iPad Pro M1 and M2 iPad Pro too slow?

[Digitalguy]

I agree that newer devices are better in terms of performance (not battery life), but still. Little things. Apple seemingly can’t - or won’t - solve keyboard lag. People report keyboard lag in the iPhone 11 on iOS 17.

I have two iPhone 6s. One on iOS 13, one on iOS 10. When I type quickly, the one on iOS 13 lags behind my finger. The one on iOS 10 does not. Occasionally dropped frames on the 11, too. Is it all the time? No. Is it device-breaking? No. But it bothers. It’s not that you can’t edit a video because it’s a slugfest. You can do it just fine, but little things start breaking that degrade the quality that you and I know Apple is capable of.

Let alone the complete obliteration of battery life and screen-on time that renders once full-two-day iPhones into unusable, stereotype-confirming “iPhones chase chargers all day” devices.

I think it’s more the quality of the experience dropping than “newer devices with the A12X being unusable”. Like you said, they aren’t, but if those little things start to break, coupled with a significant battery life loss, then people will - going to what the thread said - call older devices “glitchy and with awful battery life”. And the fault falls entirely on one aspect: Garbage updates, not processor speed.

That said: you are completely right on that aspect: RAM improvements help offset part of this. It is utterly undeniable that the experience on a fully updated 3rd-gen iPad Pro with the A12X will be infinitely better than a fully updated 9.7-inch iPad Pro, due to, like you said, increased RAM requirements. Flawless? No. Battery life? Still a lot worse. But the experience itself will be a complete 180 from a 2GB (or 1GB) device.

So much so, that five! major updates in, and people still call the 3rd-gen iPad Pro’s performance great! The typical, seemingly unsolvable battery life destruction, but at least the experience is great. Progress. Interestingly, there have been relatively frequent complaints about the iPhone Xʀ, with 3GB of RAM. Perhaps 4GB is the sweet spot for now. I wouldn’t know whether the Xʀ is as good, because even though I have one, mine is on iOS 12.

That said... are you sure that the cut-off isn’t the A12 instead of the A10X? I’ve read a lot of criticism in terms of performance when it comes to 2nd-gen iPad Pros, unlike 3rd-gen, and that’s ignoring the fact that battery life is complete garbage.

It's all relative and a matter of perceived speed. You can see it here with people calling the M1 slow...
You have a M1 iPad so you know that speed it has and you can see the difference with the A9X.
A9X with 4GB handled things better but was still glitchy at times, A10X much less and it has not changed at all despite what people used to the faster pros that came later say.
A12X is clearly smoother and M1 is even smoother, but it's diminishing returns if we don't consider RAM.
The cutoff is where anyone puts it. I used to put it at A9X. iPadOS13 didn't change much from 12, if anything. I now put it at A10X. Maybe one day I'll put it higher. It's subjective.

 

[FeliApple]

It's all relative and a matter of perceived speed. You can see it here with people calling the M1 slow...
You have a M1 iPad so you know that speed it has and you can see the difference with the A9X.
A9X with 4GB handled things better but was still glitchy at times, A10X much less and it has not changed at all despite what people used to the faster pros that came later say.
A12X is clearly smoother and M1 is even smoother, but it's diminishing returns if we don't consider RAM.
The cutoff is where anyone puts it. I used to put it at A9X. iPadOS13 didn't change much from 12, if anything. I now put it at A10X. Maybe one day I'll put it higher. It's subjective.

I do have an M1 iPad (the iPad Air 5 running its original iOS version: iPadOS 15. It doesn’t get much faster than that!), And honestly the difference is negligible when compared to my 9.7-inch iPad Pro on iOS 12. I have repeatedly complained about the forced update, but due to the battery life aspect, not performance. Ease and quality of use is similar, in that both are pretty flawless. Very occasional keyboard lag on the Pro, but so I frequent that it’s negligible. The interesting part is that I’m using an iPhone 6s on iOS 13. That one has been obliterated. Keyboard lag, battery life beyond pathetic, dropped frames. It’s bad. It’s especially bad for me, someone who, from five main devices, has three on their original iOS versions, and the fourth one on a very decent one. And it’s especially bad because I literally have a direct comparison: I also have an iPhone 6s on iOS 10. I’m very aware of the difference. It’s not that I remember how iOS 10 worked, it’s that I can directly compare them. I’ve always said that iOS 9 on my 9.7-inch iPad Pro wasn’t much better than iOS 12 in terms of performance. I am grateful about that. This is why I call iOS/iPadOS 13 as the beginning of the end for A9 devices. I reckon that if you can tolerate a little battery life loss, you’d be fine with it. And users wouldn’t call it “old” or “slow”. (You as in the general you, of course).

That said... I haven’t tried any heavy games. I reckon that if I did, my iPad Air 5 would blow the 9.7-inch iPad Pro out of the water. Likewise for video editing speed. But for my usage, it isn’t the case. I notice far more the battery life difference (which is massively better on the Air 5). But I reckon that if you gave me a 3rd-gen, A12X iPad Pro on iOS 12, I’d say the same thing.

As for the whole combo... right now if I were to give my opinion about every iPad fully updated, I’d say that anything below A12 is garbage, A12 depends on battery life, and the rest is fine for now. Perhaps you are right. Perhaps I’d be okay with how A10X performs. But I am absolutely sure that I wouldn’t be able to tolerate battery life. And that ruins the experience for me.

If A10X doesn’t get more updates, then perhaps it may be the first device with an acceptable performance when it stops receiving support. But due to battery life, I’d still call it garbage. It’s not good enough for me.

Just for a reference point, my 9.7-inch iPad Pro on iOS 12 is at the verge of acceptability. Anything worse than this and it would be intolerable for me. Perhaps the A9 suffered more than the A9X on iOS 13, who knows.

 

[jace88]

My only issue with the M2 iPad Pro was it seemed to chew through battery faster than my previous iPad Pros with similar workloads. Wasn't sure if it's because it's a 12.9" screen, the Magic Keyboard, or the M2... but basically even with normal productivity workloads using a lot of Microsoft apps + Slack, I barely made it through the work day.

 

[sparksd]

My only issue with the M2 iPad Pro was it seemed to chew through battery faster than my previous iPad Pros with similar workloads. Wasn't sure if it's because it's a 12.9" screen, the Magic Keyboard, or the M2... but basically even with normal productivity workloads using a lot of Microsoft apps + Slack, I barely made it through the work day.

The large 12.9 display chews up battery - I have the M1 version.

 

[FeliApple]

The large 12.9 display chews up battery - I have the M1 version.

What’s your screen-on time for one full charge and what’s your usage pattern? I’m curious.

 

[bgillander]

If OLED was important, people could have switched to Samsung, therefore it isn't an important feature.

Yeah, it’s not like anyone cares about the OS, right? OLED was important to me, so I went with LG even though it was WebOS. The battery life is nothing, and it is awkward to put in portrait mode and a lot heavier than the iPad, but I mainly use it for content consumption and the 55” is really great for that. /s

 

[Digitalguy]

I do have an M1 iPad (the iPad Air 5 running its original iOS version: iPadOS 15. It doesn’t get much faster than that!), And honestly the difference is negligible when compared to my 9.7-inch iPad Pro on iOS 12. I have repeatedly complained about the forced update, but due to the battery life aspect, not performance. Ease and quality of use is similar, in that both are pretty flawless. Very occasional keyboard lag on the Pro, but so I frequent that it’s negligible. The interesting part is that I’m using an iPhone 6s on iOS 13. That one has been obliterated. Keyboard lag, battery life beyond pathetic, dropped frames. It’s bad. It’s especially bad for me, someone who, from five main devices, has three on their original iOS versions, and the fourth one on a very decent one. And it’s especially bad because I literally have a direct comparison: I also have an iPhone 6s on iOS 10. I’m very aware of the difference. It’s not that I remember how iOS 10 worked, it’s that I can directly compare them. I’ve always said that iOS 9 on my 9.7-inch iPad Pro wasn’t much better than iOS 12 in terms of performance. I am grateful about that. This is why I call iOS/iPadOS 13 as the beginning of the end for A9 devices. I reckon that if you can tolerate a little battery life loss, you’d be fine with it. And users wouldn’t call it “old” or “slow”. (You as in the general you, of course).

That said... I haven’t tried any heavy games. I reckon that if I did, my iPad Air 5 would blow the 9.7-inch iPad Pro out of the water. Likewise for video editing speed. But for my usage, it isn’t the case. I notice far more the battery life difference (which is massively better on the Air 5). But I reckon that if you gave me a 3rd-gen, A12X iPad Pro on iOS 12, I’d say the same thing.

As for the whole combo... right now if I were to give my opinion about every iPad fully updated, I’d say that anything below A12 is garbage, A12 depends on battery life, and the rest is fine for now. Perhaps you are right. Perhaps I’d be okay with how A10X performs. But I am absolutely sure that I wouldn’t be able to tolerate battery life. And that ruins the experience for me.

If A10X doesn’t get more updates, then perhaps it may be the first device with an acceptable performance when it stops receiving support. But due to battery life, I’d still call it garbage. It’s not good enough for me.

Just for a reference point, my 9.7-inch iPad Pro on iOS 12 is at the verge of acceptability. Anything worse than this and it would be intolerable for me. Perhaps the A9 suffered more than the A9X on iOS 13, who knows.

If you say A9X feels almost as fast as M1 it's really a matter of usage. I can definitely see a big difference from A9X and A12X let alone M1 even with watching videos in safari (windowed to full screen) or split screen. Not even close. No need to do any video editing or gaming.
A10X on 17 is faster than A9X ever was on any OS version.
Your experience of updates is relatively limited, especially with more recent ones.
IOS 9 was a huge killer for any A5, A6 and even A7 device.
And even A8 devices were somewhat impacted.
IOS 10 had no impact.
IOS 11 was terrible, worse than iPadOS 17 is now, in terms of performance.
IO 12 was better than 11 and not much different than 10.
IOS 13 didn't change much either despite all the benefits it brought to the iPad.
IOS 14 did take a tall on 2GB devices, my mini 4 became barely tolerable, but I think it's more a matter of RAM, as the 4GB A9X did not slow down.
It made no difference for any other higher end device.
I haven't seen any performance degradation in A10X, A12X or M1 ever and I don't expect to see any at this rate, at least I hope. These chips will probably finish their update cycles just as fast as they started, but with worse standby time and more RAM usage from the OS.

 

[sparksd]

What’s your screen-on time for one full charge and what’s your usage pattern? I’m curious.

I do a variety of things, primarily consumption (watching stored videos, web browsing, email) but also Lightroom & LumaFusion processing. I am in a well-lit room and I like a bright display so I have brightness at 100%, a real drainer. I make no effort of extending battery life as I have ready access to a charger. Under these conditions, I would guess about 4 hours before I plug in at between 10 & 20%.

 

[JustinKent]

I have a 2018 iPad Pro 12.9" / the first generation of the latest design language.

It has been feeling noticeably slower for the past year or two of updates... particularly when activating spotlight and switching between apps. I'm gonna ride it till the wheels fall off, but I do think when the time comes to upgrade, I'll feel the speed boost.

 

[Digitalguy]

I have a 2018 iPad Pro 12.9" / the first generation of the latest design language.

It has been feeling noticeably slower for the past year or two of updates... particularly when activating spotlight and switching between apps. I'm gonna ride it till the wheels fall off, but I do think when the time comes to upgrade, I'll feel the speed boost.

Not my experience but there is a catch. I have 2 and the one on 17 is the 6GB RAM model, while the 4GB model is on 15. However it seems strange to me since even my 10.5 pro hasn't slown down on 17.

 

[johannnn]

There are people (on this forum) who own M1 or M2 iPad Pro and are eagerly waiting for new M3 iPad Pro. What kind of stuff are you doing with your M1 or M2 iPad Pro that you need even more processing power?

OLED screen? Faster wifi? Improved camera? etc etc

 

[FeliApple]

If you say A9X feels almost as fast as M1 it's really a matter of usage. I can definitely see a big difference from A9X and A12X let alone M1 even with watching videos in safari (windowed to full screen) or split screen. Not even close. No need to do any video editing or gaming.
A10X on 17 is faster than A9X ever was on any OS version.
Your experience of updates is relatively limited, especially with more recent ones.
IOS 9 was a huge killer for any A5, A6 and even A7 device.
And even A8 devices were somewhat impacted.
IOS 10 had no impact.
IOS 11 was terrible, worse than iPadOS 17 is now, in terms of performance.
IO 12 was better than 11 and not much different than 10.
IOS 13 didn't change much either despite all the benefits it brought to the iPad.
IOS 14 did take a tall on 2GB devices, my mini 4 became barely tolerable, but I think it's more a matter of RAM, as the 4GB A9X did not slow down.
It made no difference for any other higher end device.
I haven't seen any performance degradation in A10X, A12X or M1 ever and I don't expect to see any at this rate, at least I hope. These chips will probably finish their update cycles just as fast as they started, but with worse standby time and more RAM usage from the OS.

Yeah, I’m a light user with efficient settings and usage patterns, so my requirements aren’t massive. For content consumption, the only difference is in battery life, and, well, in the full screen, of course.

I do have my reservations about an A10X being faster on iPadOS 17 than a 1st-gen iPad Pro on iOS 9, but sadly, I won’t be able to try that.

Agree with the rest until “high-end device”, with the A9 caveat mentioned earlier. I don’t know how A9X performs on iPadOS 13 (and I’m glad I don’t). A9 is garbage, though. It was obliterated.

A10X may be good in terms of performance, but battery life being as garbage as it is offsets that. I also agree, A12 onwards are probably okay in terms of performance for now. Battery life suffers significantly, though. I’m not sure I’d find that acceptable. Luckily, I don’t know as I’m on iOS 12, like I said.

The only iOS update I’ve seen that had good results was an iPhone 8 (A11) updated from iOS 12 to iOS 14. Like-new battery life, amazing performance. Everything else I’ve tried has been, as slightly better or worse as it may have been, utter garbage.

For me, something that doesn’t match original iOS versions is garbage and shouldn’t be released.

 

[FeliApple]

I do a variety of things, primarily consumption (watching stored videos, web browsing, email) but also Lightroom & LumaFusion processing. I am in a well-lit room and I like a bright display so I have brightness at 100%, a real drainer. I make no effort of extending battery life as I have ready access to a charger. Under these conditions, I would guess about 4 hours before I plug in at between 10 & 20%.

Understandable, regardless of the iOS version, max brightness is a battery killer. Not much you can do. But you have seemingly accepted that, so it’s okay!

 

[okkibs]

Compared to the iPads before M1 the 8GiB of memory are what really makes the key difference in long-term viability.

My 9th gen with its measly 3GiB closes background apps almost instantly now, the 6GiB iPads on the other hand do really well and on the M1 it's mostly an app update or an iPadOS update that kills the current state of an app and not the memory running out.

Unfortunately the iPad Pro is still all in all completely useless due to the borked iPadOS and the design limitations that a single USB port brings. I have a 15" USB-C monitor that draws its power from the connected device and that empties the battery in under 2 hours.

What am I even supposed to do with that? I can add a magic keyboard I don't need so I get the extra port for charging and at that point the entire solution is so clunky and expensive I'd rather use my Macbook. I do have a monitor on my desk that can charge the connected device as well but guess what else is sitting on my desk - the Macbook (which I absolutely need, without a computer you can't sync the iPad).

Even worse, when using an external monitor with Stage Manager (which is the sole feature I bought an iPad with M1 for in the first place) apps just stop working correctly. Some apps will no longer show menus correctly, they will be partly hidden or partly off-screen which then requires dragging around and resizing the window until I find a position where I can click the menu option. Launching a video on VLC will play it on the external display just fine but then it is impossible to use the iPad's display for anything else as switching the app on the iPad will stop showing the video on the external display (and it's impossible to open the video directly on the external display, that then shows a non-removable overlay "this video is playing on the TV"...).

M1 and onwards are plenty capable but the state of iPadOS and its apps is such a joke that the M1 iPad's main feature Stage Manager is completely useless. The disappearing menus and video issues happen on the iPad's display too so it's absolutely wild to me that Apple is ok with this product experience and has just left it in this broken state for over a year.

If it "just worked" it would be absolutely incredible what performance and features these tiny devices have but at this point I am so frustrated that for all intents and purposes this iPad is ready for recycling to me no matter the M1 performance. I don't know how anyone can do serious work with it, on Youtube people just show how many windows they can cram in a screen simultaneously but the entire thing breaks down with just a single window per screen.

 

[bcortens]

Compared to the iPads before M1 the 8GiB of memory are what really makes the key difference in long-term viability.

My 9th gen with its measly 3GiB closes background apps almost instantly now, the 6GiB iPads on the other hand do really well and on the M1 it's mostly an app update or an iPadOS update that kills the current state of an app and not the memory running out.

Unfortunately the iPad Pro is still all in all completely useless due to the borked iPadOS and the design limitations that a single USB port brings. I have a 15" USB-C monitor that draws its power from the connected device and that empties the battery in under 2 hours.

The iPad is never going to be able to do this well. It is a small ultra portable device with a small-ish battery. Making the iPad heavier to accommodate this use case is something I hope they never do.

What am I even supposed to do with that? I can add a magic keyboard I don't need so I get the extra port for charging and at that point the entire solution is so clunky and expensive I'd rather use my Macbook. I do have a monitor on my desk that can charge the connected device as well but guess what else is sitting on my desk - the Macbook (which I absolutely need, without a computer you can't sync the iPad).

The iPad with Magic Keyboard is fantastic because I can go from typing something in a form to tearing it away for handheld use instantly. No waiting for some stupid tablet mode to engage, nothing, it is seamless. It’s not clunky, it is elegant. If you’d rather use your MacBook then do so.

Personally I would like two ports on the iPad itself but I don’t think it is a big deal that it doesn’t have one.

The iPad is an incredibly flexible device, it doesn’t do everything the Mac does but it doesn’t have to, that is why the Mac still exists. Apple sells the iPad for people who either can go all in on iPad or who can use one as a second device.

Even worse, when using an external monitor with Stage Manager (which is the sole feature I bought an iPad with M1 for in the first place) apps just stop working correctly. Some apps will no longer show menus correctly, they will be partly hidden or partly off-screen which then requires dragging around and resizing the window until I find a position where I can click the menu option. Launching a video on VLC will play it on the external display just fine but then it is impossible to use the iPad's display for anything else as switching the app on the iPad will stop showing the video on the external display (and it's impossible to open the video directly on the external display, that then shows a non-removable overlay "this video is playing on the TV"...).

Stage manager isn’t well implemented and i think they should have drawn greater inspiration from Expose and Mission Control but nevermind that. My iPad can’t use stage manager on an external display But from what I understand that you Can use the three dots menu to move apps to the external display.
That sounds like a VLC problem, I can use stage manager with PiP no problem.

M1 and onwards are plenty capable but the state of iPadOS and its apps is such a joke that the M1 iPad's main feature Stage Manager is completely useless. The disappearing menus and video issues happen on the iPad's display too so it's absolutely wild to me that Apple is ok with this product experience and has just left it in this broken state for over a year.

Stage manger has issues but that doesn’t mean it is useless. I would argue Apple has many quality issues right now that stem from management not caring enough. However, this isn’t a iPad specific issue but is an Apple general issue.

If it "just worked" it would be absolutely incredible what performance and features these tiny devices have but at this point I am so frustrated that for all intents and purposes this iPad is ready for recycling to me no matter the M1 performance. I don't know how anyone can do serious work with it, on Youtube people just show how many windows they can cram in a screen simultaneously but the entire thing breaks down with just a single window per screen.

While Apple’s quality has fallen off recently but I doubt it is as broken as you claim. You claim it works poorly on the internal screen but I have to ask again, is this an iPadOS issue or an App issue? Badly written apps can be just as problematic as the OS itself having bugs.

 

[ThrowerGB]

My M1 iPad Pro is super fast, has an excellent display and does everything I need it to do with excellence. I’ll only consider the new iPad Pro if it is lighter and thinner while maintaining battery life.

You've made an important point. I think your comment "lighter and thinner while maintaining battery life" the first time in this loooong discussion that someone's mentioned those factors. I'll grant that battery life has been mentioned a few times.
From my reading of the M1, 2, 3, 4 progression, I've not been blown away by increased speed. But I do hear often about progression from 5nm to 3nm and the other day I think it was 2 and 1nm and the consequent reduction in heat and power requirements. With the reduced power consumption comes the opportunity for increasing time between battery charges. How about 24 hour, 2 or 3 days as a target?

 

[heretiq]

You've made an important point. I think your comment "lighter and thinner while maintaining battery life" the first time in this loooong discussion that someone's mentioned those factors. I'll grant that battery life has been mentioned a few times.
From my reading of the M1, 2, 3, 4 progression, I've not been blown away by increased speed. But I do hear often about progression from 5nm to 3nm and the other day I think it was 2 and 1nm and the consequent reduction in heat and power requirements. With the reduced power consumption comes the opportunity for increasing time between battery charges. How about 24 hour, 2 or 3 days as a target?

Yes, that’s what I’ve been thinking. The ipad Pro has accumulated a surplus of speed and power along with thickness and weight (which is very noticeable to me on my 12.9” M1 iPad Pro). I think both were driven by the initial shift to the M1 processor and mini-LED display. I would love to see the combination of OLED and future MX SOC efficiency gains applied to reducing power requirements and hopefully leading to smaller battery and reduced weight and thickness. This is obviously a nice to have as I am very satisfied with the iPad Pro as it is.

 

[bcortens]

Yes, that’s what I’ve been thinking. The ipad Pro has accumulated a surplus of speed and power along with thickness and weight (which is very noticeable to me on my 12.9” M1 iPad Pro). I think both were driven by the initial shift to the M1 processor and mini-LED display. I would love to see the combination of OLED and future MX SOC efficiency gains applied to reducing power requirements and hopefully leading to smaller battery and reduced weight and thickness. This is obviously a nice to have as I am very satisfied with the iPad Pro as it is.

I hadn’t realized it had gotten thicker and heavier - that’s quite disappointing and hopefully they get it back down to the size and weight of the 2018 with the next generation.

 

[FeliApple]

You've made an important point. I think your comment "lighter and thinner while maintaining battery life" the first time in this loooong discussion that someone's mentioned those factors. I'll grant that battery life has been mentioned a few times.
From my reading of the M1, 2, 3, 4 progression, I've not been blown away by increased speed. But I do hear often about progression from 5nm to 3nm and the other day I think it was 2 and 1nm and the consequent reduction in heat and power requirements. With the reduced power consumption comes the opportunity for increasing time between battery charges. How about 24 hour, 2 or 3 days as a target?

This is very sad. Apple has the chance, on iPads, to put the battery life question to rest. Make it so absurdly good initially that updates can halve it, can reduce it by 60% or more, and it can be okay. Make it so that you get 45 hours of SOT. 50. Whatever.

