Category: review

May 25, 2020 iOS, iPad, Macbook Air, review, Uncategorized

iPad Pro or MacBook Air For My Friend? Which To Get?

I have a really good and close friend who is not a tech geek like I am. Recently, his 2012 13-inch MacBook Pro broke down. I told him it was time he should get a new device. I suggested he get either an iPad Pro or a MacBook Air. I gave him the pros and cons of both devices: on one hand the 12.9-inch iPad Pro and on the other hand either the 13-inch MacBook Air.

Now mind you my friend didn’t do much with his prior 13-inch MacBook Pro. He is a writer. So the most he did with his MacBook Pro is write. He also used the mail app to send and receive emails. He also used the Safari and Chrome browsers to go on the internet. But that was about all he did with it. He didn’t have photos on that MacBook Pro. He never edited videos. As for sending messages or texts? He sent and received messages and texts on his iPhone, not on his MacBook Pro. He did watch videos on the MacBook Pro on the internet. And also listed to some music from the internet. He doesn’t have a tv, so his only movies or audios were on the MacBook Pro.

In the end, he went with a 13-inch MacBook Air. He is very happy with his purchase. It is a great upgrade from his 2012 MacBook Pro. But I think he made a mistake. I believe he should have purchased instead the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Here is why:

Technology-wise, he gets much more technology from an iPad Pro than a MacBook Air.

Cameras. The iPad Pro has much better camera than the MacBook Pro and it has it on the front facing you and also on the back. The MacBook Air has a 720p FaceTime camera. The iPad Pro’s TrueDepth Camera, which is on the side with the screen, has an 1080p camera that shoots 7mp photos. In addition, it has two great camera lenses on the back that can shoot 4k video and photos at 12mp and 10mp. Now why should he care about these differences? Well, during the shutdown, like all of his, he is making many Zoom video calls with people. And if you have a better camera for the calls, then the Zoom or video calls you make are better. So right there for that reason the iPad Pro would be better for him than the MacBook Pro. But the cameras on the back are also better for him. He doesn’t take many pictures and he has an iPhone. But the cameras on the back would allow him to do more things with his iPad Pro than the MacBook Air. For one, he could scan documents with the iPad. You can’t scan papers with the MacBook Pro unless you have a good scanner connected to it. A good scanner can cost an additional $500. I do all my scanning now with my iPhone 11 Pro or my old iPad Pro.

Also, the cameras on the back have new technology for the iPad Pro. They have LIDAR sensors. Here is what the National Oceanic Service describes LIDAR as:

Lidar, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, is a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges (variable distances) to the Earth. These light pulses—combined with other data recorded by the airborne system— generate precise, three-dimensional information about the shape of the Earth and its surface characteristics.

A lidar instrument principally consists of a laser, a scanner, and a specialized GPS receiver. Airplanes and helicopters are the most commonly used platforms for acquiring lidar data over broad areas. Two types of lidar are topographic and bathymetric. Topographic lidar typically uses a near-infrared laser to map the land, while bathymetric lidar uses water-penetrating green light to also measure seafloor and riverbed elevations.

No my friend isn’t going to be interested in LIDAR technology because he doesn’t know how it it will help him. But the thing is he will probably keep his new device for at least 7 years. And clearly Apple plans to do something with LIDAR on the iPad and also third-party developers will create programs that use LIDAR. Right now, without LIDAR, my iPhone 11 Pro has a measurement app which allows me to measure stuff with the iPhone. With LIDAR, the measurement app will work even better. By purchasing the MacBook Air rather than the iPad Pro, my friend is missing out on all the possible apps that could use LIDAR.

In addition to LIDAR, the iPad Pro has other sensors that the MacBook Pro doesn’t have. It has a Three-axis gyro, an Accelerometer and a Barometer. Plus it has FaceID security rather than a fingerprint security. The MacBook Air does not have these sensors.

