
iPad Pro is better than any Mac - prostoalex
https://www.cultofmac.com/693991/why-the-2020-ipad-pro-is-better-than-any-mac/
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halyconWays
Apple agrees too: it's a 100% locked-down computing device.

Since when did geeks abandon the idea that you should be able to execute
arbitrary code on a device you own? Not have to ask permission from a
multinational company--and accept the answer "no" when the code is deemed too
dangerous, subversive, or undercuts their preferred business model.

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wilg
Many devices you own do not allow you to execute arbitrary code, such as my
microwave and toaster.

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nixpulvis
My toaster is so simple I could probably fix it with a soldering iron and
parts I found in the dumpster. What's your point?

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wilg
People do not (and should not) have an expectation of executing arbitrary code
on all devices they own.

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nixpulvis
I _absolutely_ have an expectation of being able to run arbitrary code on my
devices! This is what a general purpose computer is.

If not, how should developers (and hackers) work on stuff then? How should the
curious budding programmer get inspired to create?

Moreover, how should the motivated user fix a problem they found that the
developers didn't consider? Are they beholden to the powers that be? Should
they be?

General purpose computers sparked a revolution of ideas, products, and
productivity; now you'd take that away from us! Why?!

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wilg
Making devices that are not general purpose computers does not take away
general purpose computers.

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Andrew_nenakhov
When people start marketing iPads as replacements for notebook PCs, _some_
users are expecting it to be able to do what they could do on their Mac OS or
Linux machines.

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scarface74
So whose fault is that - the users or Apple?

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nixpulvis
Clearly Apple's for trying to sell us on this new vision for computing, which
is just plain worse. Sorry.

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scarface74
So people who are suppose to be good with computers aren’t intelligent enough
to know how the iOS platform - that’s been out for 13 years - works?

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nixpulvis
You're losing me in this line of reasoning... I know quite well how iOS works.

The issue is, to make good software, you need users. If everyone is using iOS,
there's no $/time/energy left for the others. To make progress with technology
we can't be held hostage by our platforms, as Apple would have things.

This is about having both the developers and the users put on the same playing
field, and moving forward. Not backwards, like we've been going for years now.
Sure there's been some steps in good directions, but ask yourself honestly if
technology is truly working for you? Or are you working for technology?

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scarface74
If “everyone” is using iOS - which empirically not true and never will be at
the prices Apple charges - have you ever thought that their priorities may be
different than yours?

Have you ever thought that iOS users not having to deal with the cruft of
modern computing operating systems and the insecurities is progress for them?

I only hear geeks complaining about the “walled garden”. Most people want
something that just works.

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nixpulvis
Right, and last I checked my step dad has just as much trouble with his iPad
as with with late Windows computer. He doesn't do a lot with computers. And
I'd fathom a guess, it's not just nerds complaining... just look at the music
industry, or the news paywalls, but I digress.

Everyone's got an opinion, and they all stink, you know. At least with the
general approach, you can swap out opinions at will.

</rant>

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scarface74
Has your step dad had to worry about viruses, malware, adware, and ransomware
on his iPad? Has he had to worry about popular video conferencing software
installing a web server in the background that reinstalls itself every time
you uninstall it (Zoom)?

The “music industry” isn’t complaining about Apple. iTunes and now Apple Music
gives more money back to artists than its competitors.

What do news paywalls have to do with Apple?

As far as revenue, the App Store generates more revenue than the more “open”
Play Store even though Apple has less than a fifth of the market share.

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nixpulvis
I think you're missing the forest for the trees.

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scarface74
The forest for someone who wants to make money as a developer is go where
people are the most willing to pay - the Apple App Store.

The forest for most people - who aren’t developers and even for those who just
want a device that works - is mobile.

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wilg
I still think a tablet is a fundamentally worse form factor than a laptop for
most tasks.

Such as what I am doing right now, typing while sitting on the couch. Even
that cool new keyboard case seems like it would be unwieldy in this scenario.

And when watching a movie, a laptop holds itself up with no accessories –
useful pretty much any time you are watching something.

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towb
With the big screens and high resolutions on modern phones, all I use my iPad
for is Netflix in bed, pretty much. Youtube before phone screens got large-
ish. I don't want a tv in my bedroom, takes too much space, cables and dust
and all that.

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nixpulvis
How do you hold it up without your arms getting tired?

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towb
Uhm. I grew up reading in bed at night so I'm just very strong.

