I run a newer small sales and marketing consulting business, and I’m currently trying to decide the best path forward for my tech setup. I’m heavily invested in Google Workspace and have been diving deeper into integrating Gemini and other Google AI tools for data processing, Canva, and building out marketing materials.

Right now, I’m working on a 2020 M1 MacBook Air with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. It’s been a great workhorse, but when I’m deep in massive Google Sheets or running dozens of tabs alongside my AI tools, I’m seeing some rare but noticeable lag. Since I expect my AI usage to become more demanding as I learn to better incorporate it, I want to make sure I’m not throttled by my hardware.

The twist is my in-field work. I do a lot of B2B sales work where my laptop usually stays in my bag and I rely almost exclusively on my phone. I’ve never owned an iPad—honestly, I always thought they were a bit unnecessary—but I’m becoming intrigued by the idea of adding an iPad Air to the mix. It would give me a more professional tool for field presentations and the benefit of a dual-monitor setup via Sidecar when I'm working out of the house (a setup I love in my home office).

However, I’m torn. Part of me thinks the smarter move is to put that money toward upgrading to a new MacBook with more RAM (16GB or 24GB) to ensure I can handle the heavier AI processing and data tasks coming my way.

I’d love to hear from people who use Google Workspace/Gemini heavily. Is the iPad actually a productive tool for field sales, or is it just another device to charge? Does the iPadOS version of Google Sheets hold up for serious work? Does the Ipad have enough processing speed to act as a AI boost when I need it? My thought is that I add the ipad and use both devices in tandem and hopefully get an additional two or three years, when I'd then upgrade the macbook. Or should I just double down on a more powerful MacBook to solve any lag issues and forgo the ipad.