Why I’m on the Verge of Cancelling my 11" iPad Pro Pre-Order
I wanted the new iPad to be great. I was hyped for the rumors around the adoption of USB C, the omission of the home button and the integration of Face ID. All these points, and even more, were announced at the Apple Event on October 30. Using the iPad as a complete computer replacement seemed right around the corner. After the event I rushed into the online Apple Store to be sure to get a hold of it as soon as possible.
Soon, I began to doubt my decision. Did I really sell my old 10.5-inch iPad Pro just to get this slightly better machine, that still can’t do the most basic tasks my 5-year-old, cheaper (!) MacBook Air is capable of?* The fact that the new iPad isn’t able to handle external file storage despite its USB C port is laughable. And while iOS becomes more and more capable, some of my most basic gripes with the limited OS are not excusable for this powerful machine anymore.
Of course, the preceding 10.5 iPad Pro was expensive enough itself and was even more limited. But the new iPad is different. It’s even more aggressively marketed as a laptop replacement than its predecessor. The USB C port and the presentation of Adobe Photoshop at the launch event proofs that.
And when I really think about it, I have little use for such a limited device. Since I sold my old iPad in September, I replaced it with my MacBook Air for all my tasks. It’s going surprisingly well. There are just a few instances where I really miss the iPad. First, I miss it for reading news or watching YouTube while eating breakfast (an unhealthy habit, I know). Second, I miss the fact that the iPad used to perfectly fit on the study tables attached to the chairs at my university, very much in contrast to the MacBook Air. I also miss reading and annotating texts on the iPad. And I miss the small form factor and the feather lite weight. Okay, maybe I do miss it more than I want to admit to myself.
But I can’t use it for many other things the MacBook is better at. The Mac is better for writing texts and essays, as well as organising a corresponding bibliography. It’s better at managing large files and external storage. It’s easier to use it on my lap. I can use actual desktop applications on it. And even if it’s not the perfect device for it, it’s much easier to do some light video editing on the MacBook for the simple fact that I can just plug in my camera’s SD Card and copy files off of it, without going through the hassle of importing videos to the camera roll on the iPad. Mouse and Touchpad input is also much more adequate for both video and text editing.
And since I’m soon done with university, I’m starting to question whether all that’s left to do with the iPad Pro is watching some Netflix and scrolling through the news in the morning. There are cheaper tablets that are perfectly sufficient for that. Apple even sells some themselves.
I’m also eyeing my fellow students’ Surface Pros. While they’re neither a perfect laptop nor a perfect tablet, they seem to combine the conveniences of both worlds into one device, making it “good enough” at mostly everything I’d expect in both a laptop and a tablet.
This leaves the iPad Pro in a very awkward middle ground right now. It’s too expensive and powerful to be a mere extension of a real computer, but it’s also still too limited to completely replace a computer.
I’m not denying that there are good use cases for it even today, I know the advantages of the iPad myself. But to me personally, I’m not sure if it’s feasible to get an iPad Pro right now in its current form, especially coming from my last article, where I’m talking about a more mindful approach to buying and upgrading technology.
*ca. 1.000 € for the MacBook Air in 2013, ca. 1.300 € for the iPad Pro 11“ 256 GB including Keyboard and Pencil in 2018.
