Wacom’s New Drawing Tablets Are Inspired By the iPad—but Are They as Good?

Wacom's new, affordable touch-n-stylus drawing tablets owe more than a little to the iPad.

Before the iPad, there were two options for graphic artists who wanted to use a computer. Or three, if you count the mouse. You could buy a fairly-expensive Wacom pen tablet, which looked like a USB mouse mat with a non-wired stylus. This let you draw with a pencil-like device and offered pressure sensitivity. The other was Wacom's Cintiq, a very expensive secondary screen for your computer that worked with a screen-compatible stylus. Then, in 2015, along came the Apple Pencil, and changed everything. And now, the new Wacom One is pretty much Wacom's version of the iPad. 

"The rise of affordable touch-screen drawing tablets was indeed influenced by the iPad's touch revolution. While the iPad serves a broader purpose, Wacom's tablets cater specifically to artists, offering features that the iPad might not fully replicate," technology writer and former graphic artist Sagar Thakkar told Lifewire via email. "Artists and illustrators seeking precise control and advanced features should opt for the Wacom One. Those valuing versatile computing and drawing capabilities might prefer the iPad."

Wacom Tablet Talk

The new Wacom One comes in 11.6-inch and 13.3-inch sizes and uses Wacom's pressure-sensitive pen, which communicates its pressure level wirelessly. The glass screens have ten-finger multi-touch, just like an iPad, but unlike even entry-level iPads, these screens offer a low 1920x1080 resolution. The basic iPad, for comparison, gives you 2360x1640, and the 12.9-inch iPad Pro has 2732x2048. 

On the one hand, that's a bit low, considering these tablets are made for pixel-perfect manipulation of graphics. On the other hand, these are meant to be hooked up to a computer with its own display. You can use the tablet's screen as a guide, but view the details on your large 27-inch 5K display, for example. 

And on the other, other hand, the price of the biggest 13.3-inch version, the model that does both touch and pen input, is $499, which is a lot less than the 12.9-inch iPad Pro and similar to the regular iPad's starting price of $449.

So, the Wacom One is a pretty good option for folks wanting a dedicated drawing tablet. It's affordable, and even if you don't go for the multi-touch version, being able to draw directly on your picture instead of looking at the main screen while drawing on a plastic tablet off to the side makes a big difference. 

But the problem is the iPad can do all this and more. 

Apple Pencil Pushing

Ever since the Apple Pencil, the iPad has been the go-to drawing tablet for pretty much everyone. Pencil-wise, it offers pressure sensitivity, angle detection (so you can tip the pencil to make a wider mark, just like with a real pencil), and with the most recent iPads, you can also hover the pencil over the screen and still see exactly where it will make a mark. 

It might not offer the same level of control as Wacom's high-end screens, and even the 12.9-inch iPad Pro cannot compete with the screen size of the 27-inch Cintiq Pro. But the iPad is also a portable touch-screen computer in addition to its pencil-based abilities. You can buy and use all kinds of drawing apps, photo-editing apps, painting apps, and so on right there on the device and not on a connected computer. This alone is enough to make the iPad a more compelling graphics tablet for most people. 

Wacom does make a combined computer and tablet, the MobileStudio Pro 16, but it costs $3,499 and runs on an Intel chip, which might explain why the battery life is only described as a hand-wavy "long-lasting." And it doesn't seem to be selling so well if the current $1,000 discount is anything to go by. 

In short, the iPad—and especially the iPad Pro—is an incredible computer with a more-than-good-enough pencil option. If it hadn't been for the iPad, Wacom would likely have kept pushing only its high-end Cintiqs forever. One can only think that the Apple Pencil took a big chunk out of that market and led to the smaller, more affordable Wacom One. 

"It's undeniable that the iPad revolutionized the tablet market and set a benchmark for what a touch-screen device should be capable of. Without the competition and inspiration from the iPad, Wacom might not have had the impetus to innovate and make their high-quality drawing experience more accessible to a broader audience," software designer and technology writer Matt Kerr told Lifewire via email.

The Wacom One, as we have seen, just doesn't offer enough for most people. Casual users will prefer the iPad every time, despite it having more latency between pen and screen, and serious pros will go for the Cintiq.