M2 iPad Pro is M2 MacBook Air Killer

Vemuda Techno - Do you remember how in Cinderella's story the carriage turned into a pumpkin after midnight? What if I tell you that your M2 MacBook Air is a carriage and it’s almost midnight?

Apple’s latest press release has shown the company’s direction, and it doesn’t look good for MacBook Air buyers.

Source: NotebookCheck

With the new M2 iPad Pro, Apple is basically saying – that’s the future! That got me thinking – is it really?

The iPads have been slowly merging with MacBooks for a while now. It all started to really take shape with the Magic keyboard.

Before that we did have a few detachable keyboards, but they have never been very comfy. Only buttons, no trackpad. That didn’t seem like a sign of something big coming up, just another expensive and useless accessory.

It all has changed with the release of Magic keyboard for iPads in 2020. Sleak, tactile, magnetically attachable, with trackpad – that was the first real step of making iPads actually usable.

Just think about it – a small, almost pocketable device that can be easily detached from a keyboard and used in bed for watching movies. And when you need getting some work done – just snap on the keyboard. Sounds almost unreal, right?

But things really took an interesting turn when the M1 chip came into the world of Pro iPads. Real, desktop-level chip has been integrated into a 6 millimeter machine, giving it all the power necessary to do real work.

5G, new front-facing camera, higher bandwidth type-c, more ram, faster storage, and all that. Photo editing, video editing, 3d modeling, professional drawing – everything became faster.

That was the moment when we really started questioning – what should I buy? An iPad Pro with keyboard or a Macbook Air?

Trust me when I say this but iPads have many benefits over MacBooks. They’re lighter, have better screens, better speakers, better cameras. What’s the catch? iPadOS, that’s what.

Despite all efforts it was not good enough for Pro workflows. Weird filing system, cut down versions of apps, general limitation of various sorts. It was just not there, too far from a beloved MacOS.

A chip wasn’t enough to tip over the scales in favor of iPads. Later, the stage manager was released both for iPads and Macs. That was the moment we knew – iPads are gonna replace macbooks.

Stage manager is a giant leap forward in terms of productivity on ipads. It has brought nearly laptop–like experience with Windows, resizing them, stacking in groups.

Looks like proper multitasking to me, just like on MacBooks. Add to it proper work with external monitors. Phew, all signs are soo obvious now. But again, are they?

It may seem like Apple really wants to merge these two worlds together into one, super powerful and versatile device. However, it has never been the “Apple way” to merge products.

iPads are bringing in a lot of money, and macbooks do the same. It would be foolish to unify these two product categories into one.

Not everyone wants a touchscreen, and not everyone needs a keyboard. Before we go into discussing the M2 ipads themselves, let’s analyze whether there really is potential for making iPad pros a real Mac replacement.

1. Power – the same

M-series chips, even the M1 are extremely powerful, especially from an iPad perspective. 8 or 16 gigs of ram make a huge difference multitasking and iPadOS just flies.

But… there’s always a butt… the iPadOS itself is still raw. It is obvious that Apple is trying how buyers will react to different features. They are trying to find a way to make products that are really similar but still have them separated.

Here’s what I mean: the iPadOS allows you to work with files, external SSDs, monitors, all that stuff. But the apps themselves don’t have the full functionality. Even opening the web versions of some apps doesn’t give you any advantage.

2. Let’s look at Photoshop

Announced a few years back, it was a huge marketing hit. Photo editors were stocked to see full-fledged apps on their iPads.

But as soon as Photoshop for iPads got released every pro saw how cut down and limited that version really was.

It lacked almost all features the people liked about Photoshop, had a simplified and less detailed interface, and still required a monthly subscription to work.

It was no better than free apps anyone could download. The M2 MacBook Air is a very, very good laptop.

It is fast, silent, has a great display and keyboard, excellent battery life, and full-fledged operating system.

What do people usually do on their macbook air’s? They edit documents, watch movies, maybe do occasional photo editing.

The m2 macbook air is a basic, entry level machine for casual users. It’s not meant for serious workflows, really. That’s why it is worth comparing to the iPad Pro.

With that Magic keyboard almost everything people do on their macbook airs can be done.on iPad.

Typing documents? No problem. Watching movies? No problem, iPad would even be better for that due to louder speakers and brighter display. Editing photos? The iPad can do that too.

Let's say you're considering the 12.9 inch iPad Pro 2022. It offers a larger, better mini-LED panel compared to the 11-inch model. You'll also need at least 256GB of storage to match the MacBook Air's base storage.

No Apple Pencil, but a keyboard is a must just to be able to type comfortably so you add the Magic Keyboard.

3. The final price: 1550 dollars

That's looking expensive already, so why don’t we compare it to the macbook air again? Let’s pick the 10-core GPU option to match the M2 iPad Pro's specs.

With a keyboard already included the total macbook Air price works out to be 1300 dollars.

