New iPad Pro instead of new MacBook?

[LP Slade]

I’m really just trying to gather opinions here as I’m really stumped about what to do.

I have a mid-2012 MacBook Pro. I love it. It still runs well, but definitely gets hot and you can hear the fan working hard. Occasionally it slows a bit and programs crash, but I really have absolutely no complaints especially considering it’s 6 years old. I got it while I was in grad school so it definitely got a lot of use at that time, but ever since then (5 years ago), I really mostly use it when I need to type an email, find attachments, want to watch video on a larger screen than my iPhone, updating my resume/CV and when I’m chatting on iMessage and want an easier way of typing.

Given my use cases and the fact that the folio cover has what appears to be a good keyboard, do you think I’d be able to achieve everything comfortably with the new 12.9” iPad Pro? I also edit photos a lot on my iPhone, but I imagine it’d be a lot more comfortable on an iPad.

I had an iPad before (second generation), but after a while it got extremely slow and I basically never used it.

I love the new MacBook Air as well, but I can’t really rationalize getting both. I really don’t think I need the power of a MacBook Pro for my use so, if I go the laptop route, I think the new Air would be the way for me to go. If I go the iPad route, I definitely would want the new Pro as I much prefer its design the the home button in-tact design.

Thoughts?

 

[Spencerdl]

I would probably go with the MacBook Air, but not before going into an Apple Store and comparing both. I would suggest this if it's possible for you to do so.

 

[TechnologyTwitt]

I was debating almost the same.... I have a 2015 iPad Pro 12.9 +cellular and a 2011 Macbook Air. I definitely wanted to upgrade ONE of them. Decisions decisions.

Ultimately I went with the iPad Pro 12.9 +cellular (256GB) because it is an insane horsepower beast, extremely portable and can do everything I need it to (email, task & project management, note taking, banking & crypto management, social media, movies, music, etc.) Plus I just started to learn Swift and it'll be an extra motivator to make things for this new device.

 

[Just_Me_D]

Unless I was an artist or in a business in which the iPad would be used exclusively, I would take a MacBook over the iPad. The MacBook, for me, is a more productive device, but I’m basing that on ‘my usage’.

 

[TechnologyTwitt]

Just read an article on 9to5mac about Geekbench scores on the new iPad Pro...

Geekbench benchmarks for the new iPad Pro have shown up online, and the scores are certainly impressive. The iPad reports ~5030 in single-core, and ~18000 in multi-core. The single core score goes to toe-to-toe with a 2.6 GHz i7 2018 MacBook Pro :yes::yes::yes::gold-star:

Full article: https://9to5mac.com/2018/11/01/geekbench-ipad-pro-performance/

 

[mumfoau]

Shoot, I was considering getting an 11” but after I put the 64GB version, a pencil, a keyboard and Care+ in my cart, I could go get a slightly older MacBook.

 

[SaMaster14]

I use my iPad Pro for just about everything, but I will always have an actual computer. If you are going to replace your MBP, I’d go with a MacBook or the new Air. However, since it seems like your MBP is still running well and you just want to take some of the burden off, the new iPad Pro will be a great companion!

 

[Abu Khadija]

I was debating almost the same.... I have a 2015 iPad Pro 12.9 +cellular and a 2011 Macbook Air. I definitely wanted to upgrade ONE of them. Decisions decisions.

Ultimately I went with the iPad Pro 12.9 +cellular (256GB) because it is an insane horsepower beast, extremely portable and can do everything I need it to (email, task & project management, note taking, banking & crypto management, social media, movies, music, etc.) Plus I just started to learn Swift and it'll be an extra motivator to make things for this new device.

If you just started learning swift than the iPad can’t do Xcode. I think to get far with swift you’re going to need Xcode down the line. I think you might have to get the air. If you don’t have the money right away for the iPad you could always go with the carrier and pay every month on it. That’s what I’ve done with my iPads and iPhones.

Just a thought.

 

[trw1602]

@Abu is correct OP. For learning Swift, nothing is better than a MacBook Pro/Air and some Ray Wunderlich courses. You may be able to get by with an iPad Pro for now but soon you'll need to upgrade to a Mac.

 

[TechnologyTwitt]

I already have an iMac 3.6 GHz i7 that I figured would be fine for Xcode.

If you just started learning swift than the iPad can’t do Xcode. I think to get far with swift you’re going to need Xcode down the line. I think you might have to get the air. If you don’t have the money right away for the iPad you could always go with the carrier and pay every month on it. That’s what I’ve done with my iPads and iPhones.

Just a thought.

 

[Abu Khadija]

@Abu is correct OP. For learning Swift, nothing is better than a MacBook Pro/Air and some Ray Wunderlich courses. You may be able to get by with an iPad Pro for now but soon you'll need to upgrade to a Mac.

Who is Ray Wunderlich?

 

[Abu Khadija]

I already have an iMac 3.6 GHz i7 that I figured would be fine for Xcode.

Than if your fine with that then get the iPad Pro.

 

[phifibonacci]

I used to have an older generation iPad, MacBook Pro, and iMac. When the new 10.5” iPad pros came out I decided to see if I could reduce my overall device count and drop the older iPad and MacBook Pro and exclusingly use just the iMac and iPad Pro. It was a great decision. I’ve been able to do almost everything I did on the MacBook Pro and only have to fall back to the iMAC very occasionally. My use cases,

General computer usage: email, writing using MS Word or markdown (editorial), surfing, consuming media
Nerdy usage: updating and contributing to respoitories on Github (Working Copy), Managing Linux Servers (Prompt), light python coding (Pythonista), light project management (Trello), brainstorming (MindNode), teaching engineering concepts to elementary school kids (wolfram alpha, lego Mindstorms IDE, paper, etc), photo editing / drawing (procreate, photos, Pixelmator).

The other pluses for me are: it’s easy to use when I travel, easy to carry to coffee shops and the library, very fast to boot / wake when starting work or task switching, has own internet connection so I’m not dependant on location based WiFi, great battery life and the screen technologies (refresh rate / True Tone) makes it easy to read.

I am definitely updating to the new 11” iPAD pro.

Note, I DO recognize that iOS has some more growing to do before it can fully compete with MacOS and this would be a much more difficult decision if I still didn’t have an iMAC to fall back on.

 

[Steven Sabo]

I recently updated my 2011 MBP to a 2018. I needed more power to edit 4k drone footage. I also have a 2nd gen iPad Pro 12.9 with LTE that I use for my everyday tasks. I use one note as my building uses the office 365 applications. I just upgraded to the 2018 iPad Pro with LTE partly because work paid for a good portion of it, but also because of the added benefits of having the smaller form factor when traveling. I never take my MBP with me when I am on the road, only my iPad Pro.

 

[TechnologyTwitt]

I've tried a few times to get into OneNote but find myself reverting back to Evernote and Notability.

Office365 for iOS is fairly weak, in my opinion. AltaMail & the standard mail app are my "go to" email clients. I rarely use Word & Excel, except to maybe view a document/spreadsheet every so often.

I recently updated my 2011 MBP to a 2018. I needed more power to edit 4k drone footage. I also have a 2nd gen iPad Pro 12.9 with LTE that I use for my everyday tasks. I use one note as my building uses the office 365 applications..

 

[Steven Sabo]

I agree that MS didn't do any favors for us with the ios versions of one note. But when work requires you to use it, not much you can do. The only good part in that multiple people can use and iPad with an Apple Pencil at one time on the same document over the network.