Apple could easily add an SD card slot, but then couldn’t sell storage on the iPad for 500%+ of their cost.
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You’re clearly mistaken - people are doing 4K video editing on iPad Pro.
Simple task? I think not 
People run entire websites, businesses, do RAW+ image editing (myself included) on iPad. Simple task? Not really.
The newest line of iPad Pro are more powerful than MacBook Pro.
Sure, we still have to do file tasks through iCloud & other cloud services which suits me just fine, by the way.
My point being - don’t call the iPad good for merely “simple tasks” 'Cause you’re so mistaken
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I don’t think I have shared files directly since dropbox was invented. For sharing / moving files I use iCloud, Synology and/or Dropbox on all my devices. (even the macs) And since iOS 11 that’s been rock solid for me.
So again:
it is comparing a device type (iPad) to a different device type (MAC) for a specific use case (transferring a file using an external drive)
For me: that’s a non-usecase, I simply never have to. I am connected 99% of the time and simply never have issues transferring files.
But for you this might be different.
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iPad Pro plus Apple Pencil are key to my paperless (i.e., much less paper) workflows. I review documents, grade papers, draw, edit photos, brainstorm, communicate, consume content, etc. using these two devices. No other satisfactory alternatives exist. A keyboard is an important add too, but it doesn’t provide unique functionality, just more functionality.
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What I do not get is the discussion if it is true or if it is not true that an iPad (Pro) can or cannot replace “X”, “Y” or “Z”. Because I do not see an answer to that. Everbody’s use case is different.
Let us assume that somebody puts a gun to my head and shouts: “Decide! What do you want to keep? Your iPad or your Mac? Decide! Now! You can keep only one of them! Decide!” 
Then… I would choose the iPad. Yes, I would.
I will try to explain. At work, I have to use a PC. And no, I do not want to start a discussion about that. At home, I have been in Apple land with 100% of my devices since 2006. At home and out and about for my hobby stuff I do:
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edit photos,
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read sheet music (I have literally thousands of pages of sheet music I take with me on my iPad),
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write sheet music,
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write short-form stuff,
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edit my websites,
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watch video,
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read newspapers and magazines,
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use Excel,
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my taxes.
In combination with my NAS (I would not be able to get around only with an iPad if I had no NAS), there is nothing I cannot do with my iPad given my use cases. But there are a lot of things I could not accomplish as conveniently with my Mac. Would I want to do EVERYTHING on my iPad right now? Am I ready to have no Mac? No, I am not. But I could not see myself not having an iPad. So, I would prefer going without a Mac, if I had to choose between a Mac and an iPad.
I use my iPad every day. I do not use my Mac every day. That’s how I have been rolling for almost two years now. And with everything Apple introduced in iOS 11 and iOS 12, with the apps getting better and better, and last but not least with the iPad Pros and their really fantastic Smart Folio Keyboard, which has bridged even more gaps in my iPad use, I find myself using the iPad more and more and my Mac less and less.
Nobody has to use an iPad and nobody has to “get” the iPad. But I really do not think that there is a universal truth out there, if an iPad can replace a Mac or if a Mac can replace an iPad for that matter.
P.S. Yes, I would love to have the ability to connect drives via USB-C.
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Fingers crossed. Back in January it was reported that most additional iOS functionality (and a rumored significant refresh to the grid-layout) was pushed back in iOS 12 so Apple could devote programming resources to speed improvements and reliability underpinnings.
It seems to me that Apple will without doubt introduce additional USB-C device support, including storage, and I’m also hopeful (desperately wishing, to be more accurate) that we’ll also see support for the Magic Trackpad (perhaps alongside a new pro keyboard with it integrated with function & transport keys).
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JohnAtl, first thanks for tip in Zettlekasten. This was game changing. How do you use this method on iPad? Links between notes would be so key.
To reiterate what everyone else has written, there is a lot I can do on MBP but not iPad, but reading, organizing, etc journal articles and making teaching videos is where iPad excels. The battery lasts a lot longer, too.
The 13” MBP is about the same size and weight as the iPad to me so size isn’t a benefit.
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You’re welcome, and I don’t use this on my iPad 
Having said that, each note (I guess that would be a Zettel) has a link to both the Bookends reference (the PDF and metadata), and a link to its entry in DEVONthink (which indexes the folder where Bookend’s PDFs live). The DEVONthink database also indexes all my notes. Technically, I could access them on my iPad using DEVONthink, but it seems like a lot of trouble, so I just use my Mac.
