Fifteen years after Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPad at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center, describing it as a "magical and revolutionary device," Apple's tablet has evolved from a content consumption device into a serious productivity tool. The original iPad, launched in 2010 with its 9.7-inch display and single-core A4 processor, was primarily designed for reading, web browsing, and media consumption. Today's iPad Pro M4, barely 5.1mm thick and powered by desktop-class silicon, represents a fundamental shift in what tablets can achieve.
The productivity transformation
iPadOS 26, announced at WWDC 2025, marks the most significant upgrade to Apple's tablet operating system ever. The new windowing system abandons the traditional single-app focus for a Mac-like multitasking experience, complete with menu bars, resizable windows, and true desktop-class file management. For entrepreneurs and business owners, this represents a watershed moment where tablets finally offer the productivity tools they've been demanding.
The latest iPads now support external monitors up to 6K resolution, with Stage Manager enabling seamless window management across multiple displays. This capability transforms the iPad from a portable device into a complete desktop replacement, particularly valuable for business owners who need flexibility between office and travel environments.
The compelling advantages
Modern iPads offer several distinct advantages over traditional laptops for business use. The most obvious is portability – the M4 iPad Pro weighs just 0.95 pounds compared to a typical laptop's 3-5 pounds. For entrepreneurs constantly on the move, this weight difference becomes significant over long travel days.
Battery life remains consistently excellent across iPad models, with Apple maintaining its 10-hour promise since the original device. Unlike laptops that often struggle to reach manufacturer claims, iPads reliably deliver all-day usage without the anxiety of hunting for power outlets during crucial meetings.
The instant-on nature of iPads eliminates the frustration of laptop boot times and sleep/wake issues. In business contexts where quick access to information is critical, this responsiveness provides a genuine competitive advantage.
Touch interaction offers unique benefits for certain business tasks. Digital signatures, presentation markup, and creative brainstorming sessions feel more natural with direct manipulation than traditional mouse and keyboard input. The Apple Pencil transforms iPads into digital whiteboards for strategy sessions and note-taking.
Cloud integration is seamless across iPad applications, with automatic syncing ensuring documents remain accessible across devices. For businesses already invested in cloud services, this removes many traditional file management headaches.
The persistent limitations
Despite significant improvements, iPads still face fundamental constraints for business use. The most significant limitation remains software availability. While iPad versions of Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Suite, and other business essentials exist, they often lack features present in their desktop counterparts. Complex spreadsheet work, advanced photo editing, and specialised industry software frequently require compromises or workarounds.
For tech startups and businesses requiring coding, the iPad presents particular challenges. While cloud-based development environments and coding apps exist, the experience remains suboptimal compared to traditional development setups. The lack of multiple monitor support (iPad Pro M4 supports only one external display) limits efficiency for developers accustomed to multi-screen workflows.
File management, despite improvements in iPadOS 26, still feels restrictive compared to traditional operating systems. The sandboxed nature of iOS limits flexibility in file organisation and inter-app communication that many business workflows depend upon.
Multitasking limitations persist despite Stage Manager improvements. Power users accustomed to dozens of open applications and complex window arrangements may find iPadOS constraining, even with the new windowing system.
The ergonomic consideration
An often-overlooked advantage of tablets is their ergonomic flexibility. Traditional laptops force users into fixed positions that can cause neck strain from looking down at the screen. iPads, particularly when paired with external keyboards and stands, allow for better posture by positioning the screen at eye level. This becomes increasingly important for entrepreneurs spending long hours working.
The ability to use iPads in various orientations – handheld for reading, flat for drawing, or upright for video calls – provides ergonomic options unavailable with traditional laptops.
The 2025 reality check
iPadOS 26's unified design language, called Liquid Glass, brings visual consistency across Apple's ecosystem while maintaining iPad's distinctive touch-first interface. The new background task support enables complex operations like video rendering to run while users continue working – a crucial capability for content creators and multimedia businesses.
Enhanced connectivity options, including improved external monitor support and new audio input selection features, address many previous limitations. Local capture functionality for recording video calls represents the kind of professional feature that businesses have long requested.
However, the question isn't whether iPads can replace laptops entirely, but whether they can serve as primary devices for specific business use cases. For entrepreneurs focused on communication, content creation, presentations, and light document work, modern iPads offer compelling advantages. For businesses requiring specialised software, complex data analysis, or extensive coding, traditional computers remain necessary.
The verdict for business owners
The iPad in 2025 represents a mature computing platform that can genuinely replace laptops for many business scenarios. Entrepreneurs whose work centres on meetings, presentations, content creation, and communication will find iPads not just adequate but superior to traditional laptops in many situations.
The key is honest assessment of your specific business needs. If your work revolves around email, documents, presentations, and video calls, an iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard can provide a more portable, responsive, and enjoyable computing experience than most laptops.
However, businesses requiring specialised software, extensive multitasking, or complex data manipulation should view iPads as powerful supplements rather than complete replacements for traditional computers.
The tablet revolution that began fifteen years ago has reached maturity. Whether it's ready for your business depends not on the technology's capabilities, but on how well those capabilities align with your specific entrepreneurial needs.