With the arrival of the new iPad and iPadOS, that
single-screen experience is – of course – as good
as it has ever been. Furthermore, there’s no sign
that the iPad won’t continue to greatly reward us
when it comes to casual activities like those the
late Steve Jobs demonstrated on the keynote
stage almost a decade ago.
It’s also true, however, that this iconic Apple
product category and brand name is finally
starting to realize so much of the potential
we perhaps already knew it had as a ‘laptop
alternative’ even back in the early 2010s.
Today, the iPad is the renewed king of
portability, serving up impressive power for an
affordable price. And in an era in which many of
this device’s users are more-or-less ‘iOS natives’,
having scarcely known a time when a laptop
would have been their go-to computer rather
than a laptop, the age-old “is the iPad a good
enough alternative to a laptop?” question may
not even be a very relevant one to ask anymore.
Instead, even if the younger generations
aren’t quite going as far as asking “What is a
computer?”, they’re certainly increasingly seeing
the iPad as more than adequate for their day-to-
day computing needs.
As for if you are an older tech aficionado with
a sustained affection for your MacBook... well,
there’s a chance that even your head might
be turned slightly in the bold new era of the
seventh-generation iPad and iPadOS. All in
all, it looks likely to be an enthralling second
decade ahead for Apple’s fabled tablet as it
nears its 10th birthday.
by Benjamin Kerry & Gavin Lenaghan