Don’t tell Timmy and Craig, but some of us have jumped on the beta bandwagon BEFORE the official public beta release (big surprise).
IT IS NOT for the faint of heart, unless you are stupid like yours truly, but here are some early thoughts:
It likes to crash, and most times it comes back up to the Home Screen, others you need to restart and reload
It is buggy, but more stable than I would have imagined.
It is cramped and confining on the 11” screen, and most of the online reviewers are all using 12.9
External monitor support is good, but tends to be a washed out image compared to my MBP14 on the same monitor (see below). Also, much better if a native USB-C monitor input than DisplayPort or HDMI.
Most apps do work well in their window, but some fight the sizing choices and positions.
This is a NOT Windows or MacOS window environment - the windows have a mind of their own (think Outer Limits) and resize and move around the screen as you resize/move the focus window you are working on. DESPERATELY needs a Windows snap feature to more easy manage multiple windows on the external monitor.
You CANNOT drag a window from your iPad to an external monitor, nor the other direction. You must use the three dot menu at the top of the window to move the window to the other screen (or close the app to the dock).
Having trouble juggling multiple Word windows - hopefully MS will release an update with the final version.
The Files app is much better, but still not Finder nor Windows File Explorer by any means
This is play time - everyone has left town already for the Fourth so it’s slower than usual. Otherwise, I’d be hamstrung and that’s why the MBP14 is still the primary computer.
Anyone out there that is an experienced iPad + MacBook hand I have a vital question - what is the best way to keep a large group of files synced locally on your iPad and MacBook with complete copies locally on each device and one in the cloud (iCloud or OneDrive preferred but open to any solution)?
Cut a long story short - use gmail and set up different accounts if your files take up less than 15 GB total. Use your MacBook to log into the different gmail accounts and you can also organise the files by account - personal / business / HMRC Tax or IRS / family pics etc
I have to admit I may not fully have understood you… however I am handing back a work iPad - in the next 2 weeks - which has a lot of my files and pictures on and I have an M1 Mini and I want to have all my files in one place on the cloud. I refuse to use pay the extra for extra iCloud storage.
If I’m doing direct file transfer and avoiding the internet - I use airdrop (Apple’s bluetooth) to swap files from one to the other.
I use gmail a lot for the 15GB free storage available on gdrive. I think I’ve set up 4-5 gmail accounts - including a teaching gmail account for when I had to show students how to set up an online blog for external assessors to see their work during Covid. Anyhow - transferring files on a MacOS to gmail is simple enough but iPads are still horrendous for file transfer to a non-Apple service - even Dropbox. However with 4 gmail accounts, I have 60GB free storage space online.
On the other hand - sorry if I completely misunderstood you…
Do you want all your files linked so they all update if one is changed? If so, Dropbox does this. You can download local files on your iOS device, and also download all your files locally on your laptop. And you also have them all in the cloud. And they’re all synced and update themselves when ups dates on a different device.
I do this on my windows laptop and iPhone and it does it wonderfully.
Thanks Doobies - good advice in general, but not quite my problem. What I want is ALL of my Documents folder replicated on two devices (iPad and MacBook) and kept synchronized when making changes on either of the devices.
Thanks again - I have a family Apple services account that includes 2tb storage so I think I’m good. But I still don’t think it does the final step I want, to have the files on device at all times as well as in iCloud.
PS - I’m not sure what I need is even possible. I can’t seem to find anyway to push a full copy of my “Documents” folder from iCloud to my iPad, and it only works on the MBP14 if I turn off file optimization, and then everything my family has stored on iCloud looks like it will end up on my MBP14 (which can’t happen since there’s 1.5tb in iCloud among us).
It’s all easily doable in Dropbox, for what it’s worth. I do it with my windows laptop and my iPhone. I haven’t tried to do a 100% local download on my phone. I do it file by file as needed. So I’m not sure if it’s optimized for that. But on my laptop everything is 100% local because I work in the field. Of course, it’s all in the cloud and synced as well.
Are you running MacOS Catalina? Apple finally changed Finder so you could transfer your full documents folder across to your iPad. Your iPad needs to have the latest iOS too.
Trade-in death spiral continues: my iPad Pro 11 (512gb WiFi only) dropped another $50 yesterday to $465; that’s down from $585 one week after WWDC (June 17)…thank you Apple…(good thing we don’t have a middle finger emoji)…
At the moment, yes you do. I haven’t tried it yet as we’re not on the very latest MacOS or iOS which is what you need but you need a USB cable.
Sorry for the delay - lots of goodbyes and sore heads at the moment.
Hi, this is neat to hear. So, you’ll be able to duplicate whatever you want/everything locally on the ipad if you move it over while connected by cable. ?? If you do so, will it also be backed up/simultaneously updated somewhere on the cloud as well? I think you said you were using the Apple service…?
So typical of Apple’s fanboy tech reporting crowd…
While TechRadar focuses on a major change in Beta 3 that fixes a real confusion and problem with window management (how to open a second instance of the same application and close an application)…
MacRumors focuses on a change that make Instagram work better as an iPhone only app on an iPad…
In fairness, the later does mention this allows other non-iPad apps run better in Stage Manager, but WHY is it always about Instagram, Tik Tok, and other such crap …(oops, sorry I guess I can’t say cr@p)…
For better or worse, they sell mobile devices to the millions. The majority of users want these apps to work really well on them and Apple will listen to that before they ever fix window management and other productivity issues.
Well, they do give us some bread crumbs along the way, and replacing the three dot window management menu with detailed directions really helps us old guys at lease. Now if only they’d take their foot off the breaks and let us decide where and what size we want a window to appear. What I mean by that is when you enlarge one window and move it to a side, it springs back towards the middle of the screen covering parts of the background windows - it is nearly impossible to line up two windows side by side, much less three, without shutting off Stage Manager and reverting to split screen mode.
Another note for potential users is that things really are cramped on the 11” compared to the 12.9”. This is going to be an easy decision for most (go bigger) unless like me you are permanently wed to a minimized footprint, and just living with the restricted space in favor of having your MacPad/WinPad device. In that regard, the Stage Manager left shelf (whatever they call it) makes it much easier to have four windows open and switch between them better than CMD Tab.
Also, iPadOS 16 BEGS for a better Magic Keyboard. It needs to be lighter and have that third hinge from the patent discussed elsewhere (so the iPad can fold forward over the keyboard into a write/draw mode. Would be good if they could add function keys as well, but I also have to admit that it is a VERY GOOD typing experience as I’ve used it more recently.
