I am not a great iPad fan. I bought the 9.7in iPad Pro last year, assuming that it would at last convince me to forsake my MacOS and physical keyboards. I had had several forays into the iPad world, encouraged by all the hype, but it hadn’t worked. Nor did the new iPad Pro; it was very much more of the same.
I still prefer to carry around my slim MacBook and enjoy the computing environment I am used to. Of course, iOS, whether on iPhone or iPad, is now a grown-up, fully featured operating system. It’s just that it isn’t particularly my cup of tea. I’m more of a keyboard and mouse/trackpad man than a screen prodder. Many will disagree and there is no doubt that the recent updates to iOS mean that the iPad (or iPhone for that matter) has much more chance of superseding the traditional MacOS computer interface. Perhaps I’m just a bit of a Luddite deep down.
I have friends, most of them experienced photographers, who rely almost entirely on the iPad for processing of their masterpieces. Ivor Cooper just is one of them. Even RAW isn’t a problem any more and the tablet can offer almost as much as the desktop environment. It’s just that it’s different.
This article in MacWorld offers a new perspective and proposes that the tablet has come of age in the world of photographic processing: The iPad Pro is now a true photographer’s tool. Jeff Carlson writes:
“Now, the iPad Pro has finally reached a tipping point for photographers. The improved hardware in the just-released iPad Pro models, plus software improvements in iOS 10 and the upcoming iOS 11, make the iPad Pro (mostly) fullfill (sic) the potential of the iPad as a true photographer’s companion.
It is a persuasive article but I’m nowhere near ready to embrace the tablet as a sole computing platform. For one thing, I am rather addicted to the desktop version of Adobe Lightroom (after forsaking Apple Aperture, much of which has now been incorporated into Photos). I know that Lightroom is also available for the iPad and, perhaps, I should give it a whirl. But then, what to do about storage? All my photographs are stored on an 8TB external disk (with a good backup routine, of course) and I do like to have everything in one place. I fear using the iPad more would leave me with files all over the place, some in the Adobe cloud, some in iCloud and others in my very own grounded cloud at the office. It is potentially all a bit messy and I have a tidy mind.
I also feel that the slim MacBook is an easier carry than the iPad, even without a keyboard. Yet I do have to fit a keyboard (call me old fashioned….). When the rather admirable Smart Keyboard is added to the iPad the ensemble is more cumbersome and almost as heavy as the MacBook. So why not carry the real thing?
I have to admit that there are now two camps when it comes to computing: Traditionalists versus modernists. Normally I would be a modernist because I am every open to new ideas, keen to find fresh ways of doing things. In this instance, though, I belong to the traditionalist camp. I simply prefer photo processing on the Mac. What do you think? It would be interesting to get some real-life experiences of serious photo processing and storage via a tablet.
Postscript: The day after this article was first published I came across a very apt commentary from respected Mac commentator, John Gruber of DaringFireball.net, who was responding to Josh Topolsky’s Twitter trashing of the iPad Pro. Says Gruber:
“But people like me and Topolsky — and millions of others — are the reason why Apple continues to work on MacOS and make new MacBook hardware. I can say without hesitation that the iPad Pro is not the work device for me. I can also say without hesitation that the iPad Pro with a Smart Keyboard is the work device for millions of other people.”
You can read Gruber’s full post here. It more or less sums up the argument. I’ve been impressed with the quality of the comments to this article and I suppose we will never completely solve the conundrum. For the moment, there are Mac people and there are iPad people.
___________
- Subscribe to Macfilos for free updates on articles as they are published
- Want to make a comment on this article but having problems?
- Thanks to reader BC for highlighting the MacWorld article
I’m coming late to this discussion. I could not imagine doing all of the things that I need to do an iPad. This would include using a mouse for various controls such as cropping and straightening and spot removal on a large screen. I would not have the manual dexterity or visual ability required to do this type of thing on an iPad. Lightroom is my main processing and editing tool. In addition I have Nik filters, Iridient Developer and Photoshop on my iMac. I still prefer the older stand alone version of Photoshop to the one in Creative Cloud, the CC version just seems clunky to me. Then there is the back up to various external drives and my Export files which are on my iMac and backed up onto drives attached to my iMac. As an amateur, speed is not an issue and I don’t have to get stuff off to an editor.
That’s just what suits me. We are lucky to have so many choices. My only complaint is about CC which slows down my iMac when running even after a recent update to Sierra OS which is a definite improvement on El Capitan.
William
Interesting article. I did try the iPad versions of Photoshop and Lightroom but found them very dumbed down and I preferred to use the Mac versions.
On the other hand, whilst finding Lightroom the best way to process black and white, I found Photoshop too complicated and fiddly. In the end I cancelled my subscription.
