“As Apple’s first truly new tablet in years, the iPad Pro is every bit the beast it was rumored to be,” Michael Simon writes for Macworld. “Built around a gorgeous 12.9-inch screen, it doesn’t skimp on the pixels or the power.”
“With its eye-popping 2732-by–2048 resolution and the cutting-edge A9X chip, the big iPad Pro drew a clear line in the sand between it and the Air”,” Simon writes. “”As Steve Jobs might have said, it was a screamer.”
“With the new 9.7-inch iPad Pro, however, Apple has blurred those lines a bit,” Simon writes. “With the same screen size and resolution as its predecessor, the smaller iPad Pro might seem like an inevitable evolutionary step, an update that ticks off the usual boxes and offers basic incentives to upgrade over previous generations. But by elevating the classic form factor, Apple is grooming the iPad to one day replace the Mac, creating a diverse family with clear differences that belie the natural overlap between models.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: iPad and iOS are getting there for more and more tasks, but, for us truck drivers at least, there’s certainly life in the ol’ Mac, yet!
Oh yeah, here comes the 27″ iPad Pro+++
I saw a review for it already… https://youtu.be/ct1_r_61sk8
I have an iPad Pro (the 12.9″ one) and I love it. But I would never want one to replace a laptop. For starters, you have to clean the screen every day otherwise the smudges look awful. It’s uncomfortable or awkward in many use cases. Lastly, not having a folder system in iOS is such a pain. I have to use several cloud storage systems just to read and edit PDFs and Word files.
I like the iPads.
But I can never see it replacing a desktop.
I could never see me laying out a magazine on an iPad.
I associate macs with production and iPads with consumption.
No chance! Try adding a new group or moving an existing contact into a group. Over the years, I have complained twice to Apple about the appalling way contacts work with groups. It’s a Microsoft solution to the problem. The only good thing in IOS 9 is that you can now email to groups.
I am still waiting for the PowerBook G5 to be released.
Yup. No one else makes a “Pro” tablet at all. Though I hear Samsung is working on an “Executive” tablet. It is pretty clear that Apple is headed toward info-appliances, gizmos, and social justice. They’re becoming Sony. Except they’re making a car, because that fits in. Once Tim becomes the Chief Justice of the Earth Environmental and Social Justice Court, I think the plan will be complete.
http://alienware.com/mobile/index.aspx
I miss Sony’s Aibo.. 😛
After all of the excruciating effort to demonstrate that “the Mac” is an incredibly powerful platform in business, science, etc..it would be a shame to witnesses a reverse of apples roadmap.
You have to think of the world the way Apple might. Your tablet is your computer. You can use an external keyboard and a giant monitor with your tablet if you want. You can do software development on your tablet. Software engineering at the information level evolves into visual representations of algorithms focused on world standard object models. You do general computer work on your tablet. Your files are stored in the cloud. Everything is wireless. Mobility is key. No one needs a full blown UNIX-based operating system anymore. Applications are sandboxed. Even so called truck drivers might build super appliances with lots of processing power, local storage, and memory but they will still effectively be giant versions of your tablet. Everything is more secure, think how much more secure iOS devices are than Macs. As you travel, your computing environment travels with you. When you arrive at work you drop your tablet on your desk and your tablet detects your monitor and keyboard. When you arrive at home, your personal Internet of things world syncs up with your tablet. Home monitors (formerly televisions) become available to your tablet and phone probably. When I say tablet, it should be understood this is all more than likely your phone. Your tablet is your “truck.” Your tablet is your wallet.
Siri is everywhere we go, responding through wearables, phones, tablets, and other devices.
There will still be large data centers and servers.
Those of us like me, who feel either threatened or saddened to see the Mac and other conventional computers diminish in relevance and ultimately vanish, won’t like it at first, but even we will ultimately see the coolness of the whole thing.
I would submit that future forward tech professionals should be preparing for this world. Developers should need no more than a laptop, and be focusing their current efforts on developing for iOS. Creative Pros should start trying the tools available under iOS and when they run into a wall switch back to their laptops. Businesses should serious consider moving toward an all tablet environment. People will adjust. And probably like it more as the transition happens.
There is no way a tablet could replace my current workstation. Basic consumer need? Sure, but not my (or anyone in engineering, science, medical) workflow. The day I can have 3 27-inch screens and 10TB of external storage, and enough power to run multiple virtual machines, 3D/4D processing of medical imaging, etc..then I won’t care..but that isn’t going to happen for many years.
