional ports, the EC comission aren't cretins. And so Macbook already complies, I only charge mine from USB-C.
  • FredPret 3y ago
    You can charge it (slowly) via USB-C as well.
• selfhoster69 3y ago
  I agree with this summarization but I don't see an issue with carrying three separate devices (three separate batteries!).
• JKCalhoun 3y ago
  Personal computers started open, the iPad started as closed. The author is trying to get the twain to meet. Myself, I've always seen the iPad as a "media consumption device" (despite the amazing Procreate) and never bothered to try to shoehorn it into another role. My laptop and desktops will remain my primary devices forever I suspect.
  • refulgentis 3y ago
    They've been trying for 12 years. This is a white flag in Apple community parlance, not a plea.
  • _fat_santa 3y ago
    > Myself, I've always seen the iPad as a "media consumption device" I see it that way too, but I also see some confusion in their product line towards "the top". The iPad mini or even a regular iPad makes for a fantastic media consumption device, the only place any other device has those beat is a Kindle for books but that's another conversation. But when it comes to the iPad Pro, I always had a hard time figuring out what Apple's pitch for it was over a Macbook Air. Apple always pitched how portable the iPad Pro was but it's a hard sell when they have the Macbook Air which is smaller. And it's not even a competition in terms of use cases, iPad limits you in some pretty serious ways while the Air (especially with the new M1 processor) can chew through stuff normally reserved for i7's on a desktop. My brother asked me if he should get himself an iPad Pro for work (he's a real-estate agent). I told him outside of the use case of walking around a house and pulling up home plans or something, the Air is kicking the iPad's ass in every single category.
    • ddingus 3y ago
      I agree with this. Every so often, Apple puts out a machine I like. The Air I have is an M1 machine and it is crazy fast and battery frugal. Fusion 360 is now built for Apple silicon too! Makes the Air a great travel machine!
• matwood 3y ago
  > At least - thanks to the EU - soon they can all share the same USB-C charger. Nitpick, but I've been using the same usb-c charger for years. Soon they can all share the same cable.
• ryukoposting 3y ago
  I don't bring my laptop with me on non-business trips. It's a matter of principle. I have a cheap Android tablet but it never leaves my living room. I don't know what people do with tablets while traveling that they couldn't do with their phone just as easily (at least in a non-professional context). The OP certainly didn't get me any closer to an answer!
  • kvdveer 3y ago
    Watching movies/series is noticeably better on a 10" screen. I suppose the same can be true for some games. Other than that, I don't see much extra value for tablets either.
  • Toutouxc 3y ago
    As a proud (and happy) owner of an iPhone Mini, there’s quite a lot of things that I can’t do comfortably on a phone. I use an iPad Mini as a travel companion for reading, maps, some games, playing music (longer battery life) and sorting through photos I took on my phone.
  • rchaud 3y ago
    I got a foldable phone, which has replaced my tablet. Somewhat ironically though, I bought a lapdock to use my phone's desktop mode. It's actually a pretty neat solution that bridges the mobile-desktop functionality divide. I wrote about my setup here: https://rafichaudhury.com/fanzine/lapdock https://rafichaudhury.com/fanzine/lapdock
• ravenstine 3y ago
  Too bad that USB-C is so poorly designed from a mechanical standpoint. Apple's Lightning connectors are robust, but for some reason the consortium that developed USB-C decided they needed to make it more complicated so that both the male and female connectors are prone to wearing out and getting loose.
  • sdflhasjd 3y ago
    > male and female connectors are prone to wearing out and getting loose And yet despite the sheer number of USB-C devices I own at all ends of the cost scale, this has only ever happened to my 2017 Macbook Pro. And on the male side, Apple dutifully makes up for the claimed robustness of the connector by making some of the worst cables.
    • ravenstine 3y ago
      Nearly every USB-C connector I've used, on multiple devices of different manufacturers, has eventually encountered problems. Google's connectors are particularly bad. I'm not even doing anything like tripping on the cables. > And on the male side, Apple dutifully makes up for the claimed robustness of the by making some of the worst cables. Hahaha Assuming I know what you are talking about, yes, their cables suck. The plastic/rubber degrades way faster than other cables, turning yellow and eventually splitting open after just a few years.
• SergeAx 3y ago
  Today it is not possible to travel without a phone, so the question reduces to whenever to take laptop and/or tablet or not. I mostly prefer to travel with phone only, if I do not anticipate some working tasks to be done.
• gooseyman 3y ago
  I traveled with a Kindle Fire Tablet (middle device). I’m loving it. It’s been mainly used for video on this trip. Quick web searches and killing time ready a distant second. It’s a better size for a plane. I’m lucky in that I always have a gentleman in front of me that can pull 2gs pushing his seat back in a seemingly targeted attempt to snap my laptop screen. Not an issue with the middle device. And it is costs hundreds less than my laptop when the flight attendant spills a coffee on it. That said, you still need a computer to compute. The mid size device is still for consumption. The article makes the case that it’s getting better, but it isn’t there
• prng2021 3y ago
  So which single device do you travel with? I think it's obvious to most people that a phone can't replace a laptop in tons of situations and vice versa.
  • adrianN 3y ago
    When I travel I usually only have a non-smart phone.
    • VincentEvans 3y ago
      … in a satchel next to homemade granola bars.
