The 2017 iPad Pros
daringfireball.netTo me, the fundamental question remains this: what platform is the next web browser, BitTorrent, or BitCoin going to be invented on?
I posit that while the iPad remains a closed platform, it will never become the computer of the future, no matter how many pro features Apple adds. In a few years, I expect Apple pundits to be making the same "how were we so wrong on the iPad" articles that they were in 2016.
No doubt, the hardware here is certainly exciting. Many people can make full use of it for their careers. But it won't send ripples through the fabric of society like the humble PC does every 5-10 years.
I would very, very, very much argue that the "computer of the future" this past decade has been the smartphone. It's undeniable how much of an impact this shift has made in people's daily life in the last decade — hell, their widespread adoption paved the way for several multi-billion-dollar companies and launched entire industries.
Not a single one of these apps was primarily developed on the phone itself.
Does it matter if a platform does the inventing? The web browser was invented on a NeXT Cube but that didn't limit its eventual use.
No, I don't think that matters. However, I see the walled garden as a much bigger issue. Apple wouldn't let a new, disruptive technology along the lines of browsers/bittorrent/bitcoin into its App Store unless it already had widespread adoption. If most people replace their open PCs with closed phones or tablets, that's never going to happen. It's a giant bollard in the path of technological progress.
Fortunately, it looks like the open-ish Android model is winning out. Maybe Apple will change their mind at some point.
VisiCalc and Lotus 1-2-3 are other excellent examples.
Simple spreadsheets were available everywhere, while tools like Mathematica and Quantrix were only available on NeXT.
Those powerful system libraries from NeXTStep were key, and they're still an advantage today,
So how much does Gruber get paid to write these adver... err... I mean reviews?
I would love to see one day iPad Pros with the capability of being plugged into an external GPU and running desktop-grade applications instead of the meek productivity tools that the Apple App Store is constrained to. As a college student, I recently bought an iPad to take notes, and the one thing that's stopping me from selling my laptop is the lack of connectivity and full MacOS. But then where's the future of MacBooks if tablets overtake them in utility?
> plugged into an external GPU and running desktop-grade applications
Games?
I have a hard time envisioning what would require a GPU beyond what's available on an iPad.
<oldfart>
My NeXT cube had a 25 MHz single core CPU, no GPU and a megapixel display and was pretty darn "desktop grade" or rather "workstation grade". OK, higher resolution, color. But also a 2+ GHz dual core (later: hexacore) 64 bit CPU and a pretty darn powerful GPU. Where are all these cycles going?
http://blog.metaobject.com/2011/02/only-1-ghz.html
</oldfart>
This product already exists, its called Microsoft SurfaceBook. The screen works as a detachable tablet, the keyboard contains more battery and a relatively powerful GPU.
It is also expensive as hell.
The SurfaceBook should be thought of as a laptop and not a tablet imo. I have the surface pro and it a terrible tablet. Well, it's good if you are an artist and doing sketches/artwork but not for the casual programmer. I've used tablet mode under 10 times (I have a nexus 7 which is much better as a tablet) and was unimpressed every time.
This just shows that a laptop is much better suited for programming than a tablet. Not a huge surprise really. Rudy Huyn uses a Surface Pro for development. I highly doubt he has even once started Visual Studio in tablet mode.
But back to OP, he clearly stated that he wanted to run desktop grade software. I think SurfaceBook fits his requirements.
What specifically do you need to connect? And what's missing from full MacOS for note taking purposes?
Mildly amusing is how everyone else is wrong until Apple does it.
If you're going to use these things with a keyboard and like it then why was Microsoft so roundly mocked for championing touch screen laptops in the first place?
Because outside of the home screen and poorly maintained touch-optimized apps most software for Windows is still designed for using with a mouse. iOS is inherently less capable than Windows, but is much better for touch, and all apps are geared towards that.
I was skeptical a few years ago, but I think iOS's productivity potential is growing faster than Windows "Cool Factor", efficiency, and portability are improving.
I get that Apple has much more touch optimized software.
But aren't they effectively building the same toaster/fridge they mocked just a few years ago?
I was listening to a recent ATP podcast and they were going on about how nobody really wants to touch their laptop screen, but in order for an iPad to be a "pro" device you will realistically have to use it with a keyboard and...touch your screen.
The two companies are converging on the exact same thing yet one is considered ingenious and the other clueless.
Tablet with keyboard ≠︎ laptop with touchscreen
I used a succession of iPads as my main productivity computing devices between 20013 and 2016 and despite my general satisfaction I found I really needed a ’proper’ computer (a much-derided but perfectly adequate ”single port MacBook") last year for the sake of writing a business plan. Right after that Apple released the iPad Pro and I've been using that intensively (but no longer exclusively) since April last year. I'll be upgrading to the 10.5 inch because iOS11 seems to deserve top-level hardware. I'm really convinced that for non-development use an iPad is an extraordinarily capable device.
Does it work with a mouse? One of the most important client applications for me is an RDP connection to a VDI machine on Windows.
While I'm not so interested in mouse support, I am intrigued on the UX with RDP apps. My next device will either be a new Surface Pro or an iPad Pro.
Unless they've changed something in iOS11, no. I jailbroke my iPad Retina and connected it to a mouse a few years ago. Not a great experience.
Android accepts mouse/keyboard natively. If this is your main use case, why not a cheap Android tablet?
(although I am not aware of any 12" Android tablet)
Damn, now that's a glowing review. I might have to check one of these out.
99% of John Gruber posts are glowing reviews of Apple products. His blog is essentially promotional material for Apple. I'm not sure why people post his articles here.
Eh, he'd referred to Apple serving a shit sandwich before. So he can be critical.
I read one or two critical pieces. Still though he is very kind to them.
Gruber is a well known Apple shill.
He's definitely an Apple enthusiast, but he doesn't pull his punches when he thinks Apple has made a misstep. His criticism come from a place of love for Apple: he wants Apple to be great, but that's not quite the same thing as being a paid publicist for Apple. I don't think it's fair to call him a shill.