The Ipad Pro Diaries: Three Months In

Just this month, Apple launched iOS 10 and released two new iPhone models, the 7, 7 Plus, and a new Apple Watch model called Series 2. As for the iPad Pro, they haven't released a new model. It's been three months, and my love affair with the iPad Pro 9.7 is still ongoing, admittedly losing a little of its magic.

Image from Apple's site

Let me break it down for you. At the end of June this year, my boss bought me an iPad Pro 9.7 to mark one year working for the company. Of course, the hype was all there as last year around July and September, Apple introduced the iPad Pro 12.9 and added the 9.7 respectively. Of course being the designer that I am, I immediately saw this as a tool I could use to go around my job with less hassle. I had wanted to buy it for myself last Christmas, but was advised to wait for a few more months, so I did. Finally, on the last week of June, the iPad Pro was given to me.

If you've read my other post about the iPad Pro (The Ipad Pro Diaries: One Month In), you'd know that within the first month of using it, I had completely abandoned using a regular notebook and my Wacom graphics tablet. I had found that the Ipad Pro could somehow replace some applications and gadgets I had used before.

Sadly, I'm here to partially retract my statement.

Here's the deal: I love the iPad Pro for what it can do on the go. It's very compact and it helps me organize my life. While it is heavier than my Kikki.k planner, I can use it to not only plan my day but also get ready for a design I'll be using for a project, play games to relax, and browse the internet on the go. However, the ugly truth is that no matter how much it's made my life easier and organized, it still can't replace some applications I first thought it could, 'cause when I first reviewed the device, I hadn't been able to dive into using the apps fully.

However, the ugly truth is that no matter how much it's made my life easier and organized, it still can't replace some applications I first thought it could...

Remember when I said that the Procreate App could replace Photoshop? Boy, was I in over my head right then. It made me think it could replace Photoshop because I could do digital painting on it - but as it turns out, that's about it. You can't copy-paste, you can't crop, you can't do much except paint. It was my error for believing it to be so much more, and now I've been able to look into it much deeper, it can't replace Photoshop. At all. It can replace Paint Tool SAI at some point and Autodesk Sketch, but that's it.

Also, I'm quite disappointed that not a lot of apps are taking advantage of the Apple Pencil's capabilities. I go to the App Store every week to check if there are additions to the "for your Ipad Pro" category, but it's always the same apps. I know it takes a while for developers to create a really good app for iOS, including integration with the Pencil, but it's really getting boring. The most I've used the Apple Pencil for is on the One Note App, which I regularly use in taking notes during meetings and managing people and their workload.

If you go back to my first post about the Ipad Pro, you'll see a photo of my "Create" folder, which contained a number of creative apps I had yet to discover. The thing is though, I've deleted more than half of those. This is what the create folder looks like now:

I don't even use the apps above for work, just during my free time when I have nothing better to do. I keep going back to Photoshop and Sketch for strict designing. I don't know I just feel like I could be doing so much more with the iPad Pro, you know? Maybe it's because I expected more, and maybe I'm being too hard on the product as it IS its first roll-out.

Here is what I normally use my iPad Pro for: digital painting.

I started the drawing above around 3 weeks ago, but I haven't gone back to finishing it off.



Another drawing I created earlier for my alter-ego Nova. :) I just love flowers, and roses are my favorite. Black ones, that is.

So what do I think now? Well, I believe the Ipad Pro can do so much more than it can as of now, but there's not enough apps for me to decide otherwise. 'Til then, I'll be waiting.

How about you? What are your thoughts about the Ipad Pro? Do you know any apps I can use to further test the capability of the device?