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overgard · 4 months ago
I get the impression they're trying to market this to laptop users. I'm still very skeptical of iPads as a productivity device. The problem isn't the hardware, it's the OS, the app store and the model for selling apps. Apple's app store policies make it hard to sell expensive software (which most productivity apps are somewhat expensive), it also makes it hard to distribute free software (as in open source -- because someone has to pony up for a developer account and deal with the app store feedback), and the App-centric focus of the OS itself is a problem (most projects need to be file centric)
tyleo · 4 months ago
I did a performance test over the weekend of compilation times across 4 projects using 4 devices.

My M4 MacBook Pro is faster than my modern i9 desktop that work spent $$$ on...

iPad feels like a genie trapped in a bottle to me. It has that same M4 but there's so much less to use it for. Too bad I can't just set it by my PC and throw workloads at the processor or something. Continuity works well enough as a second screen but I'd love a second M4 CPU.

dstroot · 4 months ago
Second CPU idea is brilliant. I’d buy an iPad for second screen, second CPU and occasional plane/hotel Netflix/Youtube.
wslh · 4 months ago
I am looking forward for real competition to Apple which ironically will be better for Apple users/developers. You don't buy a McClaren for transporting your kids to the school faster.

PS: I don't think GPU continuity will work well over USB-C.

bobbylarrybobby · 4 months ago
There's also the issue of iOS virtual memory limitations. Whereas macOS lets apps use swap space (duh), on iOS apps will be killed if their memory use is too high and they move into the background. (And possibly if it's too high while they're in the foreground, idk.) Which means you can't leave apps open in the background — they might be killed at any moment. And this makes true productivity basically impossible.
DuckConference · 4 months ago
As of a few ipadOS versions ago, the higher performance models can use swap space now.
pjmlp · 4 months ago
It is incredible what Mac OS 8 could achieve within the limitations of an iBook. /s

iPad OS limitations are artificially imposed to not canabalize the laptop sales.

varispeed · 4 months ago
I bought iPad Pro M4 and I am yet to find a use case for it. Combined with non-secure cloud backup in the UK, I see it as a toy device.

Watch YouTube, casually browse web (I am yet to install VPN).

So far the most use I had with it was recording meetings, so that later I can relisten.

If I was able to run Ubuntu on it or even macOs - that would have been a different story...

red_hare · 4 months ago
I've gotten 7 years out of my 2018 iPad Pro and, for my use case of video, browsing, and Procreate, it feels like new. And I believe a big part of that is that the A12X was wildly overpowered when I bought it.

I think someone deciding between an M4 and an M5 today should consider its value 5 years down the road, rather than its value today.

someNameIG · 4 months ago
My cheap Samsung tablet can do all that with a low powered exonous chip, and when it gets Android 16 it will be able to run a Linux VM.

I don't know why Apple is putting full M series chips in their iPads but limit the software they can run. Either open it up to desktop apps or just put a cheaper A series chip in them.

thaw13579 · 4 months ago
Thanks for mentioning the non-secure backup in the UK, I missed the memo on that, and fyi, for any one else who did: https://support.apple.com/en-us/122234
Tade0 · 4 months ago
You're not far off, as over the years it grew into a capable gaming machine:

https://github.com/albertquiroga/awesome-ios-game-ports?tab=...

technofiend · 4 months ago
It's $10,000 worth of tires on a $500 car. IOS is so crippled, it's complete overkill.
ARandomerDude · 4 months ago
iPad is also the best ebook reader in my opinion, which is pretty much the only reason I have one.
poulsbohemian · 4 months ago
Back when I was a software developer, I needed a Mac Book Pro or Mac Pro. But as a Realtor, an iPad makes for an excellent laptop. Extremely portable and does everything I need in a mobile productivity device. For many people, it is absolutely everything they need in a computing device and gets better with each release.
davidcollantes · 4 months ago
For work I need an SSH client to access remote servers, and a web browser for when ClickOps is needed. Long battery life, and a tack sharp touch screen are gladly accepted. An iPad is the perfect "laptop" for me.
AppleBananaPie · 4 months ago
Do you use this as your main driver or just to check on things?