• ngcc_hk 3y ago
  Actually you need 2 phones as even dual sim is not enough. Uk only app vs USA only app say.
• dayvid 3y ago
  Depends on what you want you want to use it for. An iPad + Apple Pencil is amazing for jotting math or CS problems brainstorming, sketching, messing with music ideas, etc. Also great for reading, watching video content on the go, etc. A laptop is much better at anything typing intensive or coding related.
• aziis98 3y ago
  Talking about EU I'm patiently waiting for official app side loading and alternative app stores that should come before the 6th of March 2024 [0] [0]: https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/13/23507766/apple-app-store-eu-dma-third-party-sideloading https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/13/23507766/apple-app-store...
• ShadowBanThis01 3y ago
  Yeah, this guy really raises the correct issue, but doesn't quite phrase it as I would: "The beauty of the Mac as a platform is that Apple doesn’t have to think of every use case and doesn’t have to build out every single esoteric detail in order to enable new features" Apple doesn't have to imagine every use case for their portable devices; they just have to let developers address them. But they don't; Apple BLOCKS any use case it doesn't imagine. When Apple enabled real apps, a lot us expected all kinds of cool applications that involved the phone talking to other devices. I wanted to write a time-lapse controller for cameras. But NOPE. Apple locked down (and continues to lock down) the I/O port on iOS devices. This will no doubt continue when they finally slap a "USB" port on the rest of their mobile products. It's "USB" because yeah it'll physically be a USB-C and charge through it, but no way are developers going to have access to it. Apple even cripples its Bluetooth. And of course there's the lack of a user-accessible file system, and the attendant lack of drag-&-drop file transfer between iOS and computer. I scoff at the arrival of video-editing apps on the iPad, when there's no good way to get gigabytes upon gigabytes of footage onto or off of these things. Not to mention the laughable clumsiness of trying to manipulate tiny controls on a touchscreen with your finger (and hand) blocking your view of what you're trying to work on. And by the time you're done junking these gimped tablets up with a keyboard and pointing device, you have all of these limitations plus the cost and bulk of a MacBook Air. I'd argue you have more "bulk," in that you have a loose collection of crap that you have to carry around (and charge) instead of a tidy computer. What Apple should have done is enable the Pencil to work on the (defectively) giant trackpads on its computers. Its failure to do so is baffling and unfortunate.
• Roark66 3y ago
  >At least - thanks to the EU - soon they can all share the same USB-C charger Good luck with that... I've a very nice dell laptop a client gave me to access their network. It uses USB-C (90W) for charging. Recently I had another dell laptop shipped to me by another client for the same purpose. This one too uses USB-C charger, but a 130W one. A 130W charger had a broken plug so I attempted to use the 90W charger to charge the 130W laptop. You knew w what happened? It started charging and in under a minute it detected this as a "wrong" charger. It stopped charging and it would not boot with the 90W charger plugged in. So if we can't use USB-C to swap chargers between two very similar devices made by the same manufacturer, what hope is there for having a truly "universal" charger? Yes, the 130W laptop couldn't possibly pull 130W from the 90W charger, but why couldn't it throttle, the cpu? Set the built in gpu to the igpu mode (yes it has both a igpu and another nVidia one)? Sad. As for travelling with devices. I have been travelling with a laptop + cellphone forever. Few years ago I bought a little "convertible" laptop. I think it originally run windows 7. I installed Linux on it (with xfce desktop). It is essentially a tablet with a power of a laptop and detachable keyboard. I expected the keyboard interface to fail very quickly, but it hasn't. This way I have the convenience to browse the Web on a tablet, or plug the keyboard in and do actual work.
  • Dylan16807 3y ago
    The law should make that dell situation illegal once it goes into effect for laptops.
• WillAdams 3y ago
  This is why I've been using Windows tablets for a _very_ long while --- since the NCR-3125 (though I would often boot it into PenPoint). Still quite sad that I couldn't find a "real" replacement for my Fujitsu Stylistic ST-4110 and its transflective display --- the Samsung Galaxy Book 12 was close (but I had to roll it back to 1703 twice, and it lacked a daylight viewable display --- repeat after me, trying to outbright the sun on a battery-powered device is stupid). When it was time to replace my GB12 I bought Galaxy Book 3 Pro 360, which unfortunately is too large for my sling bag, and still doesn't have a daylight viewable display, but it has a stylus (which I have to toggle between modes depending on which program I'm using).
• KenArrari 3y ago
  Not to mention smart-watches too, which also do calling and texting. I feel like at least some of these can be consolidated and the only reason they're not is because of arbitrary limits. I don't see any reason the ipad can't be more open like a laptop as well as operate as a phone (some android tablets can). You could use the watch as your "notifications and reach me asap" device. But overall I always end up overpacking just because of being afraid of needing something I don't have.
• rdschouw 3y ago
  3 devices? I usually have 4 devices. I bring my Iphone 13 Mini, iPad Mini, Macbook 12-inch and Steamdeck (and before the Switch). The iPad is for content consumption. I can watch 8 hours of TV on it without breaking a sweat about battery life. The laptop is to work and the phone is to communicate. Steamdeck is just for play. I do try to buy the lightest and smallest version of every device. The steamdeck is honestly the most unwieldly device I carry around. Everything else fits without a problem in my messenger bag.