The thing that DEVONthink does with all this info, is its AI finds relationships between my Bookends references and my notes. So I can click a note in DEVONthink, then click the “magic hat” and it will show be related references.
The relationships I define in my notes (by linking to other notes) are sparse at the moment, and usually duplicate the references the authors made in their article (PDF). DEVONthink can work these things out, so I only put in the most salient links.
That’s a lot of words I wrote, hope it makes sense.
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Listening to this morning’s episode of MPU with Casey Liss, I realise that I’ve made a mistake. I recently bought the new MacBook Air 2018, replacing my 5-year-old Air and it’s a great machine.
But now I have this terrible iPad Pro-itch. I want it so badly and use it as my first machine. I want go iPad only. What’s the return policy when one has bought Mac directly from the Apple website?
So I get the iPad Pro now and I’m going to get one. Will 64 GB be sufficient? Any thoughts on this? What about the Apple’s Smart Keyboard, is it up to the standard?
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I have the 11” model with 256 Gb. I did this because I keep my iPads around for a long time, and have found that software tends to grow a lot over the years. So for me it is just a precaution. Also, as I bought the wifi version I have a bit more limited internet access so can make use of the space once on the road.
Currently my iPad is at about 40Gb and stable at around that mark, but I have not used it for work that much yet.
I think it all depends on how you’re going to use it, and if it is iPad only you want I would recommend taking on a bit more storage.
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That makes the assumption that you actually have cellular everywhere. There are huge swaths of the United states with zero cell phone coverage and many more with only 1 carrier or at most 2 and it’s never Verizon.
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I ran my original 12.9 on 128 MB and it was fine for me. I have quite a bit of photos and apps, as well as audio, but I don’t keep any video on the device. The “is it enough” question will always come back to “what will you be using it for?”
That said, when getting the new 12.9, I felt that for my use cases the coming 3-4 years, 256 will probably be fine for me. Also, if that USB-C will ever get support for external Mass Storage, we have a different playing field alltogheter.
I think the keyboard feels fine enough to type on, but I’m still rocking my 6(?) year old, now discontinued, Logitech K811 as I prefer a standalone keyboard to the Keyboard Folio.
So I’m gonna get the 10.5 iPad Pro, no cellular, and 256 GB and the Smart Keyboard.
Storage is way more than I need, but 64 GB is just about pushing it.
I can’t believe I’m doing this. I just spent 2666.88 USD on the new MacBook Air including dongles, external harddisk and sleeve.
Someone please stop me. Please.
I said that, but I’m already pushing 55GB. I was sure I’d be wasting my money if I got 256GB, but assuming my usage doubles in three years, it’ll have been the right choice. Most of it is from apps and files.
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I’ll have to hang on to this new MacBook Air though. I can’t go completely iPad only yet. At least that’s what I’m thinking right now.
We’ll see in a month’s time.
If you’re still in the bring back window, couldn’t you trade in your air for a mac mini?
you might just about brake even with that and the ipad pro?
I bought Air 2018 on November 11, so I’m outside the holiday trade-in, unfortunately, which began on November 18.
I’m also still doubtful that I’ll be able to use an iPad exclusively. It would be nice to have a portable Mac as well, though the price is high for that… I’m fearing that this new MacBook Air will just be on the shelf…
I know the feeling.
Bought a macbook pro in 2016 along with an ipad pro 9,7”
The macbook pro is on a shelf somewhere, and my wife sometimes uses it,
The iPad pro (and now the new one) is never more than 1-2 meters away from my hands at any given time 
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Oh god say it isn’t so.
I think I’m gonna keep using the new MacBook Air for work. It is a really, really nice laptop. So I’ll probably just keep bringing it to work with me in order to keep using it and then ill have the iPad at home and take it with me on trips.
Do you think I will be able to keep this up? If not, then I will have to sell the Air. I never keep technology around that I’m not using.
My only issue is that I have Photo libraries. And yeah, that is basically what’s holding me back. I also have a bunch of Audiobooks that are not iCloud. But I have purchased them mostly through Audible and iTunes. Some I have added manually. Going all iPad would mean to lose some data, I reckon.
I also really like Fantastical 2 on the Mac (and many other apps on the Mac as well). I especially like that Fantastical on the Mac integrates with Meetup. The iOS apps don’t do this yet.