[steveBK123]

I think the best use cases of iPad are basically bifurcated into:

1) Consumption device People reading, scrolling, watching videos. Nice on the sofa, in bed, whatever. Also this use case has a lot of older users driven by eyesight issues that make a bigger slightly further screen interface better. Also very intuitive to young children (funny how often this elderly/youth overlap rears its head).

2) Creative (not productivity/coding!) device Artists needing pencil & touch interface for precise tactile writing/drawing/editing

[paulcole]

> not productivity/coding!

You don’t think a non-artist, non-coder can be productive on an iPad?

Some jobs are heavily writing, reading, email/messaging, meetings, etc. Feel link those people can do quite well with an iPad, no?

[steveBK123]

Typing is subpar next to a Mac so by the time you put the case on it and are in similar size/weight class, for same/MORE money .. why bother with iPad ?

[chocochunks]

There's no pen input on a Mac, it's only really usable in one orientation and so sucks for reading more than a page or two of a PDF. Tablets are WAY more flexible in form factor. Apple unfortunately cripples the software, but I'd rather have a device that's 100% better at pen input and bunch of tasks that's 30% worse at typing.

[plaguuuuuu]

Instead of doing creative work on the iPad, it should really be used as an input device for the mac.

[chocochunks]

How do you mean? The entire iPad? Well this sucks because now you're carrying around an entire laptop and a tablet. Or do you mean using a pen with the Mac? Then it would need fundamental changes to use it well. Using a pen on a traditional laptop sucks more than a touchscreen on a traditional laptop. You need a really really good hinge to have it not be impacted by your arm, or you're forced to awkwardly hover and use minimal pressure. Bare minimum they'd have to add a 180 degree hinge so it can lie flat, or really a 360 one ideally.

With a tablet you get more freedom, not every task needs a real keyboard and sometimes even if it does it's better not attached to the device in wrong orientation.

[paulcole]

Hear me out. Do the creative work on the iPad.

[mjlee]

The single purpose nature of the iPad makes it pretty good for quite a few tasks. I find it much easier to stay focused. I’m not saying that justifies the cost, but seeing as I have one anyway, it’s what I use for a lot of my writing like tasks.

Of course, you can now multi window in iPadOS but the experience is awful enough that I don’t.

[somebehemoth]

Because it can do both. That may not be valuable to everyone, but it is a beneficial feature for many people. Also, Apple's keyboard case has a fantastic keyboard and trackpad that is a pleasure to type on.

[ako]

Typing on a Mac is also subpar: I use one mechanical keyboard that can easily switch between Mac and iPad. Same typing experience on both.

[paulcole]

It’s not subpar, it’s just different. I find it to be relaxing to be productive on my iPad for a lot of work tasks.

Why would I want to touch a computer when I’m at home when I can use my iPad? Computers aren’t relaxing or fun to use.

[swiftcoder]

> Computers aren’t relaxing or fun to use

[citation needed]