Federico Viticci just issued his voluminous 10,000-word review of the new iPad Pro. It looks like there is a lot to like in the new hardware with that XDR screen and wicked fast M1 processor. The Apple hardware team continues to crush it.

However, the thing about all of these iPad reviews is that they all seem to come with an asterisk about the limitations of iPad software. For years now, the iPad hardware team has lapped the iPad software team. That lead only seems to get longer over time and, to power users, it’s frustrating.

While this new iPad runs faster than a MacBook Pro on some benchmarks, it still is pretty terrible at file management. I know the rallying cry this year is that we need something like Final Cut to take advantage of the sexy new hardware. I’d argue we also need the ability to efficiently work with tags and sort our files. Where Final Cut on the iPad represents the high-hanging fruit, there still is a lot of low-hanging fruit (like adequate file management) on the tree. I remember feeling the same way a few years ago right before WWDC. It always seems like the iPad software is just barely adequate to keep up with the iPad hardware.

While I feel this tension nearly every time I pick up an iPad, that isn’t true for everyone. I have one kid in college and another in grad school. They both use their iPads in class exclusively. The current apps and features are just fine for them. I think there are a lot more people like my daughters than there are like me. It’s when you start pushing toward the edges that these limitations show up.

All of this got me wondering how Apple sees the iPad. Do they look at it the way I do, as an alternative computing platform to the Mac, or do they look at it like my kids do, an excellent tablet device but never to be on par with a Mac? Put simply, are we still thinking about cars and trucks? Apple markets the iPad as a truck but develops software as if it is one of those tiny electric cars that feels just a step beyond a golf cart. It’s actually more complicated than that because what they’ve done at this point is build fighter jet hardware with a put-put car software engine.

I understand Apple is not a single entity but a group of people. However, I do wish they would be more explicit about what the collective Apple thinks of the iPad. If they look at it as my girls do, I would probably stop banging my head against its software ceiling and use a laptop a lot more. I know that is the case for a lot of readers. Since the M1 MacBooks hit the streets, I’ve heard from many readers and listeners who stopped using their iPads because the new Macs’ long battery life and excellent performance were enough to pull them away from the iPad.

I know Apple isn’t going to come out and explain where they see the iPad explicitly. It seems too much to hear them say, “We’re making the iPad to be good at this, but we’re not bothering to make it any good at that.” They will, however, be announcing the new iPad OS updates next month. I will be watching that carefully. Because while we are not going to hear Apple tell us directly their intentions for the iPad, we can deduce those intentions from the software they choose to ship. I’ll be deciding how much a role the iPad plays in the next year of my life based on that.

I keep finding myself linking to Matt Panzarino here because he just keeps delivering the goods, particularly with iPad coverage. Matt got to interview Apple Software Chief Craig Federighi about the new iPad cursor implementation and wrote it up at Tech Crunch. It was by far my favorite read this week. I continue to believe that delight is one of my primary reasons for using the iPad and the new cursor implementation brings that whimsy.

A few days ago, MKBHD posted a video explaining how he is using his iPad Pro with the beta iPadOS installation to replace his laptop. That has always been my play. I still use my iMac every day on my desk, but I like the idea of being able to work on the iPad when I go mobile. It is early days, and the beta is still a work in progress with many bugs, but I think this release is going to tip a lot of people toward the iPad as mobile device lifestyle. There a lot of reasons but two that particularly stand out are file management and the new Safari.

File Management

File Management using the latest operating system works a lot better. You can now create folders when you save files, and there are now multiple categories to sort and organize your files. While it’s not up to all of the features that you get with the Mac’s Finder, it has most of what you need. The new release does not address tags, so if that’s important to you, you may still need a laptop. However, for most garden-variety file management, the iPad is up to the task, although a bit slower.

The New Safari

I cannot understate the value of a desktop class browser on the iPad. With the installation of the beta, all of my trouble spots on the Internet that traditionally did not work on the iPad immediately started working. That includes Google Docs and Sheets, my banking website, Squarespace, and all the other fiddly sites I could never get to work on my iPad. Indeed, since installing the beta, I have yet to find a website that doesn’t work.

There’s a certain amount of delight that comes with using the iPad. That usually comes with a trade-off in that things may take slightly longer. Regardless, you will be able to get real work done on your iPad with this new release and you just may find it replacing your laptop come September.

This week Federico Viticci released his nearly 50,000 word opus on how he uses his iPad, what he loves, and what he’d like to change. Great stuff and a perfect weekend read. I particularly liked his reference to a lawyer friend that had trouble with file management and tags on iOS. Hmm. Wonder who that is.

Last week Apple released a collection of new videos about getting work done on the iPad. I finally got around to watching them today and they are really good. What I like about them is that each video takes its time demonstrating actual workflows. I think that is what we need to see if we are looking to get more out of the iPad. They even call out specific non-Apple apps.

I also appreciate how they demonstrate more real-world uses. Instead of using the iPad with scuba gear to map an ancient wreck, they have people taking notes and making presentations. Not nearly as sexy as prior “iPad use” videos but so much more relevant to most of us.

These are some of my favorite tutorial-ish content that I’ve seen from Apple in years. They even have a film showing how they shot the videos with the iPad itself. Keep them coming Apple.

Jason Snell wrote up a nice summary of the current rumors and his opinions on the upcoming iPad at Macworld. It seems a near certainty that we’ll get at least one new iPad next month with Face ID since the current iOS 12 betas on iPad have gone out of their way to move all information to the top right and left of the screen, thus making room for a notch. That bit of evidence also makes me think the iPad Pro will have an edge-to-edge screen since the current iPad Pro design has plenty of room in the forehead to accommodate the Face ID sensors without adding a notch.

Another interesting point is that with an edge-to-edge screen, what will happen with finger detection on the edges? When the iPad was first released, Apple made a pretty big deal out of the fact that it needed borders so you could hold it without touching the capacitive screen on the device. I know they’ve been working around that on the iPhone but I expect that problem to be harder to solve on the iPad where everyone will nearly always have at least one finger holding (and touching) the front of an edge-to-edge screen.

Over the weekend I took a trip to the Apple Store to check out the new 9.7 inch $329 iPad. There is a lot to like about the new iPad, starting with price. It’s roughly half the cost of the 10.5 inch iPad Pro. For that price, you get an iPad that supports Apple Pencil, looks great,and is plenty fast. I tried to get it to drop frame rates, and it felt just as fast as my 10.5 inch iPad Pro. (I know that it is not but it still felt plenty fast.) I think, for most iPad users, the new 9.7 inch iPad is fine. 

9to5 Mac has a postdetailing the differences and there are quite a few but having used one in person I can tell you for most people those differences won’t matter. Going forward, when friends and family ask me for a recommendation for an iPad, I’m going to point them at the new $329 iPad unless they’ve got a good reason to move to the pro. When you consider the rich assortment of software available for iPad plus the fact you can get a Bluetooth keyboard in the $30 range, the new iPad is a heck of a deal.

For those of you that are interested in the iPad Pro, I think we’ve officially entered the “don’t buy unless you must” zone. I expect a new iPad Pro shortly, probably with Face ID and more bells and whistles to distance it from the impressive new $329 iPad.