iPad Pro 2018 iPad Pro owners - Have you upgraded to the M4 iPad?

[NVDA]

I have a 2018 Pro and got the M4 Pro to compare with it side by side. The battery is a lot better and 256GB beats 64GB for base storage, but besides that, it’s not worth the upgrade. The M4 speakers are a lot worse. I had 4K HDR videos play on both side by side and the difference is marginal (I thought HDR content would be way brighter due to higher nits), the weight difference is marginal, and the overall feel/experience is the same. I have the M4 for 90 days with Costco but I will return it. Sometimes I’ll pick up my 2018 Pro thinking it’s the M4 or vice versa (gave them the same wallpaper). I’m not blown away by the display like I was with my LG C1 and now my LG G4.

 

[NVDA]

Yes. My main iPad Pro was a 2018 11" with 512 GB of storage. I've now moved to a 1 TB iPad Pro M4 11". The 2018 has now been relegated to other duties -- it's still too good to get rid of. I'm very happy with the new iPad Pro M4.

How do you need two 11 inch iPad Pros? Between my iPad Pro, Kindle, TV, Xbox Series X/PS5 and books, there’s barely enough time for one let alone two.

 

[MisterSavage]

No regrets from upgrading from a 2018 IPP to an M4. Everything feels snappier and the screen (which I know you said you don't care about) looks spectacular with some content. My battery life was starting to be not great also.

 

[Tyler O'Bannon]

Hi all,

I have a 2018 12.9in iPad Pro and can't decide on whether to upgrade to the M4 13in Pro.

The main issue with my current iPad is the subpar battery, which cannot be replaced by Apple (they claim battery health is >80% when it clearly isn't). It isn't unusable however, and is still fast enough. The new M4 iPad doesn't have many features that immediately draw me in. I can take or leave the screen, for example. Stage manager would be useful once or twice a year when i visit my parents, but that's it. I was hoping Apple would announce more features at WWDC but it was not to be... There is also a question mark on whether 8GB RAM will be sufficient in 3-4 years time and i'm not paying nearly £2000 for 16GB.

My main quandary is whether I sell my 2018 iPad and get a decent amount for it (c.£250) or keep it for another 18-24 months and risk it being worth virtually nothing on the second hand market. If the latter, then the total cost of change would be the same whether i buy the new M4 iPad now or in two years. In addition, if I keep it longer I risk it severely slowing down before the M5 iPad is released, which could be 2 years away.

How have you found the new M4 iPad Pro versus your old 2018 iPad Pro? Has it been a a reasonable step forward or a nice to have upgrade?

Thanks in advance.

Honestly sounds like you don’t have a pressing reason to upgrade. For that reason alone, there will be an update in 18ish months, maybe revisit then.

It doesn’t sound like you need anything hardware related and barely anything software related right now. So I’d just wait.

 

[erkanasu]

it will be a downgrade if your eyes don't like the oled panel, I had to return my m4 and go back to last gen screen...

 

[coachgq]

Hi all,

I have a 2018 12.9in iPad Pro and can't decide on whether to upgrade to the M4 13in Pro.

The main issue with my current iPad is the subpar battery, which cannot be replaced by Apple (they claim battery health is >80% when it clearly isn't). It isn't unusable however, and is still fast enough. The new M4 iPad doesn't have many features that immediately draw me in. I can take or leave the screen, for example. Stage manager would be useful once or twice a year when i visit my parents, but that's it. I was hoping Apple would announce more features at WWDC but it was not to be... There is also a question mark on whether 8GB RAM will be sufficient in 3-4 years time and i'm not paying nearly £2000 for 16GB.

My main quandary is whether I sell my 2018 iPad and get a decent amount for it (c.£250) or keep it for another 18-24 months and risk it being worth virtually nothing on the second hand market. If the latter, then the total cost of change would be the same whether i buy the new M4 iPad now or in two years. In addition, if I keep it longer I risk it severely slowing down before the M5 iPad is released, which could be 2 years away.

