I used iPads extensively within the final decade, and whereas I predominantly went with iPad Air fashions, I converted to the 12.9-inch iPad Professional M2 two years in the past, and it quickly grew to become one among my favourite gadgets. The larger panel meant I used to be capable of get a good quantity of labor accomplished on the iPad Professional by connecting a mechanical keyboard.
As a lot as I just like the iPad Professional M2, I needed an iPad with an OLED panel, so I used to be instantly excited for the iPad Professional M4. The pill is on the market in 11 and 13-inch variants, and I knew I wanted the larger display, so that is the one I went with. After six months of intensive use involving loads of writing with the Magic Keyboard and a dozen or so exterior keyboards, taking part in over 100 hours of video games (largely Balatro), studying ebooks, doodling in Procreate, and messing round with synths, I am able to say it — that is one of the best iPad I’ve ever used.
That was by no means doubtful anyway, however the modifications to the design and the OLED panel make the newest iPad Professional a relatively engaging improve, and should you’re utilizing an older pill or are mulling a swap, this is what you might want to find out about this M4-powered beast.
Apple iPad Professional M4: Pricing and availability
Apple unveiled the iPad Professional M4 on Could 7, 2024, and the pill is now accessible globally. It’s bought in a 11-inch mannequin that begins at $999 for the bottom 256GB configuration, going as much as $1,199 for the 512GB version, $1,599 for the 1TB variant, and $1,999 should you want 2TB of storage. These are the usual Wi-Fi-only fashions; should you want mobile connectivity, you will have to shell out a further $200.
The 13-inch iPad Professional M4 debuted at $1,299 for the 256GB variant, however it’s now accessible for $1,099 at Amazon and Finest Purchase. The 512GB mannequin prices $1,499, the 1TB variant is $1,899, and the 2TB choice prices $2,299. In the event you’re within the 1TB or 2TB fashions, you will get a glare-resistant nano-textured panel that is aimed toward color-sensitive work, with this selection costing a further $100. Just like the 11-inch mannequin, you will have to pay $200 extra if you need mobile connectivity.
I am utilizing the 13-inch iPad Professional M4 in House Black — it is also accessible in Silver — and I’ve the 1TB mannequin with normal glass and mobile connectivity. I additionally acquired the brand new Apple Pencil Professional and Magic Keyboard, and the full value of the pill and equipment is a heady $2,577.
Apple iPad Professional M4: Design
Design is a key speaking about with the iPad Professional M4, and the modern chassis completely makes a distinction. The iPad Professional is noticeably thinner and lighter than earlier years, and the 13-inch mannequin specifically is unbelievable. Coming in at simply 5.1mm, it’s the thinnest Apple product I used but, and it feels improbable to carry and use.
Weight can be an enormous consideration, and coming in at 579g, the 13-inch iPad Professional M4 is a full 103g lighter than the 12.9-inch iPad Professional M2, and that is an enormous deal. The thinner chassis and considerably lighter weight makes the iPad Professional M4 that a lot simpler to deal with, and though that is an outsized pill, you simply do not get that sense in day by day use.
Whereas I take advantage of most telephones with no case, the sheer measurement of the iPad means you will have to put money into a folio case at least to present the pill added safety. The chassis is made out of recycled aluminum, and whereas I did not take a look at its sturdiness, there is not any flex in any way, and there aren’t any issues with construct high quality.
The general aesthetic itself is unchanged from earlier years; the boring gray design language does not stand out an excessive amount of, and also you get antennae strains on the prime and backside. The USB-C port is situated on the backside, and also you get 4 audio system that get loud. The facility button is up prime, and like its predecessor, Face ID is the usual technique to unlock the pill.
On that notice, Apple lastly moved the place of the entrance digicam, and it is now situated on the forefront. You not need to awkwardly place the pill to heart your body in conferences, and whereas it is a small change, it is lengthy overdue. The 12MP entrance digicam makes use of Heart Stage to place you within the heart even should you’re shifting round, and the video high quality is respectable sufficient — I attended dozens of briefings and made a whole lot of FaceTime calls utilizing the iPad Professional, and did not see any points.
Though the worldwide iPhone 16 Professional nonetheless has a bodily SIM card slot, Apple goes all-in on eSIM with the iPad Professional M4, and should you go for the mobile mannequin, you solely get eSIM as a substitute of a nano-SIM slot just like the iPad Professional M2. This is not an enormous deal as it is easy to arrange eSIM on the iPad Professional, however I’d have most well-liked the comfort of a conventional SIM tray.
Apart from that minor quibble, I’ve had zero points with the design or construct high quality of the iPad Professional M4. After my work monitor and the Kindle Oasis, the iPad Professional M4 acquired probably the most quantity of utilization within the final six months, and it held up extremely effectively.
Apple iPad Professional M4: Panel
The defining function on the iPad Professional M4 is the 13-inch Extremely Retina XDR OLED panel. It has ProMotion tech and goes as much as 120Hz, has a large shade gamut, and the True Tone engine. The decision is elevated to 2752 x 2064 to get to the 13-inch measurement up from 12.9 inches, however the pixel density is identical at 264ppi.
