For example, I frequently need to save a PDF from my Google Drive app either to my local Files or the Books app. But both those options are just... missing from the iOS share sheet, even though Acrobat is there. So I have to share to Acrobat, then share to Files or Books from within Acrobat. Bizarre.
The problem is some kind of combination of file type plus application -- Gmail will let me share a PDF straight to Files or Books just fine.
Or sometimes when you open a PDF in Books from another app it saves it to Books as a copy... but in other cases it opens it in-place. So you think you copied a bunch of things into Books to read on the airplane... and then they're not there.
The fact that there's never any indication whether something is being copied or not, and that apps that support a filetype are simply arbitrarily missing from some share sheets (but not all), makes iPadOS just a disaster for any serious work that spans multiple apps.
This is exactly the sort of weird filesystem-tree-concept-breaking thing that made Windows Explorer so annoying to use for me.
The hacky part is the fact that, while the Documents and Desktop folders are canonically nested inside the Mobile Documents folder, they're also linked from outside of it with weird pseudo-symlinks.
Those pseudo-symlinks are more than just symlinks — they appear as real directories (like Linux bind-mounts), which is helpful to avoid breaking legacy apps that expect to be able to find real directories at ~/Desktop and ~/Documents.
But, like a symlink, the "real" directory these pseudo-symlinks point to only exists in one place, and that place is ~/Library/Mobile Documents/. Presuming `readlink(2)` was called to resolve the file at any point, you can't navigate back "up" from the resulting file, to find yourself back at the directory that contained the symlink. Once you resolve the link, the symlink isn't part of the resulting path any more.
It seems most of the successful "pro" usage is by those who can work entirely within a single app that provides everything they need.
Apple needs to provide an official way to easily transfer file without using iTune & iCloud. Yes, there is unofficial way (VLC) of doing this but it is cumbersome and iPad Files & other apps will not see those files at all. I understand why Apple does this to prevent jailbreaking. But for pete's sake, tablet are not suppose to have a restricted access in file manager since it is a freaking tablet!
If it runs M1, I wanna run my Electron VS Code on it.
It could be a decent client for stuff like web vscode.
The only way I see this happening is if they let you run docker images/VMs. Even then it would suck for front-end. And it's such a niche use case from their perspective - I don't see this happening ever.
You aren't going to install a custom browser to test your front-end (or get usable devtools), no brew or package manager, no custom IDE unless it's built for iOS with its insane limitations (nobody is going to bother). At best you'd be able to port some dev tools and install with your certificate - and for what gain exactly ?
It's just not a general purpose computer, and it's certainly not a dev machine
Once upon a time, their business model was to build solid hardware and not get in the way of people who (like me) don't care for their software. I was hoping that the switch to M1 indicated some intention to return to that business model.
The modern Apple is just like how Apple used to be when not trying to save the company from insolvency.
Anecdotally, on my iPhone 11 Pro Max w/4GB of RAM it's very rare for apps to get killed while multitasking. There's been a few times when I've brought forward an app I used multiple days ago and it's still running exactly where I left it.
Based on that, with these new models having 8GB and 16GB of RAM processes getting killed should be pretty rare. On top of that, it's highly likely that virtualization apps would be given increased protection from getting killed due to their inherent extra overhead.
The iPad has a great front camera, great screen, great touch screen and Apple Pen, yet is software-handicapped to prevent professional use.
I guess Apples' goal is for people to buy both, but I've been on the market for a new "work device" for a while and this messed product lineup just means I'll wait till they get their s** together and produce a decent work machine with:
- support for multiple monitors
- reasonable webcam
- touchscreen and apple pen support
Until then, I'm out. Neither the Macbook nor the iPad are good work machines for me, and I'm not going to buy both to compensate for bad product management. I mean, the title says it all, iPads now have "Macbook Pro CPUs" in them. That's a super mixed message to send if they are not suitable for professional work.
That's the limitation of the GPU in the current-gen M1. It has two display encoders, one of them is connected to eDP for the internal display - except for the M1, which doesn't have an internal display, so it can be wired to external connector.
So unless they redid this part, this iPad and the new iMac will have the same limitation.
I guess I'd be happy with an ipad-m1-computer if
- It could run desktop software.
- It could do that.
Unfortunately, having a feature that requires turning off the built in display doesn't seem like Apple's style.
The macbook air gets higher performance (I doubt they can fit that large heatsink in the ipad) and has better battery life too.
