Anyone Use An iPad Pro?

scotty

Ultimate Member
Just as the title says really.

Yesterday I popped in to see the guys at the a company I often work with.
I took to opportunity to take back the Wacom Cintiq that they gave me as I just don't use it and I don't like the responsibility of having a £1400 bit of kit laying around.
I found the Cintiq didn't really work for me with the way I work and as I don't really have a designated work area, I found setting it up and packing it away a bit of a pain.
I found my old Bamboo was way better and I just went back to using a pencil and photocopy paper.

Whilst I was there we were chatting creative sh@t and getting WAY to giddy and an iPad Pro got brought out.
It was the boss's daughters's and was in a pink protective foam case so I wasn't that impressed but he fired up Procreate and told me to have a go with the iPencil thing.

BOOM!

I was sold and I now need one like a shark needs to swim.
We had it hooked up to a projector so I was drawing on the studio wall.
It was everything I hoped the Cintiq to be.
The right size. Portable, No cables and power bricks. No fan blowing on my MacBook.
Procreate is easy, intuitive, uncomplicated and put the fun back into drawing and I was totally hooked and it felt like the first time I used a Mac.
It even recorded what I was drawing and made a time-lapse movie of it. O.....M.....G! :O
It was like a simpler version of Photoshop so no over complicated actions and tools to tempt me away from just drawing but you can export to .PSD, air-drop it to a lappy and get all funky there in Ps.
All that and I'd barely scratched the surface.

I can see having one of these not only speeding up my work flow but also making it easier and more enjoyable and that's not even going into all the other stuff it can do.
One of the other guys there had only just had a go and he was the same. We were all like little kids having an epiphany moment. :D

Procreate is £9.99 and there's even a simple version of Illustrator available for FREE!

Does anyone else here have one and how does it work for you?

BTW. There may be a Wacom Cintiq coming up for sale.
Hardly used. Still in the box. ;)
 
Hey Scotty, that sounds interesting. I've been thinking about getting a Cintiq myself, but the smaller version, which isn't much more than
an iPad Pro anyway. It's still a big chunk of money to fork out. I'd be interested to know what you think you'd be using it for - is it just to sketch
with and then take into Ai and work on further?
 
Before buying the iPad Pro, you might want to try the new iPad thats just been released as it now supports their stylus too (sorry can't call it a pencil) Obviously it's got limitations/restrictions but it might be enough for you needs if all it is like sketching ideas etc.

Having said that I'd still personally pick a Surface pro over an iPad, everytime I use one (edit:) ,an iPad, (/edit) I feel that even the simplest things seem to be more complicated or convoluted than they need to be.
 
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Hey Scotty, that sounds interesting. I've been thinking about getting a Cintiq myself, but the smaller version, which isn't much more than
an iPad Pro anyway. It's still a big chunk of money to fork out. I'd be interested to know what you think you'd be using it for - is it just to sketch
with and then take into Ai and work on further?


I'd personally give it some serious thought and if you can, try and have a go or even borrow one if you could.

I've always been a big Wacom fan so I was well giddy at the thought of using a Cintiq.
We got two. One for me as a Designer and Illustrator that tends to work in vectors and another for someone who is a classically trained artist who uses Ps when working digitally/
I was very disappointed. :(

Firstly, when I opened the box I looked at all the cables and thought "WTF!"
There's a lot and they're quite chunky.

You need to plug it into the wall and into a computer as well so you need a lot of desk space.
I'd imagined sitting on the sofa or in bed but that's a no go.

I also had a few issues with the display size as the menus and UI were really small in PS and AI but that might have been my mistake.
I was also using a newish, pretty high end MacBook Pro linked to it and it made its fan blow like a bugger which made me feel a bit nervous.

You really need to have it on a desk and I didn't really get on with that as you can't move it around like a sketchbook.
I also found the screen to slick and slippy as you don't get that drag that you do with a pencil.

