iPad Pro I'm returning my iPad pro... [MERGED]

[AttilaTheHun]

I take mine to school and the size is perfect.

Reading PDFs on it with liquidtext is amazing, especially the highlighting and skim feature.

The size is perfect for taking notes and having the textbook open.

So your mileage may vary..

I will give more chance the table at Uconn are small but will try more time maybe with a case it will be more confutable.

 

[modernaccord]

If you hate to do it, why are you doing it?

Besides the point, there are tons of beautiful artistic pieces that have been drawn in the short weeks since the launch of the iPad pro. I recommend you try it out for a few days and see if you get used to it. If not, by all means return it. Keep in mind that it does a whole lot more than just draw, and a lightning cable charge adapter was provided with your pencil so you can charge it from a wall or computer.

Return it if you want, but I think you should give it a chance first

 

[David58117]

I will give more chance the table at Uconn are small but will try more time maybe with a case it will be more confutable.

I use a Smart Cover/case combo now, with a slipcase (where I keep the pencil). I had the UAG case, but that was too big.

Check out liquidtext and goodnotes, which I think is better than notability, because it connects to the pencil as a smart stylus.

 

[c0nsilience]

Just stick to pencil and paper, scan, get comfortable with a bezier pen and trackball and create vector artwork. Nothing wrong with doing it the "analog" way and converting to digital if/when necessary.

So i got my pencil the other day and after 2 days using it, i can honestly say i kind of hate it! Now, before everyone gets the pitchforks and hangman's noose ready, give me a moment to explain.

The soul reason i purchased the iPad pro was to get into digital artwork. I used to do a lot of sketching and have some minor training from back in high school (class of 2001) in commercial arts, and id love to draw and ink stuff all day long in class.

Ive been told I'm a great sketch artist (although i think I'm average at best) and being a fan of movies and games and comics, I've always loved seeing the design and concept art to those things and would love to try my hand at it, even if it was just a hobby.

For years, I've searched high and low for the perfect device to use for it. I purchased a compaq tablet laptop years before the first iPad thinking it would work, it didn't. I went though several Wacom bamboo tablets, and they all worked fine, i just couldn't get comfortable as hard as i tried to draw and look at a screen as i did it, there was way to much of a disconnect for me to do much of anything.

I looked at multiple tablets across the whole range of platforms (Microsoft surface, android, iPads) and for media consumption i always stuck with the iPad line and had almost every iteration of them since the beginning.

In my mind, they were the best tablets despite others offering more features, and i always stuck it out with them.

Early this year, i purchased an iPhone 6plus and to be honest, it basically replaced my IPad Mini 2 32gig. So all year i followed the rumors of an IPad pro, expecting id be happier with a bigger screen and the capability to draw on it.

I saved up for months and when the time came, i was eager to click that purchase button the moment i could.

The iPad pro came, i unboxed it on youtube and for the most part really like it, but i have to be honest, its not really doing much more then my current iPhone 6 does with the exception of split screen apps, the drawing stuff, and of course a bigger better screen and processor.

So i figured, ok, this will really come to life when i finally get my pencil, and it finally arrived, and within 20 minuets of using it...I ABSOLUTELY HATE IT!

Dont get me wrong. Its easily the best stylus I've ever used. It feels good in the hand, it has no real lag time that i can tell, The tilt to shade thing is what sold me over what Microsoft was offering, etc.

I hated the way it charges. I think that was beyond stupid and personally i think Johnny Ives should be ashamed of himself for that one! Thats a huge accident waiting to happen! Also the lack of an eraser and on the Pro itself lack of force touch wreaks of pure "Save it until the next one to sell even more" greed on apples part.

Whats worse, and this is no fault of the tablet or the pencils, is drawing on glass feels so weird, such a huge disconnect that its in a way repulsing and even on some level nauseating to me personally.

I dont know what it is! Maybe its such a strong muscle memory or subconscious thing, but the more i force myself to use it the more i absolutely loath the experience and its such a disappointment to me!

It really feels like I'm trying to draw on ice, and no matter how hard i try i cant control it like i can with good old fashion pen and paper and there is just this disconnect between me and the art if that makes any sense.

Its like no matter how good the app, I'm fighting the program to convey the image from my brain through my hand through the tablet, and it just feels so unnatural it really is somewhat repulsing to me on some level.

It makes me not want to do digital art at all outside of light photoshop touch ups or what have you and sure as hell cant justified spending over $1100 for something i hate using for the reason i bought it for.

It even makes me not want to really get a standard iPad at all either yet. My phone (the 6plus, not the s model) handles everything fine. I can lay in bed with it, i can read with it, i can bring it with me, etc.

