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The Pro is for non Pros

mcdj

mcdj

macrumors G3
Original poster
Jul 10, 2007
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4,225
NYC
Ok, the title is flame bait-ish. I'm sure there are lots of "professionals" who will find the Pro useful...but I feel certain kinds of professionals will benefit more than others.

In terms of graphic design/photography/photo manipulation, I'm sure it's a potential dream for those who fly solo; i.e. people doing that kind of work alone, freelance, or on a very small team.

For a guy like me, a professional retoucher in a busy studio with over 50 employees, collaboration, file management, and color calibration are all critical keywords to any professional solution. In reality, they should be important concepts to anyone making a living using a computer to create visual media.

As soon as the Pro was announced, I had a Utopian vision of being able to demo a new retouching technique, or give visual feedback to my team, on a color calibrated hand held slab, by accessing a working Photoshop file on our server, using a full featured version of Photoshop, making markups and saving the file back to the server for people to work on.

No such luck.

A true "pro" device, (and let's be real, the iPad Pro is just a big screen with software underneath) at the very least, HAS to be able to be calibration capable. If I'm a "pro", I have to have some sense that the art I'm making is what you, the client, will see. With the exception of graphic artists working with strict Pantone numbers or RGB/CMYK values that are not up for debate, visual artists need a level-able playing field. A punchy colored consumer friendly "retina" display with no control over calibration can never truly be considered professional.

They have scaled up the screen, the processor, and the price, but little else. Depending on how you look at it, the iPad Pro is either a souped up iPad, or a MacBook with training wheels. But no matter how you look at it, it's definitely not Pro.
 
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You knew that a fully featured version of Photoshop didnt come with this thing to begin with. Secondly, whatever adobe does come out with will not be the same thing that you are used to on other devices. The hardware is there. Its the software and the designers that have yet to take advantage of the new medium. The tool is there. Dropbox/iCloud is there for file sharing.

If Johnny Ive and the army of designers at Apple can make this work for them Im sure you and your small team can too. what makes you think your small design team is better than Apple? You're being presumptuous IMO.
 
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SBruv said:
Er… you don't actually think Ive and co actually do their day jobs entirely on iPad Pros, do you..?
Click to expand...
Most dont do their whole days work on computers. Its a tool. The tools are there to help with the completion of the work. This gives people a great tool they can use to complete their work wether it be design or otherwise. We havent had the device 24 hours.
 
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mcdj said:
Ok, the title is flame bait-ish. I'm sure there are lots of "professionals" who will find the Pro useful...but I feel certain kinds of professionals will benefit more than others.

In terms of graphic design/photography/photo manipulation, I'm sure it's a potential dream for those who fly solo; i.e. people doing that kind of work alone, freelance, or on a very small team.

For a guy like me, a professional retoucher in a busy studio with over 50 employees, collaboration, file management, and color calibration are all critical keywords to any professional solution. In reality, they should be important concepts to anyone making a living using a computer to create visual media.

As soon as the Pro was announced, I had a Utopian vision of being able to demo a new retouching technique, or give visual feedback to my team, on a color calibrated hand held slab, by accessing a working Photoshop file on our server, using a full featured version of Photoshop, making markups and saving the file back to the server for people to work on.

No such luck.

A true "pro" device, (and let's be real, the iPad Pro is just a big screen with software underneath) at the very least, HAS to be able to be calibration capable. If I'm a "pro", I have to have some sense that the art I'm making is what you, the client, will see. With the exception of graphic artists working with strict Pantone numbers or RGB/CMYK values that are not up for debate, visual artists need a level-able playing field. A punchy colored consumer friendly "retina" display with no control over calibration can never truly be considered professional.

