iPad Pro vs MacBook Pro - A Winner Emerges

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[TarrelScot]

As a travel photographer for whom weight and size are important I’ve spent literally years of frustration trying to make an iPad-only workflow viable. File management and multi-asking are the killers for me. The M1 Macbooks with their light weght and insane battery life changed the game. I now have a Macbook Air and couldn’t be happier! I still carry an iPad Mini for content cosumption in tight spaces (like on Ryanair!)

[kathelsupreme]

M1 iPad Pro 11” and an M1 MacBook Pro. No limits here.
Heavy work done on the MacBook. Video conferencing, note taking, brainstorming and recreating on the iPad. A perfect couple.

[Jonathantuba]

I have used an iPad Pro for 90% of my work (as an entrepreneur managing a successful international business) and leisure for the last 5 years. I hate using a Mac, and only do so when I come across something I can’t do on the iPad (due to software limitations which get less year by year), which is only a handful of times each year. I am all in with the iPad Pro - the MacBook Pro to me is the past. And don’t forget there are various things the iPad can do that the Mac can’t, such as for me use as tablet to play music, access the internet where there is no Wi-Fi, scan documents and even measure objects. And using touch is so much more intuitive, satisfying and involving (e.g. pinch to zoom editing photos). You will never get me back on a Mac!

[MichaelLochowitz]

The ability for the iPad to have native Microsoft office apps that can be secured at the enterprise level is a must have for me. I can instantly authenticate and check teams or outlook on my personal device. I can’t do that on a MacBook unless it is a corporate MacBook. To me that is a “Pro” level feature.

[FButters]

I currently have the m2 IPad Pro 12.9” and I love it I just got it 2 days ago and it is the most amazing machine to use. I use it for school and for Normal use. But it’s amazing super fast and super reliable. I haven’t had any issue with the iPad yet but don’t forget apple have only just recently been able to pack everything in to the newer iPads to make them feel more like laptops. I think the ipad is the best ipalotop (ipad and laptop together). I currently am using the Magic Keyboard and the Apple Pencil and it makes it feel so nice to use! HopeFully this helps!

[velanche]

Great video! I have the 11” M1 iPad Pro, and a 14” M1 Max MacBook Pro. To me, the M1 iPad Pro has so much potential that’s not being realized. I’ve been using mainly the 12.9” ones since 2018, but last summer I decided to go for the smaller one because I realized portability was missing, and it’s the reason why I opted for the 14” MBP instead of the 16.” The more I use the MBP, the more I’ve come to the realization that the limits that were once the bane of the Intel Macs has more-or-less broken through with the Apple silicon models. After the M1 Mac mini, which was the best desktop I had in ages, I passed it down to my mother for this MBP. Putting up with system overload messages in Logic is a thing of the past. Video editing in LumaFusion on the Mac is speedy, though rendering can still be taxing but gets it done. But otherwise, just the smoothness, the quickness, and the fact that I can focus on the work without limits is a really good feeling. (I know there are limitations, but the threshold is much higher). I know there are limits on the iPad Pro, some by necessity, but it really needs a step up (where are the Apple Pro apps? Wassup with glitchy limitations with SD cards and portable SSD drivers? Files….still needs work). Both have valid use cases that I that I take advantage of for sure, but I don’t feel like I have to play catchup with the MBP, the way I’m still waiting for the iPad Pro to do. Again, thank you!

[BoxtoBoxRegista]

Your script writing game and the connection you make to real life scenarios is what makes this video awesome. First time watching and I’m a fan. 3 things that have stuck with me:

1. Pain killers over vitamins
2. Data in, data process, data out
3. You pay for “Pros” to remove limitations
4. The Pro’s “ers”
5. Modular form factor: it can be a liquid, a solid or vapour.
6. Breadth v depth

[tomorrowsyoutube]

I use my iPad in combination with my MacBook Pro as a very expensive external monitor using universal control

[handyhistorian]

Apple's answer to this dilemma is: "buy both." Like many others I have bent over backwards trying to make the iPad Pro work as a daily machine, but the limitations of iPad OS are not worth surmounting when Mac OS offers such superiority in time savings alone (not to mention the iPhone being much more convenient for most iOS-type tasks). I believe the limits on iPad are a deliberate choice by Apple, perhaps not something they planned from 2010, but at least several years ago they decided that rather than cannibalizing Mac sales by making iPads legit replacements they'd make them just functional enough to be complementary devices. When you see the new base iPad get a Magic Keyboard Folio with function keys and camera on the horizontal orientation while the "Pro" languishes in these areas, the game of limiting features across the iPad line so that no one device gives you everything, no matter how much you pay, becomes increasingly transparent. The iPad is k like Siri for me, if I am very deliberate and specific with what I am asking for it to do (based on past experience) then it's great, once I stray a bit and expect seemingly obvious things to work, they don't.

[Knate]

I’ve got a 2012 MacBook Pro and a first gen iPad Pro. Both still work great. I think that, in and of itself speaks volumes. You won’t go wrong no matter what you get. As an artist, the first time I used the pencil I was sold. It’s everything for me. That being said, the price and the software offered on MacBook is tempting and something I want to use more of….idk what should I get?

[jimtipton]

Well thought our presentation. I have and use both. I use the iPad when I’m away from my office for both work and leisure. For serious projects where I want multiple screens, multiple desk tops and in some cases more complete programs, I use the MBP. Can’t say I like one better than the other. Pretty much love them both. They are just very different tools.

[BManDoe]

Have you considered using the 11” iPad Pro instead? The only reason I use my iPad Pro more than my 14” MBP is because the smaller size is more convenient to take with me around the house. If they were the same size like the two you are using, I might hesitate to grab the iPad as well. Just a thought. Great video!

[tom_marsden]

I’m having this debate with myself right now and am sort of coming to the conclusion that at the ~$2000 price point an iPad Pro plus Mac mini might be a more versatile combo for me than a 14” MBP.

[kenny_closes]

Great video Chris! I own both and I’m the opposite. I feel like if I lost my iPad Pro, I’d be scrambling on how to do my job. I’d manage but my workflow personally wouldn’t be as condensed, streamline and just fun. I’m a real estate agent, so for me, having the combination of the best of both worlds using an iPhone and MacBook in one device means the world to me. To be able to have a device where I can do all of the communication I need, all of the social media and advertising task, note taking, actually USING the LiDar sensor to scan 3D models for clients who can only view homes remotely…it’s been amazing. I think my utilization percentage between my iPad Pro and MacBook pros has been 85% iPad/15 MacBook at WORST, probably higher for the iPad. I just got done conducting a company training on Zoom, settling up searches for and sending emails for clients, planning my routes for tomorrow while saving them on my iPad so that way the destinations are waiting for me on the iPhone when it’s connected to CarPlay in the car, and then after I split screen YouTube and my CRM to do some follow up. Yes, I can do this all on my MacBook. But for ME, not as conveniently. But I respect your choice for the MacBook and can see why it’s the preferred machine for a lot of people. Good choices either way lol

[ChrisBartlett]

Great video. People all too often lose track of the fact that these are tools. Get the tool YOU need, not the tool someone else needs.

[Camryn]

I have the iPad Air 5, specked out and it is amazing. I use it in high school, video creating, photoshop, etc. It is so nice to take the ipad off the Magic Keyboard and use the Apple Pencil for taking notes, drawing, photoshop, stuff like that. They keyboard is also amazing! I have ipad os 16 beta and stage manger is something that has changed the game (in a good way!)! It is very fast and works amazing for what i need!

[jamessullenriot]

8 months later I am here. Apple just announced that Logic and FCP are coming to iPad. I actually start shopping for the iPad Pro as a result but there is still one issue. As a software developer I can't do that on an iPad. And when price out an iPad Pro vs a MacBook M1 or M2 there is not much price difference but the performance limitations are too great. I think the iPad is getting close, but still too distant.

[dcanfi]

I am currently a third-year law student using both the 12.9” M1 iPad Pro and the M1 MacBook Pro. There is a lot that I need the MacBook Pro for, especially when it comes to features in Microsoft Office. If Office were updated on iPad OS with all of the features found on MacOS, the iPad would be my go to. There are a lot of things I use the iPad for that I cannot do on the Mac. For example, I am given a lot of pdf documents to read or edit. With the iPad, I can hand write notes directly on the page rather than type them on a separate document or in margins as required by the Mac. I agree that losing my Mac would completely halt my career as Office is lacking on iPad, but there are definitely features of iPad OS that are super beneficial for productivity. If I had to choose just one, it would be the MacBook Pro; however, if someone can afford both, the two machines complement each other so well that investing in both is a great option.

[Annette_Hons]

I have a MacBook Air and 12.9 inch iPad Pro, and I love them both for different reasons. I feel like I’d be more lost without my MacBook Air then I would be without my iPad Pro. I do very basic stuff on both so I don’t need a MacBook Pro, although I did have one years ago. I can’t imagine life without both of them actually. And then for quick on the go I have the iPad mini which is easy to throw in my purse and take it everywhere.

[yellowboxster]

Great assessment. I came to that same conclusion about the MacBook Pro -Vs-the iPad Pro about two years ago. Initially, I was taken in by the iPad’s note taking features. To that end, I started using Notability and GoodNotes to capture design review details. But, after watching dozens of videos by medical students creating pretty notes with these two apps I concluded that I would never get to that level of competency with these tools nor did it actually matter. I still use the iPad Pro for note taking but I find that to be a smaller percentage of my workflow these days.