What’s attention-grabbing concerning the panel is that the iPad Professional M4 makes use of tandem OLED tech, the place two OLED panels are mixed to ship better brightness. This addresses one of many largest points with OLEDs — excessive brightness ranges — and Apple mentioned it used tandem OLEDs to make sure the pill will get adequately vibrant. If something, the iPad Professional M4 manages to outshine its predecessor. It is ready to go as much as 1000 nits in common use, hitting 1600 nits in HDR content material.
I did not see any points with brightness ranges in any way, and having used the pill outside extensively, there was by no means a situation the place the display did not get vibrant sufficient — even below harsh daylight. The usual glass panel has an anti-reflective coating, and it does a good job in its personal proper; that mentioned, the nano-textured coating is the best way to go if you are going to predominantly use the iPad outside.
The swap to OLED delivers a lot better colours, and the iPad Professional M4 has been an absolute delight to make use of for studying, gaming, streaming content material, and making music. The truth that you now get true blacks and wonderful shade vibrancy means the iPad Professional M4 has a definite edge, and HDR content material specifically comes alive on the 13-inch panel.
There is a noticeable distinction in shade constancy over the mini-LED iPad Professional M2, and the standard of the panel itself is well worth the improve should you’re on an older iPad. Mainly, this is not one of the best panel on any iPad, however probably the greatest OLED shows I’ve ever used, and Apple nailed the technicalities. I used telephones with tandem OLED tech as effectively — notably the Honor Magic 6 RSR — however the distinction is not as evident on a smaller system.
Apple iPad Professional M4: {Hardware} and battery life
The iPad Professional M4 has one of the best {hardware} bundle of any pill right now. The outgoing iPad Professional M2 was already a powerhouse on this regard, and the swap to M4 silicon makes issues that rather more attention-grabbing. You get respectable effectivity positive factors as effectively with the transfer to a 3nm manufacturing node.
The M4 variant you get modifications with the storage configuration. The 1TB and 2TB fashions include a 10-core CPU that features 4 efficiency cores and 6 effectivity cores, and so they have a 10-core GPU, hardware-accelerated ray tracing engine, 160core neural engine, and a reminiscence bandwidth of 120GB/s. These fashions additionally get 16GB of RAM as normal, so should you’re not sure about which choice to get, I might recommend selecting up the 1TB variant.
Against this, the 256GB and 512GB fashions get a 9-core CPU that options three efficiency cores as a substitute. The reminiscence is halved at 8GB, however aside from that, the remainder of the {hardware} is equivalent. There’s ProRes and AV1 decode, Wi‑Fi 6E with Bluetooth 5.3, Sub-6 5G on the mobile mannequin, and Thunderbolt 3 in addition to USB 4 connectivity over USB-C. You get the usual magnetic pins on the again that allow you to dock the iPad Professional with the Magic Keyboard and related equipment.
Briefly, that is probably the most highly effective iPad round. It blazes by console-quality video games and demanding video-editing duties with no sweat, and within the six months I had it, I did not really feel like the total potential of the M4 was being utilized. There’s no utility that challenges the {hardware} as such, and admittedly, the M4 is overkill for mundane duties.
I do not use the iPad to take photographs, so I am unable to moderately speak concerning the 12MP digicam in any nice element. That mentioned, the few photographs I managed got here out respectable sufficient. Most of my utilization was with the entrance digicam, and it’s a little higher than the one on the iPad Professional M2.
There is not something amiss on the battery entrance both; the 13-inch iPad Professional M4 has a 10300mAh battery, and it lasts a smidgen longer than the 12.9-inch iPad Professional M2 though the battery measurement is smaller. I simply get a day’s price of use when utilizing the iPad solely to write down, browse the online, and play video games, and battery anxiousness simply is not a factor with the pill.
It takes almost two and a half hours to cost the iPad Professional M4, with the pill maxing out at 30W. It isn’t an enormous downside as you get nice battery life generally, however quick charging is not anyplace nearly as good because the greatest Android telephones and tablets.
Apple iPad Professional M4: Magic Keyboard
The brand new Magic Keyboard prices $349, which is as a lot because the iPad tenth era. Clearly, value performs an enormous half in your buying determination, and if you wish to maximize worth, you will want to choose up an aftermarket choice. That mentioned, I like this iteration of the Magic Keyboard fairly a bit. The hinge is sturdier, and it does not have any wobble when utilizing the keyboard on a desk.
The aluminum body provides it a lot better rigidity, and the brand new trackpad is improbable to make use of. Additionally, the truth that you get a perform row is an enormous deal, and it makes a distinction in day by day use. The keys have respectable 1mm journey, and the scissor-style design is equivalent to what you get on a MacBook. You get good backlight, and there is sufficient spacing that it does not truly really feel such as you’re utilizing a cell keyboard.