In any case, it's academic because I can't run the software I actually need on an ipad.
Colleagues that don't have this capability at home give the impression that they are wasting everbody elses time, to the point that they draw on a piece of paper and hang it infront of the camera instead.
Also, this pretty much completely disqualifies them for doing things like, e.g., "interviews", which restricts their career development.
It’s just a different way of working. But it pays dividends when you have people spread across time zones. Plus none of it is throw-away work. The docs are there for anyone to reference any time in the future.
But I understand that not all jobs need this.
People doing design or architecture probably draw more than we do, and people doing english to french translations probably draw less.
With M1 Macs being a thing I have no idea what benefits an iPad offers.
checking in on my RSS feeds -- consuming media
casual gaming -- consuming media
watching movies -- consuming media
reading PDF & Kindle e-books -- consuming media
handwritten & typed notes for work & study -- light typing
replying emails -- light typing
portable RDP, VNC & SSH client on the go -- not sure
This is what the OP was complaining about. It's fine for consuming media, but the Pro part was supposed to be about people creating things. Programming, video editing, graphics design, writing papers, etc... For these applications the iPad Pro has been a disappointment.
Apart from maybe graphics design, I don't believe the iPad Pro was ever advertised to do those things (if I'm not mistaken), so I can imagine your disappointment if you expected to do those things on it.
The benefit is obvious: if you were the kind of person that previously had a laptop and an iPad (iPads / touch screens are nice for all sorts of things, esp. for say artists), then an optimal solution would be a device you can use as both. An iPad Pro that could run macOS and have a keyboard case with trackpad seems ideal.
Or if you're the kind of person that only has an iPad (my mom), it might be useful to sometimes have more flexibility than it provides, even though she does't need it 99% of the time.
I'm participating in the Astro Slide crowdfunding campaign specifically so that I can have a smartphone without necessarily needing to use a touchscreen.
Anyway, just working my way through a stomachache...
iPads are still consoles regardless of what kind of chip you put in them.
That may be Apple's intent. They don't seem to be cancelling the Mac, their "real computer." There's more than one market.
M1 > SwiftUI > MacCatalyst = Write once, run anywhere.
Watching the iPadOS and MacCatalyst APIs mature says different form factors will emphasize certain workflows over others, but overall, feature parity is and will be a priority across the device lineup, iPhone included...
Though it makes me sad... soon after their unified OS is realized, Sherman's coming by with his hammer. It'll be beautiful while it lasts.
I believe Apple is going all in on the Universal App model. You can already get most of the way there today with some limitations (many libraries don't support Mac yet). Making different targets for each hardware with a 99% Shared code base is really excellent.
2TB/5G iPad Pro 12.9 + keyboard + pen = 3000 Swiss Francs (over $3k)
2TB/16GB RAM MacBook Air = 2200 Swiss Francs
For whom are these iPads made? I bought a 12.9 in 2015, and another in 2017, but it's my last. They're just not that useful, and certainly not useful at a level that justifies the price of a very nice laptop!
2TB Storage, 5G, keyboard and pen are all very much optional and not required to use an iPad Pro. If you want a laptop, simply buy a laptop.
Personally I'm much better off with a desktop + iPad Pro combo. When I need keyboard and mouse on the iPad my existing desktop input device can be paired with multiple devices. However that's rare occasion. Most of the time it's simply a much more mobile device than a laptop.
The fact that the 1TB and 2TB storage versions of the M1 iPad Pro have 16GB of memory is something. Plus Thunderbolt 4. It's an M1 iMac you can carry around.
If there isn't capability to easily use that hardware as a normal person (as in, creating bespoke apps), it'd all be for naught for me.
I'm due for an iPad upgrade, but I'm waiting until WWDC on June 7th before I decide on what I'll get. I won't make a bet and pay more for hardware I'll never be able to easily take advantage of. Though if an iPad Pro can let me do a lot more with a more advanced Window manager, it could just end up being a laptop that's not a laptop for when I don't want to sit at a desk in front of my workstation.
I've personally completely given up on Android/iOS even if that means I won't have a working cell phone (although I mostly do.) There's way too much money involved for good firmware to be written.
Watch -> phone -> tablet -> laptop -> desktop
I don't get why some Apple fans are so interested in destroying a core stable of Apple's userbase.
Of course just saying this out loud sounds ridiculous considering that Apple is Apple but hey, we can dream. :)