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totally agree - the iPad Pro could be a great second coding/programming tool - I'd love to justify buying myself one, but.. I just don't see a use-case if I can

totally agree - the iPad Pro could be a great second coding/programming tool - I'd love to justify buying myself one, but.. I just don't see a use-case if I can't work on it. I don't design stuff, don't really feel like I need a separate browsing device either

dainiusse 2y ago
Yep, I've got one and don't use too much. Too big for scrolling, too limited (software) for work. But Apple knows iPad might cannibalize mac and limit it's uses on purpose
- xoac 2y ago
  Not sure if this is true. I mean wasn’t the vision that you actually don’t need the mac for most things when the ipad came out?
  - ako 2y ago
    For certain groups of people (the majority?) that is reality, as long as you don’t need compilers, IDEs, or virtualization you can do pretty much anything on an iPad.
- whywhywhywhy 2y ago
  > But Apple knows iPad might cannibalize mac and limit it's uses on purpose Felt the goal was to overtake Mac during the 2015-2019 era, all the real engineering focus was on iPad, the Macs were underpowered and not really fit for purpose. Why would Apple choose a platform where they don't get 30% of every Creative Cloud sub when they could have had that. Only reason they backtracked was because Mac sales didn't fall off and the iPad just isn't that good to do real work on.
  - sakjur 2y ago
    Wasn’t that the period when Apple were positioning themselves to get the Macs away from Intel? I’m not sure the goal was to let the iPad overtake as much as it was to get its processors ready to take over from Intel.
  - rickdeckard 2y ago
    I believe it's simply more lucrative to keep selling both devices to the same target group, than try to solve the users' problem with a single device. Everything in Apple is designed to silo off the two product groups. An "iPad with MacOS" would just shift revenue from the MacOS division to the iPad division, losing a MacOS customer and probably NOT gaining a iPad customer (as he would have purchased an iPad anyway). Just as much as developing an MacBook convertible is not an issue of user experience but an issue of unnecessary cannibalization of iPad sales...
    - latexr 2y ago
      By that logic, the iPhone wouldn’t have been able to play music as soon as it launched. Yet that was part of the whole pitch: “an iPod, a phone, and an internet communicator”.
      - richrichardsson 2y ago
        Not so sure. From mid-to-late 90s onwards a mobile phone was basically an essential item. I was never tempted to buy an iPod, but combine the phone and iPod and give me internet access to boot... sold.
        latexr 2y ago
        > I was never tempted to buy an iPod, but combine the phone and iPod and give me internet access to boot... sold. Before the iPhone there were already phones which could play music and access the web. I even remember some Motorolas which interacted directly with iTunes. The iPhone didn’t succeed just by smooshing those together. Either way, that’s neither here nor there, the point is precisely that Apple didn’t shy away from cannibalising their own product.
        frumper 2y ago
        It was cannibalizing a cheaper iPod for a more expensive iPhone. iPad would be taking from the more expensive MacBook market.
  - interludead 2y ago
    > iPad might cannibalize mac Do not think it's possible. Traditional Mac computers can win in so many ways
- latexr 2y ago
  > But Apple knows iPad might cannibalize mac and limit it's uses on purpose Apple isn’t afraid to cannibalise its own products. They did exactly that with the iPhone in regard to the iPod. If someone is going to displace one of your most successful products, it better be yourself with something even more outstanding. It would have been in Apple’s best (financial) interest to have the iPad cannibalise the Mac because they’d have more control and earn more money from app sales.
  - tvshtr 2y ago
    This is nowhere close to being analogous. Apple could sacrifice iPod because they had much bigger fish to fry.
d0mine 2y ago
iPad (any model) with keyboard-cover can be used as a great portable ssh/mosh terminal (eg with Termius app). I work in Emacs--most functionality is available via terminal.
- oefrha 2y ago
  The keyboard cover keyboard is shit though, I hate every second with it. Plus no escape etc.
  - accrual 2y ago
    I've never owned a keyboard cover, but one could bring a TKL or 60% mechanical keyboard for the full typing experience without a laptop - might be a good compromise for some.
Terretta 2y ago
you can work on it https://blink.sh/ https://blink.sh/ see also https://docs.blink.sh/advanced/code https://docs.blink.sh/advanced/code
lutoma 2y ago
I switched from an iPad to a Surface Go 3 running Fedora a while ago and it really transformed my tablet use. I mostly just watched Youtube videos and did some light browsing on my iPad, but never really any serious work. Occcasionally I would ssh into other machines using apps like Blink, but even with the external keyboard the UX just feels ... off. Same for other apps that have IDE-like environments. They work, but they're never really great to use. I was skeptical about getting a Linux tablet because of the worse battery life and less polished overall experience, but having a desktop Firefox with all add-ons, my text editor of choice, and the ability to open a terminal and run whatever I want really more than makes up for it (Plus GNOME is a pretty good tablet experience out of the box these days as long as you broadly stick to their 'official' apps).
immibis 2y ago
Why not buy one of the hundreds of non-Apple tablets which can do what you want?
- chongli 2y ago
  Because they don’t run iPadOS? People love all the things the OS can do. They just wish it wouldn’t stop them from doing that one thing in particular that they it to do. Tantalizingly close to perfection with one glaring flaw is extremely frustrating!
  - immibis 2y ago
    What can it do that other ones can't? Integration with Apple's walled garden is the most common complaint.
    - chongli 2y ago
      It's the UI. It is designed from the ground up for touch. People who like iPadOS do not like Windows Surface tablets for that exact reason. A desktop UI that's been shoehorned into a tablet is not as good as a purpose-built touch UI.
      - immibis 2y ago
        The two tablet genders: iPad, and Windows Surface. It's a shame no other giant tech company ever created one that has exactly the combination of attributes you asked for.
        chongli 2y ago
        If you’re referring to Android, the answer is no. Android is a mobile OS. It does not run Mac or Windows desktop apps.
        fennecbutt 2y ago