Screens. How about the screen? The iPad Pro’s screen is superior to the MacBook Air’s screen. The 12.9 inch iPad Pro has 2732-by-2048-pixel resolution at 264 pixels per inch (PPI). The Macbook Air is 2560-by-1600 native resolution at 227 pixels per inch.

Weight. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro is lighter than the 13-inch MacBook Air as it weighs 643 grams while the MacBook Air weighs 1.29kg (or 1290 grams). But if you get the Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro that combined weight will be about the same as the MacBook Air. But the point is you can have the iPad Pro naked with no cover and you can easily read it in your bed or sofa or when you are on a public transportation because its so light.

Power. The MacBook Air got a single-core Geekbench score of 1110 and multi-core score of 2862. The newer iPad Pros got Geekbench scores of 1118 single core and 4704 for multi-score. So the iPad is more powerful in multi-core processing.

Other Differences. There are a couple of other things that are different between the iPad Pros and and all the Mac.

  • First, the iPad Pro you can get with a cellphone antenna if you pay extra. You can’t get that with any Macintosh. So with the iPad Pro if you have a cellphone antenna, you can always connect to the internet even if you you are not at home and don’t have a connection to a wifi that is connected to the internet.
  • Second, the iPad Pro has access to many more apps and programs in the iOS App Store than what the Macs have access to in the Mac App Store. In addition, the iPad apps are generally cheaper than the programs for the Macs.
  • Third, and the most obvious, the iPad screen has touch on it so you can navigate the screen using your finger. This is a big deal because some apps are better to use by using your finger than using a mouse, trackpad and keyboard. Say you are watching a video. Isn’t it better to hold the iPad Pro and use your finger to start the video or to swipe around for other videos? Same with looking a photos. Isn’t touch better for looking at them? I think so.
  • Fourth, the iPad Pro can work with the latest Apple Pencil. My friend writes. Sometimes you want to write with a pencil and take notes. With the Macintosh you don’t have a choice. The screen on the Macintosh doesn’t have touch screen or the ability to use a pencil. With the iPad Pro you have a choice, touch, keyboard, trackpad, mouse or pencil. Actually also voice control. The Mac has voice control but I don’t think it is as useful or as ingrained in the system as voice control on iOS devices.
  • Fifth, the Mac has some major advantages but mainly for pros. For example, on the Mac you can use Xcode to create apps for the iPhone, iPad, Macs, Apple TV and Apple Watch. On the iPad Pro you can’t do that. But my friend is not a developer so he should not care about that. The Mac lets you put apps that don’t come from the Apple App Store. That is a big deal for a power user like myself. For example, I have long used the Audio Hijack program from Rogue Amoeba, which allows you to record any audio that comes through your Macintosh. There is nothing like that on iOS as Apple doesn’t let third-party developers fool around with the system underneath.1 Similarly, because your have a Terminal App on the Mac, and because MacOS was built on UNIX, you can put UNIX commands and do crazy stuff on your Mac. On your Mac, you can download Homebrew on the Terminal App and then do additional crazy stuff. Like for example, there are programs that can make your Mac a server for HomeKit so you can have devices that are not HomeKit work with Apple’s HomeKit on your iPhone and iPad. And of course scripting. On the Mac, you can run AppleScript and other scripts to automate your Mac. On the other hand, on iOS, Apple has the Shortcuts app, where essentially you can create your own scripts and automation apps. And iOS now has a finder so you can navigate into the folders for each app pretty much to find the files you need. So iOS is closer to having a finder like on the Mac.
  • Sixth, the security on iOS is greater than on the Mac because you can’t install non-Apple approved programs on iOS. Also, because the iOS apps are siloed when they run, unlike on the Mac where the programs get closer to the underlying system, your iPhones and iPads are much less likely to get hacked or hijacked. On the Mac, you can still get locked out and have your computer hijacked if you click on the wrong thing form the internet.

