To all intents and purposes the new iPad Pro is simply a bigger more powerful iPad, offering a larger screen, and some features not seen on iPad before:

FEATURES

• 12.9-inch 2732 x 2048 resolution display
• A9X processor
• iPad Air 2-style design
• Four-speaker audio system
• Optional Smart Keyboard
• Optional Apple Pencil

But what difference does that make to those using Pro Tools, we checked out the new iPad Pro in our Pro Tools workflow to find out.

Pro Tools | Control App

As with most iPad apps taking them to the new larger iPad Pro simply upscales the resolution, giving a zoomed version of what would be seen on a regular iPad rather than more channels or longer throw on the faders. However the performance of the faders seemed better on the iPad Pro compared to the regular iPad Air I own, this maybe the larger screen, more powerful processor or simply my imagination - I'd be interested from other people who have tried both.

The meter ballistics were very responsive running the latest version of Pro Tools | Control with Pro Tools 12.3 on the iPad Pro. See the short video below.

In our Pro Tools | Control review we did mention that the Soft keys were a bit fiddly and would benefit from having their own screen. This does not improve even on the larger iPad Pro screen so it would be nice to see this change made to the workflow.

Action Apps For iPad

The soft keys are not used on the App as I use Actions for IPad, you can read more about it here. It allows both Mac and PC owners to create their own customised controller on the iPad.

As with most apps the iPad Pro simply renders a bigger version of the Actions app and as the developer has moved on to a developing a follow up app the likelihood of that changing is slim. However the Actions app is still brilliant and a real bonus to my studio workflow.

Auria

Auria is a full blown DAW you can use on the iPad, even better you can import Auria projects into Pro Tools as AAFs and vice-versa.

This looks stunning and works like a charm on the iPad Pro. It means I record sessions on the road for mixing in Pro Tools and also take a session on the road with me to mix and edit.

See our Auria for iPad review here 

Summary

As is likely with any post like this there will be the usual suspects wanting to comment about how the Microsoft Surface is better (if that's the way you get your kicks, then knock yourself out) but the real point of this article is for those who want a Mac OS/iOS workflow who may already love their iPad and are considering the iPad Pro. 

As already mentioned I already own an iPad Air 2 and I didn't really love it, it was OK but I wasn't really a huge user of it. It's now been taken by my 10 month old daughter to watch Sesame Street on. However I'm smitten with the iPad Pro, not just the size but the power of it, it's the closest thing yet to replacing my laptop.

I think with the introduction of the iPad Pro the iPad has grown up from being something to surf the web, play games and watch movies on to being a Pro product - I've gone from being luke warm about the iPad to being blown away - check it out.