I’m all for progress and eventually I’ll have to adapt or die trying.. but for the next several years I see myself and other content creators for print & web & ipads & iphones using at least a Macbook or iMac for serious design & production. Yes I could create a Gorgeous Illustration on an iPad Pro… but that doesn’t pay the bills. I need that Illustration to automatically update in Indesign, Dreamweaver, Premier Pro… and sync to the Music I’ve created in Logic Pro with my Akai MPK 261 Keyboard, then publish it all effortlessly to my Offset Press People, Social Media and Backup the resulting huge files to my 2TB Time Machine backup… then onto the next project.. Try that on your iPad Pro!
Some of us truck drivers will be moving on to companies that make trucks. Leave the appliances for the millennials. Can we start saying “General Purpose Computers” instead of trucks, and information appliances instead of tablets, phones, and wearables?
Cold dead hands, but I can’t fight forever. I say this while pumping an exercise bike and talking into an iPad.
iOS devices are good for that, but not for anything remotely complex such as any content creation beyond a text type document.
Hey, I own an iPhone, an iPad, a Mac Mini, and a cheesegrater Mac Pro. The Macs are used for actual creative work, the Iphone is used mostly like a phone with a couple dozen consumption type apps, and the iPad is used basically to test web sites on iPads. Beyond that, it gets rare use, except as a search device for Dish network programming. Consumption device, thats it.
I prefer to say real computers and iToys.
Sent from an iPad
You can have my Mac Pro tower when you pry it from my cold dead hands.
Who are the people that write this BS? Are they f’ing kidding? I want a faster, better MAC, not IOS, OSX! IOS has it’s place, but seriously the iPad is NOT IT, iPhone only. I do not want a Surface type device either. Not everyone travels on a plane and needs a lite companion. My iPad collects dust, my Mac, never!
The whole reason this will never happen is that nobody wants to hold, or prop up, the screen. And the kickstand doesn’t get it either. The clamshell IS the design. I really do not think the Minority Report/Matrix holographic interfaces will work either, nor will droids like C3PO, or the OS1 from the movie “Her”.
The iPhone is almost 10 years old. It seems that once again the cycle of blah/rerun is upon us (as in all the years leading up to the first iPhone).
Apple has already pissed me off repeatedly by letting the Mac stagnate against the competition while Cook puts all his eggs in the iOS and iCloud baskets.
The Mac cannot ever be replaced by iOS with a handicapped excuse for a file system. In the short term , Apple may be flush with cash that it “earns” by skimming 30% off iOS app sales and renting music, but if Apple keeps going down this road, it will completely lose its place in business and professional computing. Winning the consumer only to lose all the business customers is just stupid.
Mike, calm down. This is an opinion piece, not an Apple press release.
I don’t know, the post-Snow Leopard years have been very tough on us hardcore Mac users. I share Mike’s concern. Cook has let the focus drift way too far.
The kindest word I can say for this idea is INSANE!
Truly accurate words that describe it are not fit for print.
Apple, for Gods sake, show a little courage and just sell the Mac side and OSX to someone who can return it to what it was and who cares about it.
And by the way, before you do that, make sure you have created a way for someone to develop for iOS on an iOS device.
I have a good idea on that. It can be done on a thing called a Mac OS computer. Hmmmm.. nah….thats too simple.
Oh dear Lord no. No way all the needs of the computing community can be handled by a tablet. (Well not until Quantum or other Star Trek technology maybe arrives. ) And Apple knows this. I love both for what they are but if I had to choose I’d choose my Mac over iPad as things stand now. There’s a place for everything and everything in its place. And while you’re at it don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Agree, I can make a living on my Mac, not a chance on anything iOS.
Screens got bigger on desktops for the simple reason that people wanted bigger screens to be able to view more stuff or view the same stuff larger. Until Apple launches a 27″ iPad with a stand I’m definitely sticking with my iMac.
Some people in this thread seem to be rather short sited. No, the iPad is not a suitable replacement for the Mac yet. However, that time is coming eventually. We are headed for a future where computers are more like appliances. That’s not a bad thing.
Unfortunately, just when Apple starts to make progress, they pull a bone-headed move which sets their clock back. There is nothing “pro” about the 2GB ram in the 9.7″ iPad Pro. If Apple is looking for the iPad to replace the Mac, they need to create devices that are capable of running pro level applications. The 12.9″ iPad Pro was a nice step in that direction, but Apple has regressed with the 9.7″ model. Very disappointing. However, that’s more of a short term issue than a long term direction.
