Import GeoTIFF into MapInfo - why "control points", and how to batch-create TAB files?

OK, so I am largely hostile to commercial software with 'proprietary' formats, but a colleague only knows MapInfo.

I have a bunch of GeoTIFFs (produced by gdal-merge of JPG/JGW-filepair hi-res aerial photographs). By 'a bunch' I mean 20 in total for this job; several hundred, overall for current and pending projects.

These files open without incident in QGIS and ArcGIS: drag'n'drop the file into a workspace, and both suites even detect the idiosyncratic deprecated projection (EPSG 3785 - not my choice) and put the images in the right spot on a map.

So then I try to open the identical file in MapInfo Pro 12.5.

First, forget about drag'n'drop completely. A non-starter. Don't even try: it's like asking a dial-up modem to stream video.

I amend MAPINFOW.PRJ to take account of it ignoring the (deprecated) existence of EPSG 3785, but still the 'Open Table' command (since when is a TIFF a 'table'?) acts as if I'm opening a file with no geodata at all. It wants me to pick three points on each image, type in the co-ordinates manually for each point, and then it will consider my request to add the image.

Do people (those who are not paying with tax funds) actually pay for this software?

OK, so that's not my actual question... my question is more like -

"If MapInfo wants its 'TAB' file in order to perform the rudimentary function of adding a geoTIFF raster layer to a map, how do I go about generating such a file (preferably in a batch)?"

Yeah, the tone of this question is a tad tetchy: to give some context, ask yourself how you would feel wasting a (non-billable) day-and-a-bit trying to work out how to get this done, given that the MapInfo guys can't be bothered including such absolutely basic functionality into their $n-K (per seat per year) suite.