How have you found the new M4 iPad Pro versus your old 2018 iPad Pro? Has it been a a reasonable step forward or a nice to have upgrade?

Thanks in advance.

Doesn’t sound like you need to upgrade. If your device is working fine for you, then why change?

 

[Yebubbleman]

Hi all,

I have a 2018 12.9in iPad Pro and can't decide on whether to upgrade to the M4 13in Pro.

The main issue with my current iPad is the subpar battery, which cannot be replaced by Apple (they claim battery health is >80% when it clearly isn't). It isn't unusable however, and is still fast enough. The new M4 iPad doesn't have many features that immediately draw me in. I can take or leave the screen, for example. Stage manager would be useful once or twice a year when i visit my parents, but that's it. I was hoping Apple would announce more features at WWDC but it was not to be... There is also a question mark on whether 8GB RAM will be sufficient in 3-4 years time and i'm not paying nearly £2000 for 16GB.

My main quandary is whether I sell my 2018 iPad and get a decent amount for it (c.£250) or keep it for another 18-24 months and risk it being worth virtually nothing on the second hand market. If the latter, then the total cost of change would be the same whether i buy the new M4 iPad now or in two years. In addition, if I keep it longer I risk it severely slowing down before the M5 iPad is released, which could be 2 years away.

How have you found the new M4 iPad Pro versus your old 2018 iPad Pro? Has it been a a reasonable step forward or a nice to have upgrade?

Thanks in advance.

I have the exact same iPad Pro (256GB; Wi-Fi Only; Silver). There's nothing wrong with it. But, with iPadOS 18 making that one the oldest of the 12.9-inch iPad Pros to be supported, so I'm naturally thinking about what I'd upgrade it to.

While, for me personally, I think I'll probably just not upgrade it to anything and shift my use cases/workloads over to my M1 13-inch MacBook Pro, give or take a Samsung Galaxy Tab S9+ (leaving my iPad mini as my sole iPad).

But, before I came to that conclusion, I was strongly considering the "13-inch" iPad Air. Perhaps, that might not be a bad upgrade path for you to consider here...?

 

[Johnny London]

I am using a 2018 iPadPro and was hoping this year’s models would be different enough to upgrade. Huge omissions for me personally:
- Landscape camera is not a new feature if they take away portrait camera. What if I am reading and want to do a FaceTime call now?
- Still a single USB-C connector means still no way to charge the iPad while working with MIDI instruments, except if you buy the Folio Keyboard additionaly.
- Software still lacking, especially Files management.

I‘m hoping to upgrade next year 🤪

 

[Caesars]

I upgrade from a 2018 Pro, the screen is a huge upgrade (it’s probably a huge upgrade over every other iPad honestly). My Smart Keyboard went bad so I figured if I was going to buy a new $300+ keyboard I may as well get the new one. As far as day to day use and performance the old one worked fine (minus the degraded battery) and a slight lag.

I still haven’t sold my old one, it will make a decent present for one of the younger generation people in the family.

 

[tim@ipad]

Here, i still have my 2018 12.9Pro with 512GB and would love to upgrade… but for me it is Software that stops me. No, not iPadOS, but 3rd Party Apps… meaning i would. Need a DeNoise Ai at min for Photography like from Topaz. Or the AI DeNoise as from the Desktop LR Version in LR Mobile

It is the Lack of these Pro Apps thats stops me….

 

[daniesy]

No Wifi 7 makes it pointless if you plan to use it for more than one year.

 

[Apple_Robert]

No Wifi 7 makes it pointless if you plan to use it for more than one year.

That is absurd. WiFi 7 hasn’t even been rolled out to the masses, not to mention implementation by all router companies, internet providers and local businesses. There is nothing wrong with WiFi 6 (E).

 

[HylianKnight]

I want to. My 2018 iPad Pro has finally started to show its age, BUT Apple getting rid of the Smart Keyboard Folio has proven to be a huge barrier for me. It’s my iPad keyboard of choice. So, I probably won’t be getting another iPad unless Apple brings back that accessory.

