iPad Pro Does the iPad Pro make sense anymore?

[007p]

The ones who just want one device will still have to pick. Nothing has changed other that the MacBook has a better chip now and can run iOS apps- of which most have a native Mac app or are better in a browser.

So at the end of the day that’s really all there is. Want touch and pencil input? Prefer the traditional notebook? Options for both still exist.

Everything has changed. MacOS now runs on Apple silicon. There's very little, technical wise, as to why the iPad Pro (or a future one) could not run MacOS.

The iPad (Pro) now widely supports mouse as an optional input, you can get a magic keyboard that effectively turns your device into a 'traditional notebook'. Options are great - but why do they have to still be two seperate products? That is my entire point, from a technical perspective now they do not need to be.

Even more importantly, you can splurge on one and get entry level of the other if you really feel the need to have both. For me though, that's where the M1 system throws a wrench in things too--I got the entry level $999 model of the MacBook Air, but still got one of the fastest machines in the lineup. For most of the things I do, it's not going to perform any better or worse than the M1 MacBook Pro.

Still love iPads though. And still have 3 in my house that I can use if I'm really getting the itch.

Cost is not the issue for me - I could own both devices if I wanted to. I physically do not want to carry two devices though, theres no reason to if they run nearly identical hardware. It would be like carrying two raspberry pi's around with you instead of just one and an additional SD card...
I'd happily pay more than a macbook + ipad Pro pricing for such a device.

Exactly. If we are willing to cosplay an iPad to make it "almost a laptop" then why shouldn't we also dress up a Mac to be "also a tablet".

BTW. I think the iPad should continue to exist. It's a tablet running a modified phone OS that is hitting its limits on what it could/should do. But the Mac is at its first phase of redefining itself. Do we really want it to stay this way forever and not ever try anything new? Keep the standard clamshell design for traditional users, but a form factor OPTION that merges the decades of MacOS refinement with the great things about the iPad Pro may actually improve the platform. It worked for the iPad.

Yep. I have never said the iPad should go away in any shape or form. We are talking about the 'Pro' here. I definetely believe the iPad (Air/Mini) should continue to stay as is. But I just don't see a long term future in Apples product line up where either:

Macs don't get new form factors, including touch
iPadOS doesn't become much more open and gains the ability to run native Apple Silicon Mac apps

The former option is probably the fastest route to what I would like, but no doubt Apple will be betting on the latter, which is going to take a long time to reach. Hence why an iPad Pro running MacOS would be the fastest route there. I'm sure it'll never happen but I'll be waiting to replace my iPad Pro 2018 whenever they decide to finally do it - for now and probably the long term future I will live with remoting into a real computer from my iPad whenever I need to do work. (Which to be clear, on the off chance that happens I won't be carrying a whole second device with me )

 

[Digitalguy]

Everything has changed. MacOS now runs on Apple silicon. There's very little, technical wise, as to why the iPad Pro (or a future one) could not run MacOS.

The iPad (Pro) now widely supports mouse as an optional input, you can get a magic keyboard that effectively turns your device into a 'traditional notebook'. Options are great - but why do they have to still be two seperate products? That is my entire point, from a technical perspective now they do not need to be.




Cost is not the issue for me - I could own both devices if I wanted to. I physically do not want to carry two devices though, theres no reason to if they run nearly identical hardware. It would be like carrying two raspberry pi's around with you instead of just one and an additional SD card...
I'd happily pay more than a macbook + ipad Pro pricing for such a device.



Yep. I have never said the iPad should go away in any shape or form. We are talking about the 'Pro' here. I definetely believe the iPad (Air/Mini) should continue to stay as is. But I just don't see a long term future in Apples product line up where either:

Macs don't get new form factors, including touch
iPadOS doesn't become much more open and gains the ability to run native Apple Silicon Mac apps

The former option is probably the fastest route to what I would like, but no doubt Apple will be betting on the latter, which is going to take a long time to reach. Hence why an iPad Pro running MacOS would be the fastest route there. I'm sure it'll never happen but I'll be waiting to replace my iPad Pro 2018 whenever they decide to finally do it - for now and probably the long term future I will live with remoting into a real computer from my iPad whenever I need to do work. (Which to be clear, on the off chance that happens I won't be carrying a whole second device with me )