Identical to the iPad Professional M4, the Magic Keyboard is thinner and lighter, and it does not add an excessive amount of bulk to the system. The very best half continues to be the cantilever mechanism, and the simple adjustability makes it an important selection.
Apple iPad Professional M4: Apple Pencil Professional
The Apple Pencil Professional is my favourite iPad Professional m4 accent. I’ve at all times been a fan of the Pencil, and the Pencil Professional features a haptic engine that delivers wonderful suggestions when utilizing the stylus. There is a new squeeze gesture that pulls up utilities as wanted — it surfaces a palette should you’re drawing — and a double faucet gesture permits you to simply swap between instruments.
There’s even a barrel roll function that makes an enormous distinction when jotting notes, and I ended up utilizing the iPad Professional M4 to take notes largely due to this addition.
Apple iPad Professional M4: Software program
The iPad Professional M4 runs iPadOS 18.3, and whereas you do not get a lot in the best way of latest options, there are higher privateness controls and elevated customizability. I do not often take notes on my iPad — I’ve a bodily journal — however the updates to handwritten notes and highlighting together with the flexibility to transcribe audio inside Notes makes it simpler than ever to make use of the iPad as a note-taking system.
What I notably like is that the Calculator now mechanically solves equations — simply write out the expressions and add an equals signal. I did not have something as handy rising up, and it is only a cool addition. Identical to iOS 18, you’ve the flexibility to type app icons, and prepare widgets and apps nonetheless you need on the house display, and it makes an even bigger distinction on the iPad.
Management Heart has devoted pages now to manage music playback and good house gadgets, and it is inherently customizable. After all, the most important addition is Apple Intelligence; the inclusion of picture era and writing instruments give the iPad Professional M4 a bonus, and whereas I am not eager on generative AI, it really works fairly effectively on the iPad.
The rationale I proceed utilizing iPads day by day is the huge software program ecosystem; whether or not it is video and picture utilities like Procreate and LumaFusion, music manufacturing apps like Korg Gadget 3, SynthMaster, and Drambo, or high-quality video games, the choice is considerably higher than Android. I dabble in music manufacturing, and the iPad Professional M4 is now my go-to selection when attempting out a brand new synth or drum machine. It is simply a lot extra handy than utilizing my Home windows machine, and the truth that you get the identical utilities on what is actually a cell platform is unbelievable.
Apple iPad Professional M4: The alternate options
The iPad Professional M4 does not have any alternate options as such; the sleeker design and OLED panel give it a particular edge over the 12.9-inch iPad Professional M2. That mentioned, should you do not want the brand new additions, the iPad Professional M2 remains to be an important selection — if you will get it on sale. Whereas Samsung additionally makes Android tablets with OLED panels, the Galaxy Tab S10 Extremely is not anyplace nearly as good.
Finally, the only option is the 11-inch iPad Professional M4. It has the identical nice tandem OLED and comparable design, and whereas it is not as skinny, it’s thinner and lighter than earlier generations. The software program is equivalent, and also you get nice battery life. If portability is a key consideration, I might advocate the 11-inch mannequin as a substitute of the 13-inch iPad Professional M4.
Apple iPad Professional M4: Must you purchase it?
You can purchase this if:
- You need an iPad with an OLED panel
- You want a pill with one of the best {hardware}
- You need wonderful battery life
- You want strong software program
You should not purchase this if:
- You want an reasonably priced iPad
- You need a MacBook rival
The iPad Professional M4 delivers the whole lot I would like in a pill. The 13-inch tandem OLED is without doubt one of the greatest shows of any system I’ve used, and it’s magnificent in day by day use — whether or not it is streaming content material, studying textual content, or gaming. The ultra-thin design is an enormous differentiator as effectively, and the iPad Professional M2 feels large and unwieldy subsequent to the M4 mannequin.
There are completely no points on the subject of the {hardware}, and the huge accent ecosystem means you will get a dependable keyboard case and stylus should you do not need to get the Magic Keyboard and Pencil Professional. Battery life is fairly nice too, and the entrance digicam is a lot better this time round.
It is the software program that makes me come again to the iPad Professional M4. Sure, iPadOS is not as versatile as macOS, and multitasking remains to be a problem — that does not hassle me within the least. I predominantly use the iPad Professional M4 to concentrate on one factor at a time — whether or not it is writing in Evernote, studying Procreate, studying a e-book, or attempting out a brand new synth — and the software program is well-suited for that use case.
Finally, selecting the iPad Professional M4 comes right down to cash; it is without doubt one of the costliest choices on this class, however you get quite a lot of pill for the money. In the event you want the best possible that Apple has to supply, the iPad Professional M4 is a wholehearted advice. However should you want one thing that is extra reasonably priced, there is not any scarcity of choices.
Apple iPad Professional M4 13-inch
With a tandem OLED and M4 silicon, the iPad Professional M4 is the final word pill. The software program is not as versatile as macOS, and if something, I see that as a constructive.
