Skip to main content
Participant
June 1, 2020
Question

Photoshop for IPad only for latest generation iPad ?

  • June 1, 2020
  • 5 replies
  • 2562 views

I wanted to download Photoshop for IPad to use on my iPad Air. Unfortunately it can’t be installed because it requires IOS 13, which is only available for the latest generation of iPads. Apparently Apple (and Adobe ?) want you to buy every 2 year a new Ipad. Is there a way to use photoshop on a 3 year old Ipad?

This topic has been closed for replies.

5 replies

Community Expert
June 2, 2020

Not necessarily.  iPadOS is compatible with quite a few iPads.  It worked on my original Pro, which was close to 5 years old.  There's a list Jane posted that would help

JJMack
Community Expert
Community Expert
June 1, 2020

Also if you want Photoshop on a portable Apple devices Adobe recommends the new iPad Pro 12.9 you will still need a keyboard to use Photoshop well and the Applet pencil  That  would cost around $1400 For the same $1400 you could get a New Mac book Pro and full Photoshop with the UI you know.  You will not have touch or Pen support.    The touch version of  photoshop is still missing much function.  Its UI is designed for touch so it not like your PC/Mac  UI, and many of the Shortcuts you may us on you computer have been changed for IOS.  Does the old Apple pencil pencil work on you old iPad Air?   The iPad Pro with the magic keyboard may be larger and heavier then a Mac book pro.

JJMack
jane-e
Community Expert
Community Expert
June 1, 2020

Hi Jan,

 

I have the oldest iPad on the supported list — the iPad Air 2 that I purchased in April 2015 and  I have iOS 13.3.1 installed. Photoshop for iPad runs fine, but I cannot use Apple Pencil. You said your iPad is three years old, so it's newer than mine, which I have no plans to replace as long as it's working.

 

Photoshop for the iPad will run on these iPads:

  • iPad Pro 12.9-inch (recommended)
  • iPad Pro 11-inch 
  • iPad Pro 10.5-inch 
  • iPad Pro 9.7-inch
  • iPad (7th generation)
  • iPad (6th generation)
  • iPad (5th generation)
  • iPad mini (5th generation)
  • iPad mini 4
  • iPad Air (3rd generation)
  • iPad Air 2

 

My specs:

 

 

~ Jane 

 

 

Participant
June 1, 2020

I guess my IPad Air will be older then. However it still works good, so I don’t see a reason  to replace it at the moment.

jane-e
Community Expert
Community Expert
June 1, 2020

If it makes you feel better, PS for iPad is not ready for prime time, imho. If it's like any 1.0 version of any software I've worked with over the years, it might take another year or two to bring it up to speed. It's a good start though, and I look forward to future versions!

~ Jane

davescm
Community Expert
Community Expert
June 1, 2020

Photoshop on iPad is for the iPad pro only.

Dave

 

Edit : Sorry, I was wrong. Jane's list and c.pfaffenbichler's link are correct.

 

Dave

jane-e
Community Expert
Community Expert
June 1, 2020

My recollection is that we were originally told it would be for the iPad Pro only, Dave. I was actually surprised when it installed on my very old iPad. On the other hand, it's missing a lot of features, so right now I'm only using it for play.

~ Jane

davescm
Community Expert
Community Expert
June 1, 2020

I can't see it ever being fully featured on an iPad. The iPad just cannot compete with the power and capacity of a laptop let alone a fully specced workstation.  Then there is colour management..........

 

Dave

c.pfaffenbichler
Community Expert
Community Expert
June 1, 2020

Adobe made no secret of the System Requirements: 

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/system-requirements-ios.html

 

And while I consider the very development of Photoshop for iPad as a problematic use of resources the idea of providing it for obsolete iPadOS versions would seem considerably worse.