What about cost? That shouldn’t be the difference in deciding to purchase the MacBook Air or iPad Pro. The MacBook Air ranges in price from $999 to $2249 if you max out the ram and storage to 16gb of Ram and 2tb of SSD storage as well as bump up slightly the processor speed. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro starts at $999 and ranges up to $1649 if you max out storage to 1tb and get the cellphone antenna built in. If you add in the Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro, add another $349. If you get the Apple Pencil, add in another $129 for the second generation model. So the prices of the iPad Pro and Macbook Air are congruent on price range. Given that my friend is likely to own this new device for at least 7 years, he could splurge on either the iPad Pro or MacBook Air top price and it would be not very expensive for each month he uses it. For example, take $2000 and divide it by 7 years times 12 months; it totals $23.8 per month.

What about storage? That also shouldn’t be the difference for my friend. The MacBook Air gives you more storage than the iPad Pro if you pay for it. Up to 2 TB for the MacBook Air and only up to 1TB for the iPad Pro. My friend told me he only used 10% of all the storage on his 2012 MacBook Pro. That MacBook Pro had 4gb of ram and a 500mb hard drive. So my friend used approximately 50 mb of storage. The entry level iPad Pro comes with 128gb of storage. That is 256 times more storage than he use don his 2012 MacBook Pro. That entry model would probably have sufficient storage for my friend.

So why did my friend pick the MacBook Air instead of the iPad Pro when the above shows that that iPad Pro has more flexibility and much better technology?

I think he was prejudiced against getting the iPad Pro by a prior experience with an iPad that he purchase many years ago and quickly returned to Apple. Many years ago, when the iPad was in its nascent existence in 2012, the iPad and its operating system couldn’t do as much compared to a Mac. Back then, there were no keyboard covers. You connected a keyboard by bluetooth or lightning back then. Significantly, the operating system for the iPad wasn’t geared for physical keyboard back then. Also, there was no support for a mouse or trackpad. So if you used a physical keyboard a lot, you had to each out to change an app or edit. For someone used to writing a lot on a MacBook Air, the 2012 iPad and its operating system could not really well complete with a Mac. I remember my friend purchase the iPad on my recommendation back then and he promptly returned if to Apple after trying to use it. He doesn’t trust that the experience on the iPad has changed so much since 2012 that it would be easy for him to write and use the iPad Pro.

Second, I don’t think he can appreciate that new things that he never tried could enhance his life. I think most people in the World are like that. It is normal. We live in today. If things are working today, we are happy with that. Something new might not work and it takes additional effort to learn. This is why Apple is careful about how and when it releases new products. Apple knows it has to bring people to the new technology by seducing them with great design that is friendly to people and technology that is so good that people will quickly adopt it. Look at the original iPhone. Most people didn’t think it was a big deal or given its high price anyone would adopt it. Remember Steve Balmer then the CEO of Microsoft. He said no one would purchase the iPhone. RIM, the makers of the then very popular Blackberry said no one would purchase the iPhone because it didn’t have a physical keyboard. iPhones and iPhone-copiers (i.e. Android phones) now completely control the cell phone market. No one purchases cellphones with physical keys or keyboards. I think most people when they start using an iPad regularly will full embrace it as their main computing device. My mom, who is 90, started using an iPad about 6 years ago. She has access to regular computers. But when I see her she is always on the iPad.

Eventually my friend will have an iPad as his main device. Eventually.

  1. Apple isn’t approving Audio Highjack to get into the Mac’s system to highjack audio. Audio Highjack is not sold in the Mac App Store. Instead you download and install it directly from Rogue Amoeba. ↩︎
May 24, 2020 Apple, iPad, Magic Keyboard, review

Review of Apple Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro

Magic Keyboard
Magic Keyboard

I finally purchased Apple’s Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro.

