Kind of. The iPad supports all the RAW formats that desktop OS X does, but at import it generates high-quality proxies that it uses for display/editing. If you want to roll your own RAW conversion you have to do it on a desktop using ACR/Aperture/Bibble/Phase One/etc.

That's actually a good distinction to make. On a desktop, loading the RAW file is not what's so time consuming, it's the actual interpretation of the RAW data.

I don't want to intimate that the iPad is a full-on replacement for a desktop in every occurrence, but for any amateur workflow it has a lot of benefits that in many situations make a laptop or desktop needless. And even in professional situations there would be many times I'd grab it instead of another machine, primarily for making selects but also for quickly exploring look ideas with a client.