Here's how Apple Pencil Pro and M4 iPad Pro will change the way you use Procreate and Procreate Dreams

iPad Pro M4 with Apple Pencil Pro
(Image credit: Future)

When Apple announced the powerful M4 iPad Pro and its first Apple Pencil Pro it was clear that none of the new capabilities and features would come to anything if developers don't build apps to take advantage of them. Apple knows that too, and that's why it made a big deal about how the Apple Pencil Pro will help creatives get stuff done.

One company that knows better than most how the iPad and Apple Pencil can be useful to creative users is Procreate, and it's announced upcoming updates to the Procreate and Procreate Dreams apps.

The new features coming to these apps will make the most of Apple's best iPads and accessories, and there should be something for users of both apps to look forward to.

Big changes are coming

For users of Procreate, there are three main improvements that are coming to the app including support for the Apple Pencil Pro's new barrel roll feature. Haptic feedback will also be utilized, too.

Changes coming to Procreate include:

  • Support for barrel roll to supercharge Procreate brushes in Brush Studio, providing a new way to control shape rotation, stroke jitter, color dynamics, grain rotation, size, opacity, and more.
  • Assign squeeze to custom actions in Procreate including selecting colors and layers from the canvas, and using QuickMenu.
  • Haptic feedback provides a more tactile experience when making selections and transforming content in Procreate.

Those who use Procreate Dreams can look forward to more changes including a new Lens Blur feature that will be exclusive to the M4 iPad Pro. Huge performance improvements are also in the cards, even compared to the previous-gen M2 iPad Pro.

Features coming to Procreate Dreams include:

  • A new Lens Blur filter on the M4 iPad Pro, for creating realistic bokeh and camera focus animations.
  •  Move and rotate content simultaneously while Performing animations with barrel roll.
  • Support for Procreate brushes optimized for barrel roll.
  • Haptic feedback provides a more tactile experience when editing on the Timeline.
  • Use squeeze to Play/Pause real-time playback.
  • 30% faster export times and 50% improvement on filters on the M4 iPad Pro (compared to the 12.9” M2 iPad Pro).

We haven't yet been told when the new app updates will be available, but the new iPads and Apple Pencil won't ship until next week so keep your eyes peeled from there on out.

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Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.