The question of which, iPad or Mac is purposefully moot. Apple wants you to buy both.
From the perspective of a blind user though, I'd go mac, get a bluetooth speaker and use my iPhone for media. The larger screen is wasted on anyone who's blind. If you already have an iPhone, you're really getting little better, maybe slightly better sound, but you've got exactly the same apps. Get a bluetooth keyboard if you like, have fun with that.
I'm also feeling a sense of déjà vu... Haven't you asked this question before, or am I just going mad?
If I had the choice I would go with a Mac. Like my iPad but is not for work or anything like writing. Keyboard with the iPad is a joke. The Mac is what you need. PS. Love my window PC and would not use a mac. However if you know the system for the Mac go with it. Make sure you get one that will be lasting for more than 5 years. Long live cats.
Not really true. As an example, you can get Logic Pro for iPad, but only Logic Remote for a phone. I mean, yeah it's largely the case, but not entirely, is my point. It's probably not enough to matter, I have no idea if Logic for iPad is even accessible, I don't have an iPad to mess with, but you do get different apps, in some cases.
Personally I'd go with a Mac. I'm not sure how people, there are a couple on here or were anyway, who replace their computers with a phone entirely do it. I've messed around with it and I find Bluetooth keyboard navigation inconsistent. I guess you just have the phone right there so you can use the screen when necessary.
But for me, that's not a familiar way of working. I should really do it some more, because I do find the idea intriguing. Not intriguing enough that I'd ditch the Mac, it can just do stuff the phone can't, see the aforementioned Logic, but for being out and about and doing stuff with a much more portable form factor? Pretty intriguing. And I find the idea of pushing the phone, just digging in and seeing what you can really do with it, really interesting even if I don't end up sticking with it as a huge part of stuff.
Portability is nice. I've found out that if I have my Airpods Pro 2 in, and carry the magic keyboard with, Bluetooth has enough range that I can go to a different floor of the house and still work on the Mac. That's even easier to move around than a laptop. So getting something like that with a phone or maybe an iPad, again, intriguing.
That's even for more advanced stuff like music, there's a guy who made a Bluetooth midi keyboard, 25/26 keys I forget which, that's about the size of a phone and thus fits in your pocket. SO get a small enough BT keyboard, a folding one let's say, midi keyboard, Airpods, and a phone, and you can have a solid beginning music production rig in your pocket.
I brought it up because a lot of articles say the iPad and mac are very close now. This is why I ask it. I figure people have had iPad OS and mac os a few months.
Get a Mac computer. Regardless of my current disposition with VoiceOver for Mac, I went through several years of university with macOS and VoiceOver, and I do not regret it. Granted, my Mac was Intel-based, and I was able to boot into Windows 10 via BootCamp when needed, but still, overall the Mac was way superior to an iPad.
I have also owned different versions of the iPad, including Keyboard cases. In my humble opinion, the iPad, keyboard or not, simply does not compare.
Finally, and I will probably get flamed for this, but Matt Terminal is boss!
If you have to choose, there's no reason to ever pick iPad, mostly due to iPadOS being a walled garden. The hardware is great but the greatness is all lost on the closeness of iPadOS. I have an iPad Mini A17 Pro (also known as 2024 iPad Mini or iPad Mini 7) sitting flat right in front of me with the official Folio Case, and the only thing I use it for as attending online meetings. It may become my Internet router in the future as well because unlimited 5G cell data plans are pretty good here these days so I no longer need a fixed Internet connection and my iPhone 17 Pro tends to overheat during intensive Internet usage, plus for some reason Apple decided to make external USB camera support only available on iPadOS on USB-c iPads and I need that feature on a mobile device., but other than that, it's pretty useless which is quite a shame.
There have been developments in iPad OS 26 with arranging windows and a shortcut for the dock. The former doesn't really affect us and the dock is, well, fine... I wouldn't say there has been any significant way in which the iPad has changed for those who aren't bothered about window arrangement on the screen.
And yes, there are a few apps for iPad that aren't available on the iPhone. I don't think there are a huge number and I think they are more slimmed-down versions of Mac apps. If you are recording and producing music, you're not going to be doing it on an iPad. Mac will always be better in that regard.
The iPad is one of those devices I get out from time to time, play with, realise it’s easier to either use my iPhone or Mac to complete the task, and put it away.
I think, also, if we're looking at price, iPad Air, for example, with the Magic Keyboard is close on £800. Another hundred quid and you can get a MacBook Air.
The only thing I'd say is, Mac isn't great for media. It doesn't have that app integration that we have on iOS, iPad OS and TV OS. I've always fancied an iPad mode on Mac.
if you're only doing light work, th iPad with Magic keyboard can double as a laptop replacement ... for a while. I've used it as such everywhere from home to university. Just don't expect to make it your daily driver for writing documents and such. For everything else, or almost, sure. But if you have to choose, I'd say get a Mac, max it out as much as your funds will allow and you have something that will probably be with you five years from now if you don't start raging at it and toss it out the nearest window. BTW, does anyone know how to get the Mac to play audio even with the lid closed?
