IF you don’t have a large screen computer or a laptop of some sort, you might want a macbook. (I actually own a surface pro 3 and and iMac 27)
I passed up the new iMac, the trouble plagued and more expensive Surface 4, and the macbook pro/air/whatever for the iPad pro and could not be happier or more productive.
I was SO skeptical of everything that it could do and could it replace the rest of my life and I have found that it can.
Some of us work quite well with older versions of the ipad (and can’t afford an upgrade), so I for one hope that the ios Scrivener app isn’t made just for pro users like the new Pages app, which is now useless for older ipad users. Please keep Scrivener for ios skinny. You don’t need all that multi-tasking crap. Scrivener is for writing with not playing with.
Scrivener for iOS will run on any device that can run iOS 9.0. On the simulator, I’ve been ensuring it runs well on everything from the iPhone 5 through the iPad 2 up to the iPad Pro (which, I have to admit, I like a lot more since getting the smart keyboard).
I just tried the iPad Pro and the smart keyboard at an Apple Store, and I must say I am impressed. It’s still pretty big, compared to the MB 12", but it’s a tablet, you can draw on it, etcetera. It is much more impressive than I thought
Given my general scepticism about even the Air2, and my two year satisfaction with an iPad mini, I’m slightly embarrassed to say that I received an Xmas iPad Pro for `business and home’ use yesterday. And I like it.
I already have an MBA 13 which is, and will definitely remain, my main writing machine, but Pro supported writing apps like 1Writer work very nicely indeed for writing notes with the smaller on-screen keyboard, and using apps like iThoughtsX has been a bit of a revelation.
KB wrote
Sometimes, people need to both write AND draw. Scrivener is an excellent application for screenwriting. And, if one is both writing and directing a screenplay, one needs to both write the script AND draw storyboards. Thus, an iPad Pro is a better choice than a laptop.
Also, I love the use of the iPad for hand editing. When one is reading through a script, it’s much faster and more fluid to scan through a print out and make quick notes by hand than it is to scroll through a laptop document. So, I use Scrivener to export .pdf’s of my drafts and then use an iPad annotation app to mark them up by hand . I also sometimes teach screenwriting and playwriting. Having my students send a .pdf of their scripts that I then mark up using a stylus and a .pdf annotation program saves me from having to keep track of reams of paper (average screenplay length =120 pages x 10 students); it also saves many trees.
Lastly, when I brainstorm, I prefer to write by hand. There is something about hand writing that feels freer- that seems to activate a different area of the brain. (There’s some science to back this up: nytimes.com/2014/06/03/scien … .html?_r=0) Now that I have an iPad Pro with the AMAZING apple pencil, that process feels as free and easy as taking notes on paper. I don’t have to carry around a paper notebook. And I never misplace some random idea that I’ve scrawled on a scrap of paper.
So, I’m very excited about my iPad Pro. My laptop has basically become my desktop machine-- I use it to power a large desktop monitor. However, there are days when I unplug the laptop from the large monitor and put BOTH my iPad Pro and my Laptop in my backpack simply because I can’t efficiently use Scrivener on my iPad. Yes, Scrivener has the nice syncing feature now. And that’s great. But if one is writing scripts and needs to use script formatting, one has to jump through some hoops to send things back and forth between the iPad and Scrivener. Scrivener gets stored in Dropbox as .rtf files. I’m still not sure how to edit those files and have them sync back to Scrivener in my preferred stage play and/or screenplay formats. I’m going to try to use .fountain as a temporary solution, but I’ll still have to create new documents rather than working with existing documents-- The Scrivener .rtf documents and a .fountain document, as far as I can tell, need to be kept as separate entities.
Penny,
I don’t understand what you mean by “need to be kept as separate entities”.
In the File>Sync>with External Folder…, have you chosen “Format for external Draft files: fountain”? That’s what I do. On my computer I work with the scenes in Scriveners RTF format, and after syncing I work with the same scenes on my iPad (in my case in Byword, but others swear to Editorial, iA Writer or other plain text iOS apps), now in fountain. I can also add scenes written in fountain on my iPad and after syncing I can work on the same scenes in Scrivener on my Mac. Has worked more or less seamless so far.
Hmm, probably not a good time to mention that scriptwriting support wasn’t planned for iOS 1.0, then. 
A friend just completed his book manuscript and received the other half of his advance, and decided to spend a bit of it on an iPad Pro, with the idea of seeing if it could replace his aging MacBook Pro. He is not, unfortunately, a Scrivener user (yet – I’m trying!), but I’m sure he’d appreciate a quick explanation of why the iPP isn’t a good writing machine. I do know that he works exclusively at a desk, so, unlike me, avoids the problem of the wobbly keyboard in his lap. Any Scriveners out there who can supply a quick bullet point list of non-SCrivener specific drawbacks to writing books and journalistic articles on the iPad Pro? I’ll forward to my friend. Thanks in advance.
Actually, since getting the smart keyboard for the iPad Pro, I’ve changed my mind on this - the iPad Pro is a nice little writing machine (especially with Scrivener 
- I was on holiday last week and used Scrivener on my iPad Pro for my writing). It’s not a replacement for a Mac - the limitations of iOS mean that, unless your computing needs are fairly minimal, just making an iPad bigger doesn’t confer on it all the powerful features of OS X. You could never have all the features of, say, Scrivener or Photoshop in an iOS app, for instance. But as a device to fire up and do some writing on, it’s very nice.
