‘Inferior to a laptop in almost every way, unless you like to draw’

Written by

Yesterday we posted Matt Gemmell’s take on this iPad Pro-bashing Twitter thread from The Outline’s Joshua Topolsky:

Another take, this from John Gruber:

I agree with almost every single word in Topolsky’s thread — but I also think he’s completely wrong.

And:

People like me and Topolsky — and millions of others — are the reason why Apple continues to work on MacOS and make new MacBook hardware. I can say without hesitation that the iPad Pro is not the work device for me. I can also say without hesitation that the iPad Pro with a Smart Keyboard is the work device for millions of other people.

Couldn’t agree more. I live in both worlds, with half my time spent in iOS and half in macOS. I would not want to lose either, but I don’t yet see a clean way to combine them into a unified product.

To me, iOS is clean and simple, sophisticated without being clumsy, heavy, or onerous, a perfect information consumption device.

The Mac is like strapping on a power suit, one designed to let me create all sorts of content and customize my experience with powerful software and hardware add-ons, and with an interface as complex and macro-laden as I want to make it.

I like them both, appreciate having them both, find it easy to move between the two worlds. And if the day comes where iOS does everything I need for both worlds, I’ll gladly go there.