Boldly proclaiming that the new M2 iPad Pro is a “complete mobile video studio,” Apple loves to let everyone know that their tablet supports ProRes.
However, according to a new report, Apple’s premium pro tablet only supports the codec with third-party apps and not natively through the iPad’s own camera.
Image Credit – Apple
The M2 iPad Pro is indeed powerful enough to shoot, edit, color correct, and share videos using the ProRes codec, but in a strange twist of events, the native camera app does not offer a ProRes option.
By contrast, the iPhone has supported ProRes since the iPhone 13 Pro in 2021.
Image Credit – Apple
While bringing the M2 into the sixth generation iPad Pro design, even Apple acknowledges that the new iPad Pro only provides a modest boost in performance over the previous M1 model, with only about a 20 percent boost, and support for a hover feature with the Apple Pencil.
So, bringing support for ProRes is something that could be a motivating factor for content creators to upgrade.
Using a tablet for a camera is an ungainly method to engage in content creation, to begin with, especially a 12.9-inch iPad Pro. However, the tablet is becoming increasingly popular with live streaming and for editing and color grading video on the fly thanks to its powerful Apple Silicon M series processor.
However, only two weeks after the M2 iPad Pro’s release, content creators looking to take advantage of the advertised new codec started complaining online that they could only do so using a third-party app that brings ProRes support to the party.
According to a report by MacRumors, Apple somehow neglected to remind their own camera software team to support ProRes, while third-party app developers like FiLMiC Pro were advised that ProRes would be supported with iPadOS16.
It’s an odd oversight, but a glaring one, especially considering that Apple considers the 12MP Wide and 10MP ultra-wide cameras professional grade in their advertising.
Moreover, Apple usually invites third-party app developers to offer their own commentary on a feature announcement, especially one so important as this. And while FiLMiC Pro does indeed support ProRes, and larger platforms like the iPad, it is mostly known for its work on the smaller form iPhone.
The downside is that has also announced going to a weekly subscription mode. So if users want to take advantage of ProRes on the iPad, they’ll likely have to continually pay for the privilege.
Fortunately, Apple is pretty quick in pushing out dot updates to their operating systems, and hopefully, the news that content creators aren’t happy will motivate them to open up the native camera app for ProRes support like it is in the iPhone.
It shouldn’t really be all that involved in adding a few lines of code into the iPadOS camera feature.
Until then, users will just have to pony up the extra fee in order to truly make that mobile studio on the iPad truly “complete.”
[source: DPReview]
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