Opinion: MacBook, or iMac + iPad?

Giles Turnbull ()

20100208-imacipad.jpg

The announcement of the iPad has done a lot of things: it’s stoked up excitement in the Mac using community, it’s got a bunch of developers feverishly coding exciting new stuff, and it’s got retailers and cell phone companies the world over drooling over the money they can make from it.

And it’s also somewhat upset my plans for buying a new Mac.

You see, I had made my decision: I was going to get myself a 13 inch (possibly 15 inch) MacBook Pro before April, which is when the new tax year starts here in the UK. I’d done all the testing and research that I needed to do, I’d consulted friends who have purchased a MacBook Pro recently, and I knew that what I needed matched pretty well with what it can do.

All fine, then.

And then Steve comes along with his iPad and suddenly, I have new options open to me. I have to start my thinking all over again.

A new possibility has opened up. Instead of buying a MacBook Pro, the new theory is that I could buy an iMac (probably a 21.5 inch – a 27 incher would swamp my desk, not to mention my peripheral vision) and an iPad, probably for roughly the same amount of money that the MacBook Pro would cost me.

I’ve not used a desktop computer for years now, so it would be a considerable change for me. Right now I carry my MacBook around the house, around the town, working where the mood and the whim takes me. I value that freedom.

And yet the iPad opens up new possibilities. Most of what I do is web browsing and writing. I have no doubt it will make an excellent web browsing device, although I wonder how it will cope with my particular web workflow. For example, I save lots of stuff to Delicious with a keyboard shortcut, so how can I easily replicate that? Another example: I like to use bookmarklets like Readability and Instapaper, so will I still be able to do so without fuss?

As for writing: well, I need to try out both the software keyboard and the hardware accessory. I need to know whether I can really, truly type directly on the iPad itself, and I need to see just how bulky the keyboard accessory might be in a bag.

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Old Apple Tablet concept would make for a great accessory idea

So for the time being, my finger is hovering over the Apple Store BUY button. As soon as the iPad is out, I’m going to go to my nearest Store and give it some serious investigation. The fundamental question I’ll be trying to answer is: “Can this be enough of a laptop replacement to make a desktop computer a better choice for me in future?”

The reason I’m waffling on about this here is because I have a feeling that I’m not be the only person in this position. If you’re asking yourself similar questions, I’d be interested to hear what your thoughts are, both for and against the iPad.

But ultimately none of us are going to get any answers until we can get our hands on an iPad and put it through its paces. I can’t wait.

UPDATE: A lot of people have been emailing me to ask what I finally decided to do, and the answer is: I bought the MacBook Pro, and I’m happy with it. But I have a strong suspicion that in a year or two, when the time comes to upgrade that machine, I shall be buying whatever incarnation of iPad is new, plus whatever the iMac has morphed into. That’s assuming that no other amazing new devices have appeared in the meantime, which is a pretty big assumption when you’re talking about Apple…

71 comments »

About the author

gilest

Giles Turnbull is a freelance writer in England. He writes for the Press Association and The Morning News. He has a website you can ignore and a Twitter account you needn't follow.

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Posted in Hardware, iMac, iPad, Mac Pro, Opinions, Top stories |

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  • Daniel M.

    My choice: iMac + iPad + iPhone +NTRconnect. In any case I can connect from iPhone or iPad to my iMac and will have excess to files and application and could remote control it. A perfect “ménage à trois”. ;)

  • Damilola

    As a photographer, my hands are really itching for the iPad! I see it as a BRILLIANT presentation tool. The image quality I’m sure, would be mind blowing. I love my iMac to a fault! Combining it with the iPad would be any photographers’ dream accessory. I can’t wait!!!!!

  • Fabrice

    My take on this is that the iPad is not a replacement to a lap top and that’s where I disagreed with Jobs (if I dare..). And that’s why I believe so many people were disappointed. All were expecting a replacement to the mac book Air. It is not. The iPad is creating a new range of product within Apple and you will want it. We will all want it. I have an iMac, I have a MacBook Air and I will buy an iPad.
    iMac will be for home work/surfing/media storage, Macbook for mobile/remote work/web surfing etc. and the iPad will become a home media device. Everybody will have an iPad (or similar from other brands) in 3 years time. Some will have 2 or 3 three at home. Synced remotely.
    So, Giles, buy an iMac because it is a great experience. Keep your Mac Book because I’m sure it’s still good enough. And wait few more weeks for the iPad to arrive. And go get it. Like me. Not really because you need it. But because you want it. And that’s the beauty of it.

