iPad Air 4 Review: Productivity Monster?

iPad Air 4 Productivity Review

Productivity Monster?

Its been a long time since I bought an iPad. I used to be an Apple fan before. We had the first iPhone which I dove with in a pool and miraculously survived, iPad touch, iPod and an iPad first gen. That’s like 7 years ago and during that time, I tried tricking my mind that an iPad can replace a laptop but failed. In 2020, I am willing to give it another shot.

The IOS version to match Windows

With the introduction of IOS 14 in September, it brought different features like widget support, something that we’ve been enjoying in Android for several years already. It’s not like we need that right? It’s more of aesthetics and ever since I bought the iPad over a month ago, I haven’t really utilized the highlights of the new IOS version. Apple omitted the home button in the new iPad Air 4 and took the design of the iPad Pro’s for an all screen design which is nice and it introduced the touch ID at the top side of the iPad, A first for any Apple device. The touch ID though will is not something to replace the home button but it’s the lock button it’s replacing and with that, you will need to use the gesture to go back to the home screen. So gestures it is. How friendly is that if I am using an Ipad Magic Keyboard? It is effective.

Like any new OS that you will be learning, you need to learn how to navigate the new IOS version without the home button. There’s a learning curve that you need to adjust to for the gestures. But it’s 2020 and you can watch lots of videos in Youtube so would learn how to navigate IOS using gestures. I didn’t need to adjust a lot though since the concept is similar to Blackberry touch OS before and it’s pretty much the same in terms of navigation. What’s good about IOS though is, its not as complicated as Android. So basically there’s not much tweaking that needs to be done in order for you to enjoy the IOS. The default setting is very much what an ordinary user would use. Once you get pass the gesture control’s you are good to go. The gestures using the Magic keyboard feels natural and premium its not a hit or miss. You can work without the need of touching the screen unless it doesn’t support the keyboard and mouse. Most of the apps will do.

The Magic Keyboard feels magic

I am typing this article using the Magic keyboard. It’s resting in my lap comfortably but my right index finger doesn’t enjoy the small keyboard layout and it’s aching to go back the normal keyboard I am using for Surface or Laptop keyboard. It gets the job done though and it has backlit plus key travel is top notch. Not worth the price though. This one is like 15K PHP. A price of a decent tablet. If you are buying the set with Apple Pencil this will cost you a wooping 50K PHP. Why do I need to but those anyway? These are optional accessories but if you want to transform this to the ultimate productivity machine that can replace your laptop, you will need to shell out tons amount of Cash. The quality is top notch though. Try it out in a Apple kiosk so you would know how it feels before jumping and buying. The accessories feels very premium compared to Android tablets on the same category that please plastic and cheap. It has strong magnets and can stand on your lap. Basically you can work the same way as your working using your laptop wherever you can put your laptop.

Now I am finished with the Operating System and Hardware. I’ll jump to the software. Ok Apple is the home of the best tablet apps. But does that mean this will beat my laptop for productivity. The answer is, depends and most of the time No. I am working for a corporate company and most of the time we are using heavy excel with lots of complicated computations and connections. So a mobile version of word and excel is a no go. For drawing and video editing, it’s a yes but definitely would need to adjust how IOS behaves with files. At first, I thought it’s just a simple copy and pasting of files but it’s not. Ipad Air 4 has USB type C like the Ipad Pros but they are not the same write and read speed to that’s the edge of the Pros even though Ipad Air 4 has a slight processor update. This can read memory card card readers and some external hard disk.

How about multi tasking?

Multi tasking is not like Windows or Dex mode for Android if you are familiar with that. Android Multi tasking is almost same experience as Windows and there’s even a seamless transition between external and mobile if you want to use mobile as a second screen you can do that. Speaking of external monitors, Your iPad is not yet that optimized for that. Most of the time you can just use it for duplicating your screen and since iPad has weird resolutions, most of the external monitors are not optimized for that kind of resolution. For Android, it’s a different story. I am using a Not 20 Ultra for comparison, not even a Tablet. But imagine if its the Tab S7+ I am comparing, then it would beat iPad’s if productivity and multi tasking is the competing criteria. It does not feel like Windows and Mac. Oh and I haven’t mentioned that the new IOS version now support Mouse controls but its not as good as Android as it uses a very big circular nipple to navigate the IOS and it just feels unnatural.

The Base version is 64GB so is that enough for productivity. It still depends but the 256 version is the same price as the Ipad Pro. :) So if you think you can’t work around 64GB then you might want to buy the 128GB Ipad Pro which is usually enough for your media files. For me I bought the 64GB version since I have a Cloud storage and for media consumption there’s Youtube and Netflix. Its 2020 and I don’t download pirated videos anymore lol. For games, I haven’t installed heavy games yet, just simple ones. But again, if you will be pumping lots of games and videos here the 64GB won’t hold that much for you.

Performance is still king for the Tablet category

Performance and battery wise. This is the fastest Ipad to date. The A14 processor will future proof this Ipad and for sure it would last you 5 years considering how Apple was generous in supporting its Apple devices. Another advantage is software and background processes which unlike Android where you experience OS hiccups as it age, that is not going to happen to your IOS device. Battery life is not as great as the other Ipads but still 8 to 10 hour of juice is still superb. I have been using the Ipad for 2 hours now for typing and drawing and it manage to just burn 10% of battery. Standby time is another edge. Leave this device for a week and it would just drain 5% and it’s even connected to wifi constantly getting notifications and update in the background.

As much as Apple would like to showcase this as a laptop replacement, it will not replace your laptop because Apple themselves wouldn’t want to do that. They are selling Mac Book pros so for me it’s more of an Accessory device for the Mac books for those productivity monsters. After 10 years of asking the question, can Tablets replace your Laptop for productivity? The answer is, still stick to your Windows for serious gaming and productivity. But there’s no denying how far technology has come and evolve throughout the year. The Ipad Air might not replace your laptop yet, but is a Monster for Media consumption if not productivity. Do put this on the top of your list of you are planning to buy a tablet.

Pros: