I need to use a mouse with my ipad pro. What gives?

I think it is fair to say an iPad can replace a desktop or laptop for some tasks. But not for all tasks. So it really depends what you use and how you work on your desktop or laptop as to whether an iPad can replace it or not. I multitask all the time - I will often have Word, Excel, PowerPoint, analyses apps or text files all open at the same time as I write a paper, plus EndNote. I cannot multitask in iOS like that, so that alone means I would never consider any tablet a replacement for my computers. Not to mention working like that on a single small display would have me ripping out what little hair I still have (I like big, and multiple displays for most of what I do).

I know some of the MS Word documents I create for work won't even open on an iPad. Documents with embedded images, complex formatting (large or complex tables with some merged cells and such often seem to be difficult or impossible to work with in iOS for me in either Pages or Word) or which are just very large files, or live documents with linked data from other apps, are problematic at best in iOS and impossible at worst. I've also experienced issues with both Keynote and MS Powerpoint when you're working collaboratively on a presentation - iOS has trouble again with large files, complex transitions (may be related to the source of the images or content).

A lot of those issues are likely due to the limited RAM in any iOS device. None of my personal or work machines have less than 32Gb RAM. In iOS it just means that real-world large documents, presentations, spreadsheets and data files are inherently problematic (on any tablet).

Apple needs to decide if they want the ipad pro to forever be a part-time optional computing device or become a full-time, 8-hour workday device. It will never the latter without an option to rest ones arms while interacting with the screen for 8 hours.

Which is what? Their goal is to make money. The day they announce some sort of pointer on ios, their macbook sales will drop overnight. So lets not elevate the lack of pointer support to a high-minded dedication to principle. Its business. The ipad pro has all the horsepower and screen real-estate for all-day work. It only lacks the ergonomics of all-day work. Give it that and the end of the macbook is nigh. So, apple will continue to tease the ipad as a laptop replacement, without actual making it so. Thats their strategy - for now.

Which is what? Their goal is to make money. The day they announce some sort of pointer on ios, their macbook sales will drop overnight. So lets not elevate the lack of pointer support to a high-minded dedication to principle. Its business. The ipad pro has all the horsepower and screen real-estate for all-day work. It only lacks the ergonomics of all-day work. Give it that and the end of the macbook is nigh. So, apple will continue to tease the ipad as a laptop replacement, without actual making it so. Thats their strategy - for now.

Apple's strategy for the iPad has changed very little from when it was first released. I'd say the biggest change was the Pencil. That's what Lawrence means. Just because you think your strategy is better doesn't mean that Apple is going to agree with you (or that it is, in fact, an objectively better strategy).

People seem to have selective reading and/or listening. At no time did Apple (as far as I can find anywhere) say iPad Pro is a laptop replacement. They did say, it is as powerful as a laptop (it is). They did it is as fast (in many cases faster) than a laptop (it is). They said the resolution of the display exceeds the resolution of most laptops (it does). They never said it is a laptop or provide all the functionality of a laptop.

Here are a few reasons why your next computer just might be iPad Pro.

The above statement is from the Apple iPad pro site. If you still believe Apple is not promoting the ipad pro as a laptop replacement, that is selective reading indeed.

You DO know, technically speaking, ALL mobile devices ARE computers!

Even smart phones!

Apple is NOT stating that iPads/iPad Pros are full featured laptop computers .

Apple has NOT stated laptop replacement for their iPad Pro models.

Apple has stated the display and internal hardware is faster than 90% of the current laptop computers on the market.

Different.

Seriously? That's the best you can come up with??

Having been an iPad user since the very first one, that statement would not have lead me to believe iPad is a replacement for a laptop. No, not at all. Anyone who spends this much money on any device, would I think learn as much about them as they can. They might even visit an Apple Store to see one and learn a bit about how they operate. So no, I don't buy that people are buying these and somehow finding out after purchase that they aren't full function laptops. If they do, they simply didn't do enough research.

Quotes from MacDailyNews and Macworld.

“We find that there are many older users longing to make iPad work like a laptop, because that’s what they know.”

“Take a look at a twelve-year-old who’s only really ever used an iPad for personal computing. It’s an eyeopener. It’s like looking into the future.”

“The answer isn’t to try to make the iPad into a MacBook. The answer is to provide all the tools possible in iOS for developers to make robust apps that can take advantage of the multi-touch paradigm.”— MacDailyNews, May 16, 2017

“If you want a trackpad for your iPad, you already have one:

Hold your finger down anywhere on the iOS keyboard to access the trackpad feature for precise cursor control. To select text, simply place your cursor in your desired position, then use a second finger to tap the screen and the text selection tool will appear for use.”

