I love my iPad Pro. It has a gorgeous display that’s great for viewing content and editing photos, it’s lightweight and easy to carry around, and the Apple Pencil allows me to create illustrations for both my newsletter and other non-work projects. Paired with Apple’s Magic Keyboard case, it almost feels like using a laptop — especially because the iPad Pro has the same M4 chip as Macs — but the software has always held it back from becoming my main computer.
The windows are the main problem: You’re limited to four open apps at a time. You can place a couple apps next to each other, but their windows can’t be freely resized, and closing them requires going through a funky menu in the middle of each window. But Apple has finally addressed how the system manages windows with iPadOS 26, in wide release this fall (and in beta now), and so I decided to give the iPad another shot as a computer replacement. This time, I’m reaching for my laptop a lot less.
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It finally feels like a laptop …
With iPadOS 18 (which directly precedes 26, with Apple’s new naming convention), I usually only used apps like Procreate for illustrations, my text editor for taking notes and writing first drafts, plus Safari and my RSS reader for research. Whenever I wanted to make edits in Google Docs or compile all my testing notes, I’d have to switch back to my Mac, where I could have more apps open at once. But with the new iPadOS, my iPad screen looks more like my Mac’s: I usually have about ten active windows for things like my notes app, web browser, calendar, to-do list, Slack, and RSS feed, plus a few other apps.
The new OS also lets me close or minimize windows using the familiar traffic-light set of buttons Macs use, rather than the far less intuitive three black dots in the current version of iPadOS. If you prefer working in full-screen mode, that’s still how apps open by default; this is still a tablet first, after all. Each app now has a menu bar at the top, which makes it easier to access settings. For instance, in Notes, the menu bar provides access to around 75 functions, including formatting shortcuts, attaching files and media, and creating smart folders. In older versions of the operating system, many of those functions would be hidden behind menus and buttons that were unique to each app. Now that every app has the menu bar, I know where to go when I need to tweak something, just like I do on my Mac.
File management has improved with iPadOS 26 through better background processing; no more keeping the Files app front and center while bulk transferring all your videos from an external drive. You can also finally set default apps for certain file extensions: If you want text files to open in a third-party editor like Share Sheet to redirect files to your app of choice.
Of course to get as much computerlike functionality out of an iPad as possible, you need a keyboard. I prefer the Magic Keyboard because it has the most precise trackpad of any keyboard case I’ve tested for the iPad — but note that that makes the total weight 0.1 pounds heavier than the MacBook Air. Since the Magic Keyboard has a built-in USB-C port, I can use that for charging while I have an SD card reader attached to the iPad’s port to transfer photos from my camera. If portability were less important to me, I could just pair the iPad with any Bluetooth keyboard (and mouse or trackpad, for that matter).
Managing PDFs is notably better on iPadOS 26, too. There’s finally a dedicated Preview app, which has been on the Mac for ages, so you can open those files natively without needing a third-party app like Adobe Acrobat.
And lastly, because the iPad’s screen has a 120Hz refresh rate, games look smooth and snappy; you can even pair it with a Bluetooth controller for a better gaming experience (though you’ll still only be able to play AAA games like Forza Horizon 5 or Baldur’s Gate III using a cloud gaming service like Xbox Cloud Gaming or NVidia GeForce Now).
… But it still has all the best parts of an iPad
Just because the iPad feels more Mac-like with iPadOS 26 doesn’t mean it’s losing what makes the iPad great. Its touch screen — which has two OLED layers that allow it to get brighter than most OLED screens — adds an extra method of interaction that no Mac can replicate. I like to move windows around using the touch screen rather than trackpad, as I feel it’s quicker. If you have the Apple Pencil, editing photos is more precise than using a cursor on the Mac, and illustrations can be drawn right on the screen instead of requiring a third-party drawing tablet. When you open a PDF, you can mark up the document using your finger, an Apple Pencil, or the Magic Keyboard’s trackpad and also use the autofill function to quickly drop in things like your name and contact info. I deal with a lot of PDF forms for work and personal matters, so being able to do that all from my iPad without needing an app like Notability has been a welcome change.
There are still some things that are better on a computer
Admittedly, going all-in on the iPad still has some drawbacks. For instance, even third-party web browsers are powered by the WebKit engine, rather than Google’s Chromium. Most of the web is designed to run efficiently on Chromium, so some web elements may look funky when viewed on an iPad. If you’ve ever had a hard time paying rent through your landlord’s chosen web portal on your iPhone, you know what I’m talking about.
There’s also the issue of working in apps like Google’s suite of productivity tools. I loathe Google Docs on the iPad, which requires too many taps for doing things like managing comments and suggestions compared to how it works in a desktop web browser. Google Docs works in Safari, but it doesn’t feel as fluid as a native app. If Microsoft Office is what you use, it’s worth noting that the iPad version of Excel is nowhere near as powerful as the desktop version, as you can’t create or edit macros to automate spreadsheet functions. It’s also frustrating that swiping on the iPad Pro’s trackpad doesn’t always register the same way a swipe on the screen would. In Gmail, swiping on the trackpad doesn’t archive emails like swiping on the screen does. I got around this by using Apple’s native mail app, but would prefer to not have to use a workaround.
Because the iPad’s components are all stored behind the display, rather than underneath the keyboard like a Mac, it’s quite top heavy when placed in the Magic Keyboard. This isn’t a huge problem when using the iPad on a sturdy flat surface like a desk or table, but it can get a bit wobbly when using it on your lap or on your bed. That’s annoying at times, but because I use my iPad detached from the case as much as I do with it attached, it’s a fair trade-off for me. I can’t rip the screen off my Mac to go read an article while I’m catching up on Bachelor in Paradise.
It’s not for everyone, but you may love it
If all you need is a device for managing files, browsing the web, watching movies, and keeping on top of your emails and messages, stick with a Mac. The MacBook Air is cheaper than the entry-level iPad Pro with the Magic Keyboard, and its software is more robust than iPadOS. And a MacBook Pro will still be better for things like video production and programming. But no Mac has a touch screen. You also can’t write directly on a Mac’s screen if you prefer to take handwritten notes, and you’d need to buy a third-party drawing tablet to sketch on a Mac. Not everybody needs an all-in-one device like the iPad Pro — especially given its price — but it’s the most powerful iPad to date, and the software’s finally catching up.
The gear I use with my iPad Pro
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