Why I Traded My Macbook Pro For An iPad Pro

I've been a Mac guy for over a decade. In 2011 I got a used white Macbook that I took with me everywhere and even began my photography business on it. Since then I've had Macbook Pros, Airs, iMacs, Mac Minis, and even a Mac Studio that I use at work. But last year I did something I never thought I would do: I traded in my Macbook Pro and have since transitioned to using my iPad Pro as my go-to portable computer. This week I want to tell you how I've made this transition and why I think it was the best move for me. Watch the video now!

Just as I'm familiar with the Macbook, I have an equally deep history with the iPad, especially the iPad Pro. I got the first iPad Pro when the Apple Pencil was released in 2015. I became obsessed with all that this machine could do and, I would argue, it made me a better artist and a more productive professional. I updated my iPad again when the Apple Pencil 2 came out and eventually switched to an iPad Mini that I loved dearly until it was time for me to upgrade once again. When the M4 iPad Pro was released I finally felt like I saw how this machine could live up to the "Pro" name. You can read my full breakdown of the M4 iPad Pro here (or watch the video here). I upgraded from my iPad mini and, for a while, I was carrying around both my Macbook Pro and my iPad Pro. Not until the M4 Mac Mini was released did I see a path forward where I could simplify my workflow without compromising anything.

My daily tech was feeling cluttered and, not to mention, heavy. I felt like I was carrying a lot around with me but never felt like I was using either machine to its fullest potential. I was also going without a desk setup at home at the time and longed for one that I could use as part of my workflow. Surely there was a way that I could pull a Liz Lemon from 30 Rock and "have it all". I strategically thought out my plan. I was going to turn in my Macbook Pro for a new M4 Mac Mini and a Magic Keyboard for my M4 iPad Pro. This was going to give me a powerful machine both for the home and for on-the-go. I ended up being more than impressed with the performance of the M4 Mac Mini, read about it here (or watch the video here). I wound up being just as impressed with the productivity the iPad Pro provided. But there were a few things I would need to do to truly treat the iPad as a pro machine.

My first step was getting the keyboard itself. There are endless arguments about which keyboard is the best for the iPad Pro but I love my Magic Keyboard. Having a keyboard at all opens up the possibilities for the iPad Pro to become more productive. Because of this, I was able to do things like word processing, photo and video editing, and more.

The next step would be to give my iPad access to all the tools I use every day through the use of the single USB-C port on the side. Apple is known, somewhat negatively, for their necessity to use dongles. I found a dongle that surpasses my expectations, though. It allows me to connect my SD card and my SSD drive at the same time while also providing even more connectivity if needed. Now that I had everything that I needed, it was time for me to really put the iPad Pro to work.

The challenge ahead of me wasn't necessarily how it would replace the MacBook Pro, it was more of a challenge of how I could use the iPad Pro more than I normally would have. By day I work as a marketing professional for a toy company. Primarily I would use my iPad for note-taking and drawing. I needed to find a way to use it more. The first way I expanded my use of the iPad Pro was to use it as an additional display in my work desk setup. This was very easy since the Apple ecosystem works so flawlessly with one another. On some occasions, I am in charge of photo and video shoots at work. With my Canon R8 and the DJI Osmo Pocket 3, I can connect to the iPad Pro and use it as an external monitor which helps with having an extra set of eyes to ensure that I get the right shot every time.

But in the spirit of wanting to do even more with my iPad Pro, I would need to make it even more a part of my workflow. I decided to download the full Adobe Suite on the iPad Pro, plus Final Cut Pro since Premiere is not available on the iPad and would work off of it to see how the iPad Pro stacks up. With the USB-C dock that I mentioned earlier, I was able to go about the process of editing photos and videos largely the same as I had before. Learning a different software like Final Cut Pro definitely takes its time but I'm always thankful for a new skill. The iPad Pro was able to handle multiple full-frame photos and 4K video with ease and I'm sure that if I needed to edit full projects on here I could with ease.

Where my hesitations began to pop up for the iPad Pro was with the multi-tasking and word processing functionality. This is something I would have imagined would be a breeze for the iPad Pro, and if you do it the right way it is. However, with my particular workflow, the iPad Pro does have its limits. While the iPad can manage having several apps open at a time and can easily switch between them with the help of Stage Manager, some of the apps aren't quite as they are on a Mac. For example, I am someone who works off of multiple Google Docs at a time. I'll have an outline open in one window, a draft in another, you name it. Unfortunately, this is not possible with the native word-processing apps on the iPad Pro. There is a workaround where you can open a web browser to view multiple documents, but should that be necessary for a machine that could almost do it all? There's no denying that this one simple hiccup is a huge crush to my routine.

So is the iPad Pro truly ready to be the all-in-one machine that it’s aiming to be? For most professionals, I don’t think so. But for me, it is beginning to seamlessly blend itself in my workflow making some things loads easier for me while eliminating a whole other piece of tech in the process. Thanks for walking through this little challenge I’ve made for myself. I hope it has made it clearer some of the limitations of the iPad Pro while also highlighting the amazing lengths Apple has gone to to make a machine that very nearly could beat out their own market of computers.

Watch the video version of this blog at my YouTube channel and let me know if there are any other tech challenges you'd like to see me try!

Until next time,

Andrew