They have scaled up the screen, the processor, and the price, but little else. Depending on how you look at it, the iPad Pro is either a souped up iPad, or a MacBook with training wheels. But no matter how you look at it, it's definitely not Pro.
Click to expand...
You're wrong. Pro doesn't mean that a device with that suffix must be able to run video editing and intensive games. It means whatever the maker wants it to mean. A Pro device could be something that a person would use for work compared to his home computer which he might use for games etc. A work machine needs to run Office programs and web browsers. A Chromebook does that. The iPad Pro knocks the crap out of a chrome book for functionality and power. I think people are a bit stung by the price as well as the costly accessories that they will bitterly hand over their money for anyway.
 
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I'm an architect, and I'm also a developer (Video Explorer for Apple TV). I use autocad, photoshop, illustrator, xcode... I usually need to sketch, and use many other PRO and design apps. I think I'm "a maker". And I can't see myself using this iPad PRO.

You could argue that this iPad is not for me. Well, The rest of people, those who don't need any of the Apps I named, why would get a huge iPad when they can have an iPad Air 2 doing exactly de same and less weight? You don't need to sacrify mobility to do some web browsing and write a word document. I understand that OSX is not ready for a tablet... But It should offer something more than regular iOS. The fact that they only talk about how great the speakers are, while they show people drawing using the pencil... And nothing more... Is.... Well, dissappointing.
Really, Calling this iPad 'PRO' is a joke. It's an iPad PLUS.
 
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fitshaced said:
You're wrong. Pro doesn't mean that a device with that suffix must be able to run video editing and intensive games. It means whatever the maker wants it to mean. A Pro device could be something that a person would use for work compared to his home computer which he might use for games etc. A work machine needs to run Office programs and web browsers. A Chromebook does that. The iPad Pro knocks the crap out of a chrome book for functionality and power. I think people are a bit stung by the price as well as the costly accessories that they will bitterly hand over their money for anyway.
Click to expand...
I think the size is more at issue than the price tbqh.

eiprol said:
I'm an architect, and I'm also a developer (Video Explorer for Apple TV). I use autocad, photoshop, illustrator, xcode... I usually need to sketch, and use many other PRO and design apps. And I can't see myself using this iPad PRO.

You could argue that this iPad is not for me. Well, The rest of people, those who don't need any of the Apps I named, why would get a huge iPad when they can have an iPad Air 2 doing exactly de same and less weight? You don't need to sacrify mobility to do some web browsing and write a word document. I understand that OSX is not ready for a tablet... But It should offer something more than regular iOS. The fact that they only talk about how great the speakers are, while they show people drawing using the pencil... And nothing more... Is.... Well, dissappointing.
Really, Calling this iPad 'PRO' is a joke. It's an iPad PLUS.
Click to expand...
You have to see how people use it in the wild first before you start doing software ugrades past a ceratin point. Apple probably found a work flow that works for them and their teams.

Additionally I hate creating work documents on my iPad Air 2 because the display is so small. I know people do it but that doesnt make it any less weird to me. The iPad Pro is arguablly too HUGE. Its like a big TV. Its a monster literally. Its like the first galaxy phones from Samsung before everyone adopted them anyway. However, Im speaking and I dont know all of the trade offs and what data hey used to arrive at this device.
 
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eiprol said:
I'm an architect, and I'm also a developer (Video Explorer for Apple TV). I use autocad, photoshop, illustrator, xcode... I usually need to sketch, and use many other PRO and design apps. And I can't see myself using this iPad PRO.

You could argue that this iPad is not for me. Well, The rest of people, those who don't need any of the Apps I named, why would get a huge iPad when they can have an iPad Air 2 doing exactly de same and less weight? You don't need to sacrify mobility to do some web browsing and write a word document. I understand that OSX is not ready for a tablet... But It should offer something more than regular iOS. The fact that they only talk about how great the speakers are, while they show people drawing using the pencil... And nothing more... Is.... Well, dissappointing.
Really, Calling this iPad 'PRO' is a joke. It's an iPad PLUS.
Click to expand...
But surely you are not saying that Procreate is not a 'Pro' app? It's incredible. If people want a bigger iPad for web browsing only then that's a bit strange as it will more likely be more difficult to use. But, a bigger screen for video streaming makes sense as does for photo management. I checked out the photos app in the Apple Store and I thought the Pro size improved the photos app quite a bit. Plus, side by side multitasking is even more practical on the Pro.

