A few months ago I countered Manton Reece’s concern over iPad pricing with the notion that the much more expensive price of an iPad Pro from an M1 MacBook was justified.
I have since changed my mind. The inferior software dents the iPad’s value by a significant amount.
@simonwoods I think Apple's Pro monocre is their way to upsell their gear. The best value for money is still the iPad Air series. Not overprized, yet still powerful enough to do most of the tasks with a tablet. For comparable laptops, it's probably better to look for a Windows system sporting a non-Intel CPU, not the boutique M1 MacBook. My opinion, though.
@renevanbelzen I want to see if both Mac OS and the longevity of Macs are everything people say they are. I have a lifetime of experience with Windows against which I can judge Apple's actual computers, so I think I'll be able to judge it fairly.
As for iPads... a nice tablet, maybe a very casual laptop -- but not at any of those prices -- but most people would be better off with either a cheap Windows machine or even a Chromebook for most common computing tasks.
@simonwoods It’s much easier to argue that the low- and mid-range iPads (plus a cases/stand, keyboard, and maybe the Pencil) are good competitors to mid-range Windows laptops. iPads are silent, have long battery life, and can be used for things like reading that laptops are suboptimal for. The iPad Pro is too expensive for the casual user like me; you had better know what value you are going to get for it up front before you buy it.
@mjdescy The OS is not stable enough even for that, specifically in laptop mode. Magnetised cursor behaviour, unpredictable movement of windows and dragged items, and a hobbled browser are all strikes against even my previous >200GBP Chromebook. Perhaps the average person wouldn't care so much, especially with the nicer screen... but I still think Apple could be doing better here.
@simonwoods I’m not sure I understand the magnetized cursor issue, but your iPad may have a bad logic board. I got my iPad Air 4 replaced because of a touchscreen issue and the technician said it was due to a bad logic board.
Also, I get it or you just don’t like it as much. 😀
@mjdescy lol yeah.
By magnetised, I mean the software. You know in the UI when you're using a trackpad or mouse and the cursor is drawn to "tappable" targets? That thing is a big problem with a mouse, since the strength of the hardware -- precision navigation -- is suddenly stolen away. Doesn't feel good.
@simonwoods Only one minor point against Windows, it's insecure by design. See the recent Windows printer driver disaster (third parties in the OS kernel), for which there's no fix, other than starting a brand new OS, similar to what Apple did when they bought NeXT in the 1990s.