There is no technical obstable. Apple could easily run MacOS on iPads, especially if they give them more RAM.
The reason is Apple does not want to. I have said it many times, and you said it too, it's not going to happen, despite many pro users wishing it so much... They can make more profit keeping them clearly separate, despite the assumptions of some of those pro users...
By the way, like you, I use my cellular iPad pro on the go and remote into my laptop when I need it. With 2 exceptions, when I know for sure I won't have internet (lite on a plane) or when I am out for several days (and need to be productive). At that point the iPad generally becomes a second screen for my laptop and often a modem too (unless I bring my cellular convertible laptop).

 

[spiderman0616]

Everything has changed. MacOS now runs on Apple silicon. There's very little, technical wise, as to why the iPad Pro (or a future one) could not run MacOS.

The iPad (Pro) now widely supports mouse as an optional input, you can get a magic keyboard that effectively turns your device into a 'traditional notebook'. Options are great - but why do they have to still be two seperate products? That is my entire point, from a technical perspective now they do not need to be.




Cost is not the issue for me - I could own both devices if I wanted to. I physically do not want to carry two devices though, theres no reason to if they run nearly identical hardware. It would be like carrying two raspberry pi's around with you instead of just one and an additional SD card...
I'd happily pay more than a macbook + ipad Pro pricing for such a device.



Yep. I have never said the iPad should go away in any shape or form. We are talking about the 'Pro' here. I definetely believe the iPad (Air/Mini) should continue to stay as is. But I just don't see a long term future in Apples product line up where either:

Macs don't get new form factors, including touch
iPadOS doesn't become much more open and gains the ability to run native Apple Silicon Mac apps

The former option is probably the fastest route to what I would like, but no doubt Apple will be betting on the latter, which is going to take a long time to reach. Hence why an iPad Pro running MacOS would be the fastest route there. I'm sure it'll never happen but I'll be waiting to replace my iPad Pro 2018 whenever they decide to finally do it - for now and probably the long term future I will live with remoting into a real computer from my iPad whenever I need to do work. (Which to be clear, on the off chance that happens I won't be carrying a whole second device with me )

I agree with your conclusion, but I don't 100% agree with the way you got there. I don't think it has to do with money at all. Apple has never been afraid to cannibalize their own product lines when they have something better to step in. They know if they do good work, the money will follow. I know I'll get some eye rolls for saying that, but I don't think Apple would be where they are today if they didn't operate that way. They've proven that to me over the years time and again.

My theory is this:

Apple surely has some ideas about a device that would be even more flexible than a modern day Mac, but with the touch screen and ease of use of a modern day iPad or iPad Pro. I think the thing that's probably holding them back from releasing such a product just yet is simply elegance. It would not be very Apple-like for them to just slap Big Sur on a 12.9" iPad Pro and call it a day, even if they did make it so that you could detach the screen and have it instantly boot into iPadOS. (Not saying you were suggesting that--there are just a lot of people out there who think that's the magic solution.)

When Apple makes that next product that moves beyond both the Mac and iPad, or even just when they make that device for "most people" that genuinely marries the best of both into a truly hybrid device, I believe they're going to do it much more elegantly than most of us are expecting or imagining. (Think MacBook Air with added iPad-ness.) But I think they'd have to do this in a form that they are confident will truly be able to replace both those devices for the type of users that need it to.

The Power PC --> Intel and Intel --> AS transition is actually a great example of how I think they would launch such a device. To me, the M1 Macintosh does not feel like an in-between product. It feels like a product that is absolutely ready for prime time. It is of course not without its teething issues, but those seem like they're going to go away pretty quickly. The user experience is basically, "Wow, this is a really quiet, fast, cool to the touch machine that lasts forever on a charge! How on earth did they do this?" But of course, in the background is that elegance. You have the M1 chip itself, which is a technical marvel, Rosetta 2, Big Sur and all its new features, etc. These machines were obviously a labor of love that took a long time to finally make real, and it shows.

