Apple Announces New iPad Pro With M4 Chip, OLED Display, and More

[Realityck]

M4 (IPad) vs M1 (iPad)​

M4 (IPad) vs M1 (iPad): tests and benchmarks

We put Apple M4 (IPad) against M1 (iPad) to find out which SoC is better. See performance comparison in benchmarks and games.

nanoreview.net

Pros of Apple M4 (IPad)

• Supports 76% higher memory bandwidth (120 against 68.25 GB/s)
• Has a smaller size transistor (3 versus 5 nm)
• Announced 3 years and 6 months later
• Has 2 more cores
• 27% higher CPU clock speed (4050 vs 3200 MHz)

GeekBench 6​

The GeekBench test shows raw single-threaded and multithreaded CPU performance
Single-Core Score
M4 (IPad) +34%
3082

M1 (iPad)
2304

Multi-Core Score
M4 (IPad) +55%
13063

M1 (iPad)
8422

NPU results
M4=38 TOPS
M1=11 TOPS

M4 (IPad) vs M2 (iPad): tests and benchmarks

We put Apple M4 (IPad) against M2 (iPad) to find out which SoC is better. See performance comparison in benchmarks and games.

nanoreview.net

 

[purplerainpurplerain]

This right here is the only good reason I've heard for wanting iPad to run MacOS. Nobody else gives an example, they just say "bad OS" or "software problems". I don't know what any of that means!

Nobody outside a little echo chamber on the internet is asking for a desktop UI like macOS or Windows on a tablet. Microsoft has tried to make Windows friendly on drawing tablets but you have to go to very large display to avoid eye strain.

Reading distance is the thing and tablet users hold their device in front of their face or they lean down over their device on the table.

Clip Studio listened to their users and let them switch their app's interface to a tablet UI on the iPad because the menus and text items were too painful to read all day.

Adobe won't even port a 1:1 copy of Photoshop to the iPad because of eye strain issues so they are having to redesign the app slowly to fit the tablet form factor.

 

[mrr]

Time to upgrade my original first gen iPad Pro with a crack in the screen.

 

[sifpilsen]

If they can stick the M4 in a 5mm device, while massively lowering the power consumption vs the M3, I guess it could appear in the new iPhone Pro?

Or M2 for even lower power consumption?

 

[sifpilsen]

I'm happy, they have introduced the first foldable iPad!

iPhone 6 all over?

 

[Darth Tulhu]

So, the new iPad Pros are just like MacBook Airs but:

- Have a better CPU.
- Have a better OLED screen,
- which is also tactile
- and supports Apple Pencil
- and has a nanotextured option.
- Have FaceID, which MBAirs don't.
- Have a good quality back-side camera with flash and LiDAR, which MBAirs don't.
- Have a cellular option, which... well, you get the idea.
- Can be attached to a Macbook-class keyboard+touchpad OR not.
- Have the same base RAM and SSD as a MBAir and can get to 16GB/2TB.
- Support an external screen.
- Are very quite similar in price to a MBAir, despite all the above.

I'm probably missing some features here or there but... what is Apple waiting for to give users an option to use a full-fledged MacOS on iPad Pros? If anything, they are BETTER than MBAirs at almost everything when you add a Magic Keyboard. Not running the MacOS interface when attached to a keyboard and trackpad has been just a marketing decision for some time now, but this time it's more obvious than ever that a new iPad Pro is a better computer than a Macbook Air, all around.

Maybe that's what's coming at WWDC? (One can dream).

This just isn't happening folks. Apple has addressed NOT merging the iPad with the Mac REPEATEDLY.

And they did it AGAIN today, when demoing Logic and FCP. Asking for macOS on the iPad is like asking for macOS on the iPhone, or iPadOS on the Mac... Apple just ain't gonna do it.

The iPad is and will always remain DIFFERENT from the Mac, but Apple is clearly moving (slowly) towards making it JUST AS CAPABLE.

I get that's not what many of you want, but you'll have to come to peace with this as some point.

I for one, am GLAD regarding Apple's approach, no Xcode, calculator, or "proper" filesystem notwithstanding.

 

[Darth Tulhu]

It's not just a different way, it's also productivity for different tasks. iPad is not a viable replacement for Mac.

I agree, but only in the absolute sense.

Conversely, a Mac is not a viable replacement for an iPad.

And this has ALWAYS been Apple's intention, since Steve pointed out the "Post-PC/cars vs trucks" metaphor.

That was REALLY clear: A car is not meant to replace trucks, but not every vehicle needs to be a truck either.

Apple is not asking you to transport a couch with a car. They simply ALSO offer cars for those of us that don't want a truck.

 

[MrGunny94]

Hmm? It has several terminals, and an industry-leading filesystem (APFS)

You are confusing terminals with SSH clients... You can't install anything with HomeBrew or any other use for Developers

 

[ric22]

Or M2 for even lower power consumption?

M3 used between 0-5% more power than M2, right? If M4 uses a lot less power than M3 it also uses a lot less power than M2...

 

[Darth Tulhu]

This right here is the only good reason I've heard for wanting iPad to run MacOS. Nobody else gives an example, they just say "bad OS" or "software problems". I don't know what any of that means!

Running macOS on both the iPad and a Mac is like expecting to use a Ram truck to win a GT race that a Charger would just because they both have a Hemi engine in it.

Apple will NEVER put macOS on iPad, because they're not Microsoft: slapping a keyboard-and-mouse OS on hardware DESIGNED for touch sucks. It sucks just like iPhone apps on an iPad sucks. Running software not designed for the hardware it runs on generally SUCKS.

It's not about the internals, its about the INPUT methods of interaction and the user experience.

 

[svish]

Looks like a very good update to the iPad Pro lineup

 

[Basic75]

*deleted*

 

[jamesjingyi]

I’d bet third party pencils will be compatible still…?

Maybe... I reckon it's probably due to the new camera module being on the landscape edge, and the thinner bezels compared to the iPad Air, though I am really clutching at strings here

 

[purplerainpurplerain]

Running macOS on both the iPad and a Mac is like expecting to use a Ram truck to win a GT race that a Charger would just because they both have a Hemi engine in it.

Apple will NEVER put macOS on iPad, because they're not Microsoft: slapping a keyboard-and-mouse OS on hardware DESIGNED for touch sucks. It sucks just like iPhone apps on an iPad sucks. Running software not designed for the hardware it runs on generally SUCKS.

The thing is the tiny minority who are asking for a desktop UI on an iPad will not even use it. They're just saying it for hell's sake because they think it makes them sound smart. They've never designed anything in their life.

If they did ever try to use a desktop UI on a touch tablet under 15" they'd quickly give up and pretend they never said anything.

I also suspect a kind of disinformation campaign from one of Apple's competitors is trying to seed really bad ideas on the web because they want to cannibalise Apple's product line. Disinformation and brainwash campaigns exist in tech also not just politics.

 

[Alwis]

Ordered the 11" 512GB version yesterday, as a replacement for my 2017 iPad Pro. After that I read about the "smaller" CPU and less RAM in this version compared to the 1TB and 2TB variants (really Apple, why?).

Now I am asking myself if it would be worth to cancel the order and take the 1TB variants, which is 480 EUR more here in Germany. Ok, I know that I will not need it, as I use my iPad mainly for reading and some photo editing with Capture One and I can do that with my current one, even if it shows some aging. I wanted the Pro model vs the Air mainly for the better screen.

But there is always that little devil on the shoulder, that says "it could be better".... So please tell me, that I will notice no difference

Nobody outside a little echo chamber on the internet is asking for a desktop UI like macOS or Windows on a tablet.

I do not really need or want macOS on an iPad and I think that it would not be a good UI, at least on the smaller screen sizes. But there are two things, that really annoy me and that Apple should change in my view:

1. Backgrund apps are stopped after a short time. Sometimes I use my iPad for server administration via ssh. This works good, but a short time after I put the ssh client in the background, e.g. to look something up, the connection to the server is interrupted. I really wish it would stay active for at least several minutes.

2. Not so much an iPad but more of an iCloud problem: My iCloud drive is cluttered with folders for different applications. What a silly , who sorts its documents by application? This makes iCloud drive not a good experience to use. At leas Apple should provide a way to hide these folders or move them to some sort of "Library" folder.

 

[Steve121178]

I've never seen any evidence of this.

Try using it.

 

[purplerainpurplerain]

Ordered the 11" 512GB version yesterday, as a replacement for my 2017 iPad Pro. After that I read about the "smaller" CPU and less RAM in this version compared to the 1TB and 2TB variants (really Apple, why?).

Now I am asking myself if it would be worth to cancel the order and take the 1TB variants, which is 480 EUR more here in Germany. Ok, I know that I will not need it, as I use my iPad mainly for reading and some photo editing with Capture One and I can do that with my current one, even if it shows some aging. I wanted the Pro model vs the Air mainly for the better screen.

But there is always that little devil on the shoulder, that says "it could be better".... So please tell me, that I will notice no difference




I do not really need or want macOS on an iPad and I think that it would not be a good UI, at least on the smaller screen sizes. But there are two things, that really annoy me and that Apple should change in my view:

1. Backgrund apps are stopped after a short time. Sometimes I use my iPad for server administration via ssh. This works good, but a short time after I put the ssh client in the background, e.g. to look something up, the connection to the server is interrupted. I really wish it would stay active for at least several minutes.