Apple knows what they want iPads to do.

Don't think so from what I see these young teenagers doing on their iPad Pros.

No mention or impression that iPad Pro is a laptop replacement ANYWHERE in that ad.

None.

That student is using much of all the apps and stuff iPads normally do.

See my iPad Pro quotes two replies above yours.

Sorry.

Nice Try.

Thanks for playing!

She's using the pro with a keyboard and asks "what's a computer" at the end, meaning that you don't need a computer if you have a pro. What do you think she means when she asks "what's a computer" at the end and what do you think Apple implies when it shows her using the pro with a keyboard?

I don't think anyone is questioning if an iPad is a computer. For that matter, an iPhone is also a computer. I actually really like this Apple Ad. Other than the young lady asking "what's a computer?" I don't think see in any way, where Apple said iPad is a laptop replacement. Yet, it is indeed a computer. A touch screen enabled device, which does indeed work in many ways, but not in all ways like a full functioned computer. It is up to the individual consumer to do their own research to determine if the iPad does enough of those "computer" functions to replace their laptop with an iPad exclusively.

If Apple had said directly, "ditch the laptop and buy an iPad," that would be direct. But Apple said no such thing in this ad. To many teens the age of the center of this commercial, iPad is their only computing device. That's smart marketing, but by no means misleading marketing.

Mobile devices ARE computers!

She was also using the iPad Pro many times as a tablet!

Drawing/sketching, using FaceTime, reading a comic.

Hardly resource intensive full featured powerhouse laptop stuff going on!

I'm willing to bet that for every article you produce which buggers the notion of mouse/trackpad support in iOS I can find five or ten clamoring for the feature. And where your 12-year-old view of the future is concerned, I will admit the Candy Crush Saga experience has likely peaked with a touch interface. Coincidentally, my children are 14 and 16 years of age and grew up around tech, iPads included. When they were 12 the iPad sufficed for their casual gaming interests and light word processing needs, but when they entered high school neither wanted an iPad as their day-to-day device -- one opted for a MacBook and loves the trackpad while the other, a gamer, wanted a Windows PC with very sophisticated mouse. So the notion that the future is mouse- or peripheral-free is spurious, at best.

And the idea that the iPad is not or should not be a laptop replacement is easily countered by Googling "ipad pro 2018 review" -- the first four results I saw for that search with telling quotes follow -- be sure to note Tim Cook's statements in the third item, below. Despite the frequent remonstrations in this thread by a small number of touch interface zealots, iOS and the iPad platform can and likely will evolve into a full laptop replacement, mouse support included, but when that sales/marketing inflection point finally happens for Apple is anyone's guess (it could be years from now).

https://www.cnet.com/reviews/apple-ipad-pro-2018-review/

“But the iPad Pro just isn't flexible enough, yet. The browser is not the same as a desktop-level experience, which can make it hard to work with web tools. No trackpad on the optional keyboard and no support for mice makes text editing cumbersome. Furthermore, iOS hasn't changed enough. It's way too much like an evolution of the iPhone, instead of a fully evolved computer desktop.”

https://www.wired.com/review/review-ipad-pro-2018/

"It doesn’t feel like the world is ready to treat my iPad as an equal to a PC yet—even if that iPad is a lot more powerful and user friendly. Now that Apple has declared the iPad is a PC, it should take more of the guardrails off of iOS and strongly encourage developers to treat it like they do the Mac. It’s time for iOS to grow up and get a job. The iPad Pro is one of the most powerful computers you can own. It could be the best PC, too. Or better than a Mac. For now, it still has to settle for being the best tablet money can buy."

https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/5/18062612/apple-ipad-pro-review-2018-screen-usb-c-pencil-price-features

"All of this data was used to support equally spectacular claims about what an iPad really is. It is a “magical piece of glass that can be anything you need it to be,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said, adding that all that power is “going to push what you can do on iPad, or on any computer, even further.” The overwhelming message was the iPad is more powerful, more capable, and more the future than any laptop — Apple’s own new MacBook Air included."

https://www.macworld.com/article/3321139/iphone-ipad/2018-ipad-pro-review.html

"Apple really wants us to believe a tablet can take the place of a MacBook, and it’s spared few resources in its quest to proselytize us with the 2018 iPad Pro. The iPad Pro is a beast, one that can hold its own alongside powerful laptops. It’s a stunner, especially with a redesigned Apple Pencil and Smart Folio Keyboard that feel more like essentials than peripherals."

What is it you're hoping to get us to say or do with all these quotes? This is a pointless discussion. It's up to the user to decide if an iPad is enough for their needs. It is what it is. I don't get why you feel so compelled to try to prove your point?