Despite the fact that my ever-hardworking MacBook Pro from 2010 (ancient, I know) stopped receiving MacOS updates, I continued using it on older Lightroom and Photoshop versions. After upgrading from my Nikon platform to the new(to me) world of mirrorless cameras, I got the Sony A7Riii, and found out that the Sony raw file types were not supported, forcing me to update my now archaic gear.
I viewed Apple’s current offerings and was originally looking at the spec’d out 13” i7 MacBook Pro, with 2TB of onboard storage and 16gb of RAM. However, the $2600 price that came with it made me question my original instinct of ‘latest & greatest.’ At home I have a 1 year old iMac, that is more than capable of handling anything that I throw at it; & to be honest, it would be redundant to buy a top-of-the-line laptop that I primarily use for rough edits while on the road. The next logical idea, for me, was to then approach the most basic MacBook Pro that Apple has to offer. Even then, for a bare-bones MacBook Pro, $1300 seemed like a fair investment for essentially just web browsing, Lightroom, and light Photoshop work.
That’s when I turned my sights to the newest iPad Pro 11-inch. Although not a computing power-house by any means, it seemed to be the best of two worlds; a very light & small package, with the ability to process images efficiently on the go. With the relationship of the iPad and the Magic Keyboard alongside the Apple Pencil, I felt that my creative options would be much more open than with the base MacBook Pro.
Now, I have the newest 11” iPad Pro that Apple offers, with the base specs, which includes the 128gb storage. Something that I have been apprehensive about. The iPad does allow for external hard drives and card reader accessories that I plan to use instead, so hopefully it wasn’t a mistake driven by my, well, let’s just say: frugality. This is where my main question (the headline of this article) steps in. Can I use this iPad Pro to edit, manage, & review content while still on a photography trip, or did I make a terrible mistake by not buying the base MacBook Pro? Here are a list of apprehensions that myself and others may encounter before taking the proverbial plunge into the world of computing iPads.
Weight/Size
Mobile Adobe application usability
File Management
Overall user experience, ease of use, etc.*
I will be taking the iPad on a trip to further test its’ capabilities as a mobile solution to editing and posting while on the go. Keep an eye out for Part 2.
Jacob.
*A side note; I switched from iPhones to various Google devices a decade ago, & traded in a Gen 2 iPad for a Nexus 7 tablet (a small Google tablet) that I had always wanted to use as a secondary display and editing platform, but my camera (and technology at that time) weren’t quite ready for the task. I will try not to be biased on having to re-learn the iOS ecosystem all over again!