“We are headed for a future where computers are more like appliances. That’s not a bad thing.”
Uh, yes it is. Appliances are things that do certain limited functions. Things like computers are what are needed to design appliances, a whole different level.
No, appliances mean that the devices are easily managed and secure. It means that they are easy to turn on and off and require little maintenance and configuration. These are all good things. None of these things inherently limits what you can accomplish with these devices.
“None of these things inherently limits what you can accomplish with these devices.”
Look back through this thread at all of the posts from those of us who actually use Macs to produce, among other things, iOS apps and most of the content on the web. Yes you can produce the a word processing document on iOS, if you subject yourself to the iOS version of Pages, (the Mac version of Pages is only slightly better than the iOS version, but thats another story) NONE, repeat NONE of the apps that I use to make a living are available on iOS because the touch interface cannot handle it and never will. I create interactions, touch can only activate one interaction at a time , theoretically you could create a layered hierarchy of touch interactions, but you can’t possibly anticipate them all. That is why iOS is only good for consumption not creation except on the level of an unuseable app like Pages.
But why am I explaining this? I can make the same argument to my cat, and he won’t get it either.
You are extremely naive if you don’t understand how mobile operating systems and applications are evolving. You’re like the dinosaur who refuses to believe mainframes aren’t the center of the computing universe anymore.
Yes, I love my Mac and use it for things that I can’t do on my iPad today. Great. That’s today. Unlike you, I also take note that with each generation, there are more and more things that I can do on my iPad and that over time I’m seeing far less progress on the desktop. Years from now, the PC / Mac will be more of the edge case scenario. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. But, like your cat, you’re not able to understand where things are going.
Meow
Someday I am sure iOS and the A-series chips will replace the Mac with Intel chips. But that day ain’t today and it won’t be tomorrow.
My first Question when I see articles like this is How am I going to run Adobe Creative Suite or Final Cut Pro on an iOS Machine… not to mention the fantastic Plugins I use for Many… In a Production Environment… I’m a Content Creator using a Mid 2012 MacBook Pro non-retina for Print, Web & Social Media Designs.. with 512GB SSD & 16GB ram. I might not have state-of the art but neither does 85% of the world. You might create on a 4k or 5k or 8K but 95% of the world is gonna see it at 1440 x 900 or 1920 x 1080 at best for good while yet…
I too am a content creator, and my other life, I work in a high school, which is, of course, full of students obsessed with their electronics. (Yes they DO actually run into walls, columns and each other while looking at their devices, many stereotypes ARE true) If you ask one where the content on their devices comes from: blank stare—-uh well, from the cloud?—–.
So how does it get into the cloud? uh, well—– ummm; gotta run.
Yes they do take the the required computer courses, but few seem to make any connection. Yes, its just the way teenagers are, but the clock on understanding is rolling.
The article claimed that Apple is grooming the iPad to take over the Mac. It didn’t say that it happened or that it’s ready today. It’s about product positioning.
Unfortunately, some people are rather narrow minded (not you in particular), and are unable to see trends as to where things are going much less demonstrate any knowledge of history. Keep in mind, all of this has happened before… several times. When mainframes were all the rage, nobody believe minis would be able to replace their functions. The people supporting minis didn’t want to believe that PCs and servers based on PCs would replace their function, etc. and so it goes. Mobile based technologies are simply the next step in that evolution. It’s not going to happen over night, but it will happen. There will always be that hold out example of a task from the tier above cannot be handled as well in the tier below, but that argument has not stopped progress before and isn’t likely to in the future.
The best mobile device is a Macbook. I can run the apps that I make a living on, can’t do it on any touch device.
Yes, that’s true today, but that also misses the point of this article.
So, MDN, there you have it. You can stop pushing the “iOS is the future” nonsense now. Put your effort into persuading Apple to refocus on the Mac before we all move to Windows.
I need nvida GPUs. I need 6k monitors. I need apple to take the mac pro serious
Nvidia
Nope. iOS is made for general consumption. Mac is a general purpose computer, mostly. I’d be sad if the Mac goes away, because then app developers would have to pay to develop any app for it. Did you ever, ever think of that, stupid journalists? Ugh, kids these days. Mental kids, not physical ones.