My current day-to-day computer is a MacBook Air from mid 2011. It does the job, but browsing and other functions get choppy from time-to-time despite the solid state drive. Overall, for what I do, it’s actually a pretty decent computer for my needs. Even Final Cut Pro for basic projects I’m working on.
With my son potentially in need of a laptop for school I started evaluating options for a new Mac with the idea of giving him my MacBook Air. Over the last few months I spent hours geeking out, looking at the MacBook and the MacBook Pro lines, trying to figure out the next “best thing” for me.
My computer needs are pretty basic. I browse, play music, stream cable news, do some basic spreadsheet editing and word documents. I’m a pretty heavy email user and having a robust email client has always been important – I use Outlook for Mac. I occasionally have a need for using Final Cut Pro (mentioned above), but I have a really powerful iMac for the family I use for that. So when I was evaluating my MacBook Air replacement, I was open to just about anything.
While reviewing various options, I was intrigued by the whole ink-to-text experience provided by the Microsoft Surface units as well as the iPad Pros. For some time, I was very focused on the Microsoft Surface and almost pulled the trigger, but I had user interface experiences I just couldn’t get over. I like the Windows 10 platform, but overall, I just preferred the iOS experience. Also, I already have so many Apple devices that leaving the Apple eco system for me just didn’t make sense. There was nothing about the Surface that made it worth venturing out from Apple. When it came to the stylus, the experience on the iPad Pro was that much better (for me).
So at the end of the day, when it came time to make a purchase, I was trying to decide between a MacBook Pro with a 256GB SSD for about $1,500 or an iPad Pro 10.5 screen with 256GB of RAM for $750. So when I really thought through my needs, I decided on purchasing the 10.5 iPad Pro and giving it a try. I wanted a device that I could use at a desk, in bed or on a couch. The iPad could do that. I wanted the option to use a stylus for handwritten notes. The iPad Pro could do that. I wanted something light and easily portal. Again, that was the iPad Pro coming in at just over 1 pound vs 3 pounds. I also wanted a device that was fast and the new iPad Pro easily met that requirement and rivals a MacBook Pro in benchmarks.
Until you use a device day-to-day you just don’t know how it’s going to work out for you. So I was eager to see, as a I started to use the device, what I would like and not like. One thing that was important to me was having an external keyboard. When using computers I hate using input devices like mice or touching a screen. I prefer a keyboard. I love keyboard shortcuts and feel I can be much more efficient with the keyboard when interfacing with technology. The Mac platform allows plenty of methods for using keyboard shortcuts and you can even create your own in cases when developers of applications don’t provide shortcuts for their menu items. It’s fair to say keyboard shortcuts are critical to my user experience.
On the iPad, Apple’s iOS offers keyboard shortcuts but not nearly enough to keep me satisfied. There are still too many times I need to touch the screen to interact with the Pad vs having a keyboard shortcut. Because of these keyboard limitations I find that I can’t be nearly as productive as I would like to be. I’m really trying to get used to touching a screen while it is in an upright position, but find it difficult and not natural. Perhaps this is something that over time I will become more accustom to, but more keyboard shortcuts would go a long way to addressing my productivity concerns and convincing me that the iPad can become a desktop replacement.
Overall, I’m really happy with my iPad Pro purchase. I’m actually surprised how little I miss working on my Mac on a day-to-day basis. I haven’t completely given up the need for my Mac, but if Apple can continue to address keyboard shortcuts and enhance the iOS applications my days of going back to my Mac may be a thing of the past.
Below is a list the reflects my biggest keyboard shortcut annoyances:
Annoyances in Mail:
No way to navigate with keystrokes between different folders or mailboxes.
No way to move mail to different folders.
No way to go to top of an individual message. In Safari you can jump to the top of the screen with a keystroke.
No way to go to top of the messages list without tapping on screen.
Annoyances in Messages:
Moving up and down between messages is different keystroke than Mail. Needs to be consistent between applications.
After typing the name of someone to send a message to, if there’s a list of people to choose from, I can’t use the arrow keys to select that person.
No way to move back and forth between Emoji page screens.
Annoyances in Music:
No keystroke options. Can’t even navigate with arrow keys.
Annoyances in Safari:
No keystroke to send page to others, print, etc.
No way to keystroke to browser history.
No way to keystroke to bookmarks.
iOS Dialog boxes
No way to select from the options on the screen
Annoyances in Notes:
No way to mark a Note as “Done”.
No way to move up and down between messages.