The pro just seems overkill to me, and most people at this point and price, especially without the force touch feature the 6s line has and the lack of an eraser if you can actually use the pencil without it feeling so awkward.

I hate to do it, and i love apple, i still think they make the best computers around, but this whole thing was a huge letdown.

it doesn't do much better then a standard iPad in terms of apps or functionality, and in no way will it ever replace a full fledge pc, and having learned the hard way, digital artwork while amazing to look at and opens so many more possibilities, to me just still feels too much of a disconnect for me to do with any comfort or confidence in it.

There is just something about a Pencil on paper that just feels right to me!

Anyhow after the crowds die down this weekend I'm going to trek on up to the apple store for a refund! Its a shame, as the pro has a lot of potential, and in a few generations i might try it again, but for now, its too little for too much money!

Let me know what you guys think

-Al

 

[DaniJoy]

i can relate to some of the OP post, but for different reasons. im having a terrible time adapting to this device. i usually take to digital tools really quickly, so im a bit surprised. Im studying for a BA in Illustration and fine art. im no art noob. maybe im just used to a different workflow since i have all the high end wacom products. but they are far better in the stylus department.

I am having issues with lots of bugs in procreate. half the time the pencil does not register the stylus inputs, then the other times, the pressure is really poor. no amount of adjusting gives me a feel i can control. i think its just software bugs, but procreate is worthless for inking right now. even the tilt pencil feels largely like a gimmick, and lacks consistency im used to with higher end products.

I got a matt screen protector, it makes a huge difference. feels almost as good as wacom.

Im keeping mine- not because the stylus is wonderful, its only barely "adequate" for me, but because its the best tablet you can get. so for mobility, its really nice.

 

[temna]

"Save it until the next one to sell even more" greed on apples part.

Yes, the mantra. The manipulative 'drip feed, mentality of turnaround. Bait & Switch. Its infuriating. Its like their "Secret" upgrade tactic yet oh so transparent.

This is SO wrong as to be laughable. The iPads did not get 3D Tough due to the weight it would have added to the tablets. That's all. It's no ploy. It's not there simply because it would add too much weight and thickness to the tablet. Everyone here seems to think Apple does everything just to screw their customers. Every time I see a post about this, I want to scream.

Just a little quick math shows adding 3D Touch to the iPad Pro would take the weight from 723 grams to over 770 grams atleast. When they figure out how to do 3D Touch without the weight gain, that is when you will see it in iPads..

 

[BWhaler]

I have had the exact opposite experience. I am a professional artist and art teacher and the iPad Pro + Apple Pencil is hands down the best digital drawing experience I have ever tried.

Here is an example of the first sketch I did on the iPad Pro using the Procreate app:

Really cool sketch.

 

[double329]

I got my iPP few days ago and I have been using it for all that times. At this point, I am thinking about returning mine as well. I am not a professional artist or writer. I am just casual user with iPad Air 2 and rMBP. I think the iPP is a great device. But, the SW is just not there for it. The only thing I see good is screen real estate and CPU power. Many apps look terrible on iPP. Most of them are just normal app with blown up to fit the screen. All fonts are just big and everything. Apps simply are not optimized for the iPP screen yet. I know, it is just the matter of time that developer will factor iPP screen size in. But, it seems like the progress is slow. This seems to be issue with Android as well, as I have the Galaxy tap pro 12.2. App just looks terrible. Battery on iPP is really good. Screen looks great. To me it is nothing more than big screen version of iPad Air 2 with blown up app. I am still on the fence if I want to return it, I got the iPP at a very good price. I had SP3 which it had the opposite issue where all apps were not scale to proper size and everything was running at weird resolution.

 

[Apple2007]

"Save it until the next one to sell even more" greed on apples part.

Yes, the mantra. The manipulative 'drip feed, mentality of turnaround. Bait & Switch. Its infuriating. Its like their "Secret" upgrade tactic yet oh so transparent.
And still i come back annually to empty my pockets for them lol

Sorry it didnt work out for you. Back to the drawing board (no pun)

Yes. Pun.

 

[PixelPrincess]

Hey Pixel princess can I ask you for some artistic advice?

Sure, of course!

 

[PixelPrincess]

Really cool sketch.

Thanks so much!

 

[Atomic Walrus]

on the Pro itself lack of force touch wreaks of pure "Save it until the next one to sell even more" greed on apples part.

No 3D Touch on the iPP please. Would add too much weight and be uselessly redundant with the Pencil. You don't want to encourage people to squeeze the center of the iPP's giant LCD panel either. API currently uses 1 variable for 3D Touch/Force Touch/Pencil force values, which suggests Apple has no immediate plans to put any 2 of those on one device.