Just trying to imagine the workflow :)

I personally prefer a ~32" 4k screen for main work but I could see the convenience of an iPad to quickly remote in and check on stuff or maybe it's enough on it's own and I can learn from ya'll!

masklinn · 4 months ago
GP is not talking about “an iPad” tho, but an iPad Pro with a literal laptop-class CPU.
pancsta · 4 months ago
iPad Pro is a great terminal, I shred code on it daily. Running a build server on a portable is a bad strategy (battery, wait times, session resume). It’s the top layer of 3 layers in total (portable, GUI, build server). It handles realtime audio / video well, which are the only things that cant be remoted. You dont need OS26 for it to be a very productive terminal, it’s been possible for years. You do however need a proper backend stack, which can also be portable (but separately).

Do you know whats better than an iPad? 2 iPads (yes, shredding code on 2 simultaneously).

wpm · 4 months ago
I never tried, but do UIKit text fields support the proper readline shortcuts like NSTextFields do on the Mac? It’s one of the most achingly wonderful things I miss so much when I work on Linux.
SkyPuncher · 4 months ago
My sister in law has used an iPad as here primary compute device for school. Frankly, it works absolutely fine for her. 95% of her need is reading, email, and writing papers (in Google Drive).
yjftsjthsd-h · 4 months ago
> 95% of her need is reading, email, and writing papers

Sure, it's great for that kind of (computationally) light work, but then what's the point of putting a monster like the M5 chip in it?

lostlogin · 4 months ago
This probably matches most users experience. It’s just that the remaining 5% makes you want to hurl the device out the window.
overgard · 4 months ago
I guess that's fine, but if that's all you're doing you could easily just get a hundred dollar chromebook. The marketing for this references things like transcode performance for Final Cut Pro. Implying that you would use it for some sort of serious computing task.
monkmartinez · 4 months ago
My parents use their iPad(s) for 100% of their compute needs. At 70+ years old, they will tell you those needs are minimal.

If you use one program at a time, do not need an actual file system, have no need to install software from a variety of places (Github, Vendor sites, etc), have no problem installing multiple "apps" that only work behind paywalls or not at all and you don't care about replacing a functional device whenever Apple obsoletes it... iOS is the best thing since sliced bread.

If you need anything outside of iOS's limited list of abilities, its a trash operating system that has crippled amazing hardware.

dapperdrake · 4 months ago
Wrote some JavaScript on an iPhone 13 with a Bluetooth keyboard, because there was no other option.

Pen and paper are faster.

vessenes · 4 months ago
For the haters here - Apple sells roughly 2x as many iPads as Macs (including MacBooks). Roughly as many iPad Pros as laptops.

I've cycled through using an iPad Pro as my main device on and off over the years - particularly the cellular modem has been a draw. For coding, they're terrible, as they are for longer form writing. I've ultimately shrunk down to the small size and use it as a kindle/gaming replacement. I think with a foldable iPhone I'd probably skip buying one.

All that said there's a large market for them. I use mine enough that every two cycles I update just for battery reasons.

bertili · 4 months ago
I didn't believe this at first, but it seems valid.

Apple earnings on Mac and iPads are in the same ballpark and if iPads cost half of a Mac its indeed a 2x.

https://www.macrumors.com/2025/05/01/apple-2q-2025-earnings/

zeroq · 4 months ago
To me it makes a lot of sense.

iPads have way more common with phones than laptops. They are more prone to damage and many people treat them like fashion accessories, promptly buying new devices upon launch even if the old one is perfectly fine.

themadturk · 4 months ago
My wife uses the previous gen iPad Pro 11 inch for all her computing. Yes, her use is lightweight, and she rarely uses the file system.

