Apple IPad Pro, Surface Pro 3 or MacBook ?

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Hi all. I'm looking at something that can go away with me on business trips and holidays that can handle a bit of photographic based productivity.

I do have a late 2013 13" MacBook Pro retina, as well as an ageing IPad (3rd generation Retina screen), but was recently shown a demo of the new Microsoft Surface Pro 3 in PC World, and TBH, it looked great.

I was told (although stand to be corrected) that it would run Photoshop and Lightroom CC and with its built in USB port would make attaching a camera and offloading to an external HDD a breeze. Also, running Windows 10 (which I use on my full sized 17" Laptop and desktop), the OS would be very familiar.

One of the problems for me with the iPad route, it that it doesn't have a dedicated USB port (or memory expansion port), and because it runs IOS (rather than OSX), can only run portable versions of Adobe's software, rather than the full versions. I am however lead to believe that the later version of my IPad (The air 2), is light years ahead of my old IPad in processor speed and so would easily handle these applications ?

I have heard a downside of the Surface Pro is battery life and the fact that the Core I5 & I7 versions can get quite hot and a bit noisy when the fan kicks in. Does anyone have any comments or experience on using these specific devices as an image manipulation and processing device, or would I just be better off sticking to my MacBook Pro ?
 
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I use the Surface and yes it does run full Adobe programs I use LR CC and Photoshop CC
I use one of those amazing small Samsung USB3 drives and workflow wise its a breeze.
That's the advantage real software not iPad cut down stuff
The i7 does heat up when processing large files but so did my MB pro

What is brilliant remove the keyboard and both programs adjust into tablet mode. Sit on the couch with the fantastic pen and edit away!
 
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i think the surfaces do suffer from thermal throttling, but then the mac cooling system is equally as poor.

personally id love a surface. 4 is supposed to be due next month.
 
Wait for Skylake Surfaces they will be more power efficient than the latest Haswell ones.

I had a Surface Pro 1st gen and found it acceptable but small - it also has an SD card slot which makes uploading photos easy unlike an iPad! The Surface Pro 3 is bigger so I suspect it would be better, the main pain point for me was the tiny touchpad on the type cover but that's just personal opinion.
 
I can't comment on the Surface, but all iPads run iOS including the new iPad Pro so you'd still be limited to the portable versions of Adobe apps.

Why don't you want to use your current MacBook for this purpose? What's it lacking?
 
I have a surface pro 2 and use cs6 on it. The advantage it has over an ipad is the full version of software. It has the advantage of being a small laptop but also a tablet if you don't want to use the keyboard
 
I didn't actually see the presentation, but my pal did and he said the graphics apps from Adobe for the new iPad Pro were stunning. Might be worth checking them out.
 
yeah stay clear of the I7 we had to return over 100 due to overheating, Microsoft did fix it but by throttling it which kinda defeats the object.

As for software the surface is just a PC so yes it will run everything you need, however I'm also into photos and run the Ipad Air 2 128gb and soon i hope the Ipad pro i do have a surface pro 2 also, your decision is based around if you can either live with lightroom Ipad edition or you need the full fat software, i manage with the Ipad stuff as in all honesty it does what i need exposure crops etc, if you want to do anything major then you gotta have PS installed on your mac or a surface.

where would i go, well ive been into windows since 3.1 and still prefer it over Mac os, but for photos id probably wait for the Ipad pro or get ther Air 2 as it just works gives me what i need and is quick. Surfaces are good but as with all windows stuff, its not as fluid as IOS.

Storage wise i use the Sandisk Media drive with 196GB storage for the photos that i don't want on the Ipad or you can get the wifi enabled drives from western digital, speed wise there fine. they also have an SD slot to suck off all your files

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Passport-Wi...=1-1-spell&keywords=westrn+digital+wifi+drive


http://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-SDWS1-064G-E57-Connect-Wireless-Media/dp/B00H80R5CG.

that Ipad pro is very nice though, cant wait to order one.....
 
I have a Surface Pro for work & I have LR downloaded and it works fine, screen resolution & picture quality is very good. Despite that I have a Mac (6 years old) at home & wouldn't trade my Mac for a Pro.
The company decision was to replace our laptop & iPad with the Pro, in my opinion the Pro is neither a laptop or a tablet.
 
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