The iPad ProSee it at Amazon UK continues to shatter the wall between tablet and full-fledged computer. Taking a page from the Microsoft Surface Pro£566 at Amazon UK, Apple claims its new tablet can replace your laptop, and the device has the power (and price) to back up that bold assertion. The iPad Pro's A9X chip has specs that bring the device within striking distance of low-end MacBooks. But it takes more than beefy chips to get real work done. Professional users need professional apps. The breadth and quality of content on the App Store has long been the real advantage of iOS devices. And with the iPad Pro, developers can now create for a platform that can run some truly impressive programs. With this list, we gather iPad Pro apps that let you get serious work done.
Apple's professional-grade tablet now comes in multiple sizes. The new 9.7-inch iPad ProSee it at Amazon UK packs all of the power of the larger model in a body the size of the iPad everyone is already familiar with. If you opt for the original, larger iPad Pro, you'll get an expansive 12.9-inch screen bigger than that of any other iPad, and it provides enough space for real productivity. You can draw bigger pictures, fit more text on-screen, and edit longer video clips. Even if you still mostly use an iPad as a consumption device, the bigger screen and upgraded speakers will improve your entertainment experience. But to really take an iPad Pro of any size into full-on laptop territory, you'll want to get Apple's two flagship accessories: the Smart Keyboard and the Apple Pencil£103.01 at Amazon UK. The Smart Keyboard is pretty self-explanatory. It's a keyboard that's niftily embedded in a folding case. But the Apple Pencil is much more interesting. Combined with the new screen technology of the iPad Pro itself, the Apple Pencil uses various sensors to mimic the physics of a real pencil. The pressure and angle of your strokes make a tangible difference. Several apps we highlight below take advantage of this fancy stylus.
Our list of professional iPad Pro apps covers a wide range of uses. Here you'll find tools for medical students, artists, coders, and filmmakers. Of course, the iPad Pro also runs all previous iPad apps. iOS 9's new Split View functionality lets you view two apps at once, increasing the productivity value of many older programs, especially on the 12.9-inch iPad Pro's bigger screen. So if you're looking to load up your iPad with even more great apps, check out our list of the 100 Best iPad Apps. Are you a professional who wants to recommend a particularly great iPad Pro app? Leave a comment and tell us about it.
Apple iMovie
Movie watchers know that when it comes to screens, bigger is better. The same is true for video editors. A larger canvas lets you work with more, higher-res clips at once. So it's unsurprising that iMovie, Apple's casual video editing software, really shines on the iPad Pro. The souped-up processor is also helpful for a demanding task like video editing.
Adobe Creative Cloud
Adobe has many wonderful, creative apps that work superbly on the iPad Pro. Illustrator Draw and Photoshop Sketch let you easily express visual ideas, especially with the huge screen and Apple Pencil. Meanwhile, Lightroom and Photoshop Fix help you perfect existing images. Just know that you'll need an Adobe Creative Cloud account to make the most of these apps.
AutoCAD 360
AutoCAD 360 is the mobile version of the industry-leading computer-aided design, or CAD, application. CAD files are typically used for mocking up real-world objects, whether as 3D models or a series of 2D profiles, so the ability to edit them in this app offers serious professional potential. It also makes great use of the Apple Pencil, letting users transfer ideas directly onto the screen.
Coda
Apple likes to obscure the technical parts of, well, technology, but the truth is that behind all your favorite software is good old-fashioned, human-written code. Coda is a text editor for coders to write HTML, JavaScript, Python, and more, on the go. The bigger iPad Pro fits more code on-screen, and Split View lets you write code on one half of your iPad while previewing it in Safari on the other half.
Essential Anatomy 5
If you watched the Apple Keynote that showcased the iPad Pro, you may remember this graphic educational medical app. Essential Anatomy lets medical students, or really anyone interested in the intricacies of the human body, study the various bones and squishy organs that make us who we are. The iPad Pro's big screen and enhanced processor provide even more gory details.
Evernote
Evernote is one of our favorite apps, period. Taking notes and syncing them across various devices can really streamline your life. And the robust search capabilities let you recall past ideas with ease. With the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, Evernote comes one step closer to becoming your magical cloud notebook.
Microsoft Office
Apple has its own array of iPad productivity apps, but you just can't beat the Holy Trinity of Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word. With these enterprise favorites on your iPad Pro, you can accomplish the kind of work you've been used to doing on a PC for years. Microsoft even showed up at the Apple Keynote to show off Microsoft Office's Apple Pencil functionality. Microsoft Office apps work best if you have a Smart Keyboard as well.
PDF Expert
Editing a PDF can be a surprisingly tricky task, considering how essential it is. A good PDF program needs to be able to open and edit PDFs in different ways, as well as merge and export different types of files as PDFs. Fortunately, PDF Expert on the iPad offers the functionality you need. And using the Apple Pencil to annotate documents or sign your name on contracts might make the iPad Pro version the most convenient incarnation of the program.
Procreate
If you're looking for a drawing app to really take advantage of the Apple Pencil's accuracy on the iPad Pro, check out Procreate. This 64-bit illustration tool offers over 100 brushes and correction tools to sketch and paint detailed works of art that look fantastic on the high-res screen. Images can be exported in up to 16K resolution. For the biggest canvas possible, we recommend artists use this app on the 12.9-inch iPad Pro.
uMake
3D printing is one of my favorite modern technological marvels. But 3D-printed objects start off as a file of a 3D model. uMake lets you create 3D models and export them for later use. Even you don't plan on converting them to physical objects, 3D models have plenty of other uses. Having a versatile tool to easily produce 3D models is great news if you're an artist. And once again, the iPad Pro's larger canvas and sensitive, accurate Apple Pencil make it even easier to sketch and sculpt your digital masterpiece.