It think one of the points of popularity for the iPad is that it's the same (in most respects) as an iPhone, but bigger. The smartphone has become the default computing and communication device for billions of people. My wife can certainly use her iPhone, but she almost never does; the iPad fulfills that need for her. She plays Balatro, Simon's Cat, and Angry Birds, reads and writes email, reads, browses the web, watches video on her iPad.

ProllyInfamous · 4 months ago
I didn't take the iPad seriously until my mother made it her default mode of internet access (while having a 15" MacBook Pro of the same era).

>the iPad fulfills that need for her

This was it, entirely.

jillesvangurp · 4 months ago
My mother (75) is on her fourth ipad now. They are amazing devices for non technical users. My father bought her a laptop (some cheap windows thing) before she got her first ipad and asked here "are you happy with it". And she went "it's just a computer". She's not a gamer. Computers were for boring admin and banking stuff in her mind. Something that lives on a desk far away from the living room. Having to go there to browse the internet wasn't fun. She just had no interest in the whole thing. So he brought it back to the store and got an ipad instead. Life changing event.

Key feature: she can sit on the couch and use it. She does that all the time. It's a much more approachable device. She does everything on it. She plays a lot of bridge both on the ipad and in real life. So, she's even playing online games. Really fun when she randomly starts swearing at some dumb witted random co-player on the internet.

I'm not into IOS myself but I appreciate it for what it is and does. Steve Jobs nailed that one. I have a mac book pro but I have an Android phone. For me a phone is dumb read only device. Typing on it sucks. The screen is to clumsy and tiny for properly enjoying content, the camera is alright but I don't use that a lot. It's a device for reading hacker news and a few other things. I actually take most calls via my laptop. It even fails its primary job as a communication device for me.

Anyway, the key thing with this ipad is the built in apple phone chips. No more qualcomm. They can just put this thing in any device now. I'm not sure what's holding them back with their laptops. I'm guessing there's some Qualcomm IP and patents that might make that a bit expensive. But it's 2025. Why can't my laptop not connect to 5G networks without dongles, thethering, or other nonsense? The key blocker was always Qualcomm. Problem solved you'd think. Apparently, they are not going there yet. Maybe next year.

hirvi74 · 4 months ago
The most common use case I typically see for iPads is serving as a PoS system for a lot of local businesses in my area. So, I wonder how many are purchased for personal usage vs. some sort of functional purpose, e.g., business, education, etc..
overgard · 4 months ago
I wouldn't call myself a hater, just disappointed. The hardware is incredibly powerful, but it's being held back but an OS that's locked down beyond reason. Maybe they just don't want to cannibalize Mac sales or something.
vessenes · 4 months ago
I thought that too until I turned on the window mode on the new iPadOS. Blech. I gave it a month; I really just didn't want it, even though I thought I did.

I would like a full screen shell that's got a reasonable unix variant underneath it. But I do find other uses for it.

pjmlp · 4 months ago
Yes, yet I doubt 90% of those users will care about Metal 4 real time raytracing capabilities, for example.

Leaving the 10% for those that actually play such games, assuming they happen to land.

tristor · 4 months ago
I mean, that makes sense given what the "haters" are saying, and indeed what you yourself admit. If this is just a device for passive consumption of entertainment, then ultimately it's a consumer-facing use case, and there are MANY MANY MANY more consumers than there are creators, whether that creation is a photo or a line of code. So of course more devices are sold, because you need a laptop (due to mostly software, rather than hardware reasons) to do most forms of creativity, from writing code to editing photos.
thewebguyd · 4 months ago
It could be a great device for certain types of creation also.

I use mine for editing photos. But, I still have to start and end the process with Lightroom classic on my Mac because of stupid decisions by Adobe to rent-seek with cloud storage, offering no local-stroage workflow option with the iPad app (and deliberately leaving out some features only available in LR Classic).

Likewise, I would love to do all of my photoshop work on the iPad. It's a great immersive experience with the Apple Pencil vs. sitting down with a mouse and keyboard on a computer, but yet again, Adobe cripples the iPad app compared to the desktop app.

