If you’re like me, when you first saw the iPad Pro you thought it was exactly what you needed, with a giant display and the ability to edit 4K video with ease, the iPad Pro is more powerful than a lot of laptops on the market. After using both the 9.7 inch and the 12.9 inch models I have learned a lot about this machine. I am writing this review while in the middle of a month long road trip, so I purchased a cheap blue tooth keyboard, that pairs to it just fine, and I am actually typing this blog entry on my 9.7 inch iPad Pro, and finding it far easier to work with than my 17 inch MacBook Pro I usually do any sort of word processing on while I’m on the road. I am not a graphic designer, so this review will be geared more towards photographers and filmmakers.
iPad Pro for Video Editing
This tablet in no way lacks the power to do video editing, it does, however, lack the software needed to do anything more than splicing a few videos together. Apple’s iMovie app allows for simple and easy video editing, but if you’re doing anything that requires more than one audio track, you are out of luck. There is currently no app that offers a full professional video editing software. Eventually, if Adobe Premiere, or Final Cut Pro is ever released in the App Store with the full features of the desktop version, I believe that the iPad Pro would run it better than a lot of laptops. There is currently an Adobe Premiere app available, but it resembles the iMovie app, geared towards slower IOS devices that can’t handle heavy editing. If you’re a video editor looking for an easy way to edit video on the go, you’re best bet would be the MacBook Pro, or a PC equivalent laptop. This could change if better software options become available, but I don’t know of any plans Adobe or Apple has at releasing software for the iPad any time soon. I did find however, that by downloading the duel app in the apple App Store, the iPad works great as a second, touch screen monitor for both PC and Apple computer with no noticeable delay. This is a great feature for me, because I edit from my 17 inch MacBook Pro, and having a second, retina, display while video editing is extremely helpful.
iPad Pro For Photographers
I purchased the iPad Pro as a tool for my photography. The camera is equivalent to the camera found on the iPhone 6s, but even with it’s high quality photos and 4K video, I would never use it. The massive body of the iPad makes it incredibly inconvenient to take photos or video. When I suggest this tablet to photographers, I do not suggest it for that reason. The Retina display with 600 nits of brightness, wide P3 color gamut, and antireflective coating allows for it to be a beautiful way to showcase your photography at shows or meeting with clients. By downloading photos from my computer, I was able to store my entire portfolio in different albums in the preinstalled photo app. However, if this is the only thing you intend on using it for, I would suggest looking at the iPad Air or regular iPad; they also have great displays, and it isn’t worth the price difference if you won’t be using it to it’s fullest potential. Adobe Lightroom is also available in the App Store for free, if you are already a subscriber to the Adobe software. The Lightroom app allows you to do powerful photo editing, and it easily edits raw files that can be taken right off the SD or CF card with the SD or CF to lightning adapter. I have found that all three sizes to a great job at this, and while the large screen on the 12.9 inch was a huge advantage when editing, I found it to be just as much of hindrance. After using all three I decided on the 9.7 inch, because it edits, and showcases photos just as well as the 10.7 and 12.9 inch, but fits easily into my camera bag, and is much lighter and easy to lug around with me.
iPad Pro For Entertainment
When many people saw the iPad Pro for the first time the first thing that crossed their mind was how nice it will be to watch Netflix on it, and they were right. This is the first iPad to have four speakers, and it produces loud, crystal clear sounds. On top of that the new 12.9 inch produces beautiful large images, great for at home entertainment. Again, though, it is a very large device to be lugging around, and if you are going to be traveling on public transportation, you may wish you had gone with a smaller model. However, like I mentioned earlier, this iPad is geared towards people that are going to be doing very demanding performances with it. The extra processing power is a bit overkill if all you will be doing is streaming video. You may want to look into some of the other iPad models if this is what you will be doing with it.