Apple on Tuesday introduced the new seventh-generation iPad, bringing more screen area and support for the full-sized Smart Keyboard to its most popular and most affordable iPad. Starting at just $329, the upgraded iPad features a stunning 10.2-inch Retina display and the latest innovations including gen. 1 Apple Pencil support, the fast A10 Fusion chip, advanced cameras and sensors, unmatched portability and connectivity, ease of use and great all-day battery life.
Apple now sells three basic iPad models — the standard version, the Air, and the Pro — as well as the cut-sized Mini… All now share a few common traits: high-resolution touchscreens, the ability to be controlled by a stylus, and keyboard support. With the forthcoming release of iPadOS, the new iPad-specific operating system that bring the tablet experience far closer to the traditional laptop’s, Apple will have three tablets that most people will likely have no problem using as their daily computing device. And for $329 (plus $159 for an Apple-made keyboard/cover) for the base model, you’re spending far less than for the base MacBook Air, which starts at $1,099.
There are certain things you just can’t do easily on an iPad, even a powerful one like the iPad Pro, as in manipulating large amounts of data and executing fine-tuned design work. However, this group of users is shrinking: High-end applications like Photoshop are now on the iPad, becoming more capable every day, and Safari can now handle the most complicated web-based applications with ease. When on the road, I do all my work on my iPad Pro these days…
So don’t spend the money on a new laptop just because it’s what you’ve always done. Consider what you actually do on your computer, and if it’s little more than checking email, watching movies, reading social media, checking documents, and browsing the web, you’re going to be fine with any iPad.
MacDailyNews Take: iPad is not for everyone, just the vast majority.
iPad Pro can replace the vast majority of people’s MacBooks because people never had an alternative to a MacBook to accomplish what they use a personal computer for: Web browsing, email, light word processing, music-video-photo storage and playback, and maybe some messaging (but they do most or all of that on their iPhones or iPhone wannabes).
Note: Obviously, we are not talking about our readership which skews heavily toward techies who use their Macs for far more than the vast majority of current personal computer users.
For the vast majority of people even a crappy low-end Windows laptop is vast overkill for what they do. Therefore, the headroom for iPad remains virtually limitless, especially as Apple’s A-Series chips, iOS and iPad apps become ever more powerful.
This “iPad pause” will not last forever. — MacDailyNews, November 11, 2015
iPadOS certainly brings in more people to a group that’s already a majority: desktop and notebook users who’d be better served with an iPad. — MacDailyNews, June 14, 2019
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Ladd” for the heads up.]