And those particular use cases aren't Apple's fault. I'm less and less frustrated with iPad OS as a whole, particularly with windowing in 26 (though it could use some polish). It's got external display support, a file manager, access to external storage, audio input select now, etc. But Adobe (and others) are still making crippled mobile applications for it instead of just doing work to port over the full desktop experience on a device that is now just as capable.

Sure you can't code on it (very well), but I feel like Apple should start putting some pressure on Adobe and the other creative-suite of software companies to beef up the iPad experience, maybe offer some incentive or something.

sylens · 4 months ago
I have a 2018 iPad Pro that is due for replacement but I cannot bring myself to spend the money on a new iPad. No matter how much I think I'll use it, it becomes a web browsing and YouTube machine on the couch. It's a shame because I think the hardware design is quite good, but the OS itself is so limiting, even with the "improvements" iPadOS 26 introduced.
dialup_sounds · 4 months ago
This may be a controversial statement, but: you don't have to replace things that you're not using.
sylens · 4 months ago
That’s the decision I’ve made here, I was merely using the framing as a way to talk about how my view on the iPad has changed in the intervening years
0x457 · 4 months ago
I can understand the reasoning behind - maybe new revision is more usable and make them use it more.

I use my 2018 iPad Pro every day, though. Ironically, that's the reason why I'm not replacing it - it works just fine.

calciphus · 4 months ago
But won't someone think of the shareholder value?
bombcar · 4 months ago
Every iPad I've bought was going to be "the one where I find a use case that uses it" but every time it ends up being a YouTube machine.
recursive · 4 months ago
I bought one just to run Loopy Pro. It has never run anything but the app store, the system settings, and Loopy Pro.

But I had the use case before I bought it. If not for that, I wouldn't own one.

bluescrn · 4 months ago
iOS doesn't even make for a very good YouTube machine, you need uBlock Origin for that.
polynomial · 4 months ago
I literally use mine for the Books app and to play chess.
nkotov · 4 months ago
Same but just entertainment device. I still don't understand where the iPad Pro makes sense.
apples_oranges · 4 months ago
Garageband and Books for me.. iPad 1 or 2 would suffice..
walkabout · 4 months ago
I'm still on an older 12.9" Pro but will definitely upgrade at some point—and may not bother with another (personal—work-supplied is another matter) MacBook when my M1 starts to get long in the tooth in a couple years, now that Preview is available on iPads.

It beats the hell out of either laptops or phones, for me, for these tasks:

- Music. Excellent as a sheet music display; can record and edit midi quite well; play tutorial videos; act as a tuner, tone generator, or metronome (my phone beats it on that front due to portability, but still, if I already have the iPad out on the stand...); plenty good enough at audio recording and editing for my extremely-amateur purposes, plus its ability to play loops and beats and such.

- Reading. It's especially amazing for comic books (in landscape mode a 12.9 incher is almost the same size as an open comic book! You can read two-page side-by-side on it, no problem) and PDFs. I prefer iPad mini sized devices for prose books in ordinary ebook formats, but the 12.9" pro is damn near perfect for those two things. Laptops and desktop computers also work for comic books and PDFs, but are a pretty big downgrade, UX-wise.

- Drawing. Obviously.

- Long-form writing. Laptops work great for this too, of course, but you still need a separate keyboard if you want decent ergonomics. iPad doesn't have an attached keyboard taking up space that I could instead use for a separate keyboard.

It's also just as good as a laptop (to me) as a remote SSH terminal, VNC terminal, video/music player, web browser et c. I can't really think of much I do on my (personal! Not work-supplied) laptop that I can't do just as well on an iPad, maybe supplemented by a headless RPi hanging off my router, or a cheap VM rental (or just the Linux server in an old desktop workstation tower that I already have anyway).