I have used the Affinity app for Mac for a couple of years and reverted to that instead of struggling with Photoshop. I shall probably miss Lightroom on occasions but didn’t feel the monthly subscription was worth it just for the odd occasion when I would use Lightroom.
A couple of weeks ago Affinity announced an iPad version at a reduced price of £19.99.
I purchased it immediately and have never looked back.
It will do practically everything the Mac version will do, and in some cases, performs even better. This is a really serious piece of kit for the iPad and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to iPad users.
I know it won’t appeal to you, as a committed Mac/Lightroom user, but for people like me who use the iPad as a primary computer, it is a really professional and well thought out app.
Thanks, Janice. I will have a look at Affinity although I have no real dissatisfaction with Lightroom. I don’t use Photoshop since I find I can do everything I need in Lightroom and nor do I use Bridge. So I am paying £9.99 a month just for Lightroom. I still think it is worth it in view of the blog but I’m always open to alternatives.
Entirely mirrors my mental gyrations, Mike. Nice to have them out there in print. I found my – admittedly older – iPad pretty hopeless for workshops where others were using their MacBooks, so I’m looking forward to unpacking my last year’s Macbook and going down that route. I don’t like "Photos" as much as the older "iPhoto" which I continue to use and find it does all the pp I need. If I want special effects, I go to "Funky".
Good evening Mike,
I’ll write more later as I’m on my iPhone right now and my iPad is recharging.
In that last sentence, though, you already get an inkling on my stance regarding the iPad. In short, I do most of my work on an iPad nowadays–except photography assignments. That might change with OS11, but as said, more later.
Best from Switzerland,
-Sascha
Hello Sascha, We will all be interested to have your details. I remain to be convinced but I am sure that one of these days I will be embracing the iPad.
Okay, here goes.
I do most of my non-photo work as a freelance photojournalist – research, writing, archiving, billing etc. – on an iPad Mini 4 with Logitech keyboard. I had tried to do so for years, but only in 2016 the platform was finally mature enough (for me) to simply work. Split screen is essential when researching, and apps such as Ulysses and DevonThink have finally got to a point where I don’t miss my Macs when doing those sorts of tasks. For quick photo edits on the road I use Lightroom Mobile and will give Affinity Photo a spin soon. The reasons I still need a Mac in the forseeable future are twofold:
1) I’m primarily a Capture One user. Considering Phase One’s main business is with 100 MP digital backs, not software, I don’t see a mobile version akin to Lightroom in Capture One’s future any time soon. iPad Pros might be pretty fast nowadays (Geekbench says about the same raw power as my elderly iMac), but I don’t expect them to run circles around such huge image files. My iMac sometimes strugles with my M9’s files already.
2) Then there’s the thing you and the article you quoted mentioned – file management without the ability to connect external drives, thus the necessary roundtrip via some Cloud service like Adobe CC or weird hacks like using DevonThink for your media management and syncing to a NAS or a Mac using Bonjour or WebDAV.
Point is, 2) might become a non-issue soonish. iOS 11 is a HUGE update for iPad users, particularly iPad Pro users, including multigesture drag-and-drop, a dock, and: the Files app. Not much is known about what they plan with that app, but Apple has bitten the bullet with folders and whatnot with iCloud Drive already. It’s only a question of time until they’ll need to allow local mass storage – and be it only via WiFi. I don’t believe they’ll ever support USB/Lightning mass storage, but if the Cloud roundtrip can be circumvented easily, that would be a good start. Also, WIFi networking will only become faster over time. AC is already fast enough to feed slower HDD controlers and drives. And last but not least, we’re only at the start of Apple’s new file system – theoretically, it allows for atomic saves while still maintining integrity checks and versioning, transparently for the user. Saving edits to large image files might one day not mean to re-upload a new multi-megabyte copy, but only a couple of KB of data.
The current generation iPad Pros and upcoming iOS11 might not be the breaking point for most photographers just yet. But we’re finally, if slowly, getting there I think. Personally, I don’t believe I’ll ever get a new MacBook Pro to replace my current one. A faster iMac almost for sure (see point 1 above), but a new portable Mac is hard to justify for me already today.
Hi, Sascha, thanks for all that useful detail. I’m sure readers will be interested to have your views. I’m actually surprised at the amount of support there has been for working on the iPad. I suppose I am a bit biased because of running the blog. The Squarespace hosting platform is easier to use on the Mac than on iOS where picture handling is pretty rudimentary. It’s ok for brief text posts but for my usual stuff I really have to have a Mac. I suspect if it were not for that (or if I had a different host with more user-friendly iPad software) I would be more encouraged to try the tablet. The storage issue still bugs me though.