“Apple is pitching its new iPad Pro a powerful tablet computer than can replace your laptop computer. Not every agrees with the practicalities of that view, but the silicon inside the tablet certainly deliver the power,” Ewan Spence writes for Forbes. “To deliver that the iPad Pro has one of the most advanced chips currently on the market.”
“Thanks to analysis conducted by Tech Insights, it’s clear that the A10X system on chip at the heart of the system is a 10nm system,” Spence writes. “This is the first 10nm chip from the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). ”
“Of course having all of this power is immaterial if it cannot be harnessed, and this is perhaps the area where the iPad Pro needs more work. iOS 11 is adding an improved multi-tasking environment and a basic file manager, but it is still built around a touch interface that is more suited to smartphones rather than desktops,” Spence writes. “If the iPad Pro is going to make that jump out of the tablet space into something more fitting of the ‘Pro’ tag then the software (both from Apple and from third-party developers) needs to make the same leap forward as the hardware.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: That last paragraph is written by an old dog who cannot learn new, better tricks. For such users, unable to adapt to new paradigms, Apple continues to make the best traditional laptops on the market.
We find that there are many older users longing to make iPad work like a laptop, because that’s what they know.
Take a look at a twelve-year-old who’s only really ever used an iPad for personal computing. It’s an eyeopener. It’s like looking into the future.
The answer isn’t to try to make the iPad into a MacBook. The answer is to provide all the tools possible in iOS for developers to make robust apps that can take advantage of the multi-touch paradigm. — MacDailyNews, May 16, 2017
You cant win can you some just cant accept a file system unless it mimics the one they are used to on the desk/Laptop. That’s not what you want on a primarily touch interface, yes it may still need more work to perfect it but the last thing most of us want on our tablets is a same finder as we know it on our Macs. Not having to use that all the time is one of the joys of the iPad and having access to a file system as and when you want/need it is the perfect solution even if it will further develop. It really is amazing how those who write about technology are so often those least able to change.
That’s not it at all..the file system is popular because it is a proven ergonomic design for organization. It’s like trying to do away w/ wheels on vehicles because folks ‘can’t accept some other shape’ to roll a car that just doesn’t work as well. That’s just change for change sake–not because it is needed. There are certain fundamental elements of UI that are successful for a reason–a file system being one of them.
Productivity is predicated upon creating, storing, working on and transferring various file types–all the way down to the root level. Put simply: Limiting access a users access to a file organization system also limits what u can do w/ that device.
I’m sorry but calling PC desktop file systems such as the Finder and Windows ergonomic is akin to saying that smart phones are really quite good … just before the iPhone was launched.
A true modern file system will be a relational database that will provide instant search and sort capabilities based upon automated and personal tags.
Big data is coming to you Mac and PC. As that happens the concept of folders will cease to be a useful paradigm. Hard for many to wrap their heads around it because they’re used to working that way. But the future is coming and it’s a lot more dynamic and powerful than what we’ve got now.
Reading & writing on an iPad Pro running the iOS 11 Public Beta.
The new release is a step in the right direction (mostly), but is in no way a replacement for any decent desktop/laptop computer. The condescending remarks about people unable to adapt to a new paradigm is not universally the case. That is like saying if you cannot adapt to the new paradigm of using a washboard instead of an automatic dishwasher,you are the problem.
The problem is not that iOS is a touch interface, the problem is mostly that Apple has locked it down like a garter belt. On a Mac, if I need a codec or driver I just install it, but on iOS I am locked into whatever one size fits all decision Apple has made. For example, all of the browsers on iOS are based on WebKit, while on a Mac they do not have to be. I use Chromium- the open source ( and lacking Google tracking) base of Chrome on some websites that Safari does not play well on, but cannot do that on iOS. The Chrome browser for iOS is built upon webkit just like Safari with all the Google phone home crap installed.
The locked down nature of iOS is a problem for many of us as is the invisible file system. To dismiss real concerns of some users as not being willing or able to adapt is nonsense.
I sure can understand how those kind of forced limitations are so frustrating, especially being someone who switched from the iPad to a Surface and now has none of those problems any more.
None of those problems… yes.
Loads of other problems…. definitely yes.
If by “loads of other problems” you mean I can count them on two hands for the entire last year, and no more than the number of app crashes that I’ve had on my iPhone..then yes.
Keep buying the Apple marketing hype.
I didn’t switch to a Surface, Fanboi Troll.
Sorry for you, jerk who criticizes people for posting facts because they don’t fit your delusion.
“The condescending remarks about people unable to adapt…is not universally the case”
And the remarks about it not being a replacement for a desktop/laptop is not universally the case. For example, the vast majority of people don’t need to install codecs, or drivers and don’t need a browser other that what comes with whatever they buy to enjoy a computing experience. So, for all those people who don’t care about such things, they won’t feel limited.
There ARE people today that could replace a standard laptop/desktop device with an iPad Pro, some could replace it even with an iPad. And that will be true even as the tech elites are turning up their noses and pooh-poohing the very idea!
That’s true. For many (most?) users, the internet IS the computer (modified Bill Joy quote). For those users the iPad is a means of accessing the internet. The local execution of computing is still limited, but likely more than what they need. They won’t know what they’re missing.
But that does nor make it the machine for ALL. Heck, in many ways, it’s catching up to ’90s computing, or even earlier.
I never implied the iPad could not be all the computer some people will need, but the meme being advanced here was it is the replacement and if you do not agree you are some kind of dinosaur.
