Apple This

With Apple’s WWDC 2020 Conference scheduled to take place in June, announcements for innovations and upgrades of Apple’s operating systems and products are right around the corner! While the physical conference itself has been canceled in favor of a digital conference format thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, Apple is slated to release new physical products that should scratch the itch of people wanting something new from Apple, which includes the upcoming release of a 2020 model of the iPad Pro.

From the information available from product tester reviews and which has been given to us directly from Apple, it appears that the multinational technology company is still pushing mindset that tablets should replace your laptop. The 2020 iPad Pro is certainly the closest Apple has come to making a tablet capable of standing in for a MacBook or laptop. But does the new iPad Pro pack enough features to truly replace a laptop? Let’s look at some of the hardware specifications of the 2020 iPad Pro to find out.

Screen Sizes and Display

The 2020 iPad Pro comes in two model sizes. There is an 11-inch model that provides more portability, and a 12.9 inch model for people who want a combination of high performance and a larger display for easier reading and additional screen space. Since Apple no longer manufactures or directly sells 11.6 inch MacBook models–and the next smallest MacBook is 13.3 inches–these two iPad Pro models will easily be the most modern and most portable devices in Apple’s stock.

In terms of display quality, the 2020 iPad Pros will be equipped with the latest in Apple’s lightweight display technology, with both the 11’ and 12.9’ models coming equipped with the Liquid Retina display previously only used by the iPhone XR. 

Accessibility, Accessories, and Ports

For the first time in the history of Apple’s iPad line, the iPad Pro will have full built-in trackpad support through iPadOS 13.4. This means when combined with a smart keyboard, the 2020 iPad Pro will have similar functionality to a Chromebook. Something Apple does not seem keen on adding to the iPad Pro line, however, are USB ports. Besides the USB-C charging port, the new model of iPad Pro does not support any additional USB ports due to Apple’s desire to maintain the sleek profile of their mainline tablet. While trying to keep a tablet portable is an entirely understandable endeavor, the lack of ports can prove to be a fairly inconvenient drawback for someone who would want to use their 2020 iPad Pro for work purposes.

Battery Life

Undoubtedly the feature that I think is most impressive about the 2020 iPad Pro line is its battery life. Apple has always excelled at making its devices have longer battery lives than most devices made by their competitors–the newest rendition of the iPad Pro is no exception to this. When the iPad Pro 2020’s battery life was tested through a continuous trial of wireless web surfing, the device stayed on for over 10 hours at a screen brightness of 150 nits!

Can the 2020 iPad Pro replace your Laptop?

While the 2020 iPad Pro is undoubtedly more powerful and more capable than any model of its predecessors, the question still begs to be asked: is it worthy of replacing your laptop? Honest answer: probably not yet.

While Apple has made great strides towards making their iPad Pro line more functional and versatile–the trackpad functionality is still a work in progress, the screen sizes may not be ideal for people who are actually using their iPads for work purposes, the battery life is not any better than the 2019 MacBook, and some quality of life improvements will likely need to be made to the iPad OS before working on it is as quick and efficient as working with a macOS device.

That being said, the 2020 iPad Pro will easily have a place for itself in the market as soon as it releases. Businesses often rent iPad Pros for short term event needs, and now that Apple is getting more into trying to turn the iPad Pro into more of a miniature laptop, businesses will likely find more uses for them. If you need a 2020 iPad Pro rental, technology rental companies like Rentacomputer.com and Rentourtablets.com will be able to provide these rentals very soon!

…Don’t forget to sanitize–and stay safe!

When it was first released, the MacBook Air was an innovative device. But now everyone and their mothers are making ultra-slim laptops. The MacBook Air still has a lot going for it, but unless Apple unveils a brand new and revamped design of the MacBook Air this year, you may just want to pick up a standard MacBook instead. Consider these three things when deciding whether you want a MacBook Air rental or a MacBook rental.

The Death of the 11 Inch Air

Apple stopped producing 11 inch MacBook Airs last year. To understand why this fact is so terrible you first have to ask yourself, “Why do people buy the MacBook Air?”. To answer your question, people bought the MacBook Air because it was compact, lightweight, and still managed to be powerful.

