I told myself I was done with this thing.

I started every single day this week the same way.

Go out for a walk, come back, then head downstairs and start writing.

Except I didn’t reach for my notebook, instead I decided to give the iPad another chance.

Yes the device I said Apple ruined with the iPadOS 26 software update. I still hate that, but I am back in Apple Notes and the Apple Pencil works best inside of Apple’s apps.

Instead of writing inside my paper journal, scanning that into a file, then pasting it into the Notes app, in order to have the handwritten text become searchable later, I decided to skip those extra steps and just hand write, directly inside Notes, using the Apple Pencil.

Now I am left sitting here asking myself, does this device earn a place in my lineup? Or do I now have an overpriced digital notebook?

I have my 11” M4 Pro iPad Pro, base storage of 256GB in the Space Black color way.

My go to in the past would have been the Magic Keyboard, however I would update that to be the Apple Pencil.

The pencil is the must have accessory. You can have a great experience without the Magic Keyboard. With the latest software I prefer using the iPad like...well...an iPad.

iPadOS 26 is my least favorite part about the iPad, I have a full video about how much I dislike the new multitasking and various modes the iPad gives us now.

I’ve found a weird bug with Apple Notes. I like writing with grid lines on. I would prefer dots, but Apple Notes doesn’t have that. C’mon Apple! Get it together!

Back to the issue, when I create my daily note and add grid lines, on the iPad they extend forever, even if I put type text below my hand written passage.

On the desktop this is not the case. The Note renders as expected.

Weird and not a major inconvenience, but is something to recognize.

The way around it is to put text above and below and insert a drawing. Then you get the extension handles top and bottom, for whatever reason I have only been getting one on top.

I’ve never been a fan of reading on the iPad. I have the kindle app installed but much prefer my Kindle paper white or even physical books *gasp* these days.

That makes note taking more challenging but Apple Notes gives a lot to like on that front.

Paperlike screen protectors.

The writing experience is good. Not Leuchtturm 1917 dot paper and Schmidt Easy Flow 9000 fine tip ink cartridge good but close enough now that it could replace my paper notebook.

Worth noting that it happens to cost 25x as expensive as two notebooks that would last me a year at least.

My daily notes shortcut makes it easy to create the note and tags the time I start writing.

This way there is no thinking. One button to create the daily note, tagged appropriately and in the right folder. One more button to open that daily note after it is created and I can start writing.

It is almost as easy as opening a notebook and clicking a pen. Almost.

This morning pages practice spawned a few video ideas and a handful of action items that I wanted inside of Apple Reminders.

It was easy enough to export them to markdown, have Claude extract those items and create the reminders for me.

Easier and less fuss than having an Obsidian and Claude Code setup, with no requirement to use Terminal. Phew

I have a video idea on the back burner about if the iPad is the best place to use the stock Apple Productivity apps over the Mac.

I’ve come to love my Mac. It is irreplaceable in my workflow, however there are differences to how Notes, Calendar and Reminders work and interface with each other on the iPad compared to the Mac that makes the experience better in many ways.

I am mixed on this overall. As much as I love the iPad, it isn’t my main device and pretending that it could be does a disservice to myself and the people who trust me to share my honest thoughts and opinions on tech and productivity systems.

Do I have an overpriced notebook or is the iPad still a worthy device to recommend, despite my disdain for the latest software iteration?

The iPad is as close as ever to being a Mac, except it doesn’t run MacOS.

Honestly, I don’t know how I could reasonably recommend the iPad Pro to anyone but a tech enthusiast.

The screen is amazing, which is the main reason anyone should buy it. The faster refresh rate does wonders when you are using the Pencil and the tandem OLED technology is the best display to ever come in a consumer tech product(yet).

The iPad Air largely gives the same experience at almost half the price. I loved my old iPad Air and feel like the older I get the more towards the normal distribution of the bell curve I am becoming, aka I am being cheap and responsible when it comes to trying not to buy more device than I need, while making sure I am actually going to use the damn thing.