As others have mentioned, it depends on your use case. Maybe an iPad as a viable secondary device if your use case is basic, with a keyboard case. If you're totally blind, I don't really see the point of an iPad as a media device. Just connect your phone to a good Bluetooth speaker imo.
There's also the possibility someone might struggle with the more touch-based environment and (personal bias time), I had really poor experiences with iPadOS and a keyboard - VoiceOver jumping to the status bar/split
screen button all the time, it suddenly stopping typing and typing H, for example, will go back to the home screen. It was a pretty awful experience, now I'm too wary to try an ipad again. This happened across 2 different iPads (an iPad Pro 10.5 using either the Smart Keyboard that was quite old and a newer Logitech keyboard) and a iPad 9th gen (using that old Smart Keyboard).
iPadOS is pretty basic, all things considered, and honestly the price of an Ipad can creep nearly into Mac territory. If your use case is more advanced than just basic emails/web-browsing, then possibly the Mac.
0 experience of any ipad.
Yes, mac has accessibility issues. I've suffered learning to overcome some. But it's very usable for advanced things too if we know how.
Plus, now from a converted person experience, OMG do I love Parallels. Accessibility is an issue, but I've seen more impressive stuff (worse), and my standard is that a thing is completely inaccessible when beyond sighted help phisically or remotely you don't have any other way to accomplish a given task. And Parallels is not at all in that category.
After tinkering, if we forget the x86 compatibility issues for some niche softwares or environments, I'm getting mac advantages, and in the same mbp, one of the cleanest untweaked and fastest windows 11 I've ever had, with a local account by default.
It works so well, clipboard sharing between iphone and windows is just one of the many advantages of this setup.
I didn't have a mac during the bootcamp days so won't pretend comparing both, and there are differences for sure. But my mbp has never been more versatile.
Comments
Use case?
It very much depends on your use case.
For media, iPad.
For light work, mac.
For serious work, Windows.
The question of which, iPad or Mac is purposefully moot. Apple wants you to buy both.
From the perspective of a blind user though, I'd go mac, get a bluetooth speaker and use my iPhone for media. The larger screen is wasted on anyone who's blind. If you already have an iPhone, you're really getting little better, maybe slightly better sound, but you've got exactly the same apps. Get a bluetooth keyboard if you like, have fun with that.
I'm also feeling a sense of déjà vu... Haven't you asked this question before, or am I just going mad?
Mac
If I had the choice I would go with a Mac. Like my iPad but is not for work or anything like writing. Keyboard with the iPad is a joke. The Mac is what you need. PS. Love my window PC and would not use a mac. However if you know the system for the Mac go with it. Make sure you get one that will be lasting for more than 5 years. Long live cats.
Re: Same apps.
Not really true. As an example, you can get Logic Pro for iPad, but only Logic Remote for a phone. I mean, yeah it's largely the case, but not entirely, is my point. It's probably not enough to matter, I have no idea if Logic for iPad is even accessible, I don't have an iPad to mess with, but you do get different apps, in some cases.
Personally I'd go with a Mac. I'm not sure how people, there are a couple on here or were anyway, who replace their computers with a phone entirely do it. I've messed around with it and I find Bluetooth keyboard navigation inconsistent. I guess you just have the phone right there so you can use the screen when necessary.
But for me, that's not a familiar way of working. I should really do it some more, because I do find the idea intriguing. Not intriguing enough that I'd ditch the Mac, it can just do stuff the phone can't, see the aforementioned Logic, but for being out and about and doing stuff with a much more portable form factor? Pretty intriguing. And I find the idea of pushing the phone, just digging in and seeing what you can really do with it, really interesting even if I don't end up sticking with it as a huge part of stuff.
Portability is nice. I've found out that if I have my Airpods Pro 2 in, and carry the magic keyboard with, Bluetooth has enough range that I can go to a different floor of the house and still work on the Mac. That's even easier to move around than a laptop. So getting something like that with a phone or maybe an iPad, again, intriguing.
That's even for more advanced stuff like music, there's a guy who made a Bluetooth midi keyboard, 25/26 keys I forget which, that's about the size of a phone and thus fits in your pocket. SO get a small enough BT keyboard, a folding one let's say, midi keyboard, Airpods, and a phone, and you can have a solid beginning music production rig in your pocket.
I may have asked this before
I brought it up because a lot of articles say the iPad and mac are very close now. This is why I ask it. I figure people have had iPad OS and mac os a few months.
