Sure, it definitely works, but it doesn’t work like the Mac for the exact same task. In other words, the iPad is a slow computer.
In Order to Get Things Done on iPad, You Have to Do Everything with Extra Steps
Despite this thinking, I still believe the iPad is the future of computing in a lot of ways. But when you compare it to the Mac, Apple’s desktop operating system is just better.
macOS plays by your rules. You can resize windows however you like, drop files wherever you want, and keep a lot of things in the menu bar for you to look at.
On the iPad, it’s the complete opposite.
There’s no desktop, which means dragging and dropping is a very inconsistent experience. Sure, you can float the Files app around and pretend it’s the desktop, but that’s just extra work and not the same thing.
Then Stage Manager is a huge mess despite claiming to offer a desktop experience on iPad.
It works according to its own rules, not yours. There are too many limits to how it works, and iPadOS always feels tight in terms of space no matter what you do.
Having a 13-inch iPad doesn’t help much with that either, unless you’re a one-app-at-a-time person.
And, one last thing, no matter what Apple says, Safari on iPadOS is not the same as macOS. I’ve seen windows randomly jump around, selecting and moving text is an awful experience and then some more.
These ‘problems’ are starting to feel intentional at this point. Almost like Apple wants you to choose between eye candy or something extremely functional.
Basically, the iPad is a computer with extra steps. Maybe too many.
This entire blog post was written and edited on iPad Pro.
