Thinking about replacing my laptop with an iPad.
For light photo editing, can I make do with a regular iPad, or do I really need the Pro?
What about light office work, spreadsheets, presentations, etc?

I don't know what you're using for software, but I'm going to say yes on office stuff, maybe on editing. I personally wouldn't use it for anything more than banging off some previews or social media images,  but there are some that do great finished work that way.

Only warning I'd give you is that unless you keep your office stuff in the cloud, finding files can be a pain. It's not like a laptop where you can just pull up a file browser.

And all that is assuming you still have a desktop. I wouldn't recommend going entirely without a real computer.

I have the new iPad Pro 10.5" A10X model and bought Affinity ($14) for retouching along with the expensive Apple stylus ($99).  It really is a nice setup and quite fast.  If you have a Color Munki Dispay or Pro from x-rite you can calibate the color using your Windows laptop as the main with the x-rite plugged into it along with the Lightning connector to the iPad using the x-rite Colorsync software.  I've been surprised at how well Affinity works with it and layers, etc. but the stylus makes it a lot better.  The stylus charges up via the Lightning port as well as connects up to the iPads Bluettoth.  With a Camranger to the Nikon, it works well as a wireless monitor or trigger, and Olympus has their own software to work wirelessly as well.

As mentioned, files can be sort of a mess if you store them elsewhere other than the picture folder that opens into your computer.  I can't find some items or folder outside of that picture folder at times so you might need iTunes or something to hunt them down.  I've had issues with the new iTunes as it doesn't dig deeper into the apps than the older version prior to 1.27 did so I don't update to the newer ITunes app.  Don't know why Apple did that.

Mine has the cellular data as well via T-mobile and has the barometer and GPS as I use with with an Inspire 2 drone which was what I originally bought it for, but the Affinity retouching and editing stuff came about later.  Get a lot of RAM too (Mine has 256GB, and now wish I had gone to 512GB as photos and movies eat up space.).

I try and avoid Cloud storage as my home Wi-Fi is slower than 56K dial-up at times.  Cellular was needed for aerial maps and to get the GPS/barometer for the drone usage which isn't in the non-cellular model.   Also, sometimes cellular is needed to log into to DJI else flying might get restricted to 100 feet unless unlocked.

Don't know if it can replace a laptop, but a lot of college kids get pretty deep into it and some have no laptops, but their eyes are better too.  Screen isn't easiest to see in sunlight and may need a hood.  Battery life has been pretty good too, but slow to charge.  Speed wise, it is a whole lot faster than my iPad Air 2 which is assigned to another drone but it's showing its age too and no longer made after a year and a half of owning it.

I have poor eyes & clumsy fingers, so I think I'm stuck with my desktop PC, large monitor, and mouse.  I also do advanced & complex spreadsheets and lots of typing.  But that's just me.

If you anticipate light typing, light spreadsheeting, and if the display has the resolution & size you want, I think you'll do okay with an iPad.  Give it a try & report back to us.

Question:  Did you start this thread on an iPad?