At the same time, the 11 inch M2 ipad pro with a magic keyboard will cost you 1150 dollars, which is 50 dollars less than a baseline M2 MacBook Air.

Yes, for that price you’ll get two devices in one – a tablet and a laptop. And I’ve actually seen people with iPads and keyboards.

4. In cafe’s, restaurants, workspaces, parks

This combo is working, not for everyone. And Apple still has a long way to go to actually make iPads as appealing as MacBooks. Yet there is one thing that you can’t do on MacBooks – draw with Styluses.

On iPads you have a variety of styluses to choose from, like this Penoval AX Pro.The Penoval Pencil AX Pro is probably the best Apple Pencil alternative on the market.

It can do almost everything the Apple Pencil can without costing like a gold bar. A good pencil is what makes your iPad experience great.

iPads are great for note taking, drawing, and making sketches. An iPad with a stylus can significantly increase productivity, make day planning easier.

Design-wise, this Penoval stylus is identical to the Apple Pencil with one small difference – a charging port at the side. It does attach magnetically, though. The color, weight, texture, feel are the same.

The pencil sticks perfectly to the case - almost the same as the original Apple Pencil, I didn't notice any big difference.

Let's open, for example, Sketchbook app. Let's select a tool, like a brush. The strength of the pressure, the tilt, the feel of drawing is very nice.

I think if they switched my Apple Pencil for the Penoval Pencil, I wouldn't notice the difference right away.

The Penoval Pencil AX Pro supports palm rejection and tilt sensitivity. With tilting sensing, you can tilt for shadows at different angles to depict various thicknesses and depths.

The pen is accurate with no diagonal line wobble or jitter which is common to third.party styluses. Palm rejection allows you not to worry about accidental touches.

You can rest your hand freely without jeopardizing the control over what’s on the display.

5. Palm rejection works great

You can get perfect palm rejection with apps that have pen-only input settings. iPad also allows you to take full advantage of that stylus. You can access your quick notes from anywhere.

Here’s how you do it: Alongside with quick notes you can make quick screenshots. To take a screenshot using your Penoval stylus just do this: Additionally, iPadOS enables geometric sensing, which means your iPad can recognize geometric shapes you’re drawing, even if your lines aren’t perfect.

Every iPad user should have a stylus. It enables you to do so much more than just watching videos and typing. A good stylus can free your creativity, make you an artist, and help with studying.

And Penoval AX Pro is a good stylus – it’s affordable, and I recommend you check it out for yourself.

The all-new M2 iPad Pro has a new chip and that’s all. No screen updates, no camera updates, nothing. Only a new chip. It does sound like a bad upgrade, and it is.

But what if Apple is preparing us for something? What if they are planning on releasing some killer functionality next year?

We don’t know that for sure, but they did give us one clue – DaVinci Resolve is coming. That is a real, pro-level application, running on a thin and light piece of tech.

Some youtubers have already tested it and the release version will retain the most important functionality.

Color grading appears to be exactly the same, the “cut” tab also looks very similar. Maybe Apple has learned something from that Photoshop situation, but we’ll see. So, what is our take on all this?

The new iPad Pro is a real beast, powerful, nicely looking, and expensive. Can it be a real macbook replacement? Not yet, but we’re getting there.

6. It comes down to software

iPadOS has been synonymous with the iPhone's iOS for years, making it hard to match the versatility and desktop-level capabilities of macOS. For simple tasks like checking email, it gets the job done just fine.

However, even using something as simple as Google Docs becomes somewhat of an issue on the iPad Pro. Because the iPad is built to be a touchscreen device first, and using the trackpad can be tricky.

Editing photos and videos, having multiple windows open and working on several documents simultaneously, and easily being able to manage your content — there's a reason why Mac products get a lot of attention.

Not just because of their speedy processors, ram, or storage options. The iPad's operating system can't manage a desktop-level experience, even if it has the power to do so.

With a Smart keyboard you can easily type articles on your iPad, edit documents, PDF files, etc.

You can edit videos in LumaFusion and get similar results to the ones you get from mac applications like Premiere Pro.

Lightroom for iPads allows performing some basic photo editing without any issues. The hardware in iPads is top-notch, and in order to really make iPads closer to Macs Apple needs to lift software limitations so the developers could spread their wings. Because if DaVinci Resolve will be similar to a desktop alternative, it will be a sign that the time has come.

The iPad Pro is a phenomenal device especially at tasks it was designed to do. It is slowly moving towards being more laptop-like, and can replace your laptop in many use cases, just not in every one.

Apple still sells a lot of Macbooks and they won’t shoot themselves in the leg by making an ultimate all-in-one device.

Guys from Cupertino will leave that functionality gap for quite some time, slowly making it smaller each year. Maybe in a year or two the software will catch up to that amazing hardware.

We will surely figure it out later. Because it would be really cool to have one device, capable of everything.

What do you think? Write your thoughts in the comments below if you’ve enjoyed it. See you in the next one! Thanks for reading at Vemuda Techno. 

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