SvS

Thank you. It reassures me that I did nothing wrong. And we hope Apple can fix it soon.

Until then, unfortunately, I'll be using Adobe Acrobat Reader for checking PDF after export from Affinity Publisher. 

Since you're already correcting errors, Serif, please move the Typography tab back to its old place in the Character panel. Really, no one asked to move this tab to the very bottom of this panel. I don't know who made this decision and why.
Personally, I always have the Character panel open in the program and I use the Typography icons. And now in version 2.6 they are at the very bottom of the panel, which has made the Character panel longer and takes up more space on the screen. I ask once again to fix this, as it was before version 2.6.
How much should I pay for this?

While I'm happy with the big update to 2.6, I'm unhappy with moving 'Typography' down in Character Panel, which forces me to close all the others first. Why? Is there any other quick solution for 13" macbook to select capitals/small caps?
See image for what I mean.

This is another thing that Serif did in this version 2.6 that no one asked for. Either some IT guy got confused in the code, or he deliberately changed the order of tabs in the Character panel - the only question is for what purpose? and is there any explanation for this? Knowing how Serif works, everything indicates that unfortunately it will remain like this forever.
Poor Serif, poor. Some guy who unfortunately does not work in these Affinity programs on a daily basis got his hands on the program code.
 

Apple never said it would replace a desktop/laptop it is a new category, I have all three but use iPad 95% of the time because it is convenient.
Yes many special features need the desktop/laptop version but I can also do things on iPad that I can’t do on a desktop, e.g. I can’t export in HEIC format on the Macbook/Mac Mini, however I can direct from Affinity on my iPad using an IOS Shortcut. Simple.

The issue "Flowing text into a new frame changes formatting" (REF: AF-2236) has been fixed by the developers in internal build "2.5.0.2463".
This fix should soon be available as a customer beta and is planned for inclusion in the next customer release.
Customer beta builds are announced here and you can participate by following these instructions.
If you still experience this problem once you are using that build version (or later) please reply to this thread including @Affinity Info Bot to notify us.

Keep in mind that the iPad version has a different user interface, so if your main use is Publisher, it may make more sense to go with a MacBook so that you don't have to learn a second interface. And as Walt mentioned, there are some compromises. And some things are just more difficult on an iPad.

If it is Publisher you are mostly interested in I would go with Macbook Air as a mouse interface it is easier to manage large areas of text.

If it is Photo or Designer you are primarily interested in go with the iPad Air version as the Apple Pencil is a much more natural interface over a mouse/trackpad and gives you much more freedom in where you can use it. Yes the iPad version is cheaper than the desktop and has less features but most of the features you actually use are available on the iPad. 

Of course the built in benchmark on iPad and Desktop gives you a very useful comparison and clearly there are some great desktop systems out there with fabulously fast benchmarks, but how fast do I actually need? 
In my personal experience, because of how effectively iCloud works, there is no point in buying an iPad/iPhone with more than 256GB memory, however people will go and add to Apples profits with the 1TB and 2TB models. I find it impossible to fill an iPhone or iPad of that capacity because of Optimise Storage and I have over 500GB of photos, videos and data in iCloud.

Apple Silicon Mac's benefit more from storage so 1TB or 2TB to me is more important than RAM although did opt for the 1TB 16GB RAM "just in case" but as I say for my personal purposes I see zero difference between performance of 8GB RAM M1 iPad and a 16GB M1 Mac, which the benchmarks show there is little between my M1 iPad Pro and my M1 Mac Mini.
I could buy a Porsche 911 but choose to buy a Nissan Qashqai because both do exactly the same thing in getting me from A to B but the NISSAN option leaves me more cash to spend on other hobbies and holidays.
I am sure others will have their own personal experiences which differ from mine. 

In a nutshell, spend what you can afford, the reason manufacturers make fast expensive cars is the same reason why Apple manufactures expensive Mac's and iPads because  some people can afford them whether the applications need them or not. Follow the money always applies.

It would be interesting to see a comparison of other models.

Try before buying. Hands on. Your hands. I would go for the laptop, personally, if I had to select just one. Especially if I was to work in Publisher or the like.
To Hell with the spec comparisons. It's for kids. All recent Apple products are more than fast enough. You need to consider the interface, workflows, collaboration with other applications, accessing files from different sources, printing, everything, simply everything in all workflows. And especially really, really large documents and performance.
An iPad and a laptop are two completely different universes to work in, and if you are even slightly serious about what you do, then you're most interested in having the fewest possible bumps in the road in your particular way of working.
An iPad is a fascinating little slab, mobile and more flexible in some situations, and with M1-M4 it has gotten plenty of muscle, but it's not a laptop. It's a large smartphone with a different—and heavily truncated—operating system, and you should also investigate the support for external displays. Affinity is behind too.
I always choose my MacBook when I go out, it takes up no space and weighs nothing, it is so rare that an iPad makes more sense. However, I can connect my MacBook to any kind of display, wherever I am, and then I have a full-fledged computer again without limitations.
The iPad was predicted to kill laptops by the geniuses in media and on the internet. I see leaders taking it to meetings the most, and I see creatives with MacBooks everywhere, they are scratched and worn because they are with them everywhere. But I absolutely haven't seen them replace a thing. Rather, they find their own place as accessories and extras.
Those I know who get something out of an iPad Pro are people who use it for precisely those fields where it has its few but significant advantages. Bought for a specific purpose. However, it is not desktop publishing, and funnily enough, they also have a MacBook or a larger Mac. Always.

Same here, I want to standard turn off off the generating preview panel like the example above from Gokhan Eser.
I've this problem too with documents with many layers, size or pages. 

And, Clicking on Export button immediately does not always work or I want adjust file format or sizes. Then preview will reload. 
Why do I want the turn off option? Sometimes you don't need to see/check preview again after a small correction in document. Or… I want to fill in the export settings properly first, after that preview can be generated.

And...
I want adding 'FILE NAME' to list 'Variable'.
(for example: each event, each file  = within several artboards export with [filename]_[slice name].
 

And...
I want adding 'FILE NAME' to list 'Variable'.
(for example: each event, each file  = within several artboards export with [filename]_[slice name].
 

I don't think it is as a hobby of Affinity Team.
I am very satisfied with Affinity studio (suite) on my Macs.
If Publisher comes out on iPad, then maybe I can buy an iPad Pro 12.9".
Dear Affinity, what is the progress of development Publisher for iPad OS?

...and iCloud for an owner that works with macbook at other location and iMac in the office. Now I have to manually duplicate the settings.
It would be great if that were possible in the future

What a big problem. I'm very disappointed. There is also no converter tool available anywhere. Shutterstock doesn't want to help me either. I want to stop the payment plan at Shutterstock precisely for this reason. BUT: Which Stockphoto download store is suitable for Affinity with vector based images?

Hello Affinity,
I am with the Affinity software since it got out - have it for Mac and iPad.
I am very exited to see the Publisher app to come out soon too but have some stomach pain here.
 
The main angle I see this is coming from Macromedia Freehand that unlike Adobe Illustrator / Indesign
offered  layout, masterpage, text tools (Indesign) and Illustration tools (Illustrator) in one application with
another major advantage: different paper formats.
 
So in stead of having different InDesign files you could have all in one design document.
 
I see Affinity stepping into the same highly frustrating and annoying limitations Adobe forces onto users.
Freehand got killed and typography and text frame tools where separated so nicely that you need to buy
both Adobe apps.
 
I really hope that in the long run chaining text frames, master pages, etc will be accessible for Designer too
and not only be limited to Publisher.