I think that's how a new hardware line for productivity would feel. Developers would already have been brought on board, the OS would be ready to go, the silicon would certainly be plenty powerful enough, and Apple will not release that product until all those items are fully in place. To do it any earlier than that would totally negate the hard work they've done with silicon and software and completely undermine the product's success.

 

[007p]

I agree with your conclusion, but I don't 100% agree with the way you got there. I don't think it has to do with money at all. Apple has never been afraid to cannibalize their own product lines when they have something better to step in. They know if they do good work, the money will follow. I know I'll get some eye rolls for saying that, but I don't think Apple would be where they are today if they didn't operate that way. They've proven that to me over the years time and again.

My theory is this:

Apple surely has some ideas about a device that would be even more flexible than a modern day Mac, but with the touch screen and ease of use of a modern day iPad or iPad Pro. I think the thing that's probably holding them back from releasing such a product just yet is simply elegance. It would not be very Apple-like for them to just slap Big Sur on a 12.9" iPad Pro and call it a day, even if they did make it so that you could detach the screen and have it instantly boot into iPadOS. (Not saying you were suggesting that--there are just a lot of people out there who think that's the magic solution.)

When Apple makes that next product that moves beyond both the Mac and iPad, or even just when they make that device for "most people" that genuinely marries the best of both into a truly hybrid device, I believe they're going to do it much more elegantly than most of us are expecting or imagining. (Think MacBook Air with added iPad-ness.) But I think they'd have to do this in a form that they are confident will truly be able to replace both those devices for the type of users that need it to.

The Power PC --> Intel and Intel --> AS transition is actually a great example of how I think they would launch such a device. To me, the M1 Macintosh does not feel like an in-between product. It feels like a product that is absolutely ready for prime time. It is of course not without its teething issues, but those seem like they're going to go away pretty quickly. The user experience is basically, "Wow, this is a really quiet, fast, cool to the touch machine that lasts forever on a charge! How on earth did they do this?" But of course, in the background is that elegance. You have the M1 chip itself, which is a technical marvel, Rosetta 2, Big Sur and all its new features, etc. These machines were obviously a labor of love that took a long time to finally make real, and it shows.

I think that's how a new hardware line for productivity would feel. Developers would already have been brought on board, the OS would be ready to go, the silicon would certainly be plenty powerful enough, and Apple will not release that product until all those items are fully in place. To do it any earlier than that would totally negate the hard work they've done with silicon and software and completely undermine the product's success.

I agree I think there is some new product line that will appear eventually. Probably years away which will be annoying for me.

Having literally just shared my (2013) MacBook with someone because their iPad Pro was incapable of taking a video call in safari, experiencing them first hand not being able to understand that the MacBook doesn’t have a touch screen....wow.
I don’t see how long Apple will be able to ignore touch on macOS for. Sure it’s just one example but I was convinced before this even happened ?

That and clearly iPadOS safari has a little way to go yet.

 

[spiderman0616]

I agree I think there is some new product line that will appear eventually. Probably years away which will be annoying for me.

Having literally just shared my (2013) MacBook with someone because their iPad Pro was incapable of taking a video call in safari, experiencing them first hand not being able to understand that the MacBook doesn’t have a touch screen....wow.
I don’t see how long Apple will be able to ignore touch on macOS for. Sure it’s just one example but I was convinced before this even happened ?

That and clearly iPadOS safari has a little way to go yet.

iPadOS Safari is getting there, but yes, it does still have some things that need to be resolved. I would venture to guess that Safari is one of my most used apps on ALL my Apple devices, so I always welcome any improvements to it. I still think the best thing they ever did for Safari on iPad was when they made it so that it's detected as desktop Safari. That solved about 90% of the problems I had with it.

 

[Hadron]

I agree I think there is some new product line that will appear eventually. Probably years away which will be annoying for me.

Having literally just shared my (2013) MacBook with someone because their iPad Pro was incapable of taking a video call in safari, experiencing them first hand not being able to understand that the MacBook doesn’t have a touch screen....wow.
I don’t see how long Apple will be able to ignore touch on macOS for. Sure it’s just one example but I was convinced before this even happened ?

That and clearly iPadOS safari has a little way to go yet.

