TL:DR Using an iPad as a PC is possible, but only in a limited use case. I feel that for the average user the iPad can be as capable as a PC for them. However apple needs either allow proper third party app stores on their devices. Or add in missing functionality to iPad OS to make it feature parity to Mac OS, like being able to connect with third party devices over USB-C.
----Pre-Ramble My thoughts on an iPad and why I have one----
I think everyone has seen, or at least hear of this apple add, where a kid with an iPad asks āwhatās a computerā. This ad has always irritated me since the iPad has never had the same power, let along software or support a traditional PC has ever had. At the time, and up until recently the iPad for me has been a Glorified iPod Touch with a bigger screen.
However since then Apple has attempted to make the hardware more computer like, moving from the more conventional A series of chips to their M series for their newer higher end devices. They moved away from lightning to USB-C on the iPads before the European Union forced them across their entire lineup. And with official keyboard accessories and the like, to my eyes the iPad was looking more and more like a Computer, than it use to.
I eventually got my own, a 3rd gen iPad Pro when they were discounted. I assumed the M chips would have a long shelf life, which so far has proven correct with iPad OS 18 support promised. Itās purpose was for Facetime and iMessage chats with family, but eventually grew to be my Streaming Video player and Web Comic reader.
I tried to do more on my iPad to see if it could do more. But every time I found that the App I wanted was behind a subscription paywall, had hidden fees, or was always online. A sad reality as a result of Appleās policies and complete lack of third party app stores. As much as I detest Android tablets, because of services like F-Droid, they have a much more robust software library which I can trust. Even though I do prefer the iPad software library which feels like they were designed for the device.
----Using my iPad as a Computer----
Now the reason I tested to see if I could use my iPad like a PC was because of my useless laptop. Itās a Gigabyte U4UD, and it has the worse battery life Iāve ever seen in a PC. It literally cannot last more than 30 minutes off the charger. Even when the battery was working well, it barely lasted 1-2 hours on a charge.
The reason I care about battery life was because I was going to visit my in-laws in the next Provence over. With several hours on the road and no guaranteed power jack near where Iāll set up and I needed a device with a battery that will last long enough for me to do some work.
And my iPadā¦ was the only device that was left. On paper it could do the work, Iāve settled on my Office Suite with Apple Works (Pages, Number, Keynote), the default mail client is better than K-9 on android, and for web browsing I just switched over to the Orion Web Browser, and while itās not perfect, it has a much nicer browsing experience than default Safari.
So I packed a much smaller bag, and was off on my 4 day trip.
I actually didnāt charge my iPad the night before, and when we arrived at our first overnight spot it still had a charge. Now if youāve used a modern PC with Modern Standby you should know how much of a shock this was to me. And the wins kept coming. I brought along a Pi Media Server for movie nights and it was acting up. I needed to SSH into it to see what was up. I didnāt preload anything and a quick google search showed Termius would do the job, and it did. Though I feel my Logitech keyboard case really helped here.
My only issue was that I wanted to listen to music on my iPad, and forgot to sync my library via iTunes before I left. No issue I though most Apple app will let you import the files by āsharingā them. So I move a few songs over to test andā¦ no share option. One Google search later revealed that itās not possible. Thanks Apple. Sure I couldāve used VLC, but Iāve already dug out my phone at just use that instead.
Day 2 we were on a ferry, and I again still havenāt charged my iPad. It was around 30% ish I think. And I was able to spend most of that 1.5h ferry ride doing work on my iPad with Pages. Now Apple Workās isnāt the best Office Suite, it feels more like Wordpad more than Word. But as it is a proper offline office software I couldnāt complain. Google Docs and Word technically work, but are online office suites, which I donāt trust to work where the internet isnāt a guarantee. Collabora Office would be a good alternative (Libre Office is my goto at home), but it has virtually no compatibility with the iPad keyboard mode. So itās more frustrating to use than helpful.
By the time we arrive at our Hotel the iPad had 8% left. God I love M class silicon. But I also got a renewed hatred for iPad OS. We went for Fish and Chips and I got some nice photos on my Phone I wanted to share with those on iMessage. I tried to connect my iPad to my Android phone over USB-C andā¦ nothing. I tried KDE Connect, and I couldnāt find it. Why Apple, did I have to upload my pictures to Facebook, download them on my iPad before I could send them to people when my Phone was right there, and I know M chips can talk with Android, because I know MacOS can. Lessons learnt for next time, BRING USB-C FLASH DRIVE TO AVOID APPLE SHENANIGANS.
But we got to count our blessing when they happen. Because hey, I was playing The Legend of Zelda Oracle of Ages on my iPad via Delta from the App Store. Sure it wasnāt a perfect experience, there was a bug that de-synced audio the longer you played GBC games (no I wasnāt using Bluetooth headphones). And I was able to connect my PS Vita to my iPad to move the save overā¦ even if the connection is finicky.
Apple really doesnāt want you to connect anything to their devices do they?
Day 3 was were things got really interesting. Because I saw the light, the iPad started making sense. Sure I canāt connect much to it. But when you are woken up by the 5am sun and you donāt want to wake your wife sleeping next to you. The last thing youād want is to mess around with cables and adapters and make too much noise.
I got work done in pages, check up and fired off some emails, all while listening to some video and podcast on my browser. I really wish the iPad had a headphone jack, but Iāve grown use to the USB-C adapters at this point. Even then I took some nice photos the day before and was going to wait and edit them when I got home. But remembered I could do them now since I had Affinity Photo (which was half off).
If you donāt do much off device work, the iPad can be as capable as any PC. Especially now that most software designed for computers are just websites. Sure you canāt code on an iPad, and outside of drawing most professional software is gimped. But if all you do is light office work and web browsing, then the iPad really makes sense, especially on the go.
----Closing thoughts----
Nothing interesting really happened on the last day. But when I got home, I was reminded yet again just how good the battery life was. On this trip the iPad tried to be my PC, and despite a few issues it did almost everything I asked of it. My iPad effectively replaced my phone at our overnight spots, meaning when I went out, my phone actually had a charge. Yeah, it had issues, 2 of them. I couldnāt move photos over from my phone to my iPad, and I couldnāt add downloaded music to Apple Music. But when I looked at the word I did while I was out, and how I can work around those drawbacks with better planning and a USB-C Flash drive. I think I can forgive it.
I am in love with the idea of the iPad for a small form factor travel machine. And it is perfect for that work load. Though when I got home, I tried to use it more, by my hand got cramps with the Logitech keyboard case. So I am back to my laptop/desktop if I need to do actual work. But with a massive move planned for me soon, I am happy to know I can pack away my laptop and lighten my load.
----Extra Notes----
I wanted to make this into a video, but I lost some footage, and I donāt think this ramble wouldāve been entertaining to watch. But I still wanted to get my thoughts out somehow.
Those are pretty familiar experiences. Especially the thing about sharing files and having access to specific applications.
A few years ago, I used to travel with my actual laptop (Lenovo Yoga) and it was great in many ways, even though there were drawbacks too. Itās a linux computer, so it runs all the apps I really need and the rest works through a website. The battery life isnāt great, and the computer is big and heavy, but at least itās an actual computer and itās able to do all the things I want from a computer. Gnome is nice in many ways, and itās also pretty cool with a touch screen. Unfortunately, Firefox canāt handle touch screens that well and Gnome Web canāt handle websites that well. Thatās why I rarely use that laptop in the tablet mode, so the yoga feature ends up being little more than eye candy.
A few years ago, I tried to use an older iPad, and it worked out surprisingly well while traveling. A few months later I upgraded to another used iPad, but this time it was the pro model and I even got a keyboard for it. Now, this is my first 12ā iPad pro, and it really feels a lot like a computer.
Obviously, you canāt do all the real computer stuff with it, but while traveling I rarely need to. Mostly, Iām just browsing Lemmy, watching videos, typing messages, and doing simple calculations on Apple Numbers. Moderately complex calculations still require LibreOffice Calc, because Apple Numbers is pretty feeble.