But Apple discontinued the 11 Inch MacBook Air, effectively eliminating one of the three main reasons anyone would want to specifically rent or buy a MacBook Air in the first place. But only the 11 Inch MacBook Air was discontinued, meaning that Apple is still actively selling their 13 Inch MacBook Airs.

Weight of the Devices

Contrary to the device’s name, the MacBook Air is no longer the lightweight champion of MacBook devices. Maybe if Apple continued making new models of the 11-inch MacBook Air, the Air would still be the lightest MacBook but, as listed above, Apple sunk that model. However, Apple has not stopped pursuing slim and lightweight designs. The 12-inch MacBook released back in 2015 manages to be lighter than both the 11-inch MacBook Air and the 13-inch MacBook Air.

Device Capabilities

The MacBook Air and the MacBook have pretty similar hardware capabilities. The main differences between the two devices are that the MacBook Air comes equipped with better a processor, graphics card, and battery life (battery life only applies to the 13 inch model), while the MacBook is lighter weight, has better screen display (retina display) and resolution, and more flash drive storage space and RAM by default.

Conclusion

If you are looking for a device strictly on the grounds of what is currently the most lightweight and compact MacBook, get the 12-inch MacBook. If you need a better graphics card or longer battery life, get the 13-inch MacBook Air. At the moment I cannot tell if there is an objectively better device between the MacBook and the MacBook Air, but the fact that the MacBook is lighter, more compact, and almost as powerful processor and graphics card wise is somewhat concerning when thinking about the future of the MacBook Air family.

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MacOS Sierra released officially back in September of this year. However, if you’re still holding out on upgrading for any reason, now is a perfect time reconsider giving your MacBook a Christmas operating system upgrade! Of course, we wouldn’t just tell you to upgrade your operating system without giving you good reasons for doing so. So here are three reasons you should upgrade to MacOS Sierra if you are still running OS X El Capitan.

Memory Improvements

MacOS Sierra is designed for helping users to better manage their MacBooks memory. This might worry some users upon hearing, but don’t worry, OS Sierra doesn’t just delete files at random from your MacBook. Instead, OS Sierra prioritizes deleting files which have been trashed for more than 30 days and remind you to remove installation files which users will use once and never again. In addition to deleting files, MacOS Sierra can also move files that you don’t use often off of your local storage and onto cloud storage for future re-downloading.

It should be mentioned that OS Sierra gives you the option of choosing to auto-delete your trashed items after they have spent thirty days in the trash. Your new operating system will not automatically delete your trash for you, unless you open Finder, go to Preferences, and then select “Remove items from the Trash after 30 days”.

Siri on Your MacBook

Siri finally made its way to Mac back in September, and it brought new computer-relevant features. If you have ever wished you could search your MacBook’s files using only your voice instead of any number of clicks, you will now have the option to do so. In addition to searching your file browser, Siri can interface with the Apple Home app and search for specific photos on the internet.

Of course, Siri can still do all of its normal phone functions, like messaging friends, and looking up things on the internet, but now it can do all of those things and more from the comfort of your MacBook.

Device Interconnectivity

Apple has put a whole lot of effort into trying to increase the amount of interconnectivity available between iDevices by improving iCloud. The most important feature to come out of these efforts is the capability of transferring files between your MacBook and other iDevices, such as an iPhone or iPad. However, this is not the only thing Apple has done with their device interconnectivity.

Apple has also rolled out some new security features which improve the usefulness of their smartwatches. If you own a smartwatch you’ll now be able to use it to unlock your MacBook just by approaching it, which will save a few seconds of your life by letting you skip putting in your lockscreen password. Another security feature rolled out with OS Sierra allows you to transfer the last step of Apple Pay authentication to a second Apple device you own to finalize purchases if you ever felt the need to do so.

If none of the three things above compelled you to upgrade to MacOS Sierra for yourself, your opinion may be swayed by knowing that this upgrade is free for anyone who has OS X 10.7.5 or later. Of  course, if you ever needed to get a large quantity MacBook rental, you can expect MacOS Sierra from us as well. Most Christmas presents aren’t free, but you can get your operating system a free update before Christmas. 
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