How to make your iPad work like a laptop

The perennial question for anyone who needs mobile computing: Should I buy a full laptop or should I buy a tablet and try to use it as a laptop? The second option is very viable with the latest iPad models.

IPad is not a laptop, but it gets closer and closer. The latest Apple tablets work with keyboards and mice and have USB-C ports, and some even share the same system on chip as the latest MacBooks. In various use cases, an iPad can now completely replace a laptop.

Which iPad is the most similar to a laptop?

The iPad Pro is the most laptop-like tablet Apple produces. It is enabled in screen sizes of 11 inches (from $ 799) and 12,9 inches (from $ 1,099), It has the new Apple M1 chip inside and is charged through a single USB-C port like most new laptops.

IPad Air 10,9 inches (from $ 599) ranks close second, but does not offer the same level of performance. The Air has USB-C charging but works with the A14 Bionic system on chip, a little older. Both the Pro and Air ranges are compatible with the new Magic Keyboard accessory, which goes a long way towards making the iPad feel more like a laptop.

On 2020, Apple began transitioning its Mac range to Apple Silicon ARM chips, starting with the M1. The M1 is effectively a successor to the A14 system-on-chip that Apple was already using on its iPad and iPhone range.. Then, even though the iPad Pro wasn't the first to get the name M1 chip, the lines between this and the A14 are blurry.

Even though the iPad Pro shares the same chip as Apple's Mac range, performance is limited by iPad's lack of cooling and form factor. The iMac of 24 inch and MacBook Pro's 13 inch have fans inside that allow them to stay under load longer before clock speeds drop. Despite this, iPad Pro relies solely on the aluminum chassis to disperse heat.

Another way the iPad M1's performance doesn't match the MacBooks M1 is in the way that iPadOS manages RAM.. The iPad Pro 2021 has 8GB of RAM or 16GB on 1TB and 2TB models. Currently, processes can only use 5 GB of RAM, no matter what iPad Pro you have. This means that a single application cannot use the full power of the iPad Pro., even though more RAM means better multitasking performance.

The screen size you choose can also have a big impact. The largest iPad Pro in 12,9 inches provides more screen real estate for better multitasking and is also ideal for artists who appreciate a larger canvas. The smallest Pro of 11 inches and the Air of 10,9 inches are more like a tablet, since they are much better suited to handheld use, but they sacrifice pixels to do it.

Add a keyboard or mouse to any iPad

Even if you have a normal old iPad, you can make it more like a laptop by adding a keyboard and mouse. You can do this with wired and wireless peripherals that use Bluetooth, as long as you have the right adapters for the job.

If you have an iPad USB-C like Pro or Air, you can connect a USB-C keyboard or mouse or use a standard USB-A to USB-C to adapt peripherals with the older connector type. There is nothing to enable or install, most keyboards should “just work” wherever you can enter text.

It is also possible to connect a Bluetooth keyboard or mouse. Just head to Settings> Bluetooth on your iPad and then put your keyboard or mouse in pairing mode. When I see it appear in the list, tap it to pair. At the same time of the usual Bluetooth keyboards and mice, el Magic Trackpad 2 from Apple can also be used with iPadOS.

There are a number of handy iPad keyboard shortcuts you can use to get around iPadOS faster than ever., including the usual copy and paste (Command + C and Command + V, respectively) and the application change (Command + Tabulator).

To customize the appearance of the mouse pointer, go to Settings> Accessibility> Pointer control, where you can change the size, the color, pointer shape and more. Apple has a mouse gesture list that you can use with your iPad.

Get some iPad-specific peripherals

If you have an iPad Pro or iPad Air, Apple Magic keyboard (from $ 299) it is one of the best accessories you can buy. At the same time being a full keyboard with an integrated trackpad, it's a great stand that makes using your tablet on a desk or other flat surface that much more enjoyable.

The Magic Keyboard is comfortable to type and uses a hinged design that allows you to adjust the viewing angle. Stands slightly taller than average laptop screen and folds flat to protect your tablet in transit. Plus you get a conveniently located USB-C port for expansion or charging..

