Sticking a keyboard on an iPad does not a laptop make. Being limited to mobile app versions of web browsers is itself a big enough quality-of-life downgrade to make the setup much less convenient than a laptop for leisure-time media consumption, not to mention professional work.
I would instantly go for an iPad Pro, if it would run normal macOS. Or things like vscode and docker, and games. I just can’t justify to myself the expense compared to an m1 laptop, just for the form factor.
unfortunately the ipad os is the limitation on the pro. I tried to make it work but its back to its previous position as media consumption, music production box (which is annoying to deal with due to lack of audio outs), and occasional text editor.
Sure the iPad has its down sides. But it also does complicated things dummy easy. Example tossing a pixelated/blurred box onto a video. That's ridiculously complicated on windows and requires a hell of a steep learning curve. No problem if you have the time. But a blocker if time is and your video editing skillsets are short.
How does touch screen work on desktop? From the fact that nobody but apple has made a decent touch pad in.. 15 years?, I'm first assuming hardware wise it'd suck. But ok, let's assume that works. Doesn't a ton of desktop interfaces rely on hover, scroll, etc? For what purposes are touchscreen superior assuming you have a mouse/touch bar at hand?
I have a Lenovo Yoga 720 back from 2018. There's a bunch of input methods -- touchpad, touchscreen, pen on screen. The touchpad is better than a Mac (just as responsive, but gestures are customizable). The touchscreen is fantastic, prob more responsive than most Android phones. The pen works really well, though it is worse than the Apple pencil. Scrolling is done the same way on a phone. For hover -- most websites are built with mobile in mind, so hover is very rare.
The yoga line does 2-in-1s right. Try to check one out, you'll be pleasantly surprised.
That's great to hear, that's much better than I thought. Beating apple's touchpad i find hard to believe, but I'll make sure to try one out if I get the chance!
Indeed, lack of a touch screen would be a deal breaker for me. The iPad is attractive, my kids have them, and I might convince one of them to let me use it for a week this summer to see if it handles basic things like Jupyter notebooks and talking to homemade hardware gadgets.
If you’re asking to use macOS with your fingers, you have not realized how terrible that would be. I do not mean in a desktop-OS is terrible for touch input. I mean in a macOS specifically is not built for fingers and would require so much work that Windows has been doing for a decade at this point.
It's not like Windows 10 is touch ready in any real sense, either. Windows 11 fixes some of the basic problems, but the gold standard for a desktop OS that's productively usable in tablet-only mode might ironically be GNOME on Linux.
What I do right now is typing with the keyboard and extensive use of the GUI with my fingers. So I'd still want at least a detachable keyboard, but also use it in full tablet mode. Among its uses, I'd read sheet music from it at band practice.
I tried. The limited software and lack of desktop OS made it painful. I wouldn't try it again, personally. It felt like an exercise in compromise after compromise after compromise.