dainiusse 2y ago

Yep, I've got one and don't use too much. Too big for scrolling, too limited (software) for work. But Apple knows iPad might cannibalize mac and limit it's uses on purpose

xoac 2y ago
Not sure if this is true. I mean wasn’t the vision that you actually don’t need the mac for most things when the ipad came out?
- ako 2y ago
  For certain groups of people (the majority?) that is reality, as long as you don’t need compilers, IDEs, or virtualization you can do pretty much anything on an iPad.
whywhywhywhy 2y ago
> But Apple knows iPad might cannibalize mac and limit it's uses on purpose Felt the goal was to overtake Mac during the 2015-2019 era, all the real engineering focus was on iPad, the Macs were underpowered and not really fit for purpose. Why would Apple choose a platform where they don't get 30% of every Creative Cloud sub when they could have had that. Only reason they backtracked was because Mac sales didn't fall off and the iPad just isn't that good to do real work on.
- sakjur 2y ago
  Wasn’t that the period when Apple were positioning themselves to get the Macs away from Intel? I’m not sure the goal was to let the iPad overtake as much as it was to get its processors ready to take over from Intel.
- rickdeckard 2y ago
  I believe it's simply more lucrative to keep selling both devices to the same target group, than try to solve the users' problem with a single device. Everything in Apple is designed to silo off the two product groups. An "iPad with MacOS" would just shift revenue from the MacOS division to the iPad division, losing a MacOS customer and probably NOT gaining a iPad customer (as he would have purchased an iPad anyway). Just as much as developing an MacBook convertible is not an issue of user experience but an issue of unnecessary cannibalization of iPad sales...
  - latexr 2y ago
    By that logic, the iPhone wouldn’t have been able to play music as soon as it launched. Yet that was part of the whole pitch: “an iPod, a phone, and an internet communicator”.
    - richrichardsson 2y ago
      Not so sure. From mid-to-late 90s onwards a mobile phone was basically an essential item. I was never tempted to buy an iPod, but combine the phone and iPod and give me internet access to boot... sold.
      - latexr 2y ago
        > I was never tempted to buy an iPod, but combine the phone and iPod and give me internet access to boot... sold. Before the iPhone there were already phones which could play music and access the web. I even remember some Motorolas which interacted directly with iTunes. The iPhone didn’t succeed just by smooshing those together. Either way, that’s neither here nor there, the point is precisely that Apple didn’t shy away from cannibalising their own product.
        frumper 2y ago
        It was cannibalizing a cheaper iPod for a more expensive iPhone. iPad would be taking from the more expensive MacBook market.
- interludead 2y ago
  > iPad might cannibalize mac Do not think it's possible. Traditional Mac computers can win in so many ways
latexr 2y ago
> But Apple knows iPad might cannibalize mac and limit it's uses on purpose Apple isn’t afraid to cannibalise its own products. They did exactly that with the iPhone in regard to the iPod. If someone is going to displace one of your most successful products, it better be yourself with something even more outstanding. It would have been in Apple’s best (financial) interest to have the iPad cannibalise the Mac because they’d have more control and earn more money from app sales.
- tvshtr 2y ago
  This is nowhere close to being analogous. Apple could sacrifice iPod because they had much bigger fish to fry.

d0mine 2y ago

iPad (any model) with keyboard-cover can be used as a great portable ssh/mosh terminal (eg with Termius app). I work in Emacs--most functionality is available via terminal.

oefrha 2y ago
The keyboard cover keyboard is shit though, I hate every second with it. Plus no escape etc.
- accrual 2y ago
  I've never owned a keyboard cover, but one could bring a TKL or 60% mechanical keyboard for the full typing experience without a laptop - might be a good compromise for some.

Terretta 2y ago

you can work on it https://blink.sh/ https://blink.sh/ see also https://docs.blink.sh/advanced/code https://docs.blink.sh/advanced/code

lutoma 2y ago

I switched from an iPad to a Surface Go 3 running Fedora a while ago and it really transformed my tablet use. I mostly just watched Youtube videos and did some light browsing on my iPad, but never really any serious work. Occcasionally I would ssh into other machines using apps like Blink, but even with the external keyboard the UX just feels ... off. Same for other apps that have IDE-like environments. They work, but they're never really great to use. I was skeptical about getting a Linux tablet because of the worse battery life and less polished overall experience, but having a desktop Firefox with all add-ons, my text editor of choice, and the ability to open a terminal and run whatever I want really more than makes up for it (Plus GNOME is a pretty good tablet experience out of the box these days as long as you broadly stick to their 'official' apps).

immibis 2y ago

Why not buy one of the hundreds of non-Apple tablets which can do what you want?

chongli 2y ago
Because they don’t run iPadOS? People love all the things the OS can do. They just wish it wouldn’t stop them from doing that one thing in particular that they it to do. Tantalizingly close to perfection with one glaring flaw is extremely frustrating!
- immibis 2y ago
  What can it do that other ones can't? Integration with Apple's walled garden is the most common complaint.
  - chongli 2y ago
    It's the UI. It is designed from the ground up for touch. People who like iPadOS do not like Windows Surface tablets for that exact reason. A desktop UI that's been shoehorned into a tablet is not as good as a purpose-built touch UI.
    - immibis 2y ago
      The two tablet genders: iPad, and Windows Surface. It's a shame no other giant tech company ever created one that has exactly the combination of attributes you asked for.
      - chongli 2y ago
        If you’re referring to Android, the answer is no. Android is a mobile OS. It does not run Mac or Windows desktop apps.
        fennecbutt 2y ago