Some Thoughts on the 13” iPad Pro: Laptop Replacement?
I have been using the classic iPad size since the very beginning before the iPad Pro even existed. I, like many, laughed at the size of the first iPad Pro as being hilariously large and maybe a little overly ambitious at the time with it introducing the Magic Keyboard Folio and the Apple Pencil. The evolution of the iPad has been long and winding with Apple walking a tightrope between keeping the iPad as the everyone computer and it growing into an enthusiast device. Anybody who has read Federico Vitcci’s fantastic Macstories websites, can see that there is an entire world of “Pro” iPad use cases out there and it’s been reported that Tim Cook himself uses the iPad Pro as his primary computing device. I have been using the 11” iPad Pro for years and in my opinion, its the perfect hybrid tablet device. It can be used solely as an excellent tablet with a folio and the Apple Pencil, a hybrid device with the keyboard folio that lets you literally flip back and forth between a tablet & typing machine, and then the Magic Keyboard turns it into a tiny, tiny laptop. As somebody who uses a 16” MacBook Pro at work, I find the 11” iPad to be the perfect mini computer for me since the battery life is fantastic and battery life is better than the largest Macs…the M1 Pro machines are fantastic for a bigger computer, but on a typical work day with everything I can have running I can find the battery life to be less predictable than the 11” iPad Pro, which is a unitasker by design.
As a Tablet the 13” iPad Pro feels just super big for reading stuff. Multiple times now I have tried to read at home or over the weekend and I just find it too big to be comfortable. It’s more like reading on a laptop than a tablet at this size. The iPad Mini is really the superior e-reader experience. I find that my 11” Pro is the best middle size. Not too big for reading, but just big enough for productivity.
Gaming on this thing is a lot of fun. I played Stardew Valley on the iPad Pro last night for about 20 minutes and the game felt very expansive like I was holding a board game. Action games like Dead Cells were surprisingly playable despite the weight and size of the iPad Pro. Luckily the touch controls were movable though and that certainly made a big difference.
Productivity is where the 13” iPad Pro really shines. Using apps like OneNote, Apple Notes, Fantastical, Microsoft Office, Numbers, Pages, Keynote, etc are all laptop-level experiences and give the user interface plenty of room to spread out. Editing photos is particularly fun with apps like Lightroom and Apple Photos because of the huge canvas. The 13” iPad Pro really shines when it’s in a Magic Keyboard and used like a Macbook Air. I could see that people who want to use this as a travel computer for work or personal matters being particularly happy with this decision. I don’t think Apple will make a convertible Mac in the next 5–10 years, but the large iPad Pro is the closest thing that I think we’re going to see and its fantastic.
For most people though who just want an iPad as a tablet, I recommend the iPad Air and for those who want a hybrid tablet/laptop experience, I recommend getting the Magic keyboard for either the Air or the 11” iPad Pro. If you want a laptop replacement iPad, I think the 13” is what you should look at. Especially with the Thunderbolt port for cameras, microphones, and all manner or external storage and being able to get up to 1TB of storage, the 13” iPad is definitely in laptop territory and with Apple’s expansive App Store I think that you can get a surprising amount of work done and gameplay as well with Apple Arcade and its huge listing of games. Overall, I think the 11” iPad Pro is the one that I’m going to stick with because I am OK with carrying multiple devices and I already have a pretty beefy 16” Macbook Pro, but it was really fun to get to try out the 13” iPad Pro for the last two weeks. It’s been a real joy to use.
