2020 iPad Pro as a True Daily Driver?

Well it’s time to look at what (after 11 years) still has the computing world in an argument. Can iPad Pro replace your laptop or desktop. I for one have a personal choice as do so many others out there in the tech world. 

For me I do use both devices. I have a 2018 MacBook Pro 15 inch 16 GBs RAM and i7 Processor with 500 GBs flash storage. I use a 1 TB SeaGate HDD that I store all of my YouTube and business videos on. I also have the 2020 11 inch iPad Pro base model with 6 GBs RAM and 128 GBs Flash storage. Each device is great for my use but I have had a tendency to grab my iPad for more everyday uses until recently. More on that in a bit.

Let’s take a look at what most people actually do with a PC. Web browsing and social media take up most of my friends time. FaceBook and TikTok have become the go to sites for leisure and fun while others tend to try to do more creative tasks. I am one of those who tries to be creative. I tend to spend time filming videos, taking photographs, and editing. One of these two devices was my main editing device and the other was just a media consumption device for a long time. 

The 2020 iPad Pro has some impressive specs with the Geekbench scores coming in at a respectable Single Core 1116 and Multi Core at 4618. Nothing to laugh at out of a small device. The 2020 MacBook Pro 13 inch has a  Single Core Score of 1228 and Multi Core Score of 4510. The iPad Pro wins in Multi Core Score over a MacBook Pro 13 inch but fails at the new 16 inch MacBook Pros 6956 Multi Core Score as well as the 5074 score on the 2018 15 inch Pro model.

Now these scores do not mean that in a real world test that the MacBook automatically wins every time. The iPad Pro is optimized enough in its body and settings that it is still faster in most real world tests. In fact my iPad Pro model has beat my MacBook Pro in rendering 4K video by a minute or better.  But this doesn’t even matter to most people. Specs, numbers, times, who cares. Most people are not rendering 4K video on the norm. Most people care about getting their work done and watching NetFlix and visiting FaceBook. Can an iPad Pro do that? Yes, and then some. 

I created a spreadsheet in Numbers for my business using my iPad Pro. Here’s a look at it. 

Getting back to what I mentioned earlier. Each new time I pick up my iPad I tend to use it more for my creative ventures than I did before. Using LumaFusion I can create some of the best video edits I have ever done, using Pixelmator I can create some of the most stunning photographs I have ever taken, and using the iWork suite I can get all of my everyday office work done. (Just saying you can get Microsoft Office on iPad as well.) The easily taken with you iPad with a keyboard and mouse or pencil is an amazing device. 

Of course there are some downsides to the iPad. You can’t do any real coding for apps or programs on the iPad yet that I know of and there is not a multi-user function yet. Most professional offices still use dated desktops running Microsoft however the iWork apps play nice with Microsoft Office so that’s a plus. 

To answer the question can an iPad Pro replace a laptop or desktop.... Yes, yes it can for most users. Although I wouldn’t call it a replacement, I would call it a new computer. It’s all in the apps. I am glad I took the time to try to use my iPad and really sit down and force myself to create videos, write this blog, edit photos, and get real work done. Had I not tried I would still be in the boat of uncertainty.