I use my iPad more than any other device I own. On a day to day bases, my iPad Pro is my primary computer. I also have an iPhone 7 and MacBook Pro, Apple Watch, and Apple TV. I use my iPhone a lot while out to lunch, taking pictures, reading news, messaging etc. I use my MacBook Pro for editing (Final Cut Pro X), some work on my websites, sometimes some other productivity items such as Pages or Numbers, Billings, and a few others.
I use my iPad all the time for reading news, curating a couple of Flipboard magazine, writing for my website, research, design, referencing Evernote, web browsing, photo editing, playing games, productivity, taking notes, social media (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.), and so much more.
I do all of those things on all of my devices but no doubt my iPad Pro receives the majority of the attention. It has the ergonomics to be held, the screen size to view almost any content, a touch screen, a beautiful screen, plenty of storage, Apple Pencil support, and with iOS 11 (beta at the moment this entry was written), takes my iPad experience to a new level.
There seems to be an obsession within the tech industry to tell you what your device can't do or can’t be. "iPad Pro won't replace your laptop," says The Verge. They then go onto list a bunch of red herrings, false assumptions, personal insecurities, and other myopic presumptions to reenforce their lack of vision.
A lot of their points are valid except for one thing: they are wrong.
Articles, like the one from The Verge, all have the same sanctimonious undertone with the assumption, one might even say the ordinance, that all people use or need their computer the same way by virtue of an ancient definition of what a computer is or should be. Or somehow tech pundits think they know exactly what your computer use already is; that all roads lead to a notebook. If an iPad was a laptop replacement, it would be a laptop.
In other words, they aren't arguing the point they believe, they are arguing a point of definition concerning computers. If one has, in fact, replaced their daily computer, be it a notebook or desktop, with an iPad, it must, therefore, be able to replace a laptop or desktop.
The beauty of all these devices is they operate like a vin diagram, overlapping in so many areas but all having their unique talents. Using such services as iCloud gives one the opportunity to access data from any many different devices. They all work in concert.
Technology is like the clothing industry. Not because some things are fashionable and others not, although that may be a facet, but technology for personal use is like buying shoes; one person will need more arch support, another will buy shoes just because they look cool, some will need a size 12 running shoe, while others prefer a size 7.5 minimalist shoe.
If your needs do not put you in the marketplace for a MacBook Pro, then don’t get one. If you want a touchscreen computer, productivity, design, photography, Netflix/YouTube/iTunes playing, super portable, Apple Pencil supporting device, the iPad Pro is going to be a great choice.
People have similar sentiments about taking photos with your a mobile phone. “A real photographer doesn’t take pictures with a phone,” they fired off. But then, 2010, I left my Nikon at home taking my iPhone 4 to London and proved them wrong. National Geographic photographer, Jim Richardson, left his Nikon behind taking his iPhone 5s to Ireland and proved them wrong. ESPN shot the cover of their 9th annual 'Body Issue' magazine with iPhone 7 Plus and proved them wrong.
Technology history is riddled with pedestrian opinions, visionless jibber, and pundits and CEO’s who said ‘can’t,’ ‘won’t,’ ‘couldn’t,’ 'don't,' and more negatives, simply revealing, from the beginning, they never understood the industry they were discussing.
Get the device that works for you. Don’t worry about what people think YOU can or can not do with something. Go out and make it happen with whatever you have or whatever you want.
But, at the end of the day, your laptop can't replace my iPad Pro.
P.S. Apple Pencil is not a stylus. Accuracy Matters.™