Unfortunately, the Magic Keyboard is an expensive accessory that can be hard to justify. If you have a tighter budget, see Logitech Combo Touch for Pro models of 11 and 12,9 inches. Features a Surface-style keyboard and trackpad, with a stand built into a folio design that also protects your iPad.

Plus there are iPad docks available, allowing you to connect many more devices to your iPad Pro. As an example, the Anker PowerExpand 6 on 1 for iPad Pro includes a media card reader, a stereo connector of 3,5 mm, a USB 3.0 Type A, an HDMI output and a USB-C port for charging or other accessories. It is small enough to take with you or even leave it permanently connected to your tablet.

Using your iPad with a monitor

Laptops are prized for their portability, but they can become as useful as desktop computers when combined with an external monitor. IPads can also be used with external displays, even though its usefulness in this regard often depends on what you are trying to do or the application you are using.

As an example, connecting an iPad to an external display mirrors the iPad screen for the most part. Applications like iMovie allow you to select whether you want to have the timeline on the screen or simply use it as a monitor for project output.. Photos will send images and videos to the monitor, which is a useful function to have available when editing.

Unfortunately, iPad will only show up in one aspect ratio of 4: 3 when connected to an external display. This may seem a bit strange on a standard widescreen monitor, with black bars appearing on both sides of the screen.

If you are determined to use your iPad with an external display, there are three alternatives to do it:

• USB-C a USB-C: If both your iPad and your monitor have USB-C connectors, use the USB-C cable that came with your monitor to connect it. If your monitor has USB-PD, will charge your iPad.
• USB-C to an appropriate connector: You can take a cable from the USB-C port of your iPad to an adapter that is appropriate for your monitor (As the Anker PowerExpand 6 on 1).
• Adapter Lightning AV digital to HDMI: If your iPad has a Lightning port, Apple's Adapter AV digital Lightning enables you to connect to an HDMI-compatible display.

These iPadOS features also help

iPadOS has deviated from the iOS mold, with Apple migrating features like the Mac dock to the iPad to make it a more productive workspace. These features make it much easier to use your iPad as a laptop., especially when it comes to multitasking.

You can use up to three applications at the same time on your iPad: two open side by side with Split View and a third floating on top through Slide Over. To do this, open an app and then swipe up to reveal the iPad base again. Touch and drag your second app to the side of the screen you'd like it to occupy.

While in this mode, you can take the middle divider to choose how much screen space each app has. You can later add a third app by swiping up to reveal the dock, and later by touching and dragging the application to the central divider among the other applications.

Although it has two applications open next to each other, you can drag and drop between them. This enables you to do things like drag an image from Photos to a new message in Mail or upload a file from Files to a cloud storage service like Google Drive..

The dock is also very useful to do things. You can remove items by tapping and dragging or adding apps by grabbing the app icon and moving it to the dock. The bottom part to the right of pinned items will show recently used apps for quick retrieval.

App substitutes and other deficiencies

iPadOS got considerably more like a laptop over the years, but you may find yourself turning to app substitutes for some tasks. Although Safari on iOS is a full web browser, not all websites work well. An example of this is using a content management system like WordPress., where navigation can be a chore.

Web applications that are designed for traditional browsers (instead of touch) they can also exhibit erratic behavior. There are app versions of most common web apps that work fine, but this needs to juggle a lot of apps rather than just using a browser, as is preferable on a laptop.

Apple's approach to the iPhone and iPad limits the operating system in a way that macOS does not.. Common system tasks, how to format a USB memory, cannot be completed on an iPad, Nor is it easy to download applications from sources other than the App Store.

The selection of applications available to you on the App Store can determine what you can use your iPad for. Things are much better than they were before, with Adobe bringing a proper version of Photoshop to the iPad at last, but the range of software you'd find on macOS or Windows just doesn't exist.

Not a laptop yet

The iPad isn't quite there in terms of being a true laptop replacement, and it may never get there due to the restrictive approach that Apple has taken with iPadOS.

But if you only use your laptop to surf the web, take notes, processing texts and other light tasks, an iPad can probably replace your laptop the 99% of the times. Find out which iPad is right for you with our iPad buying guide.