I actually feel that MacOS Safari has a way to go: at least on my machine it's been suffering what looks like a memory leak for a month or two now (memory usage rises steadily, irrespective of closing tabs, until eventually the OS announces that it's out of application memory and closes Safari).

And my wife struggles with the fact that my MBP doesn't respond to touch, despite knowing full well that it doesn't have a touchscreen. She's so used to using it on her Dell that muscle memory takes over. And having used touchscreen laptops I view Apple's claims about how useless they are as no different from their previous claims that things other people were doing were inferior until the moment Apple announce that they are introducing them themselves (looks at the Pencil on his desk...).

 

[spiderman0616]

I actually feel that MacOS Safari has a way to go: at least on my machine it's been suffering what looks like a memory leak for a month or two now (memory usage rises steadily, irrespective of closing tabs, until eventually the OS announces that it's out of application memory and closes Safari).

And my wife struggles with the fact that my MBP doesn't respond to touch, despite knowing full well that it doesn't have a touchscreen. She's so used to using it on her Dell that muscle memory takes over. And having used touchscreen laptops I view Apple's claims about how useless they are as no different from their previous claims that things other people were doing were inferior until the moment Apple announce that they are introducing them themselves (looks at the Pencil on his desk...).

I'm a little torn on that so far. With my iPad Pro, the Magic Keyboard held the screen much closer to my hands, so it was easy to reach up and touch the screen when I needed to. With Macbooks, that's not the case, so I'm not sure I'd ever really care about touch that much on a Mac. Of course, like I said above, Apple would probably figure out a way to implement it so that I WOULD care about it.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I'm a little torn on that so far. With my iPad Pro, the Magic Keyboard held the screen much closer to my hands, so it was easy to reach up and touch the screen when I needed to. With Macbooks, that's not the case, so I'm not sure I'd ever really care about touch that much on a Mac. Of course, like I said above, Apple would probably figure out a way to implement it so that I WOULD care about it.

Every time I paired a bluetooth keyboard to my iPad ... I hated how almost every app I used to input text would have me typing on the bottom of the screen with no way to scroll that input up to the top of the screen so my neck wasn't always cranked down.

iAWriter had the typewriter mode where it kept the input at the middle of the screen but over the last few years most apps haven't had this.

This really bummed out text input for the iPad for me. I paid the $150? for the folio keyboard for work travel but I can't really justify $200+ for a "smart keyboard.

So this led me to relegate most of my iPad usage to reading and notepad writing (Notability). There is a noticeable difference writing on a 120hz promotion screen and a normal iPad.

 

[spiderman0616]

Every time I paired a bluetooth keyboard to my iPad ... I hated how almost every app I used to input text would have me typing on the bottom of the screen with no way to scroll that input up to the top of the screen so my neck wasn't always cranked down.

iAWriter had the typewriter mode where it kept the input at the middle of the screen but over the last few years most apps haven't had this.

This really bummed out text input for the iPad for me. I paid the $150? for the folio keyboard for work travel but I can't really justify $200+ for a "smart keyboard.

So this led me to relegate most of my iPad usage to reading and notepad writing (Notability). There is a noticeable difference writing on a 120hz promotion screen and a normal iPad.

That's really the key issue with iPad though, isn't it? I feel like for the most part, Apple does have the tools in place for developers to make their apps compatible with the more recent features, namely multi-window with slide over support, full Magic Keyboard support, heck even screen rotation.

I find that iPadOS is a perfectly fine OS for me to get things done on. The shortcomings mostly seem to be from 3rd party apps that just aren't good "citizens" on the iPad. It's really a shame, and I think it's something Apple needs to solve to get the iPad to that next level of utility.

 

[CSBBody]

I still use my iPad Pro 12.9 with MKB,more than my MBA, i still prefer dragged it around the house and working on it, basic stuff, emails, research, planning. I know the pro is overkill, and probably not what the heart of your question was after. No I don’t use the pro as a “pro” device in terms of pushing its limits.

