I bought the 2020 iPad pro and sold it in one week.
Try to not repeat my mistake.
The thought of having a new iPad has been toying with my mind for a while since I gave my old iPad to my mom in 2016. I used to have the old iPad and the oldie classic MacBook air. Each one of them had a separate function back in the day; I used the iPad for listening to music and watch movies while the Macbook air mainly for my job. It was easy to switch between them given that each of them was made for a specific purpose.
Fast forward, Apple released the 2020 iPad pro and I knew I would find a way to convince myself to fork a $1000 to buy one.
A little about me, I am a full-time doctor. What I can consider as productivity in my field is mainly writing and reviewing medical articles, finishing presentations for different meetings and working on multiple excel spreadsheets. And aside from the casual internet browsing, that is basically it. I currently own a 2019
MacBook pro
which has been serving me well. I opted for the 12.9-inch
iPad Pro
and once I opened it — like a 13 year old kid looking at his new toy — the first thing that enthralled me as you can probably guess was the display. The colour reproduction on the iPad was nowhere near my MacBook pro. Don’t get me wrong the MacBook display is great, but something about the iPad screen just made the colours pop.
After setting it up in the first day, I woke up the next morning, got ready for work and decided to take the iPad with me. On my first afternoon staff meeting I took the iPad out and started taking notes, and thats when I felt I was missing something, yup! A keyboard. Don’t get me wrong, I am not new to touch screens but typing on the 12.9 screen made the experience a bit… awkward — If that is the term, but I decided to ignore that feeling for now.
Things started to take a different direction at that point.
With the iPad learning curve, it did not take me a lot really to master the task switching and multitasking interface — something which I acclaim Apple on. I mainly use Spark for my emails instead of the built-in Mail app and that went on just fine. The new support for the file system made attaching documents and working through my OneDrive cloud space super doable — again with a bit of learning curve. I was quite astounded that the new Office app is not supported on the iPad, but the separate Microsoft Excel and Word apps worked pretty well.
The following day, I went on thinking, should I purchase the new Magic Keyboard? I think It will improve my iPad experience and will solve the one problem I have with it, I told myself. Well, thats another $300 to fork out!
Around the middle of the week, I got into that point where I was subconsciously making comparison between the MacBook and the iPad Pro.
From a portability viewpoint: both of them are relatively very similar, even If I decided to purchase the Magic Keyboard. I do not think anyone would say that one is more portable than the other one.
From a battery viewpoint: I would say the iPad has almost the same battery life as my MacBook Pro. Basically, both of them can get me through the day without me thinking I would lose power at any point.
I figured out that I don’t need both devices really, one of them can do everything an average person — like me — would want from a Computing device.
Then What’s really the difference between these two powerful devices? Why is Apple selling both?
Well, I drew a conclusion that both of these devices will enable you to do everything you want,
BUT…
…in a different way.
With the MacBook pro, I feel more comfortable, It is a screen and a keyboard. You open the lid and you start typing your notes, browsing or watching. My hands know where to rest and my viewing angle is not something I need to think about.
With the iPad Pro, I felt I am using a pumped-up version of my iPhone. Do I want to look cool and use a pen on the screen? I can. A keyboard? I can buy one and attach it. Maybe mouse instead of touching the interface? That is supported too. I have to admit that it is a very versatile device and I can understand why anyone would be intrigued to buy it.
I think at the time of writing this, Apple has made two equally powerful breed of machines, MacBooks and iPads, both will get you anything you throw at them done equally effective yet, in a different way. And it all depends on which interface you like better.
Apple is really smart in a way that It looks like it is eating Its own market share rather than waiting for someone else to eat it.
I did not keep the iPad Pro, despite its great features, I figured out that I don’t need both devices really, one of them can do everything an average person — like me — would want from a Computing device.
My conclusion is, Try both; I personally feel that If you are coming from a MacBook, you’ll stick with a MacBook. while If you are holding an iPhone and you are looking for a replacement for your Windows PC, You will love the iPad Pro. So, with whatever you choose you will not be disappointed…
but just buy one of them!
Obviously it’s different for everyone, so I would recommend heading over to an Apple store and try them out. Don’t worry, they sanitise them after each person
is done with them.
Alternatively, you can buy them, and try them for fourteen days, as long as you return them within this period, Apple’s return policy allows you to give them back.
I hope this article has helped and answered your questions, if not, leave a comment below and I’ll surely respond.
Please do share your experience as well. I would be very interested to hear them.