Adobe Illustrator heads for iPad in 2020

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Adobe Illustrator for iPad
Apple’s tablets would take another step toward parity with MacBook if Illustrator for iPad is real.
Photo: Adobe/Cult of Mac

An iPad version of the Adobe Illustrator professional drawing tool is in development, according to an unconfirmed report.

This apparently indicates Adobe is in the midst of converting several of its desktop tools to iPadOS, as Photoshop for iPad is also scheduled to debut sometime next year.

Illustrator will be shown off at Adobe Max, running November 2 through Nov. 6, according to Bloomberg. It will supposedly launch in 2020.

While this news is only credited to unnamed sources, Bloomberg also correctly broke the news that Photoshop for iPad was in development three months before the official announcement.

Illustrator for iPad after Photoshop for iPad

Exactly what features Illustrator for iPad will offer is unknown at this point, but some have already criticized Adobe because the initial version of Photoshop for iPad will lack many of the capabilities of the desktop version.

However, Adobe has been careful to say that the tablet version will be “real Photoshop.” It has never said it’ll be full Photoshop. Also, the company has committed to expanding the capabilities of the iPad version of its image-editing software over time.

The same is likely to be be true for Illustrator — an initial, rather basic iPad version will be enhanced with additional features in subsequent editions. The user interface will need to be significantly changed in that first version though, just as the desktop version of Photoshop was revamped for a touch-controlled tablet not a mouse-driven Mac.

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