MacBook Pro is Dead

The MacBook Pro is Dead. Long Live the iPad Pro

Ok, so that’s probably a bold statement.

A little bit of a backstory. I’ve been using some variation of an Apple Computer product since the early 1980’s. Specifically since 1983, when I purchased my first Apple IIc personal home computer (Ok, yes, I’m old). This was even before the now famous Apple Macintosh was released. Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is that I have used an Apple Mac in one form or another for years. The Macintosh Classic II, PowerBook 100, iMac G3, Power Mac G5, Mac mini (2013) and then the MacBook Pro that I purchased in 2015. Oh, such a lovely creation that became such a icon among web developers. It was a slightly older, used model but still in fine condition. It served me well as I created web sites, YouTube videos and coded Arduino Sketches. But this MacBook Pro had an older Intel Core 2 Duo CPU and the OS was no longer being updated. It was painfully slow with the dinosaur-like spinning HD and 4 GB of RAM. So, alas, I had to retire that brushed aluminum beauty.

I still use the Mac mini on the desktop, although it’s also slow and showing it’s age. However, I’ve become so accustomed to using a laptop and being computationally mobile. I also have an affinity for the Apple eco-system with the tight integration between the iPhone and other Apple products, like the iPad. Oh yes, I had to buy into the iPad 2 tablet revolution when it came out in 2012.

So, where is this story going? After the retirement of the MacBook Pro, I kept a watch on where Apple laptops were going (some would say they weren’t going anywhere). I wanted to have a mobile device for creating video content, blogging and possibly a podcast (note to self: dream on). So, as my next experiment, rather than investing two-grand thereabouts on a new MacBook Pro, I made the decision to go all in with the iPad Pro 11. With the (rather expensive) iPad Pencil. And all the dongle accessories that it takes to connect up to stuff. It added up, but it was still considerably less than a new MacBook.

Now I have something new to blog about. Yippie! As I try out the iPad Pro experience, I’ll post my progress back here. And, hopefully, learn a few things along the way. Stay tuned.

Written by darrell24015 who lives and works in Roanoke, VA. Also builds a lot of different robot projects. Check out my Twitter feed