Imagine an iPad with an M-series processor, an 11-inch screen, and a 12,000 mAh battery. It would be amazing. Apple can do this. Apple has done this. The iPhone 13 Pro Max on iOS 15 is absurdly good, with north of 20 hours of SOT. (Sadly, users on iOS 17 have complained. It’s still decent, but it’s not like it was on iOS 15). But if updates can break through this barrier anyway, then that’s on the user for updating. But I agree that they should try so that, at least initially, it’s amazing.

 

[PlayUltimate]

I’m still rocking an A12Z in iPP 11” 2020 and the OLED is the only thing that would make me upgrade. However, with all this talk of the M4 coming soon, I may **try** to skip this iPP generation and wait for the next version. A12Z still plenty strong 💪 with great battery life. 🔋

I have the same device. But battery life is under 80%. Looking to maybe get something a bit smaller and lighter.
I also have two flickering blue lines on two edges. The lines are annoying but does not really affect function.

 

[heretiq]

I hadn’t realized it had gotten thicker and heavier - that’s quite disappointing and hopefully they get it back down to the size and weight of the 2018 with the next generation.

Yes, I never thought about the thickness and weight of the 2018 iPad Pro. However, it was immediately noticeable upon upgrading to the M1 iPad Pro. It’s far from a deterrence for me, but heavy and thick enough to be constantly aware of (for me at least).

 

[wanha]

If OLED was important, people could have switched to Samsung, therefore it isn't an important feature.

wanna hear something wild?

some people value multiple things, rather than just a single thing

here's a crazy example: many users may actually value the OS and ecosystem higher than the display technology

it hardly means display tech doesn't matter

 

[wanha]

if the iPadOS wasn't such a bottleneck (especially when it comes to multitasking), we might actually be able to use all that processing power for something

Unfortunately, as it stands, there's almost no difference between my 6th gen iPad and my M1 iPad Pro in terms of what I can do with each. The size and quality of the display is the main difference

 

[Digitalguy]

if the iPadOS wasn't such a bottleneck (especially when it comes to multitasking), we might actually be able to use all that processing power for something

Unfortunately, as it stands, there's almost no difference between my 6th gen iPad and my M1 iPad Pro in terms of what I can do with each. The size and quality of the display is the main difference

It's not just a matter of what one can do, but also of how you can do it, with tablets and laptops.
I can do everything I do on my premium thinkpad on an old an cheap laptop, since I do no heavy stuff, but the experience will be very different, much faster, more ram, more and faster storage, better screen, better speakers, better keyboard, better trackpad, faster ports.
Similarly I could replace my M1 iPad pro with a 6th gen iPad with A10 but I'd get 2 measily gigs of RAM, poor speakers, much slower operation, a lot of crashes with some apps, a lot of lag depending of what I do, the old pencil, lightning, no first party keyboard etc.
Even just for enternaiment it's a totally different experience.

The point is it's not just a matter of the size and display, RAM is also a big factor in the daily experience, and you get 8GB only with M1/2, plus all the other hardware benefits (speakers, ports, accessories etc.)

 

[wanha]

It's not just a matter of what one can do, but also of how you can do it, with tablets and laptops.
I can do everything I do on my premium thinkpad on an old an cheap laptop, since I do no heavy stuff, but the experience will be very different, much faster, more ram, more and faster storage, better screen, better speakers, better keyboard, better trackpad, faster ports.
Similarly I could replace my M1 iPad pro with a 6th gen iPad with A10 but I'd get 2 measily gigs of RAM, poor speakers, much slower operation, a lot of crashes with some apps, a lot of lag depending of what I do, the old pencil, lightning, no first party keyboard etc.
Even just for enternaiment it's a totally different experience.

The point is it's not just a matter of the size and display, RAM is also a big factor in the daily experience, and you get 8GB only with M1/2, plus all the other hardware benefits (speakers, ports, accessories etc.)

I agree with you. The point of my overly simplified example was that there isn't that much to do with additional computing power on the iPad.

It is certainly true that lots of other incremental improvement is happening constantly that affect the user experience, but the point here was specifically about computing performance.