All iPads iPad for Photo Editing?

I've done RAW image editing in Lightroom & Affinity on a 12.9" M1 Pro & now a 13" M4 Pro with OLED. I definitely prefer the OLED for its color rendering. A cell enabled iPad won't use more battery.

Owning the M4 Pro started me on HDR photo editing. Outside of iPhone photos that is. I use Lightroom, so can only speak to that, but I have really enjoyed pulling so much more out of the highlights and shadows of my photos. I shoot RAW on a Canon R6. When I enable HDR on certain photos it's amazing how much more detail I get. In skies especially. Given the M4 Pros have the best screens of any product Apple makes, you're going to get the best possible results.

Beyond that, the form factor is great. So thin and light. And having OLED is best for content consumption. I know when I watch a show on Apple TV+ I am seeing it exactly as the creators meant me to.

BuddyRich said:

also is a cell enabled one worse for battery? my current one is cell enabled, though i can always hotspot off my phone, i dont need data.

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Yes. I've noticed slightly worse battery life on the cellular-enabled mini 7 vs the wifi-only model.

I’m in a similar position. I have a 2018 iPad Pro. I haven’t downloaded iOS 26 on it yet tho. As an artist, I mainly use it for drawing on, but I also edit photos & 4k video on it as well using affinity photo & luma fusion. It still works well enough, but with only 6gb of ram and a 7 year old battery as well as not being able to use the Apple Pencil Pro, I have finally decided to upgrade. Any of the M series iPad Pros or Airs would be a huge improvement, however I think I am going to spring for an M5 iPad Pro when they come out later this month. Yes, it’ll be more expensive, but my iPad Pro is my main computer, content creation & media consumption device. It has replaced my laptop & desktop. Also I know for sure that like my 2018 iPad Pro, the M5 iPad Pro will last me at least 7 years(probably longer). So if it costs me $1,800 over 7 years, that works out to only $22 a month or $5 a week or just .75 cents a day. To me that is totally worth it.

BuddyRich said:

I currently run an ipad pro 11" 2018. Its served me well but ipados 26 is somewhat of a dog on it... and battery health and overall battery life isn't what it once was.

i mainly use it for content consumption, web browsing (basically pc replcement while on vacation) and imported DSLR photo editing with Affinity Photo 2 using Photos as my DAM with icloud backup while away from home (use mac for editing at home).

Wondering if its benefitial in moving to the ipp m4 oled... or if any ipad would do? More storage might be benefitial and my 13" but i think mainly its the ram holding me back now. if the deal is good enough, is the m2 air still worth it? a few larger storage capacities are on steep discount compared to the newer m3... but ive heard bad things about the battery life of both of them.

also is a cell enabled one worse for battery? my current one is cell enabled, though i can always hotspot off my phone, i dont need data.

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The tandem OLED on the iPad pro is probably the best photo editing screen I've ever used. It competes with dedicated editing monitors that run thousands of dollars more (it is, of course, smaller).

I prefer editing on my 13" iPad pro over my studio display, precisely because it's a more accurate screen with truer blacks, and better contrast. I use mine as an extended monitor with Lightroom Classic on a Studio, as my experience with native iOS editing tools has left me super unimpressed, but if you are satisfied with an existing iOS editing tool you absolutely will not be disappointed in just how impressive the tandem OLED screens are. For photo editors the upgrade is absolutely worth it just for the screen alone.

Zubba said:

The tandem OLED on the iPad pro is probably the best photo editing screen I've ever used. It competes with dedicated editing monitors that run thousands of dollars more (it is, of course, smaller).

I prefer editing on my 13" iPad pro over my studio display, precisely because it's a more accurate screen with truer blacks, and better contrast. I use mine as an extended monitor with Lightroom Classic on a Studio, as my experience with native iOS editing tools has left me super unimpressed, but if you are satisfied with an existing iOS editing tool you absolutely will not be disappointed in just how impressive the tandem OLED screens are. For photo editors the upgrade is absolutely worth it just for the screen alone.

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The 13" Pro display accuracy correlates extremely well with my desktop and OLED monitor. I agree on the Lightroom Mobile shortcomings but I find the iPad to be really useful for RAW image (Canon & Sony) processing on the road. For those images needing work using unsupported functionality, I'll touch them up with LR CC on the desktop at home.

Capture One for iPad is good for Raw editing and they have really improved it over the last year. Sessions are easily transferred to a computer for desktop editing once you are done on the iPad. Feature wise, it has almost all the same functions as the desktop version. Many others use Adobe Lightroom too.