Can an iPad replace your laptop?
If you type this on YouTube, you’ll get 1000’s of videos where they compare specs, speed, ram, multi core performance, benchmarks, app compatibility.
But do we all design complicated models and use that much processing power everyday? Are. We. Pixar?
No.
I use a laptop to do the following things (sorted according to priority)
- Browse the web
- Hit right click refresh to feel good
- Try to solve OS issues that don’t exist
- Install random apps suggested by YouTubers
- See family pictures
- Check how fast the laptop boots up
- Speedtest.com
- Games
- Use MS Office
- Stare at google.com
I moved to an iPad very recently from a laptop that’s easily 7 years old. It was a second generation i7 Dell machine with 8gigs RAM, 240GB Samsung SSD, Win 10. It was good.
But the thing that hurt me the most?
The Display
I was born with a beautiful state of the art camera called the human eye. It’s so good at seeing individual pixels on an outdated Dell machine. If you have read any of the phone reviews I have posted you know that the first priority when buying something is the display. It’s the primary way you interact with it. I really don’t care if the phone has 12gigs of RAM and a 720p display with 300ppi. It just doesn’t work for me.
That’s probably the sole reason why I loved the nexus 6 screen. I could have still used it if Google had enabled VOLTE. Why Google discontinued the Nexus line is for another time.
So ya, this is the same reason I prefer samsung over any other phone if at all I’m moving to Android OS again. Which is highly unlikely since I have invested too much recently (Apple watch etc).
Work and Play
How may times have you used your traditional laptop to see the TV, watch Netflix, stream Game Of Thrones, or just listen to music? I do agree some people still do that but the biggest inconvenience in just taking the laptop from your home work space to say the living room and then finding a comfortable position to use it. I’m someone who will lose interest in watching something if there are numerous steps just before it. Not sure if I communicated that right. All I’m saying is, after sending some emails, I can just detach the keyboard, not worry about the battery life, just relax on the couch and watch Chernobyl. I have kept laptops on my stomach during college days to watch something. But is that even an option now? We have all left that era.
Lithium Magic
Can you charge your laptop using a power bank? Nope. For me, that’s a game changer when it comes to portable computing. On top of the massive 10,000 mah battery if you have an option to extend to another 20,000 it’s a win automatically. And I’m not even getting started on the standby time for the iPad. If I go to sleep at 67%, I wake up to 67%. Apple’s power saving is godly.
VERY decent optics
The iPad can be used as a camera. Yup that’s it. Bet your laptop can’t do that if you wanna click some pics and your phone is not around.
The downsides
I’m not saying the iPad is a perfect laptop replacement. It’s perfect for me. It has MS Office, Gmail and almost every other app I use. And on top of it, the app quality is even better than what most laptops can offer at this range. The Gmail app is fantastic on the iPad. But I do miss the easiest pointing device – the almighty mouse. I wish Apple added support for the Magic Mouse in iOS 13. That would actually seal the deal.
Actual Muti-Tasking
iOS is a beast at multitasking. It’s really nice to watch something on Netflix and tweet at the same time and it’s all buttery smooth thanks to the ProMotion. You have to go to an Apple store nearby and check it out personally to see how good it is. When you’re not using graphics intensive apps like Google photos and gradually scroll through the pics, iOS gradually decreases the refresh rate and gets it right back up when you press the home button. It’s faster than Thanos snapping the finger. Event though we blame apple engineers for still keeping the volume HUD, I appreciate under the hood changes that makes the experience seamless.
Conclusion
Well it’s safe to say that if you’re not a developer, or a graphics designer, you can very easily replace your laptop and move on to the iPad Pro. It does everything better than a windows laptop (It doesn’t include the right click to refresh).
Will you make the switch soon? Why? Why not? Leave comments <3
