There will be people out there who love their Mac computers, and that isn’t any bad thing at all. Personal preference is key in the technology and consumer market, for me, I’ve used both, and I have 100% settled for iPadOS and I will do my best to explain.
You may have 0 interest in this topic, but I’m hoping for a friendly discussion below on how you’ve got on with each, your likes and dislikes, essentially, let’s compare notes and see how it goes.
First thing’s first, stability:For a long time, since I have used Mac beginning back in 2018 on a regular basis and occasionally before, VoiceOver has been unreliable for me, making its own decision, getting stuck, lagging and just all-round crashing on me. I’ve tried resets, different Macs and still always the same result. I see a lot here too on the forums, VoiceOver is full of bugs.
With that issue covered, let’s get to the interesting part for me
I find safari a lot better and more reliable on iPad, VoiceOver doesn’t get stuck, you can enable first letter navigation and get going with your iPad just as you would with a keyboard connected, it just appears to be a much more stable experience for me.
App switching:
You can easily switch between apps on your iPad, just as you can on your mac with the command tab keyboard command, meaning you can still easily run multiple workflows on the device, the specs are plenty, the performance holds up from experience, and its been a pleasant experience for me.
Pricing:
iPad has a model at each price, starting at £349 in the UK, of course you could go all the way up to the top, but the iPad makes a lot more sense if you’re after a cheaper computer device to get things done, but you want all your Apple tech integrate. You have a lot of models, choices, and providing you don’t need the extra Mac exclusive software, you can jump on iPad for a decent price. The new M4 iPad Pro is killing it, using it for me has been a very nice experience, but in all honesty every single iPad model has been pleasant, fast and reliable.
Tablet to computer, and back again:
Yes, the iPad is a tablet, no, I haven’t forgot that, but adding a keyboard when using voiceover provides a very respectable computing experience for me, I like the idea that I can turn my device into a computer, fill out forms, reply to messages and emails, jump between apps and more, but after that is all done, I can take out my USB adapter, disconnect my keyboard and sit back and use my iPad perfectly to chill out with a good series, to me the way I can seamlessly connect up a keyboard, and then disconnect it and use native apps to enjoy and consume my content makes perfect sense, and it fits with my use cases perfectly.
USB c, connect it all:
USB C on iPad makes it perfectly easy to connect and add adapters, accessories, storage, keyboards, honestly whatever you need, it adds another level of power to iPad that wasn’t previously there, its perfectly easy to transfer your files and data back and forth with no issues at all.
IOS like:
Yes, some people don’t want an iPad because it’s super similar to iOS, I totally get that, but for me I like the idea of using a product that is consistent with what I know, but something more powerful that I can add my own layer of productivity onto. I can use interfaces I know well, but get all the things I would do on my mac done on the iPad seamlessly.
Extra features:
split screen, it works perfectly with voiceover
Screen size options, from mini to massive
Easy setup and data transfer
Native iOS and iPadOS apps, go from typing to chilling with ease.
Mac is a great computing platform all told, but it’s not for me, how about you? What have your experiences been like?
Comments
My experience with iPads
I’ve used a couple of different iPad models over the years. When I was in school that was the first device I ever learned voiceover on. I personally enjoy using it and plan to get a keyboard for mine eventually. I can’t really speak about the Mac because I’ve never used one, but for light productivity, and as someone who is totally blind, I enjoy using my iPad.
What keyboard are you using?…
What keyboard are you using?
I keep trying iPad but find too many little annoyances to ever let me keep it. I guess I'm what they'd called a power user, I use my mac for 3d printing and slicing which one can't realy do on iPad. As apple have said several times, iPad is designed to complement mac, not replace it and I really get that. Personally, I have an iPad mini 6ths generation which I think is one of my favorite apple devices along side my AirPods Pro 2. I can't wait to see what apple do with the new BSI options. They are bringing new control using BSI to IOS 18 which, I'm hoping, will make my little iPad a really powerful brail input device. Who knows though.
I do fancy the iPad pro, mainly because I love tech, though I have heard the audio isn't quite as rich on the new iPad pro due to it being thinner. Can you speak to that as wel as your keyboard choice?
I always tought
buying and iPad to at least have an alternative to mac voiceover bugs. This topic so far is further convincing me :) maybe next year or so!
Replying
It’s good to see people enjoying and using the iPad, but also the mac.
As for Ollie, you've made some very good points, the iPad does go well with the Mac, but in all fairness I think Apple has no device to replace the other, they kind of all fit with each other and work really well together.
As for the keyboard, it was just one I picked up from Argos on the recommendation of my uncle, I think the brand is called trust or something like that, its a mechanical keyboard which I find quite satisfying to type with. I am hoping to get an Apple magic keyboard as well to go along with the iPad, but not the one made for iPad specifically, just the wireless one as my uncle has offered it to me for about 20% of the iPad one's price.
iOS 18 has me very excited as well, I should be jumping on the beta on Monday should things go well, I do have a couple of test devices, so I'm more than happy to answer any questions anyone has on the update, but I'm looking forward to the new BSI controls as you say Ollie.
For the blind guy, the iPad pro is really good, I mean I use it 90% of thetime as a tablet with BSI which I actually find quite accurate on the larger display, I probably look like the local loony, but productivity has to come first haha. But yes, with a keyboard I do find it works really well, especially for writing out longer documents and emails, and text editing and selection, I'm really enjoying it, and it means I can designate my old M1 iPad Air to the testing of iPadOS 18 next week.
Tiffani, I'm glad you like the iPad and feel its helpful for you, I think we all have a go to productivity device and for me its a mix of an iPad, windows laptop, and over the last couple of years my iPhone too. I sadly left the Mac completely as I found it really didn't work for me, but I'm always really interested to hear of other people's experiences, and what they like and dislike about each OS.
I think windows machine,…
I think windows machine, iPad and iPhone is probably the sweet spot. I've also got a mac mini running as a server so best of all worlds.
Bring on monday and post on here about people installing betas and bemoaning it not working properly... Happens every year, usually with the same bemoaners.
How can you run server mac
I thought macos server was no longer a thing? Although with the linux backend I can perfectly imagine your setup, just out of curiosity what is your config?