It worked great with Photoshop though but I found it more of a hindrance with Ai apart from using the pencil tool which it was good for.
I thought it may replace using a mouse/trackpad in the same way as a normal Wacom did but it didn't.
I even thought it may be really good for sketching out ideas but I found I just preferred pencil and paper.

The other guy who is a traditional artist and works a lot like you used his a lot pretty much as you'd imagine as his stuff is more painterly.
Still though. I don't think it was quite what he was hoping due to the issues above.

When he and I had a go with the iPad Pro it was like "this is what we hoped the Wacom was like".
You really can't put it down.
Using it with Procreate is awesome.
Like having every art tool and material in the world and you can drop in images and do all that stuff like Photoshop.
It seemed to handle some pretty huge .PSD's easily as well.
They're trading in the Wacoms now and getting higher end iPad Pros.
Plus, with the iPad it does all the other stuff and the Wacom is just a drawing tool that's not portable.

I'd only really use one as a digital sketchbook but I need one now so God knows what a difference it would make to you Wardy?

I guess you'd find the Wacom to be great but I was really disappointed and didn't use it even though I tried to make myself.

I'd have been gutted if I'd bought it out of my own pocket.
 
Before buying the iPad Pro, you might want to try the new iPad thats just been released as it now supports their stylus too (sorry can't call it a pencil) Obviously it's got limitations/restrictions but it might be enough for you needs if all it is like sketching ideas etc.

Having said that I'd still personally pick a Surface pro over an iPad, everytime I use one I feel that even the simplest things seem to be more complicated or convoluted than they need to be.

If it's better that the iPad then even better but I've not had a go with one yet.

Another thing to remember is that you need to but the iPencil stylus thing extra which are around £90-£100.
 
If it's better that the iPad then even better but I've not had a go with one yet.

Another thing to remember is that you need to but the iPencil stylus thing extra which are around £90-£100.
You'd also need that extra cost with the iPad Pro (and annoying now with the surface pro too :(... I hate this 'extra hidden cost' lark) so you can kind of ignore that extra cost as a differentiator. You should be able to try the new one in about a week if you've got an apple store etc nearby although the cpu is a a10 fusion which is iPhone 7 cpu from what I've read.
 
...and another thing that's a bit shit about the Wacom.

It's not a stand alone bit of kit.
You need to use your keyboard too for certain things, especially if you rely on keyboard shortcuts although you can programme some of them into the Wacom.

Felt a bit like Jean Michel Jarre when i was using it, ;)


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Thanks Scotty. Yes, I'll definitely look into the iPad. I'd gone off the Cintiq a bit anyway as I don't do a hell of a lot of digital painting.
I'm quite happy with my Intuos/Ps/iMac combination, so I'd be more inclined to try and find an app that would replace Ps in the long run
and most of them seem to be just for the iPad or tablet etc.
 
You'd also need that extra cost with the iPad Pro (and annoying now with the surface pro too :(... I hate this 'extra hidden cost' lark) so you can kind of ignore that extra cost as a differentiator. You should be able to try the new one in about a week if you've got an apple store etc nearby although the cpu is a a10 fusion which is iPhone 7 cpu from what I've read.

I'll deffo do the Levi and thanks for the tip as I know bugger all about them just that they's AWESOME to use.

To be honest, I'll probable end up getting an older one from eBay as it'll do all I need and a hell of a lot more.
I also get all 'precious' with brand new Apple devices. ;)
 
Thanks Scotty. Yes, I'll definitely look into the iPad. I'd gone off the Cintiq a bit anyway as I don't do a hell of a lot of digital painting.
I'm quite happy with my Intuos/Ps/iMac combination, so I'd be more inclined to try and find an app that would replace Ps in the long run
and most of them seem to be just for the iPad or tablet etc.

I'd choose the Intuos over the Cintiq any day but that's just me.
Some people totally rave about them but I guess it's a case of what works best for you.
 
...and another thing that's a bit shit about the Wacom.

