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I recently announced a new project by yours truly, called Switch to iPad. If you’ve been with me for some time, you know I’m an avid iPad user. It’s my favorite computing device, and I rely on it for great many things.
But not all of them, at least not yet.
(more…)I’m launching a newsletter early August. It’s called Switch to iPad, and it’s about, well:
Switch to iPad is a journey to going iPad only. That is to say, getting rid of all those pesky (I kid!) Macs and PCs, and relying on the magic piece of glass that is the iPad as my primary (big) computing device. Together we’ll figure out how to work from an iPad, try out all the gadgets that help us along the way, and find the best apps and methods for a better computing life.
Read more about it here, and sign up. There’ll be free letters, but there’s also a paid tier with the standard premium newsletter fare of $5/month or $50/year.
More on this soon. I’m excited!
To think that the first keyboard for the iPad to truly warrant the moniker “magic” would have a touchpad, that must hurt so many feelings. But it is true, albeit not necessarily that simple.
I’m talking about the Magic Keyboard, a keyboard cover for iPad Pros (11″ and 12.9″, models 2018 and 2020, thus far), which has a lot of nice PR fluff going for it. Like it makes your iPad Pro float over the keyboard, and you can move between writing mode and tablet mode with a twist of the hand. Because it’s all magnets and quite ingenious, you see. And I write that with less sarcasm than you’d think.
(more…)Apple announced new iPad Pro models, with a new and really cool keyboard to boot, yesterday. Yes, I ordered one, because now that I’m lugging around a 16″ MacBook Pro, the 12.9″ iPad Pro is a bit much – they overlap for me – so I got the 11″ model. That is the only reason I’m opening my wallet this time, because my current iPad Pro isn’t breaking a sweat in my workflow. Size is important though, and this lets me go back to smaller bags when I’m not carrying the whole damn office with me.
I’m looking forward to a smaller device again, both for reading and writing in coffee shops (when the damn COVID-19 thing has blown over, that is). Less so for designing, screen real-estate is key there, but that happens on my MacBook Pro too, which offers even more pixels to push. I think the only time I’ll miss the big screen is when reading comics, and watching something in bed.
(I won’t comment on mouse support until I’ve tried it. It does look pretty clever though.)
Apple also announced an upgraded MacBook Air, which looks great. I’d be all over that a decade ago.
Jean-Louis Gassée believes that the iPad turnaround, where the naysayers are predicting doom and gloom due to the huge dip in sales. This, after writing about the relaunched iPad product line, sans pro, in the Monday Note piece:
This leads us to an easy guess for future iPad Pros. We’re likely to see linear hardware and software improvements (keyboard, screen, stylus, more independent windows…), plus others we can’t think of immersed, as we often are, in derivative thought. All will make the Pros more pro: Powerful enough of take business away from the Mac (and Windows PCs). I like my MacBook, but can see an iPad Pro on my lap and desk in a not-too-distant future.
I believe this is possible, I know the vast majority of people would enjoy their computing tasks more if they used an iPad Pro instead, with the suitable accessories of course. However that’s a big step, and for some a change in mindset. It’s a tough battle to win.
I write columns for Di Digital, a Swedish business tech site, and whenever I mention a computing solution that’s far from the laptop, I get emails about “not being able to work without the Thinkpad nub” and the like. People, professionals especially, are creatures of habit.
That said, putting iPad Pros in the workflow of the younger generation, which are clearly the target of the new iPad Pro ads (one embedded below), might be the longterm route to success. Some industries you disrupt over night, others take more time. Professional computing work isn’t as easily defined as a smart mobile phone segment.
Oh, and before you click play, make sure you read the whole Jean-Louis Gassée piece and the tiny little note about perspectives at the end. The iPad is a big deal, the only reason Apple pundits and analysts are chirping about its doom is because of the declining sales. That’s only really a truly worrying factor if people never upgrades their iPads. Looking at my immediate surroundings, that’s something people are interested in doing.
https://youtu.be/Z-9tvx0aO1U
This is not about miracle diets or losing weight. Just saying.
