All iPads Using iPad to display/edit photos - worth waiting and paying for OLED?

[oakrrl]

I have a 2017 10" iPad Pro that's dying, have been waiting for new iPads to replace it.

I do most of my work on my M1 MacBook Pro attached to a Studio Display. I use my iPad mostly for ebook reading and web browsing. I'd gotten the Pro back in 2017 hoping it could be my main machine but found limitations of iPad OS too frustrating for productive work (mostly writing, Keynote presentations, photo editing, some video).

So when new iPads some out I don't need a Pro for work - but am hesitating between Air and Pro because of the OLED on Pro.

I'm a camera enthusiast and post-process RAW on MBP/Studio Display using Capture One, Affinity, Topaz. One frustration is how photos that display nicely on Studio Display look different on each of my screens (iPhone 14 Pro in addition to MBP, Studio Display, old iPad). I'm not a professional, so I only rarely print out photos.

I've thought of buying a mini-LED 12" iPad Pro to used using it as a 2nd display while doing my photo editing on MBP, then using it to show photos to friends, family, maybe keeping it plugged in when not in use so it can act as a "smart photo frame." But it's pretty pricey for such a limited use. And I've found 12" is too large and heavy for carrying around & uncomfortable for simple reading, web browsing.

I've been thinking of springing for the 11" OLED iPad Pro, thinking it might serve for displaying photos, consuming content - maybe as "smart photo frame". Wondering whether the OLED will be worth it - I'd appreciate opinions.

 

[bluedoggiant]

I would definitely consider the 11 over the 12.9. As for OLED, I don’t know anything, I only recently realized my last few iPhones have had OLED, but I do know my 2018 iPad Pro I’ve had since new has a beautiful display. It’s really close to unmatched, hard to be disappointed with it.

 

[fatTribble]

I have the M1 iPad Pro. I’ve been thoroughly impressed with the screen quality especially when viewing photos and videos. I still notice how good pictures look even after having it 3 years. I can only imagine the OLED looking even better. While I won’t upgrade just for the screen upgrade, if I were in the market like you are I’d definitely hold out. I’m sure you’ll love whatever you end up getting.

 

[Kaikidan]

I personally tend to distrust OLED panel for production devices, they are fine for consumption devices, but on a device where you will be staring at a app UI for hours on end, even with all the improvements over the years, Burn in might still be a problem, so between "not having to worry about it" to "maybe perhaps it can happen, who knows?"i prefer the former, I still think the miniLED displays are the perfect middle ground, but even the 11" panels are superb too.

 

[phrehdd]

I have a 2017 10" iPad Pro that's dying, have been waiting for new iPads to replace it.

I do most of my work on my M1 MacBook Pro attached to a Studio Display. I use my iPad mostly for ebook reading and web browsing. I'd gotten the Pro back in 2017 hoping it could be my main machine but found limitations of iPad OS too frustrating for productive work (mostly writing, Keynote presentations, photo editing, some video).

So when new iPads some out I don't need a Pro for work - but am hesitating between Air and Pro because of the OLED on Pro.

I'm a camera enthusiast and post-process RAW on MBP/Studio Display using Capture One, Affinity, Topaz. One frustration is how photos that display nicely on Studio Display look different on each of my screens (iPhone 14 Pro in addition to MBP, Studio Display, old iPad). I'm not a professional, so I only rarely print out photos.

I've thought of buying a mini-LED 12" iPad Pro to used using it as a 2nd display while doing my photo editing on MBP, then using it to show photos to friends, family, maybe keeping it plugged in when not in use so it can act as a "smart photo frame." But it's pretty pricey for such a limited use. And I've found 12" is too large and heavy for carrying around & uncomfortable for simple reading, web browsing.

I've been thinking of springing for the 11" OLED iPad Pro, thinking it might serve for displaying photos, consuming content - maybe as "smart photo frame". Wondering whether the OLED will be worth it - I'd appreciate opinions.

Nice to have the Studio display. I opted for one of BenQ's mid-upper line monitors that does quite well and even had a setting to emulate MBP colour space. I happen to use a 32" 4k model but they do have a 27" and perhaps others. I mention this as the price of this monitor probably is akin to what you want to pay for the iPad but with this you get far more mileage. The model I use is the Benq PD3205u. The setting in the controls is "M-Book."

Btw, nice combo of photo software.

If this is of interest perhaps go to Youtube and type in BenQ M-Book and see if it gives some info.

Perhaps there are other makers who do similar but I have not found them.

 

[Alameda]

I have a 2017 10" iPad Pro that's dying, have been waiting for new iPads to replace it.

I do most of my work on my M1 MacBook Pro attached to a Studio Display. I use my iPad mostly for ebook reading and web browsing. I'd gotten the Pro back in 2017 hoping it could be my main machine but found limitations of iPad OS too frustrating for productive work (mostly writing, Keynote presentations, photo editing, some video).

So when new iPads some out I don't need a Pro for work - but am hesitating between Air and Pro because of the OLED on Pro.