  • CPDubbleU (twitter)

    Giles,

    My thoughts exactly. I’m leaning toward the iMac + iPad idea. The only problem is that I’m very wary about buying the 1st gen of any new Apple product line but I’ll probably be in the market for a new desktop sometime in the spring.

  • http://twitter tHoj101

    Welcome to my world buddy. I was going for the 17” MBP. Now for the same price tage I can get a 27” and iPad 64GB 3G. FML. But do I want to sport around an iPad, I’d much rather be seen having a 17”. I know looks don’t mean anything, but…I’m shallow.

  • http://www.axon.co.nz John

    I was looking at 13″ macbook pro too. now i’m just going to upgrade my old mini to new one, and buy an ipad. My old mini will become a server under a tv, and my old acer netbook can be junked.

  • http://killorlove.wordpress.com/ fox

    I’m going through the exact same thought process, I wrote about it here. http://killorlove.wordpress.com/
    I wasn’t all that excited about the iPad the day it was announced, but now I am. I think it will be a great option for people in our future buying scenario. I hope I’m right!

  • Michael

    iMac + iPad + iPhone

    I just bought a 27″ i7 (loving it – wicked fast and beautiful screen) and plan on getting a 32GB iPad (WiFi only) when they’re released. Hoping by that time AT&T gets around to offering a tethering plan for my iPhone?

    With these 3 devices devices all bases are covered;

    iMac for home and heavy work, programming, web server, etc.
    iPad for around the house, the coffee shop and on trips.
    iPhone for all other times.

  • Susan

    Just bought a 21.5 inch iMac and am loving it…for way too long I had undersized laptops, when in reality what I need is a robust desktop and then something light to roam with. I have my old macbook for now, but I can sell that for enough to buy an iPad, and frankly, I’m trying to understand why I wouldn’t.

  • Lee Brady

    The iPad is definitely a disruptive device. This is the first time in several years that I have stumbled in deciding an upgrade option. My wife’s G4 Powerbook is in serious need of an upgrade. The way this usually works is that she would get my current machine and I get the latest and greatest. Right up until the point the iPad was released, I was going to get a new Macbook Pro. However, the combination of iMac + iPad is a winning strategy. My current laptop pretty much has permanent residence on my desk. Web browsing around the house is usually on the iPhone. The laptop IS useful when I need to work away from home, but such uses are few and far between and mainly revolve around Keynote presentations… iPad sounds perfect for these uses.

  • LivvinTokyo

    My current situation: 20″ iMac + 1st Gen Macbook Air + iPhone

    I’ve been living overseas for the past eight years and plan to travel back and forth between here and home within the next year, so the iMac is no longer a feasible option for me. My first though was to replace my desktop alone with a 15″ MBP once the new chips come out, but my Macbook Air has been giving me headaches lately. If I don’t use a laptop stand it overheats, and although I use it mainly for iCal, web, email and word processing I have almost no hard disk space left. So now I’m thinking:

    15″ Macbook Pro + iPad + iPhone

    The iPad will do for web surfing and mail, I’ll be able to keep all my info in sync, and do any document editing on the fly, I can look up lyrics for gigs (I’m a musician) without having to squint at the screen, waste paper or balance a laptop in one hand and a mic in the other. The MBP will handle all of my musical needs! I just hope they change the production plans and tack on a front view camera on the iPad for video calls!

  • In Hong Kong

    I am a freelance graphic/web designer living in Hong Kong and love to be mobile. And I don’t mean I like going to the coffee shop to check my mails. I like to pack up my things and go to the Philippines for a few weeks to work from there, for example. Taking the iMac and go seems a bit hard ;-) Only iPad won’t do…

    For the last years I had my MacBook Pro 15″. Awesome machine, still no upgrade needed, but the new Macs out there are just too sexy ;-)

    I thought about it for a while and just came to the same conclusion over and over:
    - iMac 27″ + iPad is a winning team, if you do not need a “real mobile computer”.
    - MacBook Pro 17″ + Cinema Display 24″ is the team you need if you wanna do some proper work on the road.

    Overkill: all 3 of them… but tempting ;-)

  • http://Wommy47.wordpress.com Tom Schafer

    I understand exactly what you mean. As soon as the ipad came put I knew I would be getting one. As a highschool tudent going to college in four months my original plan was to buy a 15 inch MBP for a degree in engineering. My issue with having an iMac and ipad is that for homework involving large programd only able to be run on Mac OSX on an iMac in my dorm. And I don’t want to feel stuck in my dorm all the time. I still plan on getting the MBP unless some significant change or switch to mac OSX or ability to jailbreak the ipad in some significant manner changes this opinion.

