iPad Pro with M5 chip

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Consumption Device vs. “Pro” Potential

  • Many owners say every iPad they buy ends up as a YouTube/web-browsing couch device, regardless of intentions to “do more.”
  • Several see this as a poor cost-to-usage ratio, especially compared to devices like Kindles or cheap tablets.
  • Others argue there’s nothing wrong with a pure consumption device and that a base iPad (or even a used/Android tablet) is enough for that role.
  • Strong sentiment that iPad hardware is absurdly overpowered for these light use cases.

Creative and Professional Niches

  • Some users report intensive creative use: illustration and concept art, Procreate/3D/animation, music production (Loopy Pro, Logic, GarageBand, AUs), podcast scoring, and photo editing (Lightroom, Affinity).
  • iPads are praised for sheet music, as synths, for jamming with instruments, and for video editing on the go with Final Cut Pro.
  • Other “serious” uses cited: reading and annotating PDFs/technical papers, note-taking (GoodNotes, Apple Notes), drawing household projects, SSH/VNC terminals, and POS systems in businesses.
  • Several say iPad has effectively replaced a laptop for them; others try the same and bounce back to laptops due to ergonomics or software friction.

Hardware vs. OS / App Store Limitations

  • Recurrent theme: “great hardware, toy OS.” Complaints include:
    • No native Xcode/compilers/VMs, limited local dev tools, no JIT for emulators.
    • Sandboxed Files app with confusing sharing semantics; trouble working with arbitrary file types and multi-app workflows.
    • Background app suspension and historic virtual-memory constraints.
    • Lack of open distribution: no sideloading, hard for open source, subscription-heavy ecosystem.
  • Defenders counter that:
    • For “ordinary” users (mail, web, Office/GSuite, media), iPadOS 26 with windowing, Files, external displays, and terminals/SSH is already sufficient.
    • Terminal/remote-dev workflows via SSH and code-server are viable for many.

Overpowered Chips and Underused Performance

  • Several view M5 in iPad as irresponsible/pointless given most users’ tasks; they see Apple silicon as heavily underutilized across iPhone/iPad.
  • Others note benefits even for light tasks: battery life, instant responsiveness, and longevity (e.g., 2017–2018 iPad Pros still feel fast).
  • Some wish they could harness iPad’s M-series as a “second CPU” for a Mac, or run macOS/Linux/Windows directly.
  • GPU gains are seen as meaningful for upcoming Blender on iPad and for video editing.

Pro vs Air vs Base iPad and Accessories

  • Many say that for office work, school, or light productivity, a base iPad or iPad Air is the rational choice; M5 Pro is overkill.
  • Pro’s key differentiators people actually care about: OLED/120 Hz screen, larger size (13"), better for photography, comics, and drawing.
  • Accessory churn (new Magic Keyboard/Pencil incompatibilities) is a major deterrent to upgrading.
  • Some prefer iPads mainly for cellular connectivity and “always ready” battery behavior vs. x86 laptops.

Ad Blocking, Browsing, and YouTube

  • A surprising number describe their iPad mostly as a YouTube machine but find the default ad experience unbearable.
  • Workarounds include YouTube Premium, SponsorBlock (via Safari extension or experimental YT features), Brave’s built-in blocking, and VPN tricks.
  • This ties back into frustration that iOS/iPadOS limit browser choices/extensions compared to desktop.

Audience Split and Apple’s Strategy

  • One camp sees iPad as fatally limited—“locked down by nanny Apple,” a missed Dynabook-style computing opportunity, likely to protect Mac sales.
  • The other camp emphasizes that iPads sell in huge numbers, are ideal for non-technical users (especially older parents), and already match how most people compute (single app, low maintenance, no filesystem).
  • Several hope for either macOS on iPad or touch/Pencil on Macs; others accept iPad as a “terminal for a real computer” and are satisfied.