Here are my thoughts:

The cover and keyboard along with the trackpad together with the new operating system for the iPad makes the iPad Pro closer to being like a regular laptop but also like a great tablet. I used it with the 2019 12.9-inch iPad Pro. It works with last year’s iPad Pro along with this year’s iPad Pro.

I purchased the first 12.9-inch iPad Pro along with Apple’s first cover keyboard. I liked that cover keyboard that Apple made for the first iPad Pro but that cover keyboard has serious problems. First of all, the way it it was weighted was awkward so when you opened it up you always felt that iPad will fall out because you didn’t set it up correct. It felt like it was an origami puzzle. In addition, after a while, the connection between the cover keyboard and iPad Pro stopped working. The connection port on that older iPad Pro is on the bottom edge of the iPad Pro and it would connect with a slot on the seem of the keyboard cover. I still have both but the keyboard doesn’t work as the connection on the keyboard covers wore away and no longer work. The same happened to a second Apple keyboard cover I purchased. So it must be endemic for that keyboard model.

Before this year’s Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro, Apple created a new keyboard cover for the iPad Pro that solved a lot of the problems that the original keyboard cover had. The newer keyboard was stiffer. That keyboard is still sold and it is called the Smart Keyboard Folio. Instead of three origami parts that folded like the original, the newer keyboard had essentially two parts with one side slightly bending. Also, the connector port for the iPad Pro was moved to the flat part of the back of the iPad Pro instead of edge of the bottom of the iPad Pro. This makes the connection to the iPad Pro more stable and also less likely (I Hope) that the connection between the iPad Pro and keyboard cover doesn’t wear away easily like the first generation keyboard cover. Apple still sells that older keyboard cover (what I call the origami keyboard cover) for the cheaper and older generation iPads (the non-pro iPads and the 1st and 2nd generation iPad Pros). See here.

This year’s new Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro builds upon that Smart Keyboard Folio and adds additional features that make it much better.

  • First, the keys are much better. They have more depth and travel so they feel like real keys like the Magic Keyboard that Apple makes for the iMacs.
  • Second, there is a trackpad. It is a real clicking type trackpad and it is level throughout the rectangle. It works really well and you can swipe fingers similarly like the Magic Trackpad for the iMac, the MacBook Pros and MacBook Air. Apple upgraded the operating system for the iPad so it works well with mouses and trackpads. So this Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro has it all, a keyboard and trackpad.
  • Third, the keys have back lighting. This means you can now type in the dark and seek the keys. Prior keyboard covers that Apple made did not have back lighting. This is a big deal. Makes it even more like a laptop.
  • Fourth, the Magic Keyboard has a USB-C charging port on the left side which also passes through the charge to the iPad Pro. It is nice because it frees up the USB-C port on the side of the iPad and its lower to the ground and flat with the desk that you put this iPad Pro on. So the cable will not be up in the air connecting to the iPad.
  • Finally, the Magic Keyboard has a dock which makes the iPad Pro rock back and tilt up at a good angle to look at when you are typing. Some say it makes the iPad Pro look like it is floating.

This Magic Keyboard makes the iPad Pro an even better production machine. People who use the iPad Pro to do work will find it even easier to produce their work. This includes not only people who write on the iPad Pro, but also those who edit videos or audio like podcasts.

So what are some drawbacks?

