Is the iPad really a computer in 2023 ?
It's becoming an age-old question lately, can an iPad be a computer? The quick answer is no and yes. It all depends on what you use a computer for and your needs. Let's look a little deeper.
In 2017, Apple started with the slogan "Your next computer is not a computer," referring to the iPad Pro with iOS 11. The lovely commercial that many mocked all those years ago. Since then, Apple has little by little tried to market and offer the iPad, especially the Pro line, as a computer alternative. Even giving the iPad its own OS in iPadOS. While it is still built off IOS, it has some differences only on the iPad. They have added different ways to multitask, delivering Stage Manager with IOS 16 that allows you to have 4 apps on the screen at once, as well as the ability to split the screen and slide that came in previous versions. Also, with iPadOS 16, if you have an M series iPad, you have the ability to have full external monitor support.
Hardware Vs Software
These days the iPad Pro and iPad Air are powered by Apple's M Series chips that were originally made for their MacBook laptops. These chips are very powerful and efficient, which make these iPads very powerful devices that should last users for the next 4-5 years with no issues. But Apple has still not let the software fully use all the power of the hardware in the devices. Only recently lifting the cap that apps can use of the internal RAM if the developer requested it. There is what a lot will argue is a lack of pro apps on the iPad, such as Apple's own Final Cut Pro, Logic, and Motion. Though there are still some very good apps for the professional context creators or ones looking to get started, such as LumaFusion, and at the end of 2022, DaVinci Resolve came to the iPad. You can run the Microsoft suite on the iPad, do Word docs, make presentations just like on the PC or Mac Counter parts.
External Monitor Support / Multitasking
With iPadOS 16, Apple brought full external monitor support to the M-series iPads, which was a very welcome update that many applauded. Compared to before, when you would hook your iPad to an external monitor, it would be a mirrored image of your iPad, and you would have those black bars on either side. With this change, you could plug your iPad into a monitor and have a full-screen use along with Stage Manager as the default and only multitasking method on the external display. This was a new and big step in making the iPad more like a desktop computer, as you could still use your iPad itself along with your external display, and in a way, it can be like a dual-screen setup. With Stage Manager, you can have four apps open on your external display and four on your iPad screen at the same time, or you can turn Stage Manager off on the iPad and use the traditional split-screen multitasking while using Stage Manager on your monitor.
Conclusion
So right now, in 2023, the answer to the question, "Can an iPad be a computer?" is still yes or no, depending on what you need it for. If you are a content creator and you do heavy edits with a lot of graphics and such, probably not, or at least until Apple brings their Pro Suite to the iPad. But for those who are looking for a device that can be a tablet and their computer, and even a laptop when paired with a Magic Keyboard, then the answer is yes. The iPad has become a 3-in-1 device that can cover many bases depending on the user's needs. While I said content creators were a no, that's not always the case, as YouTubers such as 9to5Mac's Fernando Silva or YouTuber Christopher Lawley have made their living using just or mostly just an iPad for their content for years. If you are someone who loves to have one device to use as a tablet for content consumption or putting it on a Magic Keyboard to be a laptop to get things done, or someone who wants to have that same device be their desktop computer they can sit at a desk and have a full screen to work on, then the answer is clearly yes, it's a computer for you. And hopefully, with iPadOS 17 being shown off in June at WWDC, Apple will build on and clean up some issues from iPadOS 16.