Desktopless: Using An iPad As My Main Computer

One month into it…

Photo by Daniel Romero on Unsplash

About a month ago I was getting ready for bed when I looked over at the 27inch Intel iMac just collecting dust on my desk. The last time I had logged onto it was probably February. My daily routine typically involves leaving the house before 7am and getting home a little after 6pm, that’s followed by preparing dinner or picking up something. After that I start any laundry we need and get the kids ready for bed. I’m usually wiped out and in bed by 10pm. That leaves any personal time to the weekends which end up being used to clean the house, the yard, run errands, shop for food, visit relatives etc.

In short, I wasn’t making time to uses my desktop computer. I never played games on it even though I created a Windows partition to run all my Steam games. I never developed any software on it because after doing so all week I had no energy to do so afterwards. I wasn’t even writing the way I used to, the back burner WIP’s are now at about six different books just outlined and ready to start. Getting on the computer was for important things like paying a bill or setting up some account - all things I could do on my iPad Pro. I hadn’t needed to make anything with Creative Suite for someone in months so we closed that account as well. Literally nothing needed the desktop at this point.

So I went on the Apple trade in website and looked up how much I could get for trading in the old iMac vs selling it on Facebook marketplace or something. FB wanted $200 and Apple would give me $580 so I went with them. A few days later a box showed up and after a few hours of getting it cleaned and reformatted it was back on it’s way to California. Now I’m down to just the iPad, a shady $15 usb keyboard, and my phone. Yes, we have all Apple stuff because “it just works” and as far as tablets and laptops go, they blow the competition out of the water. Again, I can easily play any game I like on the Xbox or Switch, no real need for a desktop.

Cut to this week, and it’s been almost a month. I haven’t found anything that I need to do that requires me to install a desktop application that doesn’t have an iPad version. Lack of browser extensions for iPad means I’m less likely to get a password jacked while logging into something. I’ve had no issues logging into accounts and setting things up like ordering our new fence. I am not a fan of the current keyboard I have because the keys are too flat and all about the same shape, that and it’s probably sent all my passwords to home base at this point. When I get a new one I’ll have to change them all.

So yeah keyboard is the biggest hurdle to start off with. I’ve got a couple of wired custom keyboards that I modified and lubed the switches to be just like I like them and now I can’t use them. The USBC on the iPad doesn’t work that way. So I started looking for wireless customs that weren’t shady or ridiculous. I found a really nice one from Fujitsu called the Happy Hacking Keyboard which runs you a cool $300 and has Topre switches. It’s wild that the two options for wireless keebs are either KIA or Cadillac. (Not modern KIA but like 1998 purple hatchback KIA.)

Isn’t it beautiful.

The other option is the Apple Magic Keyboard for the iPad which is also $300 but essentially turns the iPad into a laptop due to the hinge. Now at first I thought it would be wobbly but after we went to the Apple store to pick up my new phone (used the desktop money to upgrade) and actually played with one it’s $300 price tag is in the engineering of that stiff hinge. The only downside is that it is an Apple keyboard which means its extremely low profile and will hurt the tips of your fingers when typing at full speed like the laptop versions do. (This is also why I use max weight linear switches in my other keyboards because I will bottom out hard.)

So yeah I’m still using the cheap keyboard for a while. It’s not the end of the world and honestly the smallest thing to complain about. Also, if I ever do run into an instance where I need to install proper desktop software we do have an old MacBook Air the kids use that can no longer get the latest updates but would handle loading songs on my MP3 player just fine.

As far as the pros of just using an iPad as my main computer, well I can use it anywhere in the house, fit it and the keyboard easily into my backpack, the battery lasts two days, and it’s the 11inch M1 Pro. Yes I could have just gotten a MacBook Pro and have a mobile “real computer” but MBP’s are huge at 13-17 inches and aren’t touch screen so no Procreate goodness for those. I can use Figma on the iPad, draw stuff on Procreate, and make a basic logo in Canva if needed. GitHub has a browser based VS Code I can also use to do any real mock-ups too.

But yeah, I don’t see this being an issue for a while. I’ll give another update at the end of next month and see if I’ve given up on it but as busy as I am I don’t see it being an issue just yet. If you’ve moved away from desktop machines to just a laptop or tablet let me know what tips or tricks you’ve figured out too.

-Sent from my iPad.