  • First, these keyboard covers are very expensive. The one for the larger iPad Pro is $349. The version for the 11 inch iPad Pro is $299. Are they worth the money? You can use pretty much any keyboard and mouse and trackpad with the iPad Pro. I have a great mechanical keyboard from Keytron which pairs by Bluetooth to the iPad Pro and works well with it. But, Apple’s Magic Keyboard is easy to travel with the iPad Pro. You can close it up and it become like a slim book that you travel around with. You can’t easily do that with regular keyboards, mice and trackpads. And third-party companies that make similar keyboard covers are not as good as Apple’s Magic Keyboard. So this keyboard cover is good for someone who plans to move around and travel with their iPad Pro and also wants to easily work with it using the keyboard and trackpad. But you pay a pretty high price for it. I purchased the Keytron keyboard for under $100 and recently got Logitech’s MX Master 3 Mouse for $100. These are two great devices for working on computers and the iPads. But they are not as portable as the Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro. So you are paying for the portability when you pay $349 or $299 for these Magic Keyboards.
  • Another frustration is you cannot bend one of the covers fully behind the iPad Pro so that it is flush with the back. The original keyboard cover and the second generation keyboard cover allows you to do that. That allowed me to then use the iPad as just a tablet and get the keyboard out of the way when I didn’t need to use it. On the second generation it was awkward as the keys would be facing out on the back so when you held the iPad with one cover on the back your hand would be pressing down on the keys. The original origami keyboard cover for the iPad Pro had the keys facing in on the back side of the iPad Pro. This newest model doesn’t allow you to swing one side of the cover fully on the back. That means you cannot use the iPad as just a tablet unless you completely separate it from the Magic Keyboard. I don’t like that because I rely on the Magic Keyboard as a cover protecting the iPad. So the Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro is really less a cover for the iPad Pro then a highly portable and compact keyboard with trackpad. I guess Apple had to make it this way to make the structure of the keyboard cover stronger than the previous models. The origami keyboard cover was frustratingly unstable. This Magic Keyboard is heavy and well balanced. You can more easily balance it on your lap and type on it.

So who is this keyboard cover for? I would suggest it for anyone who is an iPad enthusiast and anyone who uses the iPad Pro as their main work or production device. If you do a lot of work on the iPad, you should definitely get this. Between using the keyboard, touchpad and touch screen, you have complete and easy control of the iPad Pro. Having the backlight and additional USB-C connection on the keyboard (it only charges and doesn’t send data) makes it easier to use the iPad Pro.

I should point out that Apple has three different covers for the iPad Pro.
Magic Keyboard Smart Keyboard Folio Smart Folio
Model 11-inch iPad Pro 12.9-inch iPad Pro
Magic Keyboard Cover $299 $349
Smart Keyboard Folio $179 $199
Smart Folio $79 $99

If you are a hardcore iPad Pro user it might make sense to purchase not only the Magic Keyboard Cover but also the Smart Folio. The Smart Folio has no keyboard or trackpad. It is just a cover for the front and back. What is good about it it automatically shuts down the screen when you close the cover. Also, you can swing the cover on the front to the back and it is thin. So if you just want to use the iPad Pro as a tablet this Smart Folio will protect it. So I can see someone purchasing both the Magic Keyboard Cover and the Smart Folio. When they don’t need the keyboard and what to travel with the iPad Pro they may put the Smart Folio on it. When you need the keyboard and trackpad you take the Magic Keyboard Cover. Yes, you could get the Magic Keyboard Cover and just take out the iPad Pro naked when you want to use it just as a tablet. But some people, like me, would be afraid that the iPad Pro will be damaged it you don’t have a cover.

One thing to point out is that the Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro is pretty heavy:

The 12.9-inch iPad Pro and Magic Keyboard weigh in at 3 pounds (1362 grams), more than the 2.8 pounds (1290 grams) of the 13-inch MacBook Air but the same as the 13-inch MacBook Pro.

(The Verge). For that reason that is also why you can’t really hold the iPad Pro with the Magic Keyboard as a tablet. It is heavy, heavy as a 13-inch MacBook Pro. That is why I may purchase the Smart Folio to use the iPad Pro as a tablet when I want to be more mobile and protect it.

To sum it up, though it is expensive, the Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro is the best keyboard and trackpad when you want to be mobile with the iPad Pro. If you are never leaving your office with the iPad Pro, I would think about getting another keyboard or trackpad and a stand for the iPad Pro. But if you are ever going to move around and leave your home or office with the iPad Pro and want to type and do work on your iPad Pro, this is the device for you.

Definitely a thumbs up from me!