Washuu · 4 months ago
I have an iPad Mini. I got it mainly for studying and reading. However, it also has become great for being an instrumentalist. I can toss it in my bag, setup it up with the folding case for sheet music, tuning, and everything else. It saves me from having to carry my sheet music books, tuner, and other bits around.

Deleted Comment

f311a · 4 months ago
> - Long-form writing. Laptops work great for this too, of course, but you still need a separate keyboard if you want decent ergonomics. iPad doesn't have an attached keyboard taking up space that I could instead use for a separate keyboard.

The screen is still small. Also, for technical writing, I think a lot of software is missing. There are a lot of small tools that technical writers use to do diagrams, illustrations. Also, long-form writing can be in different file formats. I think support for LaTeX and typst is very limited.

GeorgeTirebiter · 4 months ago
I have an M1 12.9" iPP -- I find it's almost useless for reading because it weighs so much. I ended up buying a $ 90 Android 11" tablet which has a 'good enough' screen for reading. (Obv also does email, photos, AI, etc).

If I could develop on the iPP, FOR the iPP --- build professional-quality apps on the iPP --- I would be happier. The Logitech detachable kbd is remarkably good, I have no complaints typing on it all day. iOS is a straightjacket.

fuzzy2 · 4 months ago
What’s wrong with the iPad being a pure consumption device? It’s really great at this. Granted, you don’t need an iPad Pro for consumption, but you could always go for an iPad or iPad Air, no?

I have a 2017 iPad Pro and once the battery finally dies will replace it with a non-Pro iPad.

crims0n · 4 months ago
I agree with this sentiment, but if you are using it primarily as a consumption device, the OLED screen is probably worth sticking with the Pro line.
bschne · 4 months ago
This. I've started thinking of it like this — the iPad, in my case, has an absolutely abysmal cost to usage ratio. On the far other end of the spectrum (and in a similar form factor if you squint) is probably my Kindle.

That being said, _some_ people I know consistently seem to get lots of work use out of their tablets, and I can't quite put my finger on where we differ.

stillworks · 4 months ago
Note taking and Reading are my primary use cases.

Goes without saying YMMV but it works for me.

I had to hand down my iPad Pro 3rd Gen (the one with A12x Bionic chip) to my daughter for her school use.

I got myself a 13" iPad Air (M2 chip) this time and Apple Pencil Pro (from Apple Refurbished store). The larger screen size isn't that much of a botheration as I thought it might be. On the flip side, the screen size is a lot closer to an A4 sheet and writing on it feels much better. I use Paperlike screen cover and pencil tips too.

I don't have Netflix or YouTube installed on it.

I only use it for Apple Books, Kindle, Notes and now Preview app is there as well.

I might this time even use it as Sidekick and remote access IDEs running on my MBP but not sure if I want to do that yet on the iPad.

gh0stcat · 4 months ago
You could consider getting into drawing/design. They compete incredibly well against the display-based tablets made by wacom, especially these days where you can also do 3d and animation in procreate.
sylens · 4 months ago
If I was starting this as a hobby, my first step would not be to spend several hundred dollars on a tablet and pen. I'd probably grab some sketchbooks and pencils first for <$50 and see if it sticks for more than a month.
runjake · 4 months ago
I did this. I bought a Pencil Pro. I bought Procreate. Doodled for a couple weeks.

Now it's just a YouTube device.

Just buy a sketch book and some colored pens and pencils.

Teever · 4 months ago
Can you use your iPad as a Wacom quality comparable table for input on your macbook?
drcongo · 4 months ago
I've produced two albums and done quite a few remixes on mine. Trying hard not to sound like a dick here, but if you pick up an iPad and all you can think to do with it is watch YouTube it seems weird to blame the iPad for that.
runjake · 4 months ago
Point noted. For me, I find too much friction and distraction using the iPad for creative. Sure, I'll do something in a pinch, but there's just something about it where I can't focus on non-consumption activities.