2. Not so much an iPad but more of an iCloud problem: My iCloud drive is cluttered with folders for different applications. What a silly , who sorts its documents by application? This makes iCloud drive not a good experience to use. At leas Apple should provide a way to hide these folders or move them to some sort of "Library" folder.

I think that dropdown menus on the menu bar would be good. This is the only macOS like change that needs to be done. The menu bar is mostly a ghost town on iPadOS.

Some people might want a Terminal app, but there are plenty available.

 

[untitledartists]

Nobody outside a little echo chamber on the internet is asking for a desktop UI like macOS or Windows on a tablet. Microsoft has tried to make Windows friendly on drawing tablets but you have to go to very large display to avoid eye strain.

It is not to replace iPadOS with MacOS on iPad or use MacOS on touch screen, but the possibility to use an iPad as sort of "portable Mac mini/nano" where I can connect a screen, keyboard and mouse and run full macOS. (Technically this not that complicated and performance-wise even an Iphone could run MacOS this way!)
At the moment I need an IPad AND a Mac, but would gladly buy an 16GB/2TB M4 IPad Pro which could run IPadOS and MacOS - and even if MacOS only works with a mandatory external screen/keyboard/mouse...
Sadly for Apple I would never ever buy a Mac/ MacBook again....

 

[Confused-User]

Or M2 for even lower power consumption?

No. For the same performance level, M2 uses more power than M3, which uses more than M4.

M3 used between 0-5% more power than M2, right? If M4 uses a lot less power than M3 it also uses a lot less power than M2...

Not right. M3 is strictly more efficient than M2 at the same clock speed.

 

[ric22]

No. For the same performance level, M2 uses more power than M3, which uses more than M4.


Not right. M3 is strictly more efficient than M2 at the same clock speed.

"For the same performance", you are right. However, without the "for the same performance" disclaimer, my statement that it uses the same or 5% more power remains correct.

What do you think, the iPad with M4 will reach the level of performance of the M2 and then stop drawing any more power? The max power consumption is the max power consumption- it's the max that is relevant to whether devices with smaller batteries can handle a chip or not.

 

[brofkand]

Apps can access up to 12GB of physical RAM, and use swap memory for more than that. Seems about right since other things like he OS will be using RAM while you are in that app.

There might be one or two apps on the store that actually have legitimate use cases for that much RAM I guess.

 

[darngooddesign]

There might be one or two apps on the store that actually have legitimate use cases for that much RAM I guess.

Video editing apps, illustration apps, photo editing apps, music production apps, Safari when I load something like Figma in it, using some of those apps while video is streaming in PiP, etc. So more than one or two.

 

[darngooddesign]

I can understand the point of the 13inche 16 gb of ram for photo audio apps but then what is the point of the 11' with again 8gb ram? watch movies and surfing only?

Kind of silly asking what’s the point of the amount of RAM it comes with. I suppose if you were morally opposed to your ipad having 8GB RAM then you could get the base iPad.

 

[wbeasley]

The thing is the tiny minority who are asking for a desktop UI on an iPad will not even use it. They're just saying it for hell's sake because they think it makes them sound smart. They've never designed anything in their life.

If they did ever try to use a desktop UI on a touch tablet under 15" they'd quickly give up and pretend they never said anything.

I also suspect a kind of disinformation campaign from one of Apple's competitors is trying to seed really bad ideas on the web because they want to cannibalise Apple's product line. Disinformation and brainwash campaigns exist in tech also not just politics.

But what if they let you install MacOS but it wasn’t touch driven?
Keyboard and trackpad/mouse but no touch. Just like a MacBook.

 

[Uofmtiger]

It is not to replace iPadOS with MacOS on iPad or use MacOS on touch screen, but the possibility to use an iPad as sort of "portable Mac mini/nano" where I can connect a screen, keyboard and mouse and run full macOS. (Technically this not that complicated and performance-wise even an Iphone could run MacOS this way!)
At the moment I need an IPad AND a Mac, but would gladly buy an 16GB/2TB M4 IPad Pro which could run IPadOS and MacOS - and even if MacOS only works with a mandatory external screen/keyboard/mouse...
Sadly for Apple I would never ever buy a Mac/ MacBook again....

Make it dual boot like my old Macs with Windows (here, just a regular version of MacOS that needs the keyboard and mouse) installed and it would have everything we would want. As others have mentioned, I want iPadOS for tablet mode, but having MacOS available in this form factor would be the difference of carrying one device rather than two (which is probably why Apple hasn't done it). I would like to see Pencil input with certain MacOS apps...like Photoshop/Illustrator, but that would be enough to get me to pay for all new accessories and an updated iPad. As it is, I would like the thinner body, but not enough to drop 2 grand on it.