It might not be able to run Autocad but it can do some really impressive things that anyone could find a use for.
 
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In my personal opinion "pro" is too subjective these days. What makes someone more of a pro over Another?
I agree the whole "Pro" moniker is lame, but not just for the iPad but many products.
I'm just saying let's not sell the iPP too short yet, it just came out and like the Air 2 it hasn't received apps that will be able to take full advantage of its monster specs (yet.) I mean I can totally see the iPP giving all regular tablets (Samsung, nexus, etc) and art tablets (Wacom or cintique) a total run for their money... And even many laptops too. But I do agree that at the end of the day I still need a computer to do a bit more for touch ups and heavier effects. Not to mention graphic and web design. I think the iPP HAS Major potential and we just have to wait and see what it can really do.
This thing will save me with my designing... I just need that blasted pencil. :/



K.
 
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fitshaced said:
But surely you are not saying that Procreate is not a 'Pro' app? It's incredible. If people want a bigger iPad for web browsing only then that's a bit strange as it will more likely be more difficult to use. But, a bigger screen for video streaming makes sense as does for photo management. I checked out the photos app in the Apple Store and I thought the Pro size improved the photos app quite a bit. Plus, side by side multitasking is even more practical on the Pro.

It might not be able to run Autocad but it can do some really impressive things that anyone could find a use for.
Click to expand...

Sure, procreate is fantastic, but that's not enough. It's not even revolutionary, we also have that kind of apps on regular iPads. It only makes use of a pencil and a bigger screen. That's my concern, this iPad doen't give us anything really new.

What I'm saying is that if you ask about what people think of the iPad pro to any normal guy (not tech-savvy), they are not excited about a huge ipad that does the same than their iPads mini or Air. It weights more, it doesn't have a full file manager, and you can't download anything with Safari by default. Of course it's technologically awesome, but that means nothing. So, if those are not the target (who represent 90% of people), and then among the "PROS" people like me is not the target either... Seems that this iPad is aimed to drawing artists (painters) and Apple-geeks. Just that.

To sum up: nice hardware, incomplete software. I'm not saying I want OS X on it like a surface... but something in between? Indeed.

P.S: I'm trying to be objective. As geek I also want to try it and I've also though of getting one to play, but the truth about this iPad is different.
 
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eiprol said:
Sure, procreate is fantastic, but that's not enough. What I'm saying is that if you ask about what people think of the iPad pro to any normal guy (not tech savvy), they are not excited about a huge ipad that does the same than their iPads mini or Air. It wights more, it doesn't have a full file manager, and you can't download anything with Safari by default. Of course it's technologically awesome, but that means nothing. So, if those are not the target (who represent 90% of people), and then among the "PROS" people like me is not the target either... Seems that this iPad is aimed to drawing artists (painters) and Apple-geeks. Just that.

To sum up: nice hardware, incomplete software. I'm not saying I want OS X on it like a surface... but something in between? Indeed.
Click to expand...
If the Pro just did the same as the smaller iPads, I would have no interest in it. If you can't see the differences (apart from the size) then it's no wonder you're not interested in it.

Your post is quite arrogance also. I am a professional, I can find a use case for the pro at home and at work. As a creative person, it's surprising that you can't see past your current tools. Maybe you're not as creative as you might think you are.
 
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"Pro" is a marketing term, don't read to deeply into it. If it works for professional work great, if not then you should look elsewhere.

If you are a professional of some sort that does extremely complex and advanced computations that doesn't mean you should run out and buy a Macbook Pro.

The opposite applies, to me the iPad Pro is a large iPad designed for doodling. That doesn't take away that someone could be using it for their job on a professional level.
 
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It's a large iPad .

Next week when the pencil arrives, will see.