I'm not sure what it is about the iPad -- maybe the physical ergonomics? It's kinda hard to position comfortably for focus.

whycome · 4 months ago
Can you share your stack? What hardware are you using if you're doing vocal/instrument inputs?
coldtea · 4 months ago
Sounds like you don't have a tablet specific use case though, you just want to use it as a glorified laptop, so why not just use a laptop?

A tablet specific use case would be as portable writing machine on the go, for illustration, for audio units, or something like that, all the way to flight maps for recreational flying.

ljlolel · 4 months ago
It’s the standard for musical notes
stormed · 4 months ago
I use my iPad solely for just artwork at this point. I don't respect the App Store and needing to pay subscriptions for things you can get for free on a computer. That, and having to rely on web apps
whimsicalism · 4 months ago
the walled-garden completely destroys the ipads potential as a productivity device.
walkabout · 4 months ago
How? I've never understood this. There's tons of good software for creating things in the App Store.
w-m · 4 months ago
The A10X processor in my 2017 iPad Pro has always felt ridiculously overpowered for a couch machine. Recently it had gotten sluggish, hot, hung for times and lost battery quite quickly and I thought its time had finally come.. but no, after resetting the OS, it's as fast as ever. So hopefully it'll last me til Apple finally gives the iPad Air a 120Hz display.
forgotoldacc · 4 months ago
I use it professionally as an art machine. It's excellent for concept art and drawing in general.
minimaxir · 4 months ago
I have a M1 iPad Pro and I'm open to doing a trade-in for a new M5 iPad Pro: however the problem is the accessories. I rely on the Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil and they would have to be repurchased since they are not compatable, which upps the total price too much.
SkyPuncher · 4 months ago
I follow largely the same path. I basically find that mine ends up used for only two things:

1. Reading technical papers where I use the pen to make notes

2. Sketching household projects (a few of the apps are very nice for this).

Outside of that, I simply want a real, physical keyboard most of the time.

ncphillips · 4 months ago
I love my Kindle, but I have never been able to use my iPad for reading.

I got HumbleBundle with a bunch of Pathfinder 2e PDFs cheap but I'm still tempted to buy the physical copies.

ako · 4 months ago
I really like using my iPad with the Nuphy air 75 Bluetooth mechanical low profile keyboard, physical keyboard is a solved problem.
WillAdams · 4 months ago
This is why I replaced my Samsung Galaxy Book 12 w/ a Galaxy Book 3 Pro 360.

I'd give my interest in Hell for there to be a tablet Mac w/ a Wacom stylus --- as it is, I'm seriously considering a Mac Mini and Wacom Movink 14 and a 3D printed shell.... (but first, I'm going to try out an rPi 5 w/ Wacom One 13 Gen 2 w/ touch).

whalesalad · 4 months ago
Agreed. I am forcing myself to start using my iPad Air more and more but it generally just collects dust. The 10Hz refresh rate has made me want to look at getting a proper one with a fast display - but then I remind myself that it will also probably collect dust most of the time.
lolive · 4 months ago
As a synth, the iPad is a GODSENT !
fkyoureadthedoc · 4 months ago
> it becomes a web browsing and YouTube machine on the couch

My 4090 and m4 iPad Pro share this fate, with some occasional gaming.

diamondfist25 · 4 months ago
I rented pcs from shadow game, cuz i know if i build a pc w gpu it’d face the same fate
raw_anon_1111 · 4 months ago
What else does the OS need to do? There are real windows and real background processing.
gedy · 4 months ago
Normal-ish files and filesystem access, and dev types could use access to the terminal (on the system)
wlesieutre · 4 months ago
It's a useful device if you're an artist, if you're a developer the best thing you can do with it is buy the cellular model and use it as a very thin VNC client
majormunky · 4 months ago
It would be great if they allowed JIT compilation in apps. This would allow things like Dolphin (Wii, Gamecube emulator) to run.
GeekyBear · 4 months ago
The additional GPU performance will be very helpful for the upcoming Blender port to iPad.

