Image editing: the iPad has no color management and that, for me, is a deal-breaker.
No Sublime Text, no Codekit, no way to compile code. I have a 12.9 2ng gen iPad, a 13inch MacBook Pro and a macMini, screen size is not an issue I have adapted from my old 27" iMac when I decided to move abroad and be more mobile.
If I could code sensibly on an iPad (yes I know I can jump through some hoops and make it work) it’s just not worth the stress… yet.
Neither that nor ‘They tell us how great the iPad is’ is the same as Apple telling people they can or should go iPad-only.
My point is I believe your inference is incorrect. When your TV is a computer, your watch is a computer and your phone is a computer, the last thing Apple wants to suggest is that they need to go iPad-only for their computing tasks.
I don’t think the watch, the tv, and the phone aren’t really relevant to this conversation. When people talk about going “iPad only” they’re talking about ditching their Mac or PC, not their phone.
As fas as Mac vs iPad, Apple has always been happy to cannibalize their own products, as long as they’re the ones doing the cannibalizing.
I think Apple does want people to be able to do basic computing entirely on an iPad instead of a Mac. To me this is self-evident and I don’t think controversial.
I don’t think Apple wants the iPad Pro to completely replace the Mac for professional users who use the Mac, but they do want professionals to be able to do everything on the iPad Pro. My opinion is that Apple wants to make this happen with a combination of increased power and functionality, and changing how people work. Going iPad only means doing jobs that over time involve more touch, more portability, more drawing, more use of voice, etc., with extended typing, multi-window applications, etc. becoming increasingly specialized work. I can’t prove this, but I think this fits how the phone took on work PCs used to do.
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Chris, for much of the world the smartphone is peoples’ primary computer, even though it’s generaqlly not marketed as such. So that is what makes it relevant - it and other devices are computers, and Apple is not saying any of them should be the only device one uses. When so many things are computers, and without Apple specifically marketing iPads as replacements (as opposed to alternatives, like the iPhone) it’s overreaching to believe that by Apple telling us how great the iPad is it “needs to realize that it still needs a lot to go iPad only” (something I’m sure they know), but more, that Apple is not in any rush for anyone to do so in the first place.
That last bit is the key. While the smartphone may be many people’s primary computer, this conversation (and to the extent that Apple is marketing the iPad as a replacement for your computer), it’s about the iPad vs the Mac/PC.
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Apple is happy if someone buys an iPad, whether or not it’s in conjunction with any other computer. A lot of iPad users mistakenly infer Apple promotes the iPad as a replacement They market it as an alternative, and especially with the emphasis on cross platform solutions like Microsoft apps, they make iPads so known to be used alongside other computers (be they phones or desktops with different OSes).
So when Claus says, “It would be nice if “Apple” would read the answers to realize that it still needs a lot to go iPad only” I believe it misses the point in a couple of ways - Apple is well aware of the iPad’s limitations, and Apple is not necessarily rushing to create a world of iPad-only computing for people.
When the iPad Pro came out Tim Cook said, “The iPad is the clearest expression of our vision of the future of personal computing.” The destination is clear and while they may not be moving fast enough for some, with each hardware and software release they are moving closer.
Two things are stopping me from going iPad-only:
Web apps. As someone mentioned before, Squarespace is impossible to use on a touch-interface device. So many times a client has emailed me with a small change to their site, and I can’t do it until I’m in front of my Mac.
Technical support. I’d love to stop having to lug a laptop to my clients’ houses, but many tech problems can’t be diagnosed without one.
“Alternative” = Replacement. If you are using an iPad as an alternative for another computer, that means it is a replacement to that computer. (If not, it must be used together with that other computer to solve whatever other computing tasks one has.)
Certainly, an iPad can do what you are suggesting–be used alongside another machine. It has been able to do that from day one. Apple is most definitely trying to position iPad as (potentially) all the computer you need to do the work you need to do. There is nothing interesting to Apple about positioning an iPad as another device to use in conjunction with all your other devices. The iPad is being positioned to take over another category of computing.
If you look at computer usage and users on a spectrum, here is what the world looks like:
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there are some people who exist who can already use iPad for 100% of what they do without the need to rely on another computer;
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there are people who can use iPad for most of what they do without relying on another computer;
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there are people who can use iPad for some of what they do without relying on another computer; and
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there are people who cannot use an iPad at all without relying on another computer.
