Today’s Question: What are your thoughts about using Lightroom on an iPad Pro to replace Lightroom Classic on a computer? I currently have Lightroom Classic, which I use on an iMac. Looking ahead, and wanting portability, I went to the Apple Store to look at MacBooks that I could use with a large external monitor. The gentleman I spoke with (also a Lightroom user) surprised me and suggested I think about using an iPad Pro instead of a MacBook. His reasoning was that the screen colors are far better than the MacBooks unless I get I very high-end MacBook, I can use it with an external monitor when I’m at home, and there is the capability to plug in my external hard drives on which my library is stored. Does his idea sound like a good one?
Tim’s Quick Answer: I completely disagree with the advice you received. I highly recommend Lightroom Classic to the cloud-focused version, and Lightroom Classic won’t run on an iPad Pro. You can also get excellent color fidelity on a computer without having to buy an expensive display.
More Detail: There’s no question that an iPad Pro can easily replace a computer for many tasks. With the ability to connect an external display, external storage, and even a keyboard and mouse, in many ways I think it is fair to think of an iPad Pro as a variation on a laptop computer.
However, the iPad Pro can’t run Lightroom Classic, which means you would need to switch to the cloud-focused version of Lightroom as part of the switch to using an iPad Pro instead of a computer. For most photographers I don’t recommend the clous-focused version of Lightroom, because I feel the workflow and storage logistics of Lightroom Classic better meet the needs of photographers.
I also strongly disagree with the notion that you would need to spend a lot of money to have the same color fidelity on a computer that you can have on an iPad Pro. It is true that you would spend a lot more if you opted for an Apple monitor display, but there are many high-quality displays that support (or nearly support) the P3 color space used by the iPad Pro. There are also a number of displays that support a wider color gamut, in some cases extending all the way to the larger Adobe RGB color space.
If you felt that the cloud-focused version of Lightroom was a better fit for your workflow compared to Lightroom Classic, I would certainly consider an iPad Pro to be worth considering in place of a laptop, especially if portability (and a touch screen) was a high priority for you. But if you’re happy with Lightroom Classic I would not recommend making the switch just to make use of an iPad Pro.
