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iPad Pro

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661–670 of 805 posts

Re: iPad Pro

#661
post #587

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hope iOS 13 will have mouse support for the iPad Pro. Only being able to touch the screen while using the iPad Pro in laptop mode feels really limiting.

All that horsepower, no accurate steering wheel. Is it a pro device if the choice to add a mouse isn't there? Many pros work in pixel accurate selection instead of pencil or finger.

"Pixel-accurate" might be an obsolete term today when you have 9 or more pixels where previously there was 1. (I know, that isn't what you meant ;-)

See how Autocad was using a command line for ages to implement precise control over coordinates. Don't need a mouse for that. At the same time, the imprecise things that you use mouse for (e.g. dropping a symbol from a library into a workspace, or connecting controls with outlets in an interface builder) are much easier to do using a direct touch.

Re: iPad Pro

#662
post #555

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Still, it's funny to see Google beat Apple to the punch here and make ChromeOS a valid dev machine for most people before Apple. USB-C doesn't let me run Docker, VSCode or IntelliJ. I'd love to bring an iPad pro for the weekend when I'm on call, but it's still not anywhere near.

"for most people" -> "for most javascript devs" ? totally ridiculous dev machine for scientific or financial computing, no?

there's plenty of non-JS dev work that isn't scientific or financial. Since ChromeOS now runs Linux apps, any dev is feasible; arguments about machine specs are about the hardware, not the OS.

Re: iPad Pro

#663

This page makes it sound like the Apple Pencil and the foldable keyboard come in the box, when in fact they are sold separately and are very expensive. So on top of your £769 for the entry level 'Pro, the Pencil is an extra £119 and keyboard is £179, topping the whole package to £1047. Even more if you go for the 12" model.

You forget that the iPad Pro also has a full digitizer on it.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1408960-REG/wacom_dth...

What are your thoughts on this Wacom Cintiq Pro? Do you think this is too expensive?

A lot of designers I know are replacing that with an iPad Pro. For many, the iPad is a much more flexible tool AND cheaper AND more powerful. The Cintiq still has it's place and for people that very specifically need it, it's useful. But many are finding that an iPad Pro is a better tool for them.

So that's the pricing perspective you need to understand the iPad Pro.

Re: iPad Pro

#664
post #555

To me, the shift to USB-C signifies a fundamental change in how Apple is approaching the iPad and computing going forward. Those stupid "what's a computer" ads make a little more sense. With USB-C, developers will support whatever I/O standards they need to in iOS, and the ecosystem of monitors, keyboards, and peripherals we all bought for our laptops/desktops will now begin to work with iOS too. This feature alone g…

Still, it's funny to see Google beat Apple to the punch here and make ChromeOS a valid dev machine for most people before Apple. USB-C doesn't let me run Docker, VSCode or IntelliJ. I'd love to bring an iPad pro for the weekend when I'm on call, but it's still not anywhere near.

I would take an iPad Pro with the overpriced keyboard and an Apple mouse. I think if they can jailbreak iOS 12 to support a Bluetooth mouse... we might be onto something.

Re: iPad Pro

#665
they could have called it the iSurface.

their feature page is a 1:1 match to Microsoft 's surface page. Even down to the scree x body ratio (which is actually larger on the surface 4). And having face unlock only (no fingerprint).

Re: iPad Pro

#666

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same. I was hoping we would see that. The Swift Playgrounds app really hasn’t gotten any love[1] since it was first introduced. You can actually import UIKit and the other frameworks and compile them on the iPad but this is pretty much undocumentated. The preview views are tremendously buggy (really the whole app is) and there is all sorts of hidden debug stuff running in the background[2] that slows down performance…

> The Swift Playgrounds app really hasn’t gotten any love[1] since it was first introduced. The UI has been changed slightly. > You can actually import UIKit and the other frameworks and compile them on the iPad but this is pretty much undocumentated. Well, it's UIKit. You can just pull up the documentation at developer.apple.com. > The preview views are tremendously buggy (really the whole app is) and there is all s…

When I say it’s in undocumented I mean that the fact that you can use UIkit at all is undocumented. You can use it but you are never told you can. Also there is little documentation that explains things like XCPlayground and PlaygroundsSupport. You kind of have to adapt them from the Xcode Playgrounds for the Mac but the fact that you can do this is never mentioned. Also the limitations on Swift Playgrounds are never mentioned anywhere (e.g. autolayout constraints don’t really work for the Playgrounds previews.

Also, my complaint was that you cannot turn of the debug stuff. You actually can if you turn off things like logging in a template file on the Mac and then move that to the ipad. At that point you might as well just use the Mac though. See here for what I’m talking about. http://saltpigmedia.com/blog/Modules-in-Swift-Playgrounds

Also, as far as I am aware, you cannot add to the sources folder on the iPad itself. That requires a Mac.

My comments were in regard to using Swift Playgrounds as a pseudo-Xcode. It does indeed compile swift code and UIKit, so a lot of that groundwork is there. And I would love to use the iPad to do real coding, and Swift Playgrounds is real tempting, but it just doesn’t work and I find that disappointing.

Re: iPad Pro

#667

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I prefer it because it feels way better. The snap, and the way the plug feels secure in the socket.... I had a nexus 6p for a year and the plug was so damn unreliable and wiggly. Bought multiple different types but they were all bad. That said, I haven't used any Apple devices with USBC and I would not be surprised if they felt much better.

I understand what you mean about the feel but lightning ports have a fundamental physical flaw that is part of its design. The pins are on the iOS device side so if they wear down or break that device needs to be repaired. With USBC, the pins are on the cable side so any damage to them is just a simple cable replacement.

Is this an actual problem? In all my experience I've seen cables fall apart (mainly USB Micro or HDMI) but beyond lint, never had any issues relating to the actual ports.

The lightning contacts are flush with the port, so very unlikely to get damaged. On the other hand the USB-C has that fragile looking wafer on the device-side.

Re: iPad Pro

#669
post #538

To me, the shift to USB-C signifies a fundamental change in how Apple is approaching the iPad and computing going forward. Those stupid "what's a computer" ads make a little more sense. With USB-C, developers will support whatever I/O standards they need to in iOS, and the ecosystem of monitors, keyboards, and peripherals we all bought for our laptops/desktops will now begin to work with iOS too. This feature alone g…

The biggest pain for me of lack of access to the underlying OS has turned out not to be any of my thousands of tiny gripes with the way the software works that I can't change (e.g. setting dns on the cell connection), but the lack of transparency and ability to debug basic processes. What is the computer doing now? Why is it hanging? Why did that app crash? Why is my network failing? Who is that app talking to? My ma…

You have to keep in mind that apple is going to dogfood any potential "iPad as workstation" product with it's own developers. If their own developers jump out in rage then they'll fix it before release.

Re: iPad Pro

#670
post #538

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest pain for me of lack of access to the underlying OS has turned out not to be any of my thousands of tiny gripes with the way the software works that I can't change (e.g. setting dns on the cell connection), but the lack of transparency and ability to debug basic processes. What is the computer doing now? Why is it hanging? Why did that app crash? Why is my network failing? Who is that app talking to? My ma…

>What is the computer doing now? Why is it hanging? Why did that app crash? For what it's worth... On a computer, I'd look at log files. On an iPad, I'd plug it into my computer... then look at log files.

You can also go to Settings>Privacy>Analytics>Analytics Data and see some pretty specific logs on why things crashed or why they were slow. You can see if an app used too much CPU time, OOM kills (a.k.a. JetsamEvents, in iOS-lingo), and explanations for app crashes (I can see that iOS killed an app for trying to write to the photos library without permission, for instance).
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