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TechTranscript
00:00Hey, what's up guys, MKBHD here.
00:07So a little while ago on Twitter, I started a challenge with myself to use an iPad as
00:12my only portable computer.
00:15So for about the past two weeks, that's what I've been doing.
00:17So this has been fascinating with the iPad, you know, it's not very often that a software
00:21update has such a huge effect on a relatively new piece of tech.
00:25You know, sometimes they'll boost the camera quality a little bit, or it'll smooth out
00:29some bugs, or give a little performance boost here and there.
00:32But iPadOS, since it's come out in this public beta form, has really transformed the iPad
00:38Pro in a bunch of ways.
00:40Should it have been this way in the first place?
00:42Probably.
00:43But, you know, here we are.
00:44So originally, I thought I would want to do this laptop replacement challenge with the
00:48bigger 13-inch iPad Pro, since it's closer to the size of the laptop that I was already
00:52using.
00:53But when I installed that early iPadOS, I put it on my 11-inch iPad Pro, thinking I
00:57would just take it back off, but then I really liked it, and I kind of felt it was way more
01:01portable and easy to use and type on, and I got really into it.
01:05So now, this is my iPad Pro of choice.
01:08It's the 11-inch cellular iPad Pro, space gray, half a terabyte of storage, and the
01:14iPadOS 13 public beta.
01:16So basically, the premise behind all of this is your ability to use an iPad as your primary
01:22mobile computer will depend on, of course, exactly what you're doing on your computer
01:28when you're mobile.
01:29So what do I need it to do?
01:30Well, over the past couple weeks, we've been shooting season one of Retro Tech, which is
01:35super exciting.
01:36You guys probably saw the pilot episode with the Game Boy.
01:38We're shooting season one, so in between shooting and traveling, my computing needs are actually
01:45relatively simple.
01:46I need to read emails and email people back, download and sign attachments, do social media,
01:51that's pretty normal, photo editing, watching videos, publishing videos, and listening to music.
01:57And that's about it.
01:58You know, when I actually come back into the studio for work, I work on the desktop on
02:02the iMac Pro on a real computer, but anytime I leave, I don't take any laptop with me.
02:07Anytime I'm home, I resist the urge to use any desktop.
02:10I'm all iPad Pro all the time.
02:13So of course, this has had its pros and its cons.
02:16That's what this video is about, and I've been taking my notes as this goes along.
02:20So these are those.
02:21The main one, the one that dictates it all, is the whole reason I wanted to try this in
02:25the first place, the iPad Pro is just more fun to use.
02:28Like I said this in the full review, and it's true, especially the smaller one, I'm super
02:33likely to take it out of my bag and just use it when I can, even over my phone in the back
02:38of an Uber for flipping through emails or just web browsing.
02:41Just the thinness, the metal of the form factor, the light balanced weight, the 120 hertz display,
02:47it's just fun.
02:48We've been over this.
02:49The iOS Gmail app has this profile switcher that's just by swiping up or down on the profile
02:54picture.
02:55Google, please, the Android version needs this too.
02:59Just putting that out there.
03:00But anyway, yeah, it's fun to use, but the tough part about using an iPad all the time
03:03is the ergonomics for sure.
03:05So I'll carry it with no case, no skin, and for me, no keyboard folio or anything, just
03:11the naked iPad Pro.
03:12And I feel like that's partially because I guess I'm stubborn about cases.
03:15I don't really think there are any good cases or keyboards that I like using for the iPad,
03:20but I also just want to appreciate the impressive design of this thing and covering it up with
03:23a cheap rubber feeling case just feels wrong.
03:26Maybe it's just me.
03:27But of course, a laptop has the obvious ergonomic advantage of a hinge if it's a good one, right?
03:31So the keyboard at one angle and the screen at another.
03:35Now with the iPad, the three main positions I found myself using the iPad were holding
03:40it up with two hands, propping it with one hand and poking with the other, or lying it
03:45flat on a table or in my lap just for typing.
03:48So luckily it's lightweight, so holding it up is actually pretty easy to do for a long
03:52time.
03:53That was the most common position I found.
03:54Then the propped position when you're resting it with one hand and poking with the other
03:58was more common with sometimes gaming or just like lazy browsing and scrolling.
04:03And then with the emailing or writing a bunch for making videos and things like that, anything
04:07that involves a keyboard for a longer period of time, I'll put it down on my lap or table
04:12and type away.
04:13This is easily the worst ergonomic position for the iPad, and that's when I miss the laptop
04:18the most.
04:19Like typing over long periods on an iPad screen with both sizes, no matter how you do it,
04:24is not anything quite like typing on a real keyboard.
04:27And I've gotten used to it for brief bursts, but that's the downside.
04:30I've had Apple's keyboard folio cases for the iPad for a while.
04:35And you can sort of prop it up like a laptop with the magnets and then type on a silicon
04:39keyboard and there's usually a lot of wobble.
04:43But I don't know, I'm just not a big fan of that.
04:44So I always just default to taking it off naked iPad and just typing on glass.