Another example:
I just added a CD to my iTunes Cloud Library that is unavailable on any digital service by using a Desktop Mac via iTunes to encode it from the out of print CD I purchased. I am listening to it right now- streaming from iCloud legally and could have not bought it digitally from any legal source. There is no way you can connect a BluRay/DVD/CD drive to an iPad or iPad Pro to rip the file in ALAC (Apple Lossless) and then add it to iTunes in the Cloud.
There are many applications that are child’s play to a Mac that are impossible on iOS due to Apple’s locked down policy regarding the device and OS. If Apple wanted to, they could add support for such things, but to date have decided not to. The A series chips are certainly capable enough to do such things.
“but is in no way a replacement for any decent desktop/laptop computer.”
seemed to exclude the “some” in your statement below.
“I never implied the iPad could not be all the computer some people will need”
I think, as Daring Fireball has said, the iPad and iPad Pro CAN replace a desktop/laptop for a vast number of people. For those that don’t think so, you rarely see people write “it can’t replace a laptop for me.” They usually leave off the “for me”.
I have a Mac and will continue to use Macs because I have gadgety-type prosumer hobbies I like to partake in. However, I realize that, for a very long time, few people really take advantage of what their CPU offers, regardless of OS. I’ve conceded that the level of what I like to do is becoming “niche” over time and have made peace with the idea that there may not be a MacBook or iMac in the future… The low end may all start with “Pro” features and at Pro prices because everyone that’s not a Pro will have found a solution on iOS over time.
So, I know that, while an iPad Pro can’t replace a laptop for me, I KNOW it can replace a laptop for a whole lot of folks. Those who don’t think so aren’t dinosaurs, BUT they are very likely old enough that their first computing device was NOT multi-touch enabled.
Yeah, MDN is off base on this one. It could easily be a laptop replacement, but after you add bells and whistles, you pretty much end up with a laptop. It isn’t about ‘new paradigms’ as much as it is that a tiny machine like this on its own is just inadequate for many things, regardless of its processing power. I’m sorry, it’s just a fact. As cool as they are (and they are), iPads just aren’t going to cut it for a great many people. I highly doubt that even this site doesn’t require trips to other equipment.
LTE iPad Pro 12.9″ $1229, Smart Keyboard $169, Apple Pencil $99, 29 Watt USB C Power Adapter (you will want this- the regular one is slow) $49, USB C to Lightning Cable (2m) $35
$1581
vs
13-inch MacBook Pro – Space Gray
2.3GHz 2-core Core i5 Turbo to 3.6GHz
8GB 2133MHz LPDDR3 memory
256GB SSD storage
Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640
Two Thunderbolt 3 ports
$1499
DG, I sympathize and acknowledge your real concerns with regard to iOS limitations. I believe over time Apple will open up iOS more and more to be capable of doing what you need. But they will do so carefully to maintain security.
As far as Apple’s office suite (Pages, Keynote, Numbers and Mail) is concerned they’ve got no security excuse. They need to up their game substantially.
For the foreseeable future iOS is destined to remain a closed system in the effort to keep the platform secure. The Mac will remain an open system indefinitely to allow power users to continue to use and develop cutting edge software and services.
From the same article:
“This is the first 10nm chip from the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). It follows Samsung’s use of the 10nm process for the chips inside the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus handsets, so it is not the first to market overall..”
Why didn’t you quote that part MDN?
You speak of the problem of “old dogs” who state valid points, but the real problem is the “blind dogs” who willingly put blinders on when reporting news.
I’ll leave you to lick the wounds left from outing the truth that you attempted to bury, that Apple is following Samsung.
From the real world:
Even the old, fat chips in the prior iPhones blow away the Galaxy chips, so this will just set the bar even higher.
Apple is still very clearly in the lead.
(I know, don’t feed the troll.)
Ahahahah!!
OMG…
AHAHAH
No really… Apple following Samsung in… what…???
Classic MDN myopia. They wouldn’t say a good thing about Samsung if Sammy brought Steve Jobs back to life or cured cancer.
OB, In case you missed it, Samsung only fabricates the chips that Apple designs.
I’m waiting for Pages to catch up. The Pro should allow in document editing with a pencil – not just pdf markup using a 3rd party app.
This is valid. Very. It would be nice for the Pencil (and my cheap, off-brand stylus) to do more than a mouse does. It should be definable in apps, like underlining when you underline in Pages, but creating a link when underlining in an HTML editor. Draw a box around text and it makes it bold in Pages, but makes a #tag in HTML. Line with a hook back makes it italics, or italics. Apple would create the “motions” that are read and interpreted into each program as needed. Or just draw the underline and hold, while it cycles through underline, bold, italics, opens a color pallete, etc. Cycle speed is adjustable in Settings, like double click speed is. That should all be fairly easy to program.
That’s a freebie, Apple. Do anything you want with it. 🙂
I see plenty of tech reviews extolling the amazing virtues of Amazon’s $50 Fire Tablet, so there’s obviously a lot of people who don’t care if Apple’s iPad has a high-powered processor or a double-speed display. All I hear about the Fire Tablet is, “Gee it’s not great, but for $50… Wow!” That’s the mentality of consumers.
Wall Street believes all tablets are about the same and they’re majorly unhappy that Apple can’t sell as many tablets as they used to. It’s a lose-lose situation for Apple as far as Wall Street and the tech world is concerned.
I got it. Let’s have everybody just throw out every single PC out there and replace it with an iPad pro. Then watch society collapse.
iOSFinder and iOSPreview and I’m in.
So you want a Surface with an Apple sticker?
I will stay with a Mac, thanks. Real file system, faster processing, easier file sharing, smudge free display, more loxal storage, dramatically more precise input options.
No iPad will ever replace the laptop (as a writing tool, at least) until Apple figures out how to give writers a better pointing tool than their stubby fingers!