iPad Demand Surges as Apple Strengthens Grip on Tablet Market

Hmm I'm not so sure. I think the general trend is a march away from tablets back to laptops as many of the benefits the iPad had (such as better battery, instant on, lightweight, no fan) are wiped out with modern ARM chips. In fact today a MacBook Air gets double the battery of an iPad. You also have the market being further squeezed by larger phones.

Personally I think Apple needs to reimagine the iPad as an ultra lightweight laptop/phone companion, a magic piece of paper which is used as a second screen, to draw on, to read, to watch tv where it makes sense and then put away, maybe it even folds, or magnetically attaches to your laptop when not in use. I think this represents a better function for the device rather than adding keyboard cases and trying to turn it into a laptop. Treat the iPad as an accessory to the core devices which are the iPhone and MacBook.

I'd love to see some real experience driven innovation here rather than trudging out spec updates of the Air, the Pro, the base every year.

I have a confession to make. I still don't know what is the killer app or use case for an ipad.
I've been using iPads since the very first version. Since then I've had two or three at the same time (basic ipads, ipad minis, ipad pros) and always replacing them every two to three years.

At the moment I have an ipad pro M1 with keyboard and pen, and basic iPad with keyboard. I've given my ipad minis to my daughter and wife. I like to have them refreshed so I don't fall under the curve - that is, if I finally would figure a killer use case for a tablet.

I still have not found any real use for any ipad that a larger iphone or a macbook wouldn't do as well (or even better).

For notes taking I'm using remarkable tablets (recommended!) with a much better battery performance, better form factor(s) and more suitable displays (like kindle, works in sunlight without backlight). Current versions even have colors supported. Or then just a basic old fashioned notebook will suffice.

I don't draw so the pencil is pretty useless. Macbooks have better keyboards (forget the butterfly) than ipads.

My ipad use has mostly been for
1) an expensive netflix display
2) doomscrolling interest forums
3) wondering what's the cause of battery drain on an ipad pro. If it's not connected to a charger, the battery is almost always empty.
4) trying to look cool in gen x cafes. Though a macbook would work better for this.
5) well, nothing really

Since the ipad pro is both heavy and rather bulky (with the keyboard), and the battery don't last, compared to macbook air there's really not that much to save when walking "lightly". iphone is usually better for this.

Any ideas?