04:48Oh, and of course, iPadOS now has that pinch down smaller keyboard so you can swipe type
04:53on the side or drag that thing anywhere you want if things are in a pinch, pinch.
04:59I'm also way more likely to game on the iPad Pro than a MacBook Pro.
05:05That's just facts.
05:06But here's another downside though.
05:07There's a couple of dongles needed to sort of match the laptop, some extra things you
05:11carry with it.
05:13So I can keep the naked iPad in the laptop sleeve in this backpack.
05:15So it's just sort of loose in there, but it's fine.
05:18It uses the same USB-C charger as the laptop would, but also in the same sleeve, I can
05:22toss an Apple pencil, a flash drive and an SD card reader, which sounds kind of fine.
05:28But then the laptop just kind of has a little extra loose stuff hanging around in it.
05:34Not a big deal, I guess.
05:35Also, if anyone else wants to take on this challenge, I highly recommend like a battery
05:38bank like this one.
05:40So I've linked this below and other what's in my bag stuff in the past, but it's 20,000
05:44milliamp hours.
05:45It's by Anker.
05:46It's got fast charging, USB-C, something like this will back up the iPad multiple times
05:50over.
05:51Now the iPad does have A plus battery life.
05:53Like it's excellent.
05:54Even on this LTE version, it won't die in a full day of use.
05:58But if I ever get low, I'll just toss it in my backpack while plugged into the battery.
06:02And then when I take it out, it's full again.
06:04So I'll link all the stuff I'm talking about below the like button, of course.
06:07But the biggest workflow difference I found that it's enabled, but that works better now
06:12that the files app is improved is photo editing.
06:15So now I can go from Canon EOS R to the SD card, then from the SD card to the SD card
06:21reader.
06:22So plugging that into the iPad, then I can use the new and improved files app to go through
06:26the files tree of the SD card to pick the exact raw file that I want, import that one
06:31file or multiple if I want, then hood over to Lightroom or really whatever editor of
06:35choice supports raw.
06:37Import the raw image and then start editing, which is usually awesome with the Apple pencil.
06:41This is something I've had a lot of fun with.
06:43Of course, connecting via USB type C directly to a camera is an even better workflow for
06:48certain cameras.
06:49So that's awesome.
06:50But yeah, overall, the iPad makes a fantastic mobile image editor and just as good as a
06:55trackpad.
06:56So in summary, using an iPad as your only mobile computer has its ups and downs in 2019.
07:03Also I found the good parts were the awesome performance, the great battery life, and just
07:07the fun form factor.
07:08We already know the iPad is fun to use.
07:10Plus having LTE everywhere was a nice bonus.
07:14The desktop class browser is excellent.
07:16The desktop feeling files app is a great improvement and there's a download manager in Safari that
07:21also ties it all together beautifully.
07:24And then editing photos with the Apple pencil is dope.
07:26And then the pain points, the downsides were mostly typing and ergonomics.
07:30So anytime you need to reply to an email with a lot of text or just a lot of typing
07:34or writing on this glass screen, or if you don't like the keyboard case that has the
07:39keyboard built in, it's just not as good.
07:41And then there is a solid learning curve to all the new multitasking gestures in iPad
07:46OS.
07:47I went over all of them in this video, if you want to check it out.
07:50And some of them are pretty useful, but there are so many extra things that I didn't really
07:54use most of them.
07:55So in my opinion, there still isn't really a great, solid, non wobbling keyboard case
08:01for the iPad pro, sadly.
08:03And then also something I never really did is video editing.
08:07So I've stopped, like I said, I stopped video editing on the go because red footage is really
08:12heavy.
08:13Laptops can barely keep up.
08:14So I just don't do that.
08:15I bring it to the desktop.
08:16But if you don't shoot red or if you have, you know, 1080P footage or something like
08:20that and you have simple video editing to do, it's possible.
08:23There are solutions.
08:24There's Adobe Premiere Rush, there's LumaFusion, there's iMovie.
08:29And other YouTubers much braver than me have taken the dive and messed with video editing
08:33on the iPad pro.
08:34So I'll leave a TLD video, for example, link below for that.
08:38I'm not that guy.
08:39But if you are that guy, you can also do video editing.
08:42So iPad pro with iPad OS beta feels the closest to not a computer replacement, but a computer
08:48alternative, more than anything else I've used lately.
08:53All that being said, I am still really excited for the new rumored 16 inch MacBook Pro.
08:59Like a lot of this really just comes down to what you really enjoy using.
09:03So I happen to love using the iPad pro.
09:05So I wanted to see what it would be like using it all the time.
09:08But if you have a laptop that you really love using, then that changes all of that.
09:13Who knows, maybe with Johnny Ive not designing Apple products anymore, we'll get these crazy
09:17radical new Apple laptop designs in the next year or two.
09:21I don't even really know.
09:22Fingers crossed we'll see some good stuff, hopefully worthy of the pro in the name, but
09:27only time will tell.
09:28We'll see.
09:29Until the next one, thanks for watching.
09:32Catch you guys later.
09:33Peace.