The question is how does Apple expand the spectrum of users who can do all of their computing tasks on an iPad without relying on another computer?
That’s a lot of what is being discussed on this thread. What would it take for a reader/commenter to this thread to be able to use an iPad without relying on another computer?
To sell more iPads, the iPad needs to solve more problems and it needs to solve them in a way that is better than what people are already used to.
I’m not saying I think Apple wants to eliminate the Mac. I have no idea about that. But it definitely wants iPad to be able to do everything a casual or professional user can do on a Mac (or PC) so that such a user can buy an iPad instead of a PC (if the user wanted to). Some people will always want/need multiple devices. Many people don’t. They buy one laptop instead of a desktop and a laptop.
Right now, for a lot of users, buying an iPad means having an extra device. Since it does not replace something else, you now have to decide whether you need a second tool, and then (assuming your first tool is a laptop) you have to carry around two tools instead of one. Will an iPad ever be a complete replacement for an engineer, scientist, gaming studio, film production company, etc.? I don’t contend that is what Apple is aiming for.
For typical casual and professional users the question they ask, likely is, I have a desktop at home, do I get a laptop or an iPad for mobile usage? Right now, anyone who has a laptop can do 100% or almost 100% of what they can do on their desktop at home/office. Users do not need to think about what they’re giving up with a laptop. iPad – as Apple’s “clearest expression” of its vision for the future of personal computing – must arrive at that same destination. The user must be able to get done all of what the user needs a computer for on that device and without a bunch of hacks and work-arounds.
tl;dr: Apple clearly does not want to position iPad as a specialized tool. It wants to sell them as a general, all-purpose computer; ergo, a replacement.
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Again, Cook’s quote does not specifically refer to going iPad only, either in September 2015, when Cook said that, or today.
Alternative means just that: alternative, not replacement. I think Rene Ritchie of iMore gets it:
_As a laptop replacement, I don’t really wonder about the iPad Pro that way, any more than I wonder about the MacBook Air replacing the iMac Pro. Both the iPad Pro and MacBook Air are ultra-portables, and both the MacBook Air and iMac Pro are traditional computers, but to me they remain different, if overlapping tools in the belt… _
Is the MacBook Pro an iMac Pro replacement? For more people than the MacBook Air, I bet, but certainly not everyone. Nor is it meant to be. It’s meant to be an alternative for those willing to trade some power for portability, or an addition for people who need maximum power at the desk but also as much power as possible on the go.
Is the 12-inch MacBook an iPad Pro replacement? Probably, for people who want something ultra-light that can run macOS down to it’s UNIX terminal. For those who want an incredibly powerful tablet for illustration, drafting, modeling, and more? Not so much.
And:
This is iPad. It’s not a laptop replacement, whatever that means, but it’s a laptop alternative that an incredibly diverse array of people will find more mobile, more flexible, and more accessible than any laptop.
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I think you are missing the point of this thread. There is no doubt whatsoever that the iPad is already a successful “alternative” as you have defined it. Using your definition, the point of this thread is what would it take for iPad to become a more suitable alternative for a wider swath of people.
We can debate until we are blue in the face about whether Apple sees iPad as a replacement or an alternative, but it is irrelevant in large measure. What will cause (more) end-users to buy it and want to use it? To motivate more mainstream users to purchase an iPad it probably needs to be able to replace more of the functions of one’s traditional computer.
Not at all; I gave my initial response in the thread more than a week ago. But that does not preclude me from disagreeing with someone’s more recent post.
That’s a fair point 
The iPad Pro totally is a laptop replacement. I replaced my laptop with it. Well, I replaced it with Mac Mini and iPad Pro I need more specialised tools since my workload keeps increasing and the laptop just wasn’t enough anymore.
I think that a lot of people are trying to make the iPad a do it all and I see it as a fairly specialized tool, whereas the laptop is the do it all And I am talking about the iPad Pro. Normal iPads are in a slightly different class.
That’s great for you. Obviously not for everyone, or there wouldn’t be so many people discussing barriers to using it as a replacement. 
And now please read the rest of my post
Marty, I read your entire post. Even the words I agreed with. 
You replaced your laptop in favor of a ‘specialized tool’ … which sort of proves the point others have made about there being barriers to going iPad only (the subject of the thread!)