When the iPhone 6 launched, I bought both models. To me, the iPhone 5 models where close to being too big to live in my pocket already, and I feared that the 6 and 6 Plus would feel ridiculously big and clumsy. As usual, Apple knew what they were doing, and although I found both the 6 and the 6 Plus to be slightly too big, neither were clumsy. My reasoning was that if the phone’s gonna be big, it might as well be too big proper.
It should come as no surprise that I enjoy Federico Viticci’s updates on his iPad usage. The latest one, being the first after the introduction of iPad Pro, is no exception. Here are so many things to quote from this beast, so I’ll just point you to it. Brew a cup, and settle in for an interesting read.
Benjamin Brooks on going full time iPad Pro:
And now, just over a decade later, I am staring at this iPad Pro and thinking to myself: this is the same jump I made back in 2004. Yes, there will be somethings which won’t work, but I jumped because I knew that I had found the future of computing and I didn’t want to stay on the old crap I had before. It’s the same, but I admit it may be difficult for many to see this right now.
A lot of things in this post rings true to me. Switching to the iPad Pro full time is possible for most, albeit perhaps not entirely so for me if I want to stay fully productive. It’s something I haven’t wrapped my head around yet, but suffice to say, it’s easier with a Mac. Not as fun though, and I think, in all these posts and arguments pro and con switching to a tablet, people are missing some crucial use cases. It’s a half-baked thought for now, and I think I’ll be returning to it in the future.
Ben Bajarin, writing about the iPad Pro, but also touchscreen devices in general:
There is truly something happening with this generation growing up spending the bulk, if not all, of their computing time using mobile operating systems and doing new things with new tools. Being the techie that I am, I was a bit disheartened that my twelve-year-old was getting more out of the iPad Pro and pushing it further limits than I was. But she is a part of the mobile generation after all. For them, the future will look quite different and the tools they use to make that future might look quite similar to the iPad Pro.
This is a good point, and something to take to heart if you’re among those who believe that there’s a place among the mainstream for traditional personal computers in the future. No matter if they’re iPads or iPhones or Androids – it’s all magic glass.
Speaking of Apple’s event and their new products, here are my takeaway thoughts.
All in all, a pretty nice Apple event. They’re all doing their thing, selling their brand, so well now. I’m happy to not only see white men on stage as well, although there’s still ample room for improvement. You can watch it all for yourself on Apple’s site, which is preferable from reading these posts.
Ben Brooks, while making a case for a bigger iPad:
If that last point doesn’t have you thinking I am crazy, this will: iOS has better apps. No, I am not about to espouse some “they are simpler” bullshit — they usually aren’t, they are just better designed.
I’d buy an iPad Pro, but unlike Ben, I think that 12″ is the biggest it could go without being cumbersome and loose the strengths an iPad holds over a Macbook Air today.
There’s been rumors about a larger iPad for quite some time. I have no doubt that Apple have larger iPad prototypes than the 9.7″ full-sized iPad we can buy today. They have prototypes smaller than the iPad mini too. This is what product companies do, they create products, and the ones that they actually launch are ideally just a small part of all the ideas that have passed through R&D.
With that in mind, let’s speculate a bit, dream even, about an iPad Pro, much like the e-ink typewriter I’ve written about previously.
The iOS operating system isn’t just for content consumptions anymore, and hasn’t been for a long time. The case for the iPad Pro has gotten a lot stronger this year though, because Apple are talking about it, in strong terms (and not just this). People are doing this, people are doing that with their iPads. Creating music, writing, drawing and illustrating, doing mockups and design, and so on. Nothing new there, iPad users have been creating things using their devices since launch day. It’s just gotten a lot easier, and a lot more accessible thanks to better apps, better accessories, and better iPads too. Personally, I often rely solely on the iPad in my work, it’s a great tool.
But it’s a bit small, isn’t it?