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Can the iPad Pro Compete as a Design Tool?

Can the iPad Pro Compete as a Design Tool?

What can Apple's new enterprise product bring to the table

Apple made it clear in their announcement of the iPad Pro that their new larger and more powerful tablet was intended for the enterprise consumer. The new device boasts a large and crisp display and, with the addition of the Apple Pencil, the iPad Pro becomes a more sophisticated tool for design. However, in order to win the hearts and minds of designers, Apple faces stiff competition from the popular Microsoft Surface Pro 3 and industry standard Wacom. Love or hate Apple, there is no denying that the iPad Pro will become a major presence in the market. Though we are still weeks away from the November release, how does the iPad Pro compare to its established competitors?

iPad Pro: Size Matters

The most obvious feature of the iPad Pro, and the feature that sets it apart from the pack, is its screen. At 12.9 inches, it is almost 4 inches bigger than the iPad Air 2, and almost a full inch bigger than the Surface Pro. While still smaller than some of Wacom's tablets, which can be almost twice the size at up to 24 inches, most of the iPad Pro is usable, responsive touch screen. Moreover, size also does not come at the expense of sharpness; its Retina display has a resolution of 2732?by?2048 pixels at 264 pixels per inch (ppi), which makes the iPad Pro's pixel density the highest in its class. Clarity and depth of color are incredibly important in a graphic design tool, and this is clearly where the iPad Pro shines. According to designer Shane Clester, the larger canvas will take the guesswork out of his designs: " I always have to zoom in to print size and sorta just guess what it will look like in print." However, the screen unfortunately did not receive the Force Touch upgrade that the iPhone did, and as a result the iPad Pro natively lacks the pressure sensitivity of other tablets like the Surface Pro.

The Apple Pencil is critical to the iPad Pro's success as a design tool. Without the Pencil, the Pro is only a large but high-resolution tablet. The Pencil adds in the pressure sensitivity lacking in the screen, and turns the iPad into a true digital sketchbook. You can create lines of different weight by applying pressure, and even shade by tilting the stylus, similar to the functionality of the Surface Pro. While product demonstrations on the Apple website are compelling, it remains to be seen how the Pencil performs in real life.

Finally, the iPad Pro suffers from two drawbacks issues to many Apple products -- internal storage and price. The lower-end 32GB model can quickly fill up, especially if you wish to take advantage of high-resolution photos or videos. While the 128GB option provides a comfortable amount of space, there is no option for an expandable storage, unlike the microSD equipped Surface Pro. The 128BG WI-FI only model of the iPad Pro will cost $949, which is not too far from the current $899 price of a Surface Pro 3 with similar storage. However, since the Apple Pencil is necessary to use the iPad Pro for design, this adds another $99 to the base price, raising the total cost to $1049.

In summary, the iPad Pro has impressive screen quality and the Pencil will most likely turn the the tablet into a solid digital sketchbook. However, the hardware is limited by non-expandable storage, and the tablet is more expensive than similar products.

Surface Pro 3: A Powerful Multi-Purpose Tool

Surface Pro 3Image provided by Sinchen.Lin

Microsoft’s Surface Pro tablet was first introduced in early 2013 and has since established a reputation as a powerful and capable design tool. Though the the Surface Pro has a smaller and less pixel-dense screen than the iPad Pro, it still has its own impressive high-definition display, as well as a powerful intel processor. The performance of the Surface Pro is incredibly robust, and the tablet is marketed as a capable desktop replacement. Designers looking to take advantage of processor-intensive software will have no trouble working with the Surface Pro.

However, what really sets the Surface Pro 3 apart from the iPad Pro is not its hardware, but its software experience. The Pro runs full Windows 10, which means that you can run the same versions of programs like Photoshop and Illustrator as you would on a desktop. As a result, the Surface Pro a truly complete workstation, and one a designer can illustrate, edit and publish a design from start to finish all on the same machine. This makes the Surface Pro a completely different product than the iPad Pro, where you are limited to software in the iOS App Store, such as Photoshop Express.

Starting at $699 for a 64GB model and including a Surface Pen, the Surface Pro 3 is extremely powerful and affordable. The option of expandable storage makes this tablet an even better value. Though lacking the sharpness and color-clarity of the iPad Pro, the Surface creates is a powerful enterprise product that will be difficult to outmatch.

Wacom: An Industry Leader

Wacom Cintiq TabletImage provided by Creative Tools

Wacom are well-known for digital sketchbooks like their Intuos line, which have gained a reputation for the paper-like feeling of their screens. However, the black and white, input-only Intuos is not directly comparable to the iPad Pro. Instead, the iPad is competing more directly with Wacom’s Cintiq line, which feature full-color, high-resolution touch displays but retain the brand’s signature level of precision and responsiveness. Each Cintiq tablet comes with a Pro Pen, which has 2,048 levels of pressure and tilt sensitivity, and features excellent palm rejection technology.

While the Cintiq 13 HD Touch is similar in size to the iPad Pro, it does not have its own operating system. The Cintiq HD Touch is different from the Surface and iPad in this way, and it should be thought of as part of a design toolkit rather than a Swiss Army knife. In contrast, the more expensive Cintiq Companion features full Windows 8.1, making it more similar in functionality to the Surface Pro. The Companion also offers the largest native internal storage of any similar devices on the market, at 512 GB of solid state storage.

The Cintiq line, while of incredibly high quality, is comparatively much more expensive than either the Surface Pro or the iPad Pro. The Cintiq 13 HD Touch is $999 for a tablet without its own OS, while the Cintiq Companion 2 begins at $1299 for the 64GB model.

What're Your Thoughts?

If you are a design professional looking for a dedicated device for digital illustration, then one couldn’t do much better than a Wacom tablet. However, if you are on a budget or are looking for a more all-in-one device with some design capabilities, then the iPad Pro or Surface Pro might be the better choice.

Share your thoughts about the iPad Pro, or any of the other design tools mention in this post in the comments below.


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