Though geez it makes my iPad Air 2 feel small
 
I think people should only judge the utility of this device in about 8-12 months when developers have been able to write apps that take advantage of the device. Other than the color calibration issue, most other complaints are software complaints. The good thing is that software can be created and updated without buying new hardware. And Apple might even be able to add color calibration into iOS for iPad Pro, I don't know enough about the mechanics of it to know for sure since I am a programmer and not an artist.

That said, it would have been great if Apple had included some of the big players (like Adobe) very early on in the iPad Pro development so that they could have more comprehensive versions of their software ready for launch day.
 
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mcdj said:
Ok, the title is flame bait-ish. I'm sure there are lots of "professionals" who will find the Pro useful...but I feel certain kinds of professionals will benefit more than others.

In terms of graphic design/photography/photo manipulation, I'm sure it's a potential dream for those who fly solo; i.e. people doing that kind of work alone, freelance, or on a very small team.

For a guy like me, a professional retoucher in a busy studio with over 50 employees, collaboration, file management, and color calibration are all critical keywords to any professional solution. In reality, they should be important concepts to anyone making a living using a computer to create visual media.

As soon as the Pro was announced, I had a Utopian vision of being able to demo a new retouching technique, or give visual feedback to my team, on a color calibrated hand held slab, by accessing a working Photoshop file on our server, using a full featured version of Photoshop, making markups and saving the file back to the server for people to work on.

No such luck.

A true "pro" device, (and let's be real, the iPad Pro is just a big screen with software underneath) at the very least, HAS to be able to be calibration capable. If I'm a "pro", I have to have some sense that the art I'm making is what you, the client, will see. With the exception of graphic artists working with strict Pantone numbers or RGB/CMYK values that are not up for debate, visual artists need a level-able playing field. A punchy colored consumer friendly "retina" display with no control over calibration can never truly be considered professional.

They have scaled up the screen, the processor, and the price, but little else. Depending on how you look at it, the iPad Pro is either a souped up iPad, or a MacBook with training wheels. But no matter how you look at it, it's definitely not Pro.
Click to expand...

Apple's "PRO" suffix usually means "better specs" a MacBook Pro is just a MacBook with more ram, bigger screen etc.
That's what the iPad Pro is.
 
Anyone have any idea if the iPad pro will play 4k video from sites that provide it . Examples of youtube , espy and others?
 
I think mcdj's point is a good one - if color is your life, then color calibration of the display is essential. I don't spend a lot of time in photos or illustrations for clients - my needs are more for collateral material for hardware design, so I wouldn't think about color accuracy that much.

But for collaboration - well, there are applications for iPad that connect to SMB-CIFS, SVN, GIT - I use FileBrowser to manage files on my NAS and move them on and off my iPad, but it's not the only solution.

I don't agree with Tim Cook that the IPP is a replacement for a notebook/desktop computer. Some reviewers have observed that this is not really a hand-held device, more of a portable desktop device. If so, then Apple has created a new category of product. Give developers time to figure out how to use this - it may have a more significant impact on our workflow than we currently know.
 
mcdj said:
Ok, the title is flame bait-ish. I'm sure there are lots of "professionals" who will find the Pro useful...but I feel certain kinds of professionals will benefit more than others.
Click to expand...

As I've learned more about this giant iPad it's obvious to me that Apple has a brilliant strategy. With big icons widely spaced, this is the Senior Citizens dream tablet. Apple will sell loads of them.
 
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In regard to "Pro" on Apple products, it's just marketing. It would get really old referring to products by their varying specifications, e.g., "the iPad bigger than the other two iPads, that is more expensive, and a faster processor."

Real "pros" buy what they need/or want rather than aligning with gadget marketing titles.
 
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Arran said:
A "true pro" makes the most of what they're given.
Click to expand...
Except we are not given the iPad out of thin air, we have to buy it.

And a true pro would buy the best tool for the job, in the engineering world that certainly isn't the iPad
 
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