It's not a stand alone bit of kit.
You need to use your keyboard too for certain things, especially if you rely on keyboard shortcuts although you can programme some of them into the Wacom.

Felt a bit like Jean Michel Jarre when i was using it, ;)

You could always buy a 3D connexion device (I would have said the old logitech nulooq but that got discontinued :(), you'd be surprised how useful it is in photoshop and the likes once you get used to it.
 
Yes, but the experience is poor because it's software on the iPad and Apple broke the macOS drivers. Even Duet Display has lag and resolution restrictions.
 
Dragging up an old thread as it seemed appropriate, rather than starting afresh.


In the new year I start a new job. The role will be hybrid so only a few days in the office the rest work from home and because of this I will not have a permanent desk in the office but will be required to hot desk.
At one of my Interviews, I noticed they were using Mac books so asked if I would be Mac or Windows based and they explained I could choose, they didn't mind as most software is cross platform and cloud based these days, but it would be portable rather than a desktop.

I'm assuming I'll get free rein within a budget as long as I can justify the need, so I'm a little bit jumping the gun, but if I am allowed to specify exactly what equipment want, I was just wondering if it would be worth me looking at an iPad Pro rather than a MacBook?

Apart from having a first gen iPad available as a testing device in my current role I've not really used an iPad. So what would a MacBook do well that an iPad wouldn't?
I could use a keyboard and mouse with the iPad to get the laptop experience and using a stylus on screen would remove the need for a standalone wacom tablet (I'm still on an old Intous 4, but found with the Apple gesture mouse I use it less these days anyway).


To put this in context I 'was' an illustrator/designer and started life in print-based studio working in the publishing industry. I started on Macs in the early 90s and have used Wacom tablets since they were light grey! I was freelance for a while but for the past 14 years I've been employed in website/software design agencies that have been heavily Microsoft focused, so have had to use a windows machine at work. I've always had a Mac of my own at home (I bought a new iMac last year) and for the past 18 months or so, due to COVID and work from home I've used my own Mac to RDP to my Windows PC, but as much as possible I've brought the work down locally and used the Mac, which has been a really pleasant change for me.

The new role will be Senior Product Designer, so not so much hands on design/drawing but focus on UX and high level UI, so I'm envisaging sketching out flows and wireframes etc, which I feel I could do well with a stylus on pad. I'll be hosting meetings and workshops etc using things like Miro (digital whiteboard) on a projector/large screen again that could work well on a pad, but I don't want to ask for grand (or more) worth of kit to find out I made the wrong choice.

Ultimately, I'll need to have this conversation with the company, But I don't want to ask if I can have an iPad Pro if it turns out that's not what I need anyway.

Any expert opinion, pros/cons very much welcomed.
 
Just checked it out, the top spec (non-cellular) iPad Pro, with keyboard and Pencil is £2,447.00.
MacBook Pro range from £1,299.00 right up to £5,899.00.

I guess the screen size would be one drawback, the ipad at 12.9" would be comparible with the 13" MacBook, but with the new 14" and 16" screen MacBooks available the option of a larger screen is attractive, the entry level 16" starts at £2,399.00.
 
Just checked it out, the top spec (non-cellular) iPad Pro, with keyboard and Pencil is £2,447.00.
MacBook Pro range from £1,299.00 right up to £5,899.00.

I guess the screen size would be one drawback, the ipad at 12.9" would be comparible with the 13" MacBook, but with the new 14" and 16" screen MacBooks available the option of a larger screen is attractive, the entry level 16" starts at £2,399.00.
In all honesty the main issue will be software compatibility/features on iOS compared with iOS, thats assuming a 'touch friendly' version is even available on iOS. Look at it this way the hardware in the iPad Pro is clearly good enough to be used in the entry level macbook pro, so it's more than enough for 'lighter' iOS. There is one major pro with the iPad Pro, it doesn't have the stupid notch lol.