Whats worse, and this is no fault of the tablet or the pencils, is drawing on glass feels so weird, such a huge disconnect that its in a way repulsing and even on some level nauseating to me personally.

I dont know what it is! Maybe its such a strong muscle memory or subconscious thing, but the more i force myself to use it the more i absolutely loath the experience and its such a disappointment to me!

It really feels like I'm trying to draw on ice, and no matter how hard i try i cant control it like i can with good old fashion pen and paper and there is just this disconnect between me and the art if that makes any sense.

The plastic on glass feel is what turns most people off of digital pens. A lot of us have already gone through that adjustment period (I have the original SP with the Wacom Penabled digitizer, have used the Note phones extensively), and in that context the current texture is not too bad. It's never going to be even close as good as pencil on paper while simultaneously having a good screen quality/texture for normal tablet users.

Wacom's Cintiq devices get around this by using a small, hard plastic tip on a rough plastic screen protector. The idea is that you actually scratch at this screen protector and it feels more like writing on paper (they get worn down over time and Wacom actually used to sell replacements, now they charge to replace them). It adds a bit of parallax and makes the screen look dull (like a matte screen protector).

3rd parties may figure out how to duplicate this with a screen protector, but I wouldn't count on it. I haven't seen seen much happen in this area for the SP, Note, etc.

My more general comment would be that digital pen tech isn't nearly as advanced as you might think it is if you've heard people talk about Wacom. Their $2000+ input devices still have a decent amount of hardware tracking latency, parallax, edge drift, tilt tracking drift... Ever since the Intuos 4 generation (2010) they've reached "acceptable," but the experience still leaves a lot to be desired compared to physical tools.

The main reason to work digitally is the ability to quickly produce digital content. Or the ability to save everything digitally (especially useful for students). You can also do things digitally that you can't easily do physically, like work with layers, erase anything, etc. It's still not as good as putting pencil to paper as far as sensory feedback.

 

[thadoggfather]

You don't want to encourage people to squeeze the center of the iPP's giant LCD panel either.

You may be mincing your words when iPP gen 2 has 3D touch

 

[Atomic Walrus]

You may be mincing your words when iPP gen 2 has 3D touch

Actually, when that happens I'll be complaining that they had to take out a significant chunk of the battery to compensate for the major increase in display stack weight. If you can figure out how to make the mechanism weigh less then go for it, but the current system is heavy and seems like it would have to be heavier with larger panel sizes.

I'm not saying that it won't happen, just that it's a bad idea. It will remain a bad idea even if it's implemented.

 

[David58117]

Actually, when that happens I'll be complaining that they had to take out a significant chunk of the battery to compensate for the major increase in display stack weight. If you can figure out how to make the mechanism weigh less then go for it, but the current system is heavy and seems like it would have to be heavier with larger panel sizes.

I'm not saying that it won't happen, just that it's a bad idea. It will remain a bad idea even if it's implemented.

What about the Touch ID sensor being first gen? Or 32 GB being standard - those are both clear examples of Apple releasing inferior specs for absolutely no reason.

 

[sracer]

Thumbs up and I agree 100%. Way too many people who think digital art is some magic tool that will make you magically competent enough to create professional level concept art. It's best thought of as its own medium and it takes time to get used to it. There are various solutions to add more grip to the screen as some have pointed out, otherwise it really is just a matter of time and practice, just like any other medium. I mean if you don't like it that's fine, but it's just a reality of the medium - drawing on a screen is very different from physical media. As usual people are hyping Surface, in reality it feels no different. It's still plastic on a glass screen, just not as good of a stylus.

And a hearty "**** yeah!" To number 2 on your list. The second I hear this complaint I immediately know the poster has little idea what they are talking about. Any artist working with pencils is going to have a separate eraser. And as you say, in digital there are much better ways to correct a mistake, and the eraser is best thought of as another brush to shape your strokes and such or clean up line work. In that capacity having an eraser like the Surface is pointless because the nub is thicker than the pen tip and obscures what you're trying to erase.

And the charging, yeah it looks stupid, but it takes like 5 minutes to get a full charge. Nonissue and if anything it's nice to have the ability to charge right from the device.

I chalk up the OP's sentiments to the "do-it button syndrome". There is an entire generation of computer users who were raised on Photoshop (and Photoshop-like apps). Powerful tools that provides simple one-button operations that simply "do it". For example, want a drop shadow? Click on the drop shadow button to "do it".

The result is users who don't understand the underlying concepts of photo manipulation and art composition.

On the non-pro iPad, there are plenty of drawing apps that automatically generate a "style" of sketching without the need to know anything about sketching. After recently purchasing an iPad Air 2, I wanted to try a few of them out... I was pleasantly surprised at the resulting sketches considering that I have zero talent. "Pro" apps may initially require the user to have some artistic ability to producing something pleasant.

 

[Apple2007]

I have had the exact opposite experience. I am a professional artist and art teacher and the iPad Pro + Apple Pencil is hands down the best digital drawing experience I have ever tried.

To address some of the OP's concerns:

1. Give yourself time to adjust to drawing on a glass surface. In the analogue world, artists paint and draw on all sorts or porous and non-porous surfaces... So take the time to get familiar with a new one.

2. I think the "no eraser" argument needs to end--- my set of sketching pencils do not have erasers on their ends nor do my paint brushes, markers, etc... Apps like Procreate allow for gestures like double tapping to undo or one-click eraser modes that are even more convenient than any traditional eraser.

3. As for charging the Pencil, use the adapter that comes with it to charge it from the wall. The lightening port charging is meant to be used when you're on the go and you only need to charge it for 15 seconds in that manner to get an extra 30min of use- amazing!!

Here is an example of the first sketch I did on the iPad Pro using the Procreate app:

That sketch is awesome! I'd love to see a YouTube video of how you did it.

 

[KPOM]

You do realize you can charge the Pencil with a normal Lightning cable and an adapter that comes with the iPad Pro, right? The "default" mechanism just means you don't ever need to worry about running out of power for the Pencil because you can charge it in a pinch with your iPad Pro itself.

 

[OTACORB]

Never spend 6 months salary on a product....for something you don't absolutely need.

He said he saved for 6 month, not that it was 6 months of his salary.

 

[brianbunge]

If you do decide to return it, I'd be happy to buy the apple pencil from you!

 

[asorta]

Here is an idea: put piece of regular paper of top of iPad glass, paper resistance to rubber tip would give you necessary resistance, just like real paper, will make it feel like real drawing. try it.

 

[nickyD410]

2. I think the "no eraser" argument needs to end--- my set of sketching pencils do not have erasers on their ends nor do my paint brushes, markers, etc... Apps like Procreate allow for gestures like double tapping to undo or one-click eraser modes that are even more convenient than any traditional eraser.

Im so tired of hearing this complaint too. I think most of the comparison being made are between the pencil and other digital stylus's Just because the wacom stylus has an eraser doesn't mean its a great one. Im my case Ive found it to be inaccurate so I just use the keyboard hotkey to switch to an eraser.

 

[Aydy]

Sounds a bit of a faff. How would we see whats on screen without removing/replacing paper. Also this method kinda only works if the ipad is laid flat on a surface. A couple pieces of tape would help keep paper in place but again adding more faff than is necessary

 

[iPhone1]

Yup, I'm returning my iPad Pro today. And yes, I'm aware of the Jan 8th return date but I feel the longer I have it the more likely I am to bang it up. Anyway, here are my reasons for returning it:

1-Size: I love the awesome display and the sheer number of pixels is crazy but in the long run, it's too big for me. It's just doesn't fit my use case. It's not such a big deal when you're sitting at a desk and typing or just have it propped up using the Smart Cover, but when using on the couch or in bed, it's just not comfortable.

2-iOS: iOS 9 is just not designed with the iPad Pro in mind. Multitasking has come a long way but it does not make use of the iPad Pro real estate and almost makes the larger device a worse experience versus regular sized iPads (Air and below). I do hope future updates are optimized for the iPad Pro but I'll wait for the next version to see.

3-The laptop replacement argument: not a fan of all the podcasts/blogs trying to convince people to replace their laptops with iPads. I think a large portion of the population could very well ditch their laptops for this device but those people are probably not MacRumors members. I tried it and my laptop use was dramatically cut however I still found myself trying to accomplish things on the iPad Pro that were just easier to do on a laptop. If it works for you great; it didn't for me and probably won't for awhile.

4-Accessories: Apple Pencil is awesome but I'm no artist. Smart Keyboard was painful to type with although it was growing on me. I'm sure many people love them, I did too. I just couldn't put them to maximum use so why have them?

5-Cost: this was a minor factor for me but my iPad Pro setup was about $1600 for the iPad Pro with AC+,Apple Pencil, Smart Keyboard and a Smart Cover. Yeah it's expensive but I knew it would be. But I can't justify keeping it of I truly didn't love the experience.

So I will be heading to the Apple Store today and returning it.

 

[Macalway]

It's niche. I would return it for these reasons (it's HUGE), but it's really good for a few things. Cost is outrageous though.

This is actually typical Apple, before the whole mainstream thing, where you paid insane premiums.