iPadPro + Magic Mouse or Trackpad?

This is my first post on this forum, so I hope this is the best category…

I just purchased an iPad Pro and an Apple pen so I can learn how to use it for graphics work. I also bought a Magic Trackpad, which incorporates a trackpad.

Question: Would it be useful to also have a mouse and/or a Magic Trackpad? Would it be redundant to buy both?

Or to put it another way, if you were going to buy an iPad Pro for creating graphics, what accessories would you buy to support it?

Thanks.

These are hard questions to answer because they depend entirely on personal preference, which differs dramatically from one person to the next.

For me personally, a mouse and desktop/laptop work best for graphics. I also have a trackpad and a trackball, but rarely use either. My Wacom tablet sits in a drawer unused. I never could get the hang of working on a tablet with a pen.

As I said, though, your experience will likely be different, and you won’t know for sure until you try.

By the way, welcome to the forum. :grinning:

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… whereas, I couldn’t get by without my Wacom. Working with a mouse now feels like drawing with a house brick for me. I also have a Magic Mouse on my left (track pad would be fine) simply for scrolling. I find the combination much faster. I also have an iPad and stylus for sketching and illustration, but my main work is done on an iMac with two extra screens.

Admittedly, when I first got a Wacom over 20 years ago, tut took about half a day of persistence to flip my head after years with a mouse, but I’d never go back.

As well as personal preference, it also depends on the kind of work you do and the level you are at.

You need to try a few and see what fits.

All that said, by the tone of your post, I assume you are fairly new to the game. That being the case, although the kit you use is important to get right for you, the most important thing is what you learn about how to b a designer and where you learn it from.

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I use a kensington turbo for 99% of my work.
I’ve gotten really good now with the wacom for Photoshop work, but that’s all I use it for. Retouching, and Illustration. Cannot get the hang of using the wacom for other work. The pen is too touchy and even in Photoslop I still find it snagging things in the top menu bar and wondering WTF happened to my opacity level, etc…LOL

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Thanks for the tips from you and the others. It’s interesting to hear the comments on Wacom tablets, too. I figured I could afford a Wacom or an iPad but not both so finally opted for an iPad, partly because I can also use it as a teleprompter. (I’m learning how to make videos, too.)

Earlier this year my old MacBook Pro quit so I’ve been using my 2018 iPad Pro as my workstation.
There were a few hurdles early on but I’ve overcome them all and I no longer have plans to replace the old MacBook. My current setup consists of a 2018 12.9" iPad Pro, Apple Pencil, Magic Keyboard, and Magic Mouse II. I archive my images on a Western Digital RAID and I also use iCloud storage.
For me, this setup works great. I can use the Pencil and Affinity Photo (I fired all Adobe apps. They’re woefully lacking and there are much better options available) and work directly on the screen as with a Wacom device, I can use the Pencil or the mouse with Affinity Design, and I can use the track pad on the keyboard as desired, plus I have the option of touching the screen to make adjustments or whatever.

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