Why I switched from an iPad Pro to an iPad Air, and how it’s been going
After using and writing about iPad and iPadOS for years, I made a pretty radical change to my iPad use strategy.
I’ve been using and loving iPads and iPadOS since the original iPad was announced by Steve Jobs in 2010. In 2018, after a couple of years with a 10.5-inch iPad Pro, I switched to the then-new 3rd generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro. This was the first model to embrace the design language that now pervades the entire iPad lineup, save for the entry level model: slab sides and a thin, uniform bezel around the display. It was also the model that was introduced alongside the Apple Pencil 2, which perfected the form factor of that peripheral. In March 2020 Apple released the first of its Magic Keyboard cases, and I quickly adopted it, replacing the Smart Keyboard Folio that I had been using up to that point. But as 2021 drew to a close, I made a pretty radical change: I switched from the largest iPad Pro to an iPad Air.
I love experimenting with different types of iPads, and I think iPadOS is the most interesting UI playground for Apple. In many ways iPadOS holds the same excitement for me that macOS did in the early days of Mac OS X. Things are changing and evolving quickly and in interesting ways for iPad software. From 2018-2020 the iPad Pro was my mobile computing platform of choice, particularly once the Magic Keyboard was released. The hardware and software had evolved to the point where it was no longer a stretch to use an iPad in place of a Mac or PC. And while the Intel-powered 15-inch MacBook Pro I had at the time was heavy, and hot, and loud, the iPad Pro was more compact, cool, and quiet. So the MacBook Pro rarely moved from its spot on my desk, and the iPad Pro went everywhere with me.
But that all changed when Apple began shipping Macs with its M1 processor. Bringing Apple silicon to the Mac brought over all of the performance advantages my iPad Pro had had. These new Macs were quiet, they were cool, and the battery life was leaps and bounds better than prior Intel Macs. I went down in laptop size to 13-inches in 2020 and then to 14-inches in 2021, eliminating the portability advantage the iPad Pro had had over my Mac. A 12.9-inch iPad Pro in a Magic Keyboard has about the same weight and thickness as a 13-inch MacBook Pro. I began carrying my Mac everywhere again.
One thing about the 12.9-inch iPad Pro that had long been clear to me is that at that size it’s at the absolute limit of a device you’d want to use as a tablet device. As a laptop replacement used in “laptop mode” with a keyboard and trackpad it’s phenomenal. Apps that use 3-column UI are particularly enjoyable on it. But when you try to hold it and use it as a tablet, it feels a bit unwieldy. And you almost have to use it in landscape mode. It’s just ungainly in portrait mode.
So I no longer had a need for a keyboard and mouse, and I no longer needed to use an iPad as a Mac replacement. The iPad Air seemed like a great choice for me to take my use of the iPad back to its roots. The iPad mini seemed like it might be too small for mixed use. It’s true that I could have gone with an 11-inch iPad Pro, which is so close in size to the iPad Air that they can both use the Magic Keyboard designed for the 11-inch Pro, but I hadn’t gotten the opportunity to spend much time with the iPad Air, and I love its embrace of traditional Apple whimsy through the color options it comes in. I chose the Sky Blue model.
As a tablet it’s nearly perfect. It’s so light to carry around, and I find myself taking it to meetings where my MacBook Pro isn’t needed. I’m using the Apple Pencil 2 to take more notes and using Apple’s “Scribble” feature to have my chicken scrawl translated into printed text.
See also: Here’s my iPad-focused New Year’s resolution
I do almost wish it were just a slight bit smaller. Something with this same design in the original iPad’s 9.7-inch display size might be my ideal iPad-as-a-tablet device. But this gets pretty close. It’s certainly much better as a media consumption device than the 12-9-inch iPad Pro.
One thing that I’m still getting used to is going from Face ID to Touch ID. I genuinely miss the convenience of Face ID, and I’m still getting used to the press-and-hold function to go from the Lock screen to the Home screen. But this is a relatively minor concern.
One thing that helped ease my concerns about giving up a keyboard and trackpad is Apple’s upcoming Universal Control feature that will allow you to use a single keyboard and mouse to seamlessly move between a Mac and an iPad. The downside is that this feature is months behind its original launch target and there’s a non-zero chance that Apple will cancel the feature if it finds it can’t deliver it as well as it was promised. But I’m still hoping we get that by this Spring.
I’m using my iPad Air with Apple’s Smart Folio case in Deep Navy. I do sometimes remove the iPad from the case to use it in its slimmest form possible, but generally I just flip the front around to the back and carry on with it installed. It’s not hard to get it out, but it’s less trivial than it was to remove my iPad Pro from its Magic Keyboard. During my workday, I keep the Smart Folio in easel mode with the iPad propped up in landscape mode. I was concerned it might be a bit flimsy, but the case does a remarkable job of making it feel solidly planted.
Overall I’m very happy with this move to the iPad Air, and I’m looking forward to seeing what advancements Apple has for iPadOS at WWDC this summer.