Former Windows Chief Chooses iPad Pro As His New Desktop PC

Apple’s marketing team might want you to think the iPad Pro is “not a computer”, but try telling that to former Windows chief, Steven Sinofsky. The man who gave the world Windows 8 is now using the iPad Pro as his new desktop PC.

Sinofsky spent more than 20 years at Microsoft and eventually became president of the Windows division, before he left the company in 2012. He was effectively charged with producing Microsoft’s answer to the iPad when he attempted to make Windows a touch-based operating system with Windows 8. It wasn’t a roaring success, although he arguably laid the path for the much more successful Windows 10.

Now, it seems Sinofsky is attempting to push the iPad in the opposite direction, turning the mobile tablet into a desktop!

Sinofsky tweeted a picture of his new “desktop PC”, as seen below:

The set-up consists of an:

• iPad Pro 256GB
• Heckler Design iPad Stand
• Apple Magic Keyboard
• Apple Magic TrackPad 2
• Apple Pencil

The whole bundle of kit costs more than $1,500, which is a lot of money to spend on a minimalist desktop PC with a tiny screen, but of course the iPad can still be used as regular tablet/laptop too.

The new setup won’t be Sinofksy’s primary computer. He said the “use case I am looking forward to is as a second screen for video meetings”. He’s also invested in a Blackmagic ATEM Mini to switch between video sources and provide picture-in-picture features.

Using the iPad Pro as a pseudo desktop computer has become much more practical in recent months with Apple’s improved support for touchpad and mouse controls. The biggest obstacle to using the iPad as a desktop is that screen size, which is currently limited to 12.9in.

But with Apple’s WWDC coming up next month, perhaps the company might please Sinofsky and other desktop wannabees by boosting the size of the iPad display even further?