3 Reasons Why You Should Buy an M1 MacBook Air Over an iPad Pro

 We now know what Apple really makes of the iPad Pros

I always planned to present the counterpoint of why you might go for an M1 MacBook Air instead. I still think there is a genuine decision to be made between an M1 MacBook Air and an iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard for a large number of people — not everyone of cause. So here is why I think you should get an M1 MacBook Air over an iPad Pro 12.9-inch with Magic Keyboard.

The iPad Pro is largely an accessory

Before WWDC there was a belief that Apple really was pushing to make the iPad Pros genuine competitors to MacBooks. It started with iPadOS separating from the iPhone’s iOS in 2019, then the Magic Keyboard for iPad was introduced in 2020. The 2021 iPad Pros were updated with Apple’s powerful M1 processor — a processor capable of powering a 4.5K iMac.

Fast forward to summer 2021 and WWDC21 made it clear that Apple never really intended to make the iPad Pro a competitor to the MacBooks. Apple wants you to have both devices. A feature in the next version of macOS, macOS Monterey, hints at the fact that iPad Pros are viewed as an accessory to Macs. Universal Control is a feature where you can use one keyboard and mouse to control iPad Pro + another Mac. You can’t initiate Universal Control from the iPad Pro. I take this to mean Apple assume you’ll be using a MacBook most of the time anyway.

Why spend that much money on what is viewed as an accessory to the MacBook? The only iPad Pro that can compete against a MacBook will cost far more than an M1 MacBook Air — in that sense, it’s a better call to invest your money in a MacBook.

You can do more with a MacBook

I love the iPad Pro, but there is no getting around the fact that you can just do more on macOS. I can comfortably use the iPad Pro 99% of the time without running into any issues — but problems will come. The lack of plugin support in web browsers and the clunky file management are often culprits. In those cases, I will have to reach for my MacBook.

So if you are going to buy only one, you may as well get the one that’s less likely to get stuck on some task. I do think that anyone trying to decide between these two devices is unlikely to be bothered by iPadOS’s quirks. Many people use their computers to browse the web, read and reply to emails, and maybe watch a movie now and again. iPadOS won’t cause you any problems with any of those tasks.

Another important factor to consider is that M1 MacBooks can run iPad apps now. We can infer from WWDC21 that Apple executives have no plans to bring macOS applications to iPad Pros any time soon.

I’ve never tried an iPad app on an M1 MacBook but I don’t imagine it’s a great user experience — how do you implement multi-touch on a device without a touch screen? I’d love to hear from M1 MacBook owners — how well do iPad apps work?

The battery life is phenomenal

It used to be the case that the iPad Pros were Apple’s best performing devices in terms of battery endurance. Then the M1 MacBooks came along. The iPad Pro with cellular is advertised to go for about 9 hours on a charge — only half the time of the M1 MacBook Air at a phenomenal 18 hours. It’s hard to overstate how impressive that is; no other laptop in that range comes even close to what Apple has achieved here.

If battery life is a consideration in deciding between the iPad Pro and M1 MacBook Air, then the MacBook is the clear winner. That said, 8 hours is a full workday — it's not close to the MacBook but it’s not terrible either.

Conclusions

WWDC21 revealed something very interesting about what Apple really think of the iPad Pros. I think they are viewed as accessories to the Mac. Very powerful accessories capable of so much on their own — but accessories nonetheless. With that realisation, I would probably advise someone on the fence about buying an M1 MacBook Air or iPad Pro 12.9-inch with Magic Keyboard to go with the MacBook.

The iPad Pro does have its strengths over the MacBooks. However, the MacBook has it beat in terms of what you can do with the operating system. The fact that you can run iPad apps on the MacBook and not vice versa just cements that advantage.

Finally, the battery performance of M1 MacBooks has set a new standard that eclipses what the iPad Pro is capable of. The 9-hour battery performance of the iPad Pro is far short of the 18 hours advertised for the M1 MacBook Air.