I feel grabbing a laptop is a chore, even though its lighter than the 12.9 and MKB. I feel working on a laptop feels cumbersome, this can simply be familiarity and my own biases, as i have always worked on an iMac, or some desktop setup with my laptops just sitting in clamshell, with the rare occasion needing it as an actual laptop when traveling.

iPad remains my favorite device, despite its limitations, and i am not able to go all in, but i actually like the separation, i know when i need to go up to my office and put some concerted effort in, that i feel far more comfortable working on MacOS.

It is still a supplementary device, and i will be first inline for whatever comes next (within reason)

 

[sparksd]

I still use my iPad Pro 12.9 with MKB,more than my MBA, i still prefer dragged it around the house and working on it, basic stuff, emails, research, planning. I know the pro is overkill, and probably not what the heart of your question was after. No I don’t use the pro as a “pro” device in terms of pushing its limits.

I feel grabbing a laptop is a chore, even though its lighter than the 12.9 and MKB. I feel working on a laptop feels cumbersome, this can simply be familiarity and my own biases, as i have always worked on an iMac, or some desktop setup with my laptops just sitting in clamshell, with the rare occasion needing it as an actual laptop when traveling.

iPad remains my favorite device, despite its limitations, and i am not able to go all in, but i actually like the separation, i know when i need to go up to my office and put some concerted effort in, that i feel far more comfortable working on MacOS.

It is still a supplementary device, and i will be first inline for whatever comes next (within reason)

I would echo this about my 2018 12.9 Pro and Dell XPS 13 laptop. Both have their place.

 

[TomOSeven]

I really wish the iPad were still relevant to me, but it’s so hard to justify owning one at this point.
It’s just such a sexy little computer, and I absolutely love the hardware of the gurret gen iPad Pro. But I never use my time productively on it. If I use it as an e-reader, I get distracted by other stuff. I can’t use it for pixel art, because Aseprite isn’t out yet. I can’t use it for WhatsApp, because Apple doesn’t want to lose iPhone sales. I can’t write code on it, because it has no proper file system and no mainstream editors. Browsing the web without a proper ad blocker is a nightmare, and even for Netflix the MacBook (or any laptop for that matter) is a much better device.
Once you add a keyboard and a cover, you’re almost in MacBook Air territory, both price and weight wise. And since I still use wired headphones, wireless ones would be yet another purchase. I’m genuinely considering just selling mine.

 

[Hadron]

Well on the last point a £9 adapter deals with the need for wireless headphones (just as you need for an iPhone, or most high-end Androids these days). It's an annoyance forced on us for entirely self-serving reasons by the manufacturers (I never felt it was a coincidence that Apple did this just after buying a headphone manufacturer), but it's minor compared to buying new headphones.

But yes, for me iPadOS means it can only be a secondary device. I do have specific productivity needs for which it's useful to have a tablet, but without those I'd not own one.

 

[jwolf6589]

I really wish the iPad were still relevant to me, but it’s so hard to justify owning one at this point.
It’s just such a sexy little computer, and I absolutely love the hardware of the gurret gen iPad Pro. But I never use my time productively on it. If I use it as an e-reader, I get distracted by other stuff. I can’t use it for pixel art, because Aseprite isn’t out yet. I can’t use it for WhatsApp, because Apple doesn’t want to lose iPhone sales. I can’t write code on it, because it has no proper file system and no mainstream editors. Browsing the web without a proper ad blocker is a nightmare, and even for Netflix the MacBook (or any laptop for that matter) is a much better device.
Once you add a keyboard and a cover, you’re almost in MacBook Air territory, both price and weight wise. And since I still use wired headphones, wireless ones would be yet another purchase. I’m genuinely considering just selling mine.

I love my IPad Mini 5 and use it all the time. So to each his own.

 

[rui no onna]

I really wish the iPad were still relevant to me, but it’s so hard to justify owning one at this point.
It’s just such a sexy little computer, and I absolutely love the hardware of the gurret gen iPad Pro. But I never use my time productively on it. If I use it as an e-reader, I get distracted by other stuff. I can’t use it for pixel art, because Aseprite isn’t out yet. I can’t use it for WhatsApp, because Apple doesn’t want to lose iPhone sales. I can’t write code on it, because it has no proper file system and no mainstream editors. Browsing the web without a proper ad blocker is a nightmare, and even for Netflix the MacBook (or any laptop for that matter) is a much better device.
Once you add a keyboard and a cover, you’re almost in MacBook Air territory, both price and weight wise. And since I still use wired headphones, wireless ones would be yet another purchase. I’m genuinely considering just selling mine.

Lol, I don't even pretend that I buy iPads for productivity. I get them for entertainment which, honestly, is what my personal laptop was for before getting replaced by the iPad. I've got an employer-supplied desktop and laptop which I leave in the office for work.

As for web browsing, AdGuard seems to work fine for the sites I visit.

Of course, I do prefer the tablet form factor. I never use use physical keyboards with the iPad when at home.

 

[Falhófnir]

Same as @rui no onna - the iPad is still the ‘middle’ device for me as originally envisioned. Laptop or office desktop for working on, phone for using quickly out and about, iPad for enjoying at home.

 

[rui no onna]

Same as @rui no onna - the iPad is still the ‘middle’ device for me as originally envisioned. Laptop or office desktop for working on, phone for using quickly out and about, iPad for enjoying at home.

I carry the LTE iPad 10.5" in my purse all the time so it does get used out and about as long as there's some place I can sit on: in the car (passenger), cafes, hospital waiting rooms, etc.

The phone, I pretty much use for calls, messaging, taking pictures or while shopping (grocery shopping list, checking barcodes for prices, etc).

 

[BigMcGuire]

I carry the LTE iPad 10.5" in my purse all the time so it does get used out and about as long as there's some place I can sit on: in the car (passenger), cafes, hospital waiting rooms, etc.

The phone, I pretty much use for calls, messaging, taking pictures or while shopping (grocery shopping list, checking barcodes for prices, etc).

I keep getting tempted by the iPad mini 5 but ... I know the text on the 10.5 and 11' Pro is so much nicer.

 

[Falhófnir]

I carry the LTE iPad 10.5" in my purse all the time so it does get used out and about as long as there's some place I can sit on: in the car (passenger), cafes, hospital waiting rooms, etc.

The phone, I pretty much use for calls, messaging, taking pictures or while shopping (grocery shopping list, checking barcodes for prices, etc).

I’ve never found I need anything more than the phone can offer while out, but I don’t tend to spend that much time out unless I’m specifically doing something. Living out in the sticks makes it a bit of a work up to frequent cafés or the like and of course no real bus or train services to speak of!

 

[tops2]

I keep getting tempted by the iPad mini 5 but ... I know the text on the 10.5 and 11' Pro is so much nicer.

Just curious why's the text nicer on the 10.5 and 11" Pro Vs the mini 5?

I ended up getting the 11" Pro thinking text will be much larger..but enough of the websites I go to (like Arstechnica and other sites) that the text still basically just as small as on my mini 4. Personally, I still keep going back to my mini 4 for general use due to size and convenience.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Just curious why's the text nicer on the 10.5 and 11" Pro Vs the mini 5?

I ended up getting the 11" Pro thinking text will be much larger..but enough of the websites I go to (like Arstechnica and other sites) that the text still basically just as small as on my mini 4. Personally, I still keep going back to my mini 4 for general use due to size and convenience.

The first thing I usually do is set my text to the second to lowest option (size wise) - and do most of my reading on that.

Comparing the two for me (mini 5 and the 2018 11 Pro) - there was a big difference in screen size text. I didn't take a picture so I have to go off of memory (February 2020 - when I got my 11 Pro).

Maybe my setting the text down affected my decision? I thought even on the default setting there was a bit of a difference.

Biggest thing for me - I want the iPad mini 5 for the ability to read 1 handed without a pillow on my lap.

 

[TomOSeven]

I love my IPad Mini 5 and use it all the time. So to each his own.

I think an iPad Mini with USB-C and Pencil 2 could tempt me away from my position.

 

[jwolf6589]

I think an iPad Mini with USB-C and Pencil 2 could tempt me away from my position.

Well it supports pencil 1 and I charge my device using a usb C charger.

 

[tops2]

The first thing I usually do is set my text to the second to lowest option (size wