I’m on a 2017 12.9 iPad Pro, using a Brydge keyboard. At home I use my iMac 5K for most everything, except reading PDFs, but 75% of the time I’m iPad-only when I’m working on campus.
Sources of delight
- Using the Pencil to scribble comments to students and colleagues on PDFs, especially because I can pinch out for more space to write in the margin.
- Apps like PDF Viewer that follow Apple’s recommended implementation of “Open In…”.
- Presenting with Keynote, with my iPhone connected to a projector and an HDMI-dongle and then holding the iPad in “Remote” mode, which allows me to scribble on the slide, use a pointer, and see the “next slide”. So, so cool.
- Screen quality while watching Learn.MacSparky.com videos!
- The Brydge keyboard is a complete gamechanger for me. Really makes it feel like I’m on my 2013 MacBook Pro (though I wish it were as easy to detach as Apple’s Smart Folio).
Sources of frustration
- File management, in general, but especially Apple’s DISASTEROUS implementation of tags is. See my MPU Talk posting on what needs to be improved in tagging.
- So little control over what is available offline. Especially for Photos albums, this is a total pain, but also for Files. Getting a cellular iPad has alleviated this a great deal, but for people on WiFi-only, this is a huge hassle.
- Apps that fail to follow Apple’s recommended implementation of “Open In…”, forcing you either to use a proprietary parallel universe of file management or resort to “Open a Copy” (I’m looking at you, PDF Expert!)
- Better search. I would love to have something like HoudahSpot on the iPad. In fact, the days I bring my laptop to work instead of just the iPad, it’s usually because I’m anxious I won’t be able to find files quickly.