 

[Abazigal]

How have you found the new M4 iPad Pro versus your old 2018 iPad Pro? Has it been a a reasonable step forward or a nice to have upgrade?

It's been a nice upgrade overall for me, though I am not really doing anything on it that I wasn't already doing on my 2018 iPad Pro.

The most noticeable boost was the performance improvement. Everything feels snappier, for lack of a better word. Apps open faster, shortcuts launch faster, links open in new tabs more quickly, Mangadex loads almost instantaneously, Notability lags less when I am scrolling while mirrored to an Apple TV, it's one of those things that you don't really think is an issue until you switch, and then you find you don't really want to go back.

As a teacher who walks around the class with iPad in hand, I do feel (and appreciate) the lighter weight. I also get 5g, I can't comment on the camera quality, I guess the OLED display is a little brighter and a little nicer (I honestly can't really see much difference), though the speakers do sound a little worse, like more hollow and muffled (I have to turn up the volume higher to get the same loudness).

Oh, and one cool feature I got was the ability to take a screenshot and scan the text directly in the screenshot UI itself (with my 13 pro max and 2018 iPad Pro, I have to save the screenshot, then open the photo to scan the text).

Battery life feels about the same. You do get the feeling that running apps consume less power overall, but I also turned on the feature to limit charging to 80%, and so I definitely need to charge it at least once in the middle of the day.

I say go for it. I assume we will see an M5 iPad Pro released next year to coincide with the 2018 iPad Pro (likely) not getting iOS 19, but it's really all speculation at this point.

 

[MisterSavage]

I still haven’t sold my old one, it will make a decent present for one of the younger generation people in the family.

Mine's going to be my iPadOS 18 test device!

 

[reyesmac]

Only way an upgrade of an iPad in my house is possible is if it does more than the one it replaces. And what would be better is if it can take over for several other devices that would be too old to run the latest stuff on it. If an iPad can replace a laptop and tablet. The need for a tablet is pretty low compared to the need for a computer. To pay computer prices for a device that can't do half what a computer does and has not ability to side load content, its just not a good use of money for those on a budget. If losing money is not big deal, its still not going to get used as much as a phone or laptop, not until they make it better than those things. Slap on a 3d screen and differentiate it from other devices. Maybe then it could be worth it.

 

[boss.king]

Nope. Still on my 2018 11" iPad Pro and have no plans to upgrade it for the forseeable future. In fact, even when it loses software support (I assume that's coming next year) I'll porbably keep using it as a digital notebook. Ever since Apple Silicon on the Mac, I see ever fewer reasons to own an iPad.

 

[magphotos]

I have a 11” 2018 iPad Pro, with 64gb of storage. I use it for media consumption, web surfing and occasionally for photo and video editing (I am a professional photographer and video editor). My favorite feature is using it as a second screen for my Mac, and it works perfectly.

Original Battery is still fine and my iPad is perfectly capable of literally anything I throw at it.

Yesterday I casually walked in my local Apple Store to try the new iPads. I must say I was disappointed, really some minor incremental upgrades and to my eyes the OLED screen doesn’t make that much difference.

Will definitely keep my 2018 for 2 more years at least. Don’t care for AI as I live in Europe so I am afraid we won’t see it for a long time 😅

 

[ThailandToo]

When you trade-in at the store, you will get a gift card for the value which you can then use on the spot towards the new purchase. That is how it has been here in the U.S.

That’s how to get screwed as you pay full taxes. The better way is to do an actual trade in when buying the device in store. Which allows the US buyer to pay the taxes on the price paid minus the trade in price. So if you get a gift card for $300 and you put it towards an $1100 iPad you’re paying taxes on $1100. Whereas if you do a trade in, you’re paying taxes on $800. In the United States.