Could you maybe argue for the macbook air AND an iPad Pro, the likelihood is it would still come out cheaper than a macbook pro 14/16 inch.


And little rant (not personal, it's companies doing it)...UX/UI is not product design, it's an extension of graphic design.... I have a degree in product design (most companies now refer to it as industrial design, which it is not the same, there is a difference) and it does not focus on UX/UI, it involves CAD, engineering, product aesthetics and manufacturing etc..... :mad:
 
I totally get the rant. I've been in the same place for 10 years and I joined as a ‘website designer’. Getting back on the job market after so long it seems there's a whole new bunch of job titles that didn't exist last time round and a website designer appears to no longer be a thing!

Here's how I see it:

My traditional role as a website designer now requires a bunch of different people!

What I consider the design role is now a UI role, however as a website designer that has put a lot of effort into asking 'why' the UI should be like it is, and always wanting to create the best user journey and asking the user 'what's your blockers' it turns out I've been doing UX design and research for over 20 years too (way before it was called UX).

Now a product to me has always been a physical, tangible, manufactured item, therefore I would expect a product designer to be using CAD and the like as you state. But it seems people now want to call non-physical items ‘websites, software and applications’ products too! So I will be designing these ‘virtual’ products that users will interact with.

I will be heading a team of UX researcher, UX designers, UI designers and will be using my experience gained over 20 years in the online industry to guide and mentor these guys but I ultimately, I will take ownership of the ‘product’ (it is going to take some getting used to calling software a product) and have overall say in how it looks and behaves. That said I’m sure they have a lot to teach me too.

Get this, they call their developers ENGINEERS! Like WTF? The worlds gone mad.

And I can’t ever hear the word Stakeholder without thinking about a vampire hunter in a Dracula film holding the state over the coffin just as the Count opens his eyes…..

At the end of the day regardless of job title I will always refer to myself a Graphic Designer, and when I have to explain to someone what I do, I will continue to say “I draw pictures”. It’s just easier that way, even though I haven’t illustrated much in years – maybe one day I’ll get back into art as a hobby and take up sketching for fun.

As for the tech aspect of my question, thanks for your input. I suspect a MacBook will be the sensible option, but it’s good to talk these things through.

Adobe CC will play a big part of my daily role; I understand Photoshop and Illustrator have iPad versions, but I don’t know if they’re slimmed down or full featured. XD is not a full version on iPad so that’s a big consideration, although they are looking to move to UX Pin which has a browser-based version so that should work although not sure how well. Other presentation tools, Cavana and Miro etc are also browser based.
 
Yeah 'renaming' job roles, essentially to make the staff feel 'important', really isn't very helpful.... it's like do I put 'product designer', the correct term, as my qualification or do I randomly change my qualification to something different so as not to confuse people... it's just daft.

Anyways....

Adobe CC will play a big part of my daily role; I understand Photoshop and Illustrator have iPad versions, but I don’t know if they’re slimmed down or full featured. XD is not a full version on iPad so that’s a big consideration, although they are looking to move to UX Pin which has a browser-based version so that should work although not sure how well. Other presentation tools, Cavana and Miro etc are also browser based.
Slimmed down as far as I know but they may still have enough features for what you're after, I doubt any of us on here fully use photoshop for example. Guessing you have Adobe CC sub so iirc you can use the iPad apps with your sub (last I checked) so maybe worth trying them out with your ipad and seeing if they have enough features etc. Adobe also have web versions (limited features) of photoshop and illustrator now, there's also photopea which is worth having bookmarked for 'emergencies'.

I wouldn't assume browser based apps will work fine either, the web versions of photoshop/illustrator don't work on firefox for example.

You could grab affinity photo/designer etc, while not adobe level they are pretty much fully featured on iOS and should be compatible with adobe in most cases (I've not had issues so far on desktop versions).

Honestly I'd say try and do a trial run with your current iPad, it should work but obviously be slower and have less memory than a iPad pro and I'd guess most of the programs you'll be using are available for trials.
 
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