# IPad or Wacom tablet?



## PhilBurton (Sep 22, 2019)

This article Can the iPad Replace a Professional Drawing Tablet?   got me to thinking that I need something better than a mouse, particularly when editing a photo.   I know that there are lots of options.   Any comments on this article?

Phil Burton


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## Conrad Chavez (Sep 22, 2019)

I've used both. The article is technically OK,  the differences it points out are real differences. But it leaves out a lot of the context, which is important.
The short answer is, if you just want an upgrade from your mouse, get one of the Wacom Intuos Pro models that cost under $500. (There are tablets available by Huion and others that are much more affordable, but I haven't used them...read the reviews.)

Let's look at what a Wacom tablet and iPad are, out of the box, without buying anything else.

An iPad is a standalone device that runs its own apps on its own OS. Out of the box, you can't use an iPad as "something better than a mouse" connected to a computer*. And it doesn't come with a stylus unless you give Apple another $100. Unless you acquire additional software to connect an iPad as an input device to your computer,  you are using the Apple Pencil on it using only iPad OS apps, and copying those files to your computer after you're done. (Or editing synced photos in Lightroom for iOS.)
A typical Wacom tablet is like a mouse, a peripheral input device for a computer, with no OS of its own. You can use the tablet and the stylus it comes with, in any application you have, as soon as you plug it in and install its driver. (Some very expensive Wacom tablets are also full Windows computers.)
To use an iPad as if it was a Wacom tablet for your computer, you have to:

Buy the iPad (starting at $329)
Buy the Apple Pencil (starting at $99)
Buy software ($20 and up) that will let the iPad function as a tablet, since it doesn't do it natively*
*That all changes when Apple releases macOS 10.15 and iPad OS 13 before the end of  September 2019; using them together will natively let you use a supported iPad as an external display and tablet input device for a Mac using a new feature called Sidecar, no extra software needed. I don't know whether Sidecar will let the Apple Pencil operate at the same level of quality as a Wacom stylus. But if you have a Windows PC, this doesn't help.

Which is cheaper depends on your starting point:

If you have nothing, a Wacom tablet is cheaper than an iPad now and in the long run, because a Wacom could last for 10 to 15 years. The iPad won't be useful nearly that long. And if you aren't going to use macOS 10.15/iPad OS 13, the third-party software (Duet Pro and Astropad Studio) that lets an iPad function at a near-Wacom level with the Apple Pencil require an annual subscription. The non-subscription versions (Duet and Astropad) work fine, but do not operate at the same level as a Wacom tablet.
If you already bought an iPad and Apple Pencil, it may be cheaper to use one of the applications that let you use the iPad like a Wacom tablet.
Also affecting the  equation:

The popular Wacom Intuos Pro tablets ($249–$600 or so) have no screen. Like a mouse, you move your hand without looking at it, because you keep your eyes on the screen. But the Intuos Pro line in that range is professional quality.
Some Wacom tablets do have a screen on them so you can use them as a secondary display that you can also draw on, like an iPad. This is the Cintiq line, and it starts at $600, though most people end up with the models costing over $1000. I use a Wacom Intuos Pro without a screen.
Final note, since this is a Lightroom forum: I use my Wacom tablet constantly, but I don't find a stylus that useful with Lightroom Classic. The stylus makes it hard to hit tiny Lightroom controls; a mouse is often better. The one place in Lightroom where the stylus is definitely better than a mouse is when painting in masks. But in Photoshop? A stylus is awesome and irreplaceable.


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