My First Weeks with the New iPad Pro: Should You Buy it?
Everyone is talking about the new iPad Pro. Is it finally the pro device that we need? Can it handle a professional style workflow? I might as well say it now, I want this device to be a pro style device, but is it? I just had my first week with this device. I can say there is a lot to like about this new tablet, or is it a laptop, type of device.
First Impressions
First Impressions. The device is small and light. It feels good in your hand, perfect for reading the morning news, checking your email, or communicating with your team. Ultra light computers are all the rage these days and the new iPad Pro is no exception to this. It is ultralight and it looks amazing. But who buys a pro level device just to read and send emails? If that is your main reason for a tablet, get the cheaper $329 iPad, still plenty powerful and works with an Apple Pencil as well.
My favorite thing about this iPad is the speed. Coming from a 5 year old MacBook Air, I didn’t have the speed to edit video effectively, let alone process large amounts of 4K footage. This device handles that like a champ. I am able to film footage on my Sony mirrorless camera , import and edit with LumaFusion, and export a full resolution video in real time, if not faster. It’s the perfect setup for shooting and editing quick high resolution social media videos on the go. Social media trends can change quickly and this device lets you move at the speed you need. One side note about this iPad is that I wish there was Final Cut or available for the iPad. Final Cut now runs super smooth on the new M1 macs and with the same chip it could run just as smooth on an iPad.
My Favorite Thing
My next favorite thing about this app is the Apple Pencil and using it with apps like Procreate. I can draw just like on paper thanks to the 120 hertz refresh rate and set my canvas size and DPI to print level quality and there is no glitching, even with multiple layers. I can focus on making art and not having to slow down to wait for the processor to catch up and render. A 5000 pixel square at 300 dpi is no hindrance to this iPad.
Finally, with the new M1 chip inside this latest version you might be thinking that is overkill without the ability to run professional apps like Final Cut Pro. Well with this new chip I am able to have multiple apps open, including heavy duty apps like LumaFusion and Lightroom, and multiple tabs in Safari, and the tablet doesn’t bat an eye. Each app opens so fast letting me get to work or find what I need quickly. Having an iPad this fast also makes it more future proof in that it will last longer and be able to handle any new apps that may come out to take advantage of this new power. Hopefully, one of those apps is Final Cut Pro or a more polished and full version of Photoshop and Illustrator.
This leads me to the biggest negatives of the iPad. The lack of support for Adobe applications Photoshop and Illustrator. Adobe has taken great strides in putting many desktop features on their mobile version, but is not enough for my regular workflow. I wish it supported things like art boards, effects, and even just basic shapes. Hopefully, that changes soon and in the meantime I continue to stretch my creativity using Procreate, which is a very well designed app that fits into the iPad ecosystem very well.
The Bottom Line
The bottom line. If you're a photographer or illustrator then this is the device for you. It’s portable, fast, and has all the features you would need doing those types of tasks. Lightroom for iPad is the most complete iPad app Adobe has and Procreate is an excellent drawing tool. If vector drawing is more your style, then There is still Adobe Illustrator as well. Although still limited from the desktop I find that the Illustrator app is slightly more useful than the Photoshop equivalent.