Can iPad replace a computer?
For a while now I have been debating upgrading my 4-year-old iPad for a new iPad Pro. The main factor behind this is the Magic Keyboard leading me to the question can the iPad finally be a replacement laptop for light-duty work?
A large part of my job involves writing emails, content and making small changes to websites. If an iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard can handle this work with ease then perhaps, just maybe, the iPad could be a computer that is useful for more than books and YouTube. I thought it would be good to try and use my old iPad with an external keyboard to test this before spending over £1,000 on new equipment.
The iPad is a computer
After a short while of working with an external keyboard on an iPad, I quickly realised iPadOS has changed a lot when it comes to productive work. Multitasking has always been something I have dismissed on the iPad because I have always seen and used it as a media consumption device.
What more this short experience of an old iPad with just a keyboard has made me now go out and lay down the £1,000 on an 11” iPad Pro with M1 and a Magic Keyboard. This simple lightweight setup has made me ultra-portable and what more allows me to get work done in more places. I actually enjoy working on an iPad, especially when it comes to writing-based tasks like email, managing, and setting up my task manager. Yet even more of a surprise I have found myself doing more involved work with website builds on the go with the iPad.
While this is not going to replace a laptop for the really involved work of building an initial website from a design but once that is out of the way I have found I can add pages and edit content with great ease on the lightest weight and most portable computer I have ever owned.
It’s not all sunshine and roses
There are a few features on the iPad that do not work as well as billed in Apple’s demos. One of them been Safari downloads. I am referring specifically to the download files feature of Safari here the rest of the browser is great. The problem with downloads is when your iPad goes to sleep the download stops, or if Safari spends too long in the background the download stops. For small, fast downloads this is not an issue but if you are moving a website and want to download 1GB over a 4G connection this can be very frustrating.
Another thing I have found is the performance of multitasking. While performance in most Apple is great try loading 20 tabs in Safari and notice how many tabs need to be reloaded when you go back. This can be a problem on some sites that log you out every time the page is reloaded in Safari. While this is more of an issue with some sites that are badly built than a fault with Apple’s hardware or software I would like to see an iPad with more than 6GB of RAM.
At 11 inches the tablet is also bordering on the size and weight of a small laptop but not quite as functional when it comes to multitasking. That said the form factor without the magic keyboard makes this the most portable and versatile computer I have ever owned.
