Replacing My Primary Laptop

I am a heavy user of my Mac. I love it. I use two nearly daily: an M2 MacBook Air for work and an M1 MacBook Pro for personal use. The M1 is a great machine. It's got solid specs, and while it's getting older, it does an excellent job for my personal use.

But it is getting older, and I have been considering replacing it since the M3 chipset was released. Then Apple throws a wrench in the works with the new M4 iPad Pro. It's a sexy device. Even a few years ago, I couldn't have considered an iPad a primary computer. But with a combination of the massive 13" screen and Magic Keyboard, I'm giving it a shot.

I have spent a few days with a 13" iPad Pro as my primary computer. And I'm not hating it. The Magic Keyboard with trackpad is a game changer for me. For decades, I have used a laptop with a trackpad as my primary computer; it has become second nature. The Magic Keyboard is expensive but worth the money. Its build quality feels superb, even considering what I expect from an Apple device. The trackpad feels like my expensive MacBook. I can get about 80% of what I need with iPad native apps. I'm writing this in iA Writer, committing the changes to the git repository using Working Copy. The site was built and published by AWS using a GitHub Action.

I have a cloud-based Linux box I connect to for heavier development using Prompt 3. That doesn't give me VS Code, but I have been experimenting with GitHub Codespaces and am reasonably impressed. Using a web-based text editor can be clunky at times. My muscle memory wants to hit command-w to close an open file, but Safari closes the tab.

As for non-development-related items, they are all native apps or Safari, like those on my Mac. The screen looks incredible, and the speakers for music and movies are great. It's a solid device.

It's not all sunshine and roses, though. iPadOS feels like the limiting factor for a device with so much power. There was a lot of discussion during WWDC this year about the need for significant improvements to iPadOS. I remember reading a toot on Mastodon: "Let me run MacOS on it, you cowards." (I was not able to find the toot for a link.) I couldn't agree more. With the Magic Keyboard, I cannot think of any good reason not to allow it. Its chipset is the best Apple offers. It has to be a business decision for Apple. Can't let the iPad cannibalize the Mac.

The lack of Xcode feels strange, given that Final Cut Pro and Logic are available. I hope that Xcode will be coming soon. That would solve the last major roadblock for me.

I'm reaching the end of my return window on this iPad and considering returning it. Not because I don't love it or foresee my usage declining, but because I'm thinking about trading it in for a model with increased storage.

Using an iPad as a primary computer will only work for some, but I have yet to hit many issues that make me reach for my laptop.