Can I Use an iPad as a Laptop Replacement?

A hot topic in the tech world is the question, “is the iPad a laptop replacement?” Today I’m sharing my own take as a musician, private teacher, and Youtuber/Blogger.

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My iPad

I use a 4th generation iPad Pro, with the 12.9 inch display. It does what I need it to do, and still runs plenty fast for me!

I personally use a Logitech Combo Touch case to make my iPad feel more like a laptop. Before using this case, I used a Bluetooth keyboard, but missed having a trackpad or mouse for navigating around the screen. I really love this case because it’s portable and the keyboard connects via the three dots on the back of the iPad. It creates a fast, reliable connection, and you never have to worry about Bluetooth!

Do you have a newer iPad? Here’s the Combo Touch for the M4 iPad Pro 13 inch, and the M2 iPad Air 13 inch.

How I Use my iPad

I mostly use my sheet music to read music in Forscore, but I also use it as a whiteboard in lessons, write blog posts and make invoices, use Google Docs, and send emails. Sometimes I’ll relax and watch Youtube videos or browse Pinterest on it, too.

The Forscore app works perfectly on my iPad, and has made switching from paper sheet music to a tablet so easy and seamless!

If you’d like to learn more about Forscore, check out that section of my site!

What Works Well

The things that work best on my iPad are the apps that are intended for it. Forscore, GoodNotes, and Google Docs all work really well.

What Doesn’t Work Well

The things that are more difficult for me are things that are primarily done in-browser. Things like writing blog posts on WordPress or creating invoices on Honeybook have been slightly challenging.

Sometimes I can’t see everything on the page because the aspect ratio isn’t set up for iPads; other times I can’t select or click and drag certain things even with my trackpad.

The Files app doesn’t do it for me. I love Finder on my Mac, and I have it organized really well. I also love and use Google Drive daily. The Files app on my iPad and iPhone just doesn’t make sense to me for some reason! I have trouble organizing it, renaming things, and things just get lost.

My Overall Thoughts…

Do I think I can use the iPad as a laptop replacement? I love my iPad, but for me, it isn’t a laptop replacement. I love computers, and there are just some things I need a big screen for and proper file organization!

The laptop I got at the start of my freshman year of college (2015) just died, and while I only really used it for crafting now, I have been wanting a laptop. Doing work on my iPad just hasn’t been working out ideally. I caved and got an M3 MacBook Air! I got the Midnight 15 inch model, and I love it so much! I’ve had it for almost two weeks now, and it’s exactly what I wanted.

I hope that gives you your answer! Of course, if you’re not enamored with computers like I am, an iPad may be enough for you. For me, though, I’ll always love laptops!!