 

[NastyMatt]

I have a 2020 IPP (12.9) and went to a M4 13. For me, it was a great upgrade. I had always said I would upgrade the 12.9 when there was landscape camera, extended screen support and desktop class browser. The M4 ticks 2 of those boxes (where as the m1/2’s only ticked 1 box). I do a LOT of video calls so the landscape camera is huge for me.

Aside from those feature, I also enjoy (features I use):

• An amazing screen, best panel I have seen on any device
• Increased battery life
• Better document scanning (in low light) - which I actually do a fair bit
• Less reloading of browser tabs
• Full graphic resolution in the games I play (was not possible on the 12.9)
• Better keyboard - function row is a real bonus
• Better pencil - haptic feedback and rotate are nice

Yes it is insanely thin, but I keep mine on a MK most of the time and never ”struggled” with the 12.9. Speakers are fine (for me), I would not use any mobile device for as a high level audio device but this works fine for watching shows/sport.

Remember I use my iPad a lot - over 12 hours a day most days, as it’s my main device for work and personal time, plus, the kids use it. So my use case may not be the same as others but this is just to show why it is of value to me to upgrade.

 

[Digitalguy]

I say go for it. I assume we will see an M5 iPad Pro released next year to coincide with the 2018 iPad Pro (likely) not getting iOS 19, but it's really all speculation at this point.

A12X will get iPadOS 19, that's virtually certain based on all Apple has done so far.
Apple is giving the same number of OS updates to all the pro and and air (regardless of specs). And people are confused by the fact that A10X got discontinued, thinking there is only 1 OS difference between it and A12X. No, there is 2.
There is only one with the iPad air 3 and mini 5 with A12 (which will not get 19, but the iPad 8 with A12 will, just like the 7 got 18), but 2 with the pro, so the pro has 2 more to get.

 

[NVDA]

That’s how to get screwed as you pay full taxes. The better way is to do an actual trade in when buying the device in store. Which allows the US buyer to pay the taxes on the price paid minus the trade in price. So if you get a gift card for $300 and you put it towards an $1100 iPad you’re paying taxes on $1100. Whereas if you do a trade in, you’re paying taxes on $800. In the United States.

This is incorrect. You always owe tax on the full amount, no matter if you already have the gift card or are doing the trade in.

 

[mpetrides]

This is incorrect. You always owe tax on the full amount, no matter if you already have the gift card or are doing the trade in.

Actually, I think the original post is correct. It certainly is when you trade in a car. You paid tax on that amount and the tax you paid on the old car partially offsets the tax on the new one--meaning that you pay tax only on the net amount you paid for the car (AFTER trade).

 

[Momof9]

How do you need two 11 inch iPad Pros? Between my iPad Pro, Kindle, TV, Xbox Series X/PS5 and books, there’s barely enough time for one let alone two.

I use 2 all the time (my case is 12.9")..... I have gotten used to dual monitors on my MacBook.... So in the evening, I might play a game and watch YouTube on the other one. Last night, I was actually using my mini as well - watched video, looking at a graphic on the other and used the mini to write down a pattern I was designing / crocheting.... LOL

 

[mansplains]

You don't have to get Apple to replace the battery for you. Many third party shops/stalls can do that easily.

I just upgraded my 2018 battery for ~USD 90.

Comes down to how one sees the value of money.

Some people would rather spend USD 90 than several times more to upgrade. Some prefer the other way.

Here in my country, repair workers are professionals, sometimes more so than Apple because there are certain things Apple won't do not because they can't. E.g. Ask you to buy a new tablet rather than replace a battery that has 80%+ health.

Bear in mind that Apple doesn't replace the battery when you service your iPad, they swap the whole device with a refurbished unit. Battery service is around $120 (USD, more for iPad Pro) and you're receiving a new (to you) device with a new warranty for another year* (plus other consumer protection in your region). I think Apple is a better route with the price being similar to your experience, but it depends on availability of course.

Edit: *As pointed out by Digitalguy, I may be wrong here.