This is 100% the dream device though. Slap my IPP on the magic keyboard, it it suddenly has MacOS, pull it off and it flips to iPadOS? Yes Please! I think the IPP + Magic Keyboard design is the best design for a 2 in 1 that’s ever been dreamed.
I would like the viewing angles to adjust to even more degrees. I believe they filed a patent for one that did that though, with a pencil holder in the hinge, so your pencil is no longer just hanging out on the side of your iPad when it’s on the magic keyboard.
But honestly, I like the design of the IPP so much better than anything anyone else has come up with for a tablet. It’s sleek, easy to hold and use, super thin, but when on the MK, it feels like a laptop. Unfortunately the OS doesn’t feel anything like a laptop, so the illusion is quickly lost.
I haven’t tried one, but I like that it seems to combine a lot of the “posture” flexibility (limberness?) of say the Surface Laptop Studio, while still making it super easy to grab the tablet portion and do tablety things.
Hmm, now that I say that, I suddenly kind of want one.
The HP 2730p EliteBook tablet (circa 2008, and it’s successor 2740p for that matter) was chunky but solid hardware, and great for going from inking to typing quickly. Passed the 2730p to a child and got the 2740p back in the day. They had great docking stations that clipped onto the base for more ports, etc. (REALLY chunky then). The only things holding it back were Win XP, lower res graphics, higher weight and shorter battery life. Other than that, loved that machine.
I wish it had a little wider range of motion for tilting up when on my lap, but one thing I like over the kickstand is I can actually lean it forward like a laptop when I’m lying on the couch and have it sitting on my stomach/lap watching a video.
But I love how easy it is to grab it off and put it back on the keyboard. I use it fairly often both “attached” and just as a tablet in my hands, switching back and forth depending on the task. It’s a surprisingly intuitive way of using it. YMMV though, for instance, I never have my iPad at my desk, nor do I draw at my desk. I always use my iPad either on the couch or in bed, so I have the MKB sitting next to me when not using it, then just drop the iPad on it and move it to my lap when I want it.
When I joined my previous firm in 2009, they confiscated my ThinkPad x61s because they were “HP Only Shop” so I made them buy the 2740p for me - loved that lug…
Other than the low resolution display (1280 x 800), the 2740p was a great device. The optional outdoor viewable display was one of the best on the market at the time. I often thought about one of these as my first tablet.
Reviving a dead thread for a moment with some (logical) counterprogramming AGAINST tablets as a primary device:
I put it here because the only response I could think of to some of his hilariously on point observations, is that a MacPad (MacOS and iPadOS on same device) does take some of the wind out of his sails…
Um, couldn’t disagree more with that article writer. A clear case of someone who has a certain taste in things who thinks everyone else should have the same taste—or they’re WRONG.
Agreed. I’ve never understood the point of these types of articles (other than as clickbait) as truly virtually anyone buying a computing device, already knows at least the basics of what they are looking for Apple’s “what’s a computer” ads not withstanding
Hifihedgehog
(Hifihedgehog - Waiting for Surface Pro 10!)
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Giving credit where credit is due: If you have an adblocker though, you prevented that clickbait vampire from sucking the ad dollars out of your consumer-rich blood.
I really think it is more than clickbait. He’s right about size, weight, and (lack) of functionality as a laptop replacement. However, it does not deter me from looking at this 11" M1 iPP11 and wondering “what if?”
Terribly written article, but I do somewhat agree with some of his points, sort of.
Tablets do tend to be more niche market driven, sort of. My personal niche reason for getting an IPP aside (art), I use it for quite a bit of other things that it’s nicer than a laptop or a phone for. Tablets are an odd duck blend of doing some certain things better than more specific devices, while making compromises on others. For instance, as he mentions in the article, a laptop will get you a bigger screen for watching videos than your phone, or sometimes even your tablet, without the need for the cost of a second device, but what he fails to mention, is how versatile a tablet is at it. Sitting on my couch watching a YouTube video with my IPP is way better than on my smartphone, and still easier than pulling out my MBP and pulling up a video on it. It’s intuitive and quick to use like a smartphone, only with a big screen.
I haven’t really used if for this myself, but, while reading an ebook might be more cumbersome on an IPP, reading graphic novels/comics is surely a better experience with the much clearer, and larger screen, while still being more comfortable to hold than a convertible laptop.
I think some of these reasons are why leaving iPads mostly to a tablet OS is a good idea. I wouldn’t my IPP to just be MacOS with no iPadOS on it. But when docked with a keyboard and mouse, letting it transform into MacOS, yeah, you truly get the best of both worlds, and that’s where the odd duck-ness disappears and you just get a really great functional device across all levels.
I’m reminded again why I like this place, for among other things, we at least keep it civil and respectful. Especially compared to something like this…
Yes, I’m at it again, because I am PO’d at this comment from Tim Millet:
" According to Millet, Apple’s vice president of platform architecture and hardware technologies, the company began exploring the Mac’s transition to Apple chips in earnest around the time of the iPad Pro’s debut.
“Once we started getting to the iPad Pro space, we realized that, ‘You know what, there is something there,’” he told TechCrunch.
Indeed, the enormous capability of the iPad Pro led many on the outside to speculate. If Apple can build a largely battery-powered device in such a thin enclosure without any active cooling that exceeds the power of the MacBook Pro … imagine what the same chips could do with more cores, more space and more cooling in a Mac."Cult of Mac
You can bet your XXX they prototyped MacOS on an iPad Pro first!
I want somebody (anybody) to tell me they wouldn’t drool over a MacOS or Windows device that was the exact same dimensions as an 11" iPad Pro, had pen input, ran full screen applications well on that 11" screen, and then snapped magnetically to a keyboard stand/dock that gave you the option of at least one if not two full size external monitors, mouse/trackpad, and ran FULL multi-window multi-tasking.
Anyone saying no is a liar!
PS - Steve Perry, one of rocks most underrated vocalists!
