I am a business coach / consultant and starting to “downshift” my practice, working about 50% of the time before full retirement. As part of that downshift, I am considering a technology reset. I am primarily an iPad guy — I have an M4 iPad 11” (2024) and M4 iPad 13” (2024). I have an M1 iMac 24” (2021) that I use primarily for Zoom calls as I generally do most of my work (content creation, note taking, email, etc.) away from my desk on my large iPad. I generally do not sit at my desk unless I am on a Zoom call or using Mac specific apps. I do not do any video work — my needs are pretty basic. My primary apps — beyond calendaring, task management, and email — are Craft, GoodNotes, Word / Excel, Keynote / Pages, Day One, Safari. I LOVE / prefer the iPad primary because of the Apple Pencil and writing on the screen taking notes, journaling, marking up PDFs, etc. The iPad(s) have been my go-to devices for years. I use them 80% of the time.
Here is what I am considering and would appreciate any advice / perspective.
Trading in my M4 iPad 13” and M1 iMac 24” for an M4 MacBook Air 15”. I would still need to pay a bit of money.
This would give me more portable Mac power over an iPad and would replace the need for my 13” iPad. The Air would enable me to use it as frequently as the 13” iPad due to portability. I would still have my 11” iPad.
So I downsize to one iPad and downsize from a desktop iMac to a portable MacBook Air. I still keep using iPads that I love AND now have a portable MacBook Air that I can take advantage of.
I appreciate any wisdom, advice, questions that would help my decision-making. Thank you!
Are you a touch typist? Will you be doing significant typing input? If so, the smaller keyboard on the Air may cause some frustration. Check it out first.
Will you really want to be using the Air when you are retired, sitting at your vacation spot? Or traveling around on a long weekend tour of your bucket-list to-do’s with your BFF? Would you find that the Air ends up mostly sitting at home on your desk? If so, perhaps you should keep the iMac and just trade off the lower-end iPad (maybe for a benefit rather than a loss).
For different reasons, I’ve also been experimenting with a different hardware stack and use. If I make a change, it will likely be:
Keep using the 13" iPad Pro for the majority of my work. 90% of my work is text-based, making it relatively easy to rely on the iPad. With iPadOS 26, the iPad Pro does nearly everything I need.
Use either the 11" or iPad Mini for reading/annotation.
Purchase a Mac Mini and a Studio Display for when I need a Mac and a bigger screen.
I also do most of my work away from my desk–over the years, I’ve grown tired of sitting at a desk.
I like your plan but that’s because it validates my own choices
I have the 15” MacBook Air and love it.
I strongly prefer the 11” iPad as a content consumption device and only occasionally use it in meetings.
I currently have a 13” iPad Air as well but it will be decommissioned this week when I get an 11” iPad Pro again. I’ve switch to the remarkable move as a note taking device and, so far, that’s working for me. If I’m going to do anything resembling work when mobile, the 15” Air is both what I want and a delight.
Alternative point of view - similar situ, one foot leaving work, one foot entering retirement:
Macbook Air M3 docked in a vertical minimalist stand with Apple Studio Monitor. Spending much more time at my home office desk and love the large screen and super clear text. Prefer jumping into a chair and having that luxury to do some quick computing than crouching with a laptop screen and keyboard.
Still have my Intel iPad Pro 12.9" and grab it for the occassional on the couch YouTube or web browsing, but rarely use it for any of the productivity tools I used to use.
Will probably let iPad “age-out” and not replace it, using Macbook Air undocked instead when the need arises. Saves money, reduces complexity.
MacBook Air is my “on the go” solution whenever leaving home or travelling. No need to sync data or app setup as only one system is my main system now.
FYI - More of my effort has been on reducing “cognitive computing complexity” by reducing the number of one-off tools and subscriptions.
E.G. Replaced Text Expander with the same capability in Keyboard Maestro I already use - took a little time and learning, but that one-time effort results in one less special tool to maintain and one less subscription.
Good thoughts. I’m not sure I would miss the larger display since I use it so rarely right now. My biggest question is … would a portable MacBook AIR that I would use far more frequently than the iMac bring me more joy and additional features and productivity than my 13” iPad Pro?! Particularly since the 13” iPad Pro is redundant with the 11” iPad Pro when I would have the 15” AIR to be my productivity machine. I honestly do not do much work sitting at my desk now days.
From what I understand you prefer using an iPad. I would keep an iPad or both if you feel the need. Why robbing yourself of joy of use? I am not sure what you keep an 11 inch iPad for? If you wish to downsize, maybe that is the device that needs to go?
Also, I enjoy having a stationary Mac (mini) instead of moving one around for backups and the automation I keep meaning to program but never do. I also like having a location for doing “serious work” instead of taking my Mac to the living room. My only other device is an iPhone. iPads are not for me but boy are they elegant computing devices.
TL;DR as others have repeated, if you only want one type of the system, the Macbook is light enough to be a good alternative to iPads with the key benefit it will always be able to run anything (Mac) you throw at it.
iPads, IMHO, have always had some brick-wall limitations that hit at the worst possible time, whilst otherwise are also a joy to use.
The MBA Keyboard does get in the way at times for me, but not enough that I hate it.
It’s also worth shouting out that you can run iPhone and iPad apps on Macs too now.
The input I have received has been great and much appreciated! I asked ChatGPT this question as well and found it useful …
Given that you currently have the iPad Pro 13″ (M4), switching to the MacBook Air 15″ (M4) makes sense if your workflow is shifting more toward “laptop / desktop-style” work: multitasking, bigger screen, full apps, external displays, keyboard/trackpad. You’ll get more power, more workspace, which is great.
However, if you value the touch + stylus + ultra-light portability of the iPad, then you might feel a little compromised by making the switch. The iPad is still excellent, and if the MacBook won’t dramatically improve your workflow, you may be losing some tablet-centric benefits.
My takeaway is to PAUSE and revisit in the future. Two things are leaning me in that direction … maintaining the JOY I have in using iPads and potentially “feeling compromised by making the switch.” Plus, right now everything works and fits and I do not want to get into the nightmare of dealings with bags, dongles, accessories, and so forth.
I think the comments about keep an iPad may well make most sense. However to throw in some alternate thoughts
I’m now fully retired (programme management consultant) gave up iPads entirely - went from a small iPhone to a Pro Max. Which provides fonts big enough for my eyesight without glasses. And back to a MacBook from a Mac mini.
For the hobbies I now have much more time for I found a supernote nomad then manta. Provided a much more functional environment
annotated diagrams and sketches
possibly the closest handwriting experience to the palm pilot, that for me was the most useful tool
YMMV
I’m not sure how long 50% will last, but when I dropped to 0% it was worth a rethink about how my creativity now worked
I’ve been retired for a few years and currently own a 13" M4 MacBook Air and an 11" M2 iPad Air. I use my iPad 90% of the time while my MacBook runs Arqbackup and Hazel 24x7. The software I rely on most will run Mac or iPad. As a result I replaced my 2020 iPad Pro with a iPad Air. The Pro didn’t offer anything I wanted or needed
My #1 rule and recommendation, when asked, is let your software determine the hardware you use. Based on what you’ve said you should be OK using any combination of hardware, IMO.
Unless I needed/wanted a bigger screen, or something, I doubt if I’d buy anything at this time. Things are changing fast, and I might want something entirely different in the near future.
Particularly since the 13” iPad Pro is redundant with the 11” iPad Pro when I would have the 15” AIR to be my productivity machine. I honestly do not do much work sitting at my desk now days.
!