Ive just remote desktop’d in the past, works well enough

Have you looked into Remote Tunnels?

You can control your Desktop VSCode remotely from an iPad browser. You’ll still likely need a keyboard and a trackpad or mouse will help a lot, but that’s basically the same situation as CodeSpaces.

I use Blink Shell to ssh into a raspberry pi on my home network to code, works surprisingly well.

I'll use nano in an SSH terminal if I'm in a tight spot.

Lemmy share my story of trying to use ipad to code then decided not to. My reason back then was so I could code anywhere, and stay coding while in bed or living room or dining table. I can't really remember the names of the apps I've used, but I have tried Replit, Codespaces, Google Colab, CodeSandbox, even thought of setting up code editor on vps, remote desktop..

What I really ended up doing is.. buy a tablet monitor with a friggin long hdmi cable

My problem is solved, my butt is not stuck on the chair, my neck and shoulders thank me. My wallet will thank me soon, since the upfront cost is higher. I have the computing power of a desktop and my files are already there, not to forget better privacy as I do not have to pay for subscription services with my card and don't involve cloud services. The only downside with this approach is I can't code outside of the house without an internet connection.

Laptops can achieve the same, but I find it heavier since I want to lie on my back. Sorry if this is out of topic, since you ask about ipad and I said I ended up using a monitor. Also, I am currently thinking of portable mini pc or windows tablet but it's more expensive than a small monitor. Please do update if you found your solution, I might try it.