MacBook or iPad Pro help

[sameeel]

Hi Dibbers

I was hoping for some advice!
Hubby needs new iPad as it’s a dinosaur and screen cracked.
I need a new laptop as it’s pre-historic, slow and I don’t like it lol..

Do I go for iPad Pro ( sell hubby my old iPad as pretty new ) or get a MacBook Pro instead of iPad?

I use my laptop for office work storing pictures etc...
I use my iPad for emails, watching movies, surfing, find office work hard on it difficult though, taking on holiday and flights for downloaded entertainment!

I’m not sure which would be the better investment etc...

Please help techy dibbers

[tspill]

I had this dilemma last year. It really depends on your usage.
No matter what anyone says, tablets and laptops are still lightyears apart in usage. I am not haying one is better than the other, but for how you specifically you use it - one will be much better than the other for you.
For me, it was the MBP. For OH, it was an iPad. We use them in different ways so have different solutions.
Convergence has and is being stunted as the companies want to continue to sell both.

[sameeel]

Originally Posted by tspill

I had this dilemma last year. It really depends on your usage.
No matter what anyone says, tablets and laptops are still lightyears apart in usage. I am not haying one is better than the other, but for how you specifically you use it - one will be much better than the other for you.
For me, it was the MBP. For OH, it was an iPad. We use them in different ways so have different solutions.
Convergence has and is being stunted as the companies want to continue to sell both.

See more...

It really is a tough decision isn’t it. I like the fact I can watch movies on my iPad in flight and it’s generally easy to carry about places, but I do need the functionality of laptop office based programs too.. 🤦 Maybe I should get both ha ha !

[sky13]

I have a MBP 13" (2018), a MB 12" (2017), and an iPad Pro 10.5" (2017). If I had to only choose one, I'd choose the MB 12". This is a somewhat controversial choice, but it's the best blend of full computing system and portability for me, and it's the device I use the most by far.

Anyway, I find I use the Macbooks and iPad for completely different things.

I find the Macbooks to be far superior for work and any form of content creation. Word, Excel, Powerpoint. Replying emails. Typing on the Dibb (haha). Multi-tasking. Anything that requires a decent file storage system. Much easier to have a pdf open on one side of the screen and take notes on the other side of the screen, and to flip between mutliple pdfs. Also I use them for Powerpoint presentations - though admittedly iPads are supposed to be decent for this too.

I find my iPad to be more of a content consumption device. Easy to read on, light web browsing, quick editing of things. If I need to edit anything more intensively then I'll switch over to a Macbook.

I got the MB 12" as an attempt to meld the best of both worlds - portable but with a full MacOS system. So far it's been a great compromise, I even brought it on my last holiday instead of the iPad. Sadly the line has been discontinued...

If I had to choose between a Macbook or an iPad as my sole computing device, I would go for a Macbook without a doubt. I can't imagine doing what I do on my Macbook on an iPad... It's not that the iPad can't do most things, it's just that it takes so much longer to do them on an iPad.

[tspill]

Originally Posted by sameeel

It really is a tough decision isn’t it. I like the fact I can watch movies on my iPad in flight and it’s generally easy to carry about places, but I do need the functionality of laptop office based programs too.. 🤦 Maybe I should get both ha ha !

See more...

A MacBook Air might be a compromise. Laptop capability but light and smaller?
Consider it as either the best of both worlds or the worst of both. Again, depending on your perspective.

[tspill]

Originally Posted by sky13

I have a MBP 13" (2018), a MB 12" (2017), and an iPad Pro 10.5" (2017). If I had to only choose one, I'd choose the MB 12". This is a somewhat controversial choice, but it's the best blend of full computing system and portability for me, and it's the device I use the most by far.

Anyway, I find I use the Macbooks and iPad for completely different things.

I find the Macbooks to be far superior for work and any form of content creation. Word, Excel, Powerpoint. Replying emails. Typing on the Dibb (haha). Multi-tasking. Anything that requires a decent file storage system. Much easier to have a pdf open on one side of the screen and take notes on the other side of the screen, and to flip between mutliple pdfs. Also I use them for Powerpoint presentations - though admittedly iPads are supposed to be decent for this too.

I find my iPad to be more of a content consumption device. Easy to read on, light web browsing, quick editing of things. If I need to edit anything more intensively then I'll switch over to a Macbook.

I got the MB 12" as an attempt to meld the best of both worlds - portable but with a full MacOS system. So far it's been a great compromise, I even brought it on my last holiday instead of the iPad. Sadly the line has been discontinued...

If I had to choose between a Macbook or an iPad as my sole computing device, I would go for a Macbook without a doubt. I can't imagine doing what I do on my Macbook on an iPad... It's not that the iPad can't do most things, it's just that it takes so much longer to do them on an iPad.

See more...

Agree. I have both - top end MBP and a lower spec iPad. But probably use my MBP 95% of the time.

[YorkshireT]

If you have a need for a laptop, go for a MacBook. I have an iPad Pro and to be honest, they are not worth the extra money. I see very little difference compared to my daughter’s latest version basic iPad I got for £285 off eBay new (albeit mine is 256gb). It in no shape or form matches an Apple computer running MacOs, if you need that type of functionality. Then again I wouldn’t really like to surf the web or look at Dibb on a MacBook all the time, doing most of that on my iPad.
I would buy the basic iPad off eBay for £285 and buy the MacBook.

[Do5-BaG]

You really have to ask yourself WHAT you are going to use them for, if you are going to utilize the full usability, power and storage of a MacBook / iPad Pro then shoot and go for one, if not stick with a bog standard iPad.

I've had MacBook Pro's for going on 10 years now as I use them for CAD / NavisWorks, basic video editing and music production/mixing.

If I was going to need something for anything less other than general day to day use (Uploading Pictures, Listening to Music, watching movies/youtube, browsing the web, e-mails, office packages etc), other than buying one for vanity, I'd personally look at cheaper options or just go for a standard iPad (Probably not even the latest Gen) and then buy a run of the mill laptop to use for work.

[ChoppyGirl]

On Saturday we bought DD a MacBook Air for her 18th birthday. She is (hopefully) going to university in September to study vet med and she wanted to use it to take notes for lectures and most textbooks are now electronic format.

We spoke to the guy in the Apple store in Solihull as we were looking at both the MacBook Air and Pro. We were told that it's not worth paying extra for the Pro if you are just using for internet browsing and normal day to day use. He said he would only recommend the Pro if she was to use it for a media degree.

[400ixl]

Why a MacBook? What is your current laptop?

Nothing against MacBook's per se, but if all you need is basic work tasks then do you need to spend double what a useable laptop would cost?

You could buy a decent Windows Laptop and an iPad (for DH) for less than a MacBook.

I work for a tech company and the number of people here who are very tech savvy and tried to replace their laptops (including MacBooks) with iPad Pro's and failed is very high. I only know one person who has stuck with it.