Which iPad Pro?

[000]

Hi,

 

just assuming that a version of Affinity Designer and Photo eventually will come to iOS  —  would it run on the small iPad Pro 9.7 too or only on the 12.9 inch version?

I am asking, because I am planning to buy one of them and would like to run Affinity on it (when available off course, I know it'll take some time), so I'd like to make sure my new iPad is prepared.

[MattP]

We definitely plan to support at least both variants of iPad Pro. The 9.7" is even faster than the 12.9" as there are less pixels on the display, but the same CPU speed (as near as makes no difference). The 9.7" has less memory though, but in testing this doesn't seem to actually make much of a difference - we are pretty good with memory management so it doesn't turn into a problem very often :)

[Alfred]

We definitely plan to support at least both variants of iPad Pro.

 

Does "at least" mean that you hope to support earlier iPad models such as the Air 2? The A8X chipset obviously isn't as capable as the A9X that you get in an iPad Pro, but I've no idea whether that would be enough to seriously affect the usability of the Affinity apps on the lower spec machine.

[O. Chevetaigne]

Hi Jens,

 

This thread might help a little regarding which to choose - the 9.7 inch or 12.9 inch iPad Pro:

 

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/18791-ipad-pro-apple-pencil-users/?hl=apple+pencil

 

:)

 

O.

[MattP]

Does "at least" mean that you hope to support earlier iPad models such as the Air 2? The A8X chipset obviously isn't as capable as the A9X that you get in an iPad Pro, but I've no idea whether that would be enough to seriously affect the usability of the Affinity apps on the lower spec machine.

Hi Alfred :)

 

You're right that the 'at least' was very deliberate - we hope to support as many variants as possible, but what we're trying to achieve is difficult given the restrictions of the devices and their various architectures. The iPad Air 2 seems to be showing good performance characteristics at the moment. My slight reluctance to commit to specifics at this stage is that we haven't completely finished everything and until we do it's difficult to guarantee anything - I don't want people to all rush out and buy something and then for the next day we find out that it won't work as well as we'd like and then they have something they wouldn't have otherwise bought!

 

Hope that makes sense,

Matt

[O. Chevetaigne]

Jens,

 

Some more info which might help you make your choice:

 

Jason Snell compares the 9.7 inch iPad Pro to the 12.9 inch, in his recent review of the 9.7 inch model.

 

:)

[Alfred]

Hi Alfred :)

 

You're right that the 'at least' was very deliberate - we hope to support as many variants as possible, but what we're trying to achieve is difficult given the restrictions of the devices and their various architectures. The iPad Air 2 seems to be showing good performance characteristics at the moment. My slight reluctance to commit to specifics at this stage is that we haven't completely finished everything and until we do it's difficult to guarantee anything - I don't want people to all rush out and buy something and then for the next day we find out that it won't work as well as we'd like and then they have something they wouldn't have otherwise bought!

 

Hope that makes sense,

Matt

 

Thanks, Matt. Yes, that makes perfect sense. (Don't worry. I'm not about to buy an iPad Air 2 on the the off-chance that it might be able to run the iOS versions of the Affinity apps when they become available!)

[O. Chevetaigne]

Appleinsider's Comparison (with a Price Guide)

[anon1]

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[MattP]

@MattP do you know if there is any chance of getting an iPad Pro to run a sort of DAM App and act as a tethered shooting device standalone just as a MB?

Apple started to promote the LAN adapter explicitly and thus I thought they may have extended the adapter capabilities so that maybe through a lightning-USB adapter and a future affinity DAM iPad app this may be feasible?

 

Thanks in advance

Hi MBd,

 

Hmmm, that's really not my field... I do know that if it's technically possible then we'll certainly look into it, but there's a way to go before the iPad version of Affinity appears, so a DAM product on iOS will be even further away :(

 

Thanks,

Matt

[HammerOz]

I just made this difficult decision! I truly would have loved the big screen, but I went for the 9'7. After holding both, I just felt the 9'7 was the sweet spot balance of size and comfort. A bigger canvas is always better though isn't it! Some good deals around on the 12'9 ... hmm oh well!

 

Looking forward to your apps! .. even though I have my hands full with the mac versions for now!

[anon1]

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[O. Chevetaigne]

I just made this difficult decision! I truly would have loved the big screen, but I went for the 9'7. After holding both, I just felt the 9'7 was the sweet spot balance of size and comfort. A bigger canvas is always better though isn't it! Some good deals around on the 12'9 ... hmm oh well!

 

Looking forward to your apps! .. even though I have my hands full with the mac versions for now!

 

 

HammerOz,

 

They sure don't make it easy to decide which model to purchase, do they?!

 

:unsure:

 

You may be losing some canvas real estate with the 9.7, but there are some other features you'll definitely be gaining over the 12.9.

 

I'm guessing you are really going to love the camera capabilities of the 9.7 

 

And all the improved screen capabilities are a big step forward!

 

Not to mention that it feels comfortable for you use.  (That's important!)

 

Good luck!

 

:)

[000]

I looked into the two models and decided to buy none of them … I appreciate that the smaller iPad Pro is newer and therefore has a better screen and camera, but I'm absolutely not happy, that it only has half of the RAM of the bigger brother (you feel a difference in speed when playing around with it). If Apple had included the same amount of memory in the 9.7 inch model, I would have bought it instantly, but having less memory in a newer product is not fair, in my opinion.

[william7]

I wasn´t expecting a release date either but using an iPad for tethered shooting could be certainly amazing.

In the words of inception: the most dangerous thing is a thought, so I hope I´ve infected you with that one  B)

This! My hope for the Affinity suite on iOS is to allow me to use exclusively iOS for my photos workflow (Should I want to for a trip etc.) Ill be keeping my macs a little bit longer However i could see these apps allowing my mother to abandon traditional computers altogether as long as the affinity DAM can access photos on a hard drive connected to the iPad 256gb isn't enough :p. 

 

 

I looked into the two models and decided to buy none of them … I appreciate that the smaller iPad Pro is newer and therefore has a better screen and camera, but I'm absolutely not happy, that it only has half of the RAM of the bigger brother (you feel a difference in speed when playing around with it). If Apple had included the same amount of memory in the 9.7 inch model, I would have bought it instantly, but having less memory in a newer product is not fair, in my opinion.

 

I agree although the bigger thing for me is the usb 3 speeds specifically for importing photos to the future Affinity DAM and tethering. My hope is that the next time the iPad pro's are updated it will happen at the same time and bring them to feature parity. my guess is next spring... :P

[conrad2k]

I am waiting for the compelling reason to buy the iPad Pro, and I suspect Affinity Photo will be it when the iOS version hits the street. Until then the iPad Air is good enough!  My Windows PC was "good enough," until I discovered AP and realized I needed a 27" iMac 5k.  :)

[000]

Everyone should have a 27" iMac 5K ;-)

[nicolaza]

Is there still no Affinity Design & Photo available for the iPad Pro 12.9 ?? Beta ?? If not when would the app be available? Thanks

[MEB]

Hi nicolaza,

Welcome to Affinity Forums :)

No, they are still being developed. No ETA yet, sorry.