I'm a camera enthusiast and post-process RAW on MBP/Studio Display using Capture One, Affinity, Topaz. One frustration is how photos that display nicely on Studio Display look different on each of my screens (iPhone 14 Pro in addition to MBP, Studio Display, old iPad). I'm not a professional, so I only rarely print out photos.

I've thought of buying a mini-LED 12" iPad Pro to used using it as a 2nd display while doing my photo editing on MBP, then using it to show photos to friends, family, maybe keeping it plugged in when not in use so it can act as a "smart photo frame." But it's pretty pricey for such a limited use. And I've found 12" is too large and heavy for carrying around & uncomfortable for simple reading, web browsing.

I've been thinking of springing for the 11" OLED iPad Pro, thinking it might serve for displaying photos, consuming content - maybe as "smart photo frame". Wondering whether the OLED will be worth it - I'd appreciate opinions.

I’m not sure that you want to use an OLED screen for photo editing. I’ve heard that they’re great at displaying vibrant, saturated colors, and they’re especially ideal at displaying good blacks, but they aren’t ideal for color accuracy and wide color range. No telling what Apple will come up with, of course, but I would wait until some color experts chime in on the OLED screen’s suitability for photo editing. OLED doesn’t seem to be popular in professional photo/video editing desktop displays, from what I gather. The $5,000 Enzo professional displays, for instance, are IPS, not OLED. We’ll have to see whether Apple chooses to mitigate for more color accuracy or for brighter, saturated colors. I don’t know if you can optimally get both in one OLED screen.

Eizo does make some OLED screens, but their screen says it offers 80 percent of bt.2020. They have an article about OLED pros and cons: https://www.eizo.com/library/basics/oled/

 

[oakrrl]

Nice to have the Studio display. I opted for one of BenQ's mid-upper line monitors that does quite well and even had a setting to emulate MBP colour space. I happen to use a 32" 4k model but they do have a 27" and perhaps others. I mention this as the price of this monitor probably is akin to what you want to pay for the iPad but with this you get far more mileage. The model I use is the Benq PD3205u. The setting in the controls is "M-Book."

Btw, nice combo of photo software.

If this is of interest perhaps go to Youtube and type in BenQ M-Book and see if it gives some info.

Perhaps there are other makers who do similar but I have not found them.

Thanks, this is helpful.

 

[oakrrl]

I’m not sure that you want to use an OLED screen for photo editing. I’ve heard that they’re great at displaying vibrant, saturated colors, and they’re especially ideal at displaying good blacks, but they aren’t ideal for color accuracy and wide color range. No telling what Apple will come up with, of course, but I would wait until some color experts chime in on the OLED screen’s suitability for photo editing. OLED doesn’t seem to be popular in professional photo/video editing desktop displays, from what I gather. The $5,000 Enzo professional displays, for instance, are IPS, not OLED. We’ll have to see whether Apple chooses to mitigate for more color accuracy or for brighter, saturated colors. I don’t know if you can optimally get both in one OLED screen.

Eizo does make some OLED screens, but their screen says it offers 80 percent of bt.2020. They have an article about OLED pros and cons: https://www.eizo.com/library/basics/oled/

Thanks, Rey helpful. I'll definitely wait before,buying, since I'm more interested in color,accuracy and don't like over-saturation. IMO most auto-enhance software over-brightens and over-saturates (Apple in particular adds over-sharpening….)

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

I have a 2017 10" iPad Pro that's dying, have been waiting for new iPads to replace it.

I do most of my work on my M1 MacBook Pro attached to a Studio Display. I use my iPad mostly for ebook reading and web browsing. I'd gotten the Pro back in 2017 hoping it could be my main machine but found limitations of iPad OS too frustrating for productive work (mostly writing, Keynote presentations, photo editing, some video).

So when new iPads some out I don't need a Pro for work - but am hesitating between Air and Pro because of the OLED on Pro.

I'm a camera enthusiast and post-process RAW on MBP/Studio Display using Capture One, Affinity, Topaz. One frustration is how photos that display nicely on Studio Display look different on each of my screens (iPhone 14 Pro in addition to MBP, Studio Display, old iPad). I'm not a professional, so I only rarely print out photos.

I've thought of buying a mini-LED 12" iPad Pro to used using it as a 2nd display while doing my photo editing on MBP, then using it to show photos to friends, family, maybe keeping it plugged in when not in use so it can act as a "smart photo frame." But it's pretty pricey for such a limited use. And I've found 12" is too large and heavy for carrying around & uncomfortable for simple reading, web browsing.

I've been thinking of springing for the 11" OLED iPad Pro, thinking it might serve for displaying photos, consuming content - maybe as "smart photo frame". Wondering whether the OLED will be worth it - I'd appreciate opinions.

Maybe it's not very cheap for you to replace the battery in your dying iPad pro 2017.
Here where I live, I would just have the battery replace (as I did with my iPad Air gen 1 and ipad Gen4, each costed me 25$) and use the iPad for another 4~5 years as a photo frame.

To buy new, I would just buy the 11" iPad M1 or M2, never care whether they have mini-led LCD or OLED LCD. weight and size are more important than the insignificant difference in LCD panel technology.