The main drawbacks for me over laptop are these:
I have a Mac Pro as my main work computer (for development), and a MacBook for my home and writing machine. (It’s nice to keep everything separate.) I get terrible neck pains slouching over a laptop for hours, though, so I have a very nice 27" Dell screen, a MacAlly keyboard and Microsoft ergonomic mouse, all of which I can plug into my MacBook at my second, writing desk. So switching between a full screen/mouse/keyboard setup and an ultra-portable tiny laptop is just a matter of unplugging a single USB-C lead. You can’d do that with an iPad.
As you note, the iPad Pro is a little precarious on the lap. It attaches nicely to the smart keyboard and can be used on a lap, but it’s nowhere near as stable or comfortable as a MacBook for that sort of use.
You can’t choose or change the screen angle. The iPad Pro is fixed into the smart keyboard at a set angle. (Also, annoyingly, you can’t attach it to the keyboard in portrait mode, which would have given it a nice advantage over a laptop - I’m sure keyboards will be designed that do that, though.)
Advantages:
It does feel good to type on. An iOS screen is a lot less cluttered than a Mac screen, and I find that quite calming while just doing some straight writing. Text looks lovely on the screen (although it does too on the Retina MacBook).
There’s something nice about being able to pick up the device and use your fingers to move things around (cards on a corkboard, rows in the outline), like you’re really cutting up and moving your work around.
If you’re an iPad lover (I’m not, in general, as I’ve never found much use for them over a laptop, despite very much liking the Pro for the reasons above), then you have all the other apps and whatnot that you like.
The main thing, I think, is that the iPad Pro is a nice writing machine as long as you aren’t expecting it to be a full Mac or Windows replacement, but rather something supplementary to take around with you when you don’t need all the power of a fully-featured OS.
I love my iPad Pro, but it can’t replace my 12" Macbook. With the keyboard the iPad weighs about the same as the Macbook, and screen size is about the same. To me the big difference is that on the Macbook I can run Papers or other apps simultaneously, quickly swapping back and forth with alt-tab. Swapping is possible on the iPad as well, but not nearly as smoth.
I’m glad this will be in iScrivener, or whatever it will be called! (working on iPhone and iPad Air, and it sounds like the iOS version will be a great complementary piece of software to the full version!
Thanks, Keith et al for your replies, which I’ll pass on to my friend, along with any others should other iPP owners weigh in. I should have clarified that AFAIK, this will be his only computer and also that the smart keyboard wasn’t available when he picked up the iPP and then departed on a several week road trip that he’s using to test it as a mobile computer, so I assume he’s using the onscreen keyboard. My friend pretty much writes exclusively in Pages/TextEdit, and does the usual basics (email, browsing, etc) and probably can get by fine with just an IPP.
I share Keith’s ergonomic concerns, having once needed ultrasound therapy to fix ‘laptop neck’ caused by exclusive reliance on my old PowerBook. AFter that, I acquired a similar set up to Keith’s: Apple Bluetooth keyboard and trackpad and external display. In fact, the lack of support for my display and trackpad are two factors that keep me from considering an iPP myself; if that changes, I’ll reconsider.
But actually, it seems as though the iPP could be at least as ergonomically advantageous as a MacBook by using a Bluetooth keyboard instead of the smart keyboard, and mounting the iPP on a stand at eye level. That would also solve Keith’s inflexible angle objection. For travel, I’d probably just bring the keyboard and my old Incase Origami stand/cover, which I understand will work with the iPP (and which cost me $12 when they were being discontinued, rather than $170 for the smart keyboard), or get an elevated travel stand like the Roost. Is anyone out there using iPP with BT keyboard only? Is the smart keyboard really that much better?
Until now, I’ve regarded an iPad as a consumption device, but iOS9 has begun to change that. I’m actually writing this on an iPad mini 2 with a cheap Logitech keys to go keyboard ($15 refurb) and cheap case/stand , which makes a better travel set up than my MacBook Pro. I’m starting to actually enjoy iOS more than OSX, for the reasons Keith and others have enumerated.
I use computers for writing, web publishing, browsing, email, music, and a little photo editing, so even the lack of trackpad support hasn’t held me back nearly as much as I expected, thanks to iOS9’s added keyboard commands. Dropbox solves the file management issue as my Finder replacement on the iPad.
For me, two barriers to switching entirely to iOS remain – lack of support for my display, and no Scrivener – and with the latter obstacle going away soon, I may be using an iPad of some kind a lot more for writing in future, in which case I’d need a bigger screen (iPP or Air) with more storage than this otherwise lovely Mini2. As for my friend, I’ll report back here after he makes his decision and ask him why he made it. Thanks again for the responses!
I love the mini. So small! You may want to look into the brydgemini keyboard. I often type on the mini keyboard with my thumbs and I also have a good Logitech keyboard but the pictures of that brydgemini keyboard with a mini iPad look really inviting, like having a tiny Mac with you
I’m guessing you cannot answer this yet, but is it planned somewhere? And how does it work if you have a scriptwriting template?
Actually, scriptwriting support is in for 1.0 now. Only screenplay format is supported for new projects created on iOS, but if you open a desktop project in it, it will use whatever scriptwriting format is set up for the project.
Thanks for the heads up!
As someone mentioned earlier in the thread, the iPad Pro is perfect for both drawing and writing. As an artist and writer I am in Heaven!
I use Microsoft OneNote to keep everything organize but most of the drawing is done in Notes or Procreate or OneNote itself.
I aim to use Scrivener as the heavy lifting for my writing which I do back up in OneNote as well as Dropbox.
I have a JEtech bluetooth keyboard that lets me type in both Landscape and Portrait mode, which is why I didn’t buy the Apple Keyboard.
Got it at a low price too. Around $25 and has survived several drops and plane trips.