I’ve written posts about the tools I use for blogging in the past, but I’ve never done a post about how I use an iPad. And more specifically – my take on the brand new 2020 iPad Pro for blogging, which I picked up back in May.
I’ve shown how I use my iPad for blogging a handful of times over on Instagram Stories and have gotten loads of questions about the pros, cons, and my honest thoughts on if the new iPad Pro can actually replace the need for a laptop.
So let’s dig in…
The boring stuff – the specs
There are two different sizes of the 2020 iPad Pro (11 inch display or 12.9 inch display), two color options (Space Grey and Silver), as well as all sorts of different spec options when it comes to storage and connectivity. All these selections will have a huge impact on your price at the end of the day – but also an equally huge impact on your functionality of work flow. We’ll discuss it.
Here are the exact specs of my 2020 iPad Pro:
★ 11 inch display
★ WiFi only (no cellular capabilities)
★ 512GB
★ Space Grey color
I personally chose an 11 inch display because – as you’ll see in the “pros” section of this post – I love the portability of the smaller screen size. I also had cellular capabilities on my previous iPad (not a Pro model, just plain old regular iPad) and truly never used the cellular. I’m just usually around WiFi, so it’s not a feature worth investing in for me personally.
In terms of storage, this was the biggest cost driver, but also the most important for me. The primary reason I rarely used my older, standard iPad for blogging was because it only had 32GB of storage. While I do pay for additional cloud storage, ultimately the lack of storage was making it hard to even download all the apps I’d need to run my business from my iPad (like Lightroom). I bucked up when shopping for the 2020 iPad Pro for blogging and splurged on a healthy amount of storage so that I knew I’d be able to download and save to my heart’s content.
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How I utilize my 2020 iPad Pro for blogging
Writing blog posts
I frequently use my new 2020 iPad Pro to write blog posts because it’s so comfortable and easy. Transparently – this is really only because of Apple’s new Magic Keyboard. The Magic Keyboard magnetically grips your iPad Pro and has a seamless bluetooth keyboard and trackpad. The keys are comfortable to use, the trackpad is a fresh take on an iPad keyboard, and overall the Magic Keyboard is probably why I’ve improved my consistency in getting blog posts published with the iPad itself.
Editing images
Editing images on my standard iPad was fairly cumbersome. The Lightroom app is powerful and saving high quality images takes up plenty of power and space – but on the 2020 iPad Pro it’s a non-issue.
My fave part of editing images on the iPad with my Lightroom app is I can utilize a dongle/memory card reader and plug directly into my iPad. I used to have to offload my photos from my memory card onto my laptop and refresh my Lightroom cloud to access on my iPad. I love being able to seamlessly download and edit all my photos with my iPad and iPad only – I truly can’t wait to use this workflow while traveling because this was always a huge issue for me lugging heavy cameras and laptops around.
Assembling blog posts
After a blog post is written and the photos are ready to go, it’s time to assemble the post together in WordPress. WordPress is not particularly mobile friendly. It really helps to have a mouse or trackpad to utilize, clicking around to add and edit various text and photos.
Again, this is where the Magic Keyboard has made a massive difference for me. Because the Magic Keyboard has a trackpad, I’m able to easily edit blog posts directly in WordPress on my iPad.
ALSO – ya’ll…you can utilize a freestanding bluetooth mouse with your iPad. It rocks. You can also utilize your iPad as a second screen for your laptop or desktop computer. Really the possibilities of how to utilize the 2020 iPad Pro for workflow are endless – and for me, with blog post assembly, it’s been a game changer.
Admin tasks
Running your own business means a whole lot of admin tasks. From tracking income and expenses, creating and following up on invoices, managing and signing contracts, brainstorming content, creating and managing content calendars, and just general every day life (like reading and note taking) – there are so many ways I use my 2020 iPad pro for blogging when it comes to admin related items.
I also do tend to use my iPad for any note taking needs I have, and I’ll admit I love the feel of the newest version of the Apple Pencil more so than the original. The pencil itself fits better in my hand and there’s way less of a lag when writing on the iPad Pro vs the original iPad.
The pros and cons of the 2020 iPad Pro for blogging
Pros
Size & portability
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I love the size and portability of my 2020 iPad Pro – specifically the 11 inch model. I find this size perfect as it’s just slightly smaller than a standard sheet of paper and slides easily into most of my bags.
Capabilities
The 2020 iPad Pro is just really powerful – particularly in comparison to my original iPad I was upgrading from. I’m able to edit all my photos, assemble blog posts, even edit YouTube videos or for my podcast if I so choose. There are just so many capabilities and I love having that extra juice to get all my business needs done.
Cons
Price
The biggest (and really the only major) con I have with my fancy new iPad set up? The cost. It’s absurd.
While yes, you can absolutely cut costs when shopping for the new 2020 iPad Pro by choosing a WiFi only model with smaller storage, the reality is that these tablets just aren’t cheap. Especially if you start adding on the accessories that really make this functional as a laptop replacement, such as the Magic keyboard and Apple Pencil.
All in, I spent $1,674 on my new iPad with all its accessories (not even including Apple Care!). BARF. All I can say is bless up that this is a tax write off for me.
Weight
The only other small con I’ve noticed is the weight of my iPad Pro specifically when I’ve got it inside the Magic Keyboard. Honestly the Magic Keyboard really makes this machine for me – but it’s not very lightweight. The iPad Pro itself weighs just over one pound and the Magic Keyboard adds over an other pound on top of that. All in, it’s pretty darn close to the weight of a Macbook Air.
My final thoughts on the 2020 iPad Pro for blogging – can it replace a laptop?
As ya’ll can probably tell from this blog post – I love my new iPad Pro. Having a functional, powerful tablet for blogging really has changed the game for me even at home (and I think it’ll be a huge game changer once travel picks back up).
Can the iPad Pro replace a laptop? I think the answer to this Q really depends on what you use your laptop for. If you’re primarily writing, handling emails and admin tasks, etc – you might be golden especially if you use the Magic Keyboard! But if you’re like me and have some more high power needs (like long form video editing), I personally find it really nice to have a “home” computer.
Do you have a 2020 iPad Pro? Drop your feels in the comments below.
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