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Andrew_nenakhov
I'm not ready to replace any of my computers with the iPad unless I'm allowed
to freely install and run any apps I need, and run them constantly in the
background, not relying on APNS for push notifications to wake apps from
sleep.

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nixpulvis
False.

Even though macOS is deteriorating in my eyes, at least it's still an OS I
kinda control, and can do with as I please. I challenge anyone developing
systems software to use this new iPad as a replacement for their Mac.

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mister_hn
You can even install Linux to replace MacOS X.

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nixpulvis
I haven't had a Mac in a while now... how well does Linux still work on Mac
hardware? I'd expect some features to be difficult. Does WiFi and Sleep mode
still work at least? Other basic features?

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mister_hn
Ubuntu derivatives have an amazing support of Mac Hardware, sometimes works
even better.

[https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/tutorial-create-a-usb-stick-
on-...](https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/tutorial-create-a-usb-stick-on-macos)

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aquaticsunset
Adding the [opinion] to this title would be helpful.

It's a thought provoking discussion, but one that I don't feel has changed
much since the first iPad Pro came out in 2016. Its software really impedes
"traditional computer" workflows, despite having really impressive leaps in
hardware.

A more accurate title, if I was to write this article, is "It's pretty amazing
how capable and powerful the iPad has become". But comparing to the Mac, even
when it ticks every single hardware box, still continues to fall very short as
a Mac replacement.

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plumeria
What about software? Do we get a terminal app? Can we install Docker?

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a_t48
> But the iPad Pro comes with a 120Hz Liquid Retina display with ProMotion
> technology, which can also slow down to show movies at 30 frames per second,
> as the movie gods intended.

Movies are recorded at 24. If it were 30, there wouldn't be a need for a 120hz
display to show movies without judder or adaptive refresh.

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rowanG077
It frustrates me to no end that this perfect piece of hardware is so shackled
by software that it's essentially useless to me. It feels like seeing a juicy
steak on your plate but once you put a piece of it in your mouth it's just
smoke...

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rcarmo
If only Apple ported HyperKit over and let us run a fully sandboxed,
virtualized ARM userland... iSH is great, but not enough.

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thebiglebrewski
If it could just run Mac OS with touch screen clicks that would be sa-weet.
Love the form factor

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scarface74
A desktop OS with a touch screen worked so well with Windows....

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wayneftw
Actually, it worked out very well for Windows 10. It's the most popular
desktop operating system on the market with a global market share of about
40%.

Every top PC manufacturer has a line of touch models and they've been
continuing to make new models every year for the past 7 years, so they must be
selling...

I think a lot of people just repeat whatever Apple/Steve Jobs said, but if you
look - Apple has a long history of poo-pooing things right up until they do it
themselves. It's part of their corporate playbook. They switched to Intel CPUs
after talking shit about them for decades. They switched to multi-touch after
sticking to the single mouse button for so long, citing how more than one
button was too complicated for people...

That's what's happening now. Apple is trying to turn their iPad into a
Surface. Of course the people who are wanting more freedom than iOS allows are
going to be waiting a long time as Apple slowly and carefully adds general
computing capabilities (as they have been doing), but in a way that stifles
any sort of competition where they don't want it.

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scarface74
I have two Dell 2-1s I use regularly running Windows 10. My personal laptop
and my work laptop, and I have a Dell. All the things wrong with Windows 10 as
touch OS.

\- x86 is very power inefficient. Every benchmark shows that iPad Pros out
perform most x86 laptops. iPads get 10+ hours battery life compared to 3-4
hours from both Dell’s when they were brand new.

\- Instant On/Standby time. My first gen iPad was still getting standby times
of 3 weeks while still getting notifications 5 years in. Of course my 2017
$469 iPad with cellular will go about a month on standby. My laptops? They
take forever to wake from sleep and standby time is not nearly as good.

\- Windows 10 is nowhere near as memory or CPU efficient as iPadOS. Can you
imagine running Windows with 3GB RAM? The lowend surfaces had 4GB of RAM and
ran horribly.

\- Most Windows apps and parts of the OS itself has still not been rewritten
to be touch friendly. Microsoft Office is even a better experience on iPads
than Windows using a touch screen.

\- Of course Windows on ARM has been a disaster.

\- the 16x9 display of my laptop is horrible in portrait and landscape trying
to use the onscreen keyboard.

As far as Jobs “talking shit about x86”, Next was already in the process of
porting Next to x86 before Apple acquired them. Jobs admitted that they always
had a port of OS X on x86.

Also, the Mac supported multiple mouse buttons since MacOS 8.

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devmunchies
*for consumers