  • http://www.halfpastkissintime.com Mrs4444

    I can’t decide, either. We were planning to buy our son a MAC (his first) for his high school graduation. He’s going to a 4-year college with the possibility of going into computer technology. Then the Ipad came out. Now, what?!

  • http://www.HanoverProducts.com eop8

    Ultimate setup then would be:

    1. MacBook Pro, with large external monitor – this would give you power, screen size but also portability.
    2. IPad – for times when you’re going out and you know for a fact you aren’t doing any heavy lifting.
    3. IPhone – got to have a phone, might as well have the best. …. and it does most things… especially while you’re on the thrown. Seriously, if you have a question that has to be answered, are you really going to have the iPad on you ALL the time?

  • http://www.norbu.blogs.com kittybaroque

    Similar dilemma but different :-)

    Have an old Intel IMac (first Intel one…) still working fine and just upgrading to new OS etc…

    Wanted a MBP for a while as I want to start learning digital graphics stuff and need more grunt. Work will salary sacrifice this for me so I can get a 15″ i7 (with a few spec upgrades – hi res/anti glare & 7200 HD), negotiated a great deal with supplier at $200 AUD less than the price on Apple site AND I get free classes unlimited at the store as well as a magazine sub for 6 mths. Best bit though…my payments are spread out over some time so something that wasn’t that achievable financially, now is….

    Thing is…I *REALLY* thought I could hang out for an IPad, after all, I have my IPhone and I usually only ever buy 2nd or 3rd gen but I can see SOOOO many positive benefits of it (mainly in taking presentations out to clients at cafe meetings etc…) and it is just SO dang hot & sexy – PLUS, I have a $500 voucher for a department store and am not that inspired to buy anything else in there so I could get it for a relatively small amount on top (thinking 64G just wifi…).

    My only concern is with the MBP I won’t have screen size, but then, maybe once this IMac is beyond, I can get a screen display large size.

    HECK, it’s a dilemma!!! I *know* I should spend my cashola on something more useful than an IPad but it’s almost irresistable! I’ve made a pact…Ebaying some stuff around the house, that way IPad will cost nothing extra then I think its justifiable…but they…..only just :-)

  • david

    That was exactly my dilemma aswelll so I settled on a new iMac desktop and an iPad. I already have a MacBook and I can honestly say that I haven’t used my macbook once since I got my iPad 3 weeks ago. Btw a helpful hint young is really easy on iPad and pages is fantastic. The wealth of software is quite overwhelming. It’s a turkey fantastic laptop replacement depending on your laptop needs.

    Hope this helps

    Dave

  • eddie

    What did you decide to do?

    I’m in the same predicament. However, I sold my PC laptop because I want to do iphone development, android development, and windows 7 phone development. With Mac OS X and using either vmware fusion or parallels desktop, I can run different OS in virtualization mode with ease. The problem I have is trying to decide whether to buy a macbook air, a macbook pro or an imac. I never use the dvd/cd drive, so that’s why I was thinking of macbook air. The last time I had a desktop was when I was in middle school. I like the fact I can take my laptop anywhere but then I realized that even when I had one, I rarely took it anywhere. I like the performance power of the imac and the 27 inch display as well but I like the freedom a laptop entails.

  • http://twitter.com/JavlonT Javlon Turdiev

    Eddie & Giles, 

    If you already own an iPad 2, I suggest to go with iMac, 27′. You get better value and a machine for the money. It’s well worth it. To prove my point, you can take a look at benchmark tests, iMac,even with quad-core i5 processor, whereas MBP has i7, still performs fast. iMac + iPad is a the best option so far for DEVELOPERS. 
    I am still tempted to get MBP. 

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jacob-J-DeVore/100001173735142 Jacob J. DeVore

    Giles, I found myself in a similar position last year.  Rather than buy a MBP, I bought an iPad and a new Mac Mini.  With the Mini hooked up to my TV, I use it as a media center and anything that requires significant typing.  I thought the iPad would be an accessory, an extension of my desktop; in truth, my iPad has become my primary computer.

  • http://twitter.com/idreyeaaah andreaaah.

    STOP FUCKIN POSTING ON MY TUMBLR AND HACKING IT SAYING I GOT THIS SHIT FREE AND IT CAME IN THE MAIL. STOP!

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