If your heart is set on Apple
Get a Mac computer. Regardless of my current disposition with VoiceOver for Mac, I went through several years of university with macOS and VoiceOver, and I do not regret it. Granted, my Mac was Intel-based, and I was able to boot into Windows 10 via BootCamp when needed, but still, overall the Mac was way superior to an iPad.
I have also owned different versions of the iPad, including Keyboard cases. In my humble opinion, the iPad, keyboard or not, simply does not compare.
Finally, and I will probably get flamed for this, but Matt Terminal is boss!
Edited for typos.
Go Mac
If you have to choose, there's no reason to ever pick iPad, mostly due to iPadOS being a walled garden. The hardware is great but the greatness is all lost on the closeness of iPadOS. I have an iPad Mini A17 Pro (also known as 2024 iPad Mini or iPad Mini 7) sitting flat right in front of me with the official Folio Case, and the only thing I use it for as attending online meetings. It may become my Internet router in the future as well because unlimited 5G cell data plans are pretty good here these days so I no longer need a fixed Internet connection and my iPhone 17 Pro tends to overheat during intensive Internet usage, plus for some reason Apple decided to make external USB camera support only available on iPadOS on USB-c iPads and I need that feature on a mobile device., but other than that, it's pretty useless which is quite a shame.
Recent updates
There have been developments in iPad OS 26 with arranging windows and a shortcut for the dock. The former doesn't really affect us and the dock is, well, fine... I wouldn't say there has been any significant way in which the iPad has changed for those who aren't bothered about window arrangement on the screen.
And yes, there are a few apps for iPad that aren't available on the iPhone. I don't think there are a huge number and I think they are more slimmed-down versions of Mac apps. If you are recording and producing music, you're not going to be doing it on an iPad. Mac will always be better in that regard.
The iPad is one of those devices I get out from time to time, play with, realise it’s easier to either use my iPhone or Mac to complete the task, and put it away.
I think, also, if we're looking at price, iPad Air, for example, with the Magic Keyboard is close on £800. Another hundred quid and you can get a MacBook Air.
The only thing I'd say is, Mac isn't great for media. It doesn't have that app integration that we have on iOS, iPad OS and TV OS. I've always fancied an iPad mode on Mac.
Use case
if you're only doing light work, th iPad with Magic keyboard can double as a laptop replacement ... for a while. I've used it as such everywhere from home to university. Just don't expect to make it your daily driver for writing documents and such. For everything else, or almost, sure. But if you have to choose, I'd say get a Mac, max it out as much as your funds will allow and you have something that will probably be with you five years from now if you don't start raging at it and toss it out the nearest window. BTW, does anyone know how to get the Mac to play audio even with the lid closed?
Dennis Long
Have an iPad 9 and slim folio keyboard. It is good for typing but does not compare to a laptop.
Depends?
As others have mentioned, it depends on your use case. Maybe an iPad as a viable secondary device if your use case is basic, with a keyboard case. If you're totally blind, I don't really see the point of an iPad as a media device. Just connect your phone to a good Bluetooth speaker imo.
There's also the possibility someone might struggle with the more touch-based environment and (personal bias time), I had really poor experiences with iPadOS and a keyboard - VoiceOver jumping to the status bar/split
screen button all the time, it suddenly stopping typing and typing H, for example, will go back to the home screen. It was a pretty awful experience, now I'm too wary to try an ipad again. This happened across 2 different iPads (an iPad Pro 10.5 using either the Smart Keyboard that was quite old and a newer Logitech keyboard) and a iPad 9th gen (using that old Smart Keyboard).
iPadOS is pretty basic, all things considered, and honestly the price of an Ipad can creep nearly into Mac territory. If your use case is more advanced than just basic emails/web-browsing, then possibly the Mac.
Chamomile
Mac Air with a 2 or 3 chip. If you take it places. If not just a refurbishmac pro with 2 or 3 chip for basic use. Even a pro with a 4 chip.
Go with the mac
0 experience of any ipad.
Yes, mac has accessibility issues. I've suffered learning to overcome some. But it's very usable for advanced things too if we know how.
Plus, now from a converted person experience, OMG do I love Parallels. Accessibility is an issue, but I've seen more impressive stuff (worse), and my standard is that a thing is completely inaccessible when beyond sighted help phisically or remotely you don't have any other way to accomplish a given task. And Parallels is not at all in that category.
After tinkering, if we forget the x86 compatibility issues for some niche softwares or environments, I'm getting mac advantages, and in the same mbp, one of the cleanest untweaked and fastest windows 11 I've ever had, with a local account by default.
It works so well, clipboard sharing between iphone and windows is just one of the many advantages of this setup.
I didn't have a mac during the bootcamp days so won't pretend comparing both, and there are differences for sure. But my mbp has never been more versatile.