> The M5 chip is built on TSMC's N3P node and has a faster GPU that can deliver 1.6x more FPS in games, 20% faster multi-core CPU performance, and 1.7x quicker render times in Blender — all versus the M4.

https://www.tomshardware.com/laptops/macbooks/apple-launches...

tristor · 4 months ago
I have never figured out what the point of a tablet is, except for entertainment. I keep wanting to buy an iPad every time a new one comes out, yet I've never bought one, and keep failing to see any point to it. I have a reMarkable device, which is a sort of tablet, but I use it exclusively for taking notes by hand in meetings, which is basically what it is designed for. I have a Kindle, which is kind of like a tablet, and I use it exclusively for reading which is what it is designed for. An iPad feels like it should replace both, but when I actually analyze it, it cannot replace either one.

What really are tablets for other than being a passive entertainment consumption device?

DamnInteresting · 4 months ago
Apart from watching videos, I use mine for making music (podcast scoring) and for drawing (formal illustrations, doodling, and sketching out designs). There are also a few games that I feel play best on an iPad, such as Balatro.
pretext-1 · 4 months ago
I travel a lot for work and don’t want to bring a second MacBook Pro. iPad works well in the plane for watching movies, MacBook not so much, at least not in Economy class. Can’t use my work computer for personal stuff anyway unfortunately. Also can’t download Netflix content offline on desktop.

Another use case is in the kitchen. Recipes, YouTube, FaceTime, etc. I use my iPad Pro in the kitchen every day when I’m at home. Easy to clean up. Using a MacBook while cooking will make it gross very fast.

pjmlp · 4 months ago
On Android, with Samsung Dex, Xiomi HyperOS, Huawei HarmonyOS Next 6, Surface like Windows devices, tablets a good laptop replacement as travel devices.

Pity that Apple doesn't agree for iPad.

throw-10-13 · 4 months ago
Put a grown up OS on it and I’ll consider it.
seviu · 4 months ago
I really want this but I can’t justify such a machine just for watching YouTube.

I cannot even give it to my kids since I don’t have multiple accounts with it.

Kind of sad that the most interesting device Apple has will never show its true potential due to their greed.

ErneX · 4 months ago
For watching YouTube you just need the cheapest iPad not a Pro.
seviu · 4 months ago
A generalization I would say

I really dig that Oled screen

mwexler · 4 months ago
Or an even cheaper android tablet.
qingcharles · 4 months ago
I bought an $80 8th Gen iPad off eBay and it runs 26 great and works perfectly for watching brain-rot and doing my Duolingos.
Terretta · 4 months ago
> I cannot even give it to my kids since I don’t have multiple accounts with it.

You can, but it's not advertised this way:

https://support.apple.com/guide/deployment/shared-ipad-overv...

There are ways to supervise besides get into a full MDM:

https://support.apple.com/guide/deployment/about-device-supe...

dylan604 · 4 months ago
People keep saying their iPad is a YT consumption device, but without ad blocking, how do you stay sane? I'm assuming if you're consuming that much YT content you've moved to a premium account or something? I don't use my tablet primarily for YT content, so it's rather jolting when I click a link somewhere and see the hell that is unblocked YT
akdev1l · 4 months ago
> I'm assuming if you're consuming that much YT content you've moved to a premium account or something?

Yes

Krssst · 4 months ago
Even with YT Premium, sponsor announcements are still an annoyance. Firefox with SponsorBlock helps with that, not sure if that's usable on iPad.
ako · 4 months ago
Yes, YouTube premium, use it a lot to practice my guitar playing by playing along YouTube music videos with chords displayed.
amelius · 4 months ago
Locked down by nanny Apple, therefore a toy.
fkyoureadthedoc · 4 months ago
Any tablet or tablet mode laptop I've used on windows is fucking miserable, so I've always assumed it was more a user experience thing rather than some plot to artificially limit neckbeards
wpm · 4 months ago
Windows is miserable on the desktop too so idk Wanting to run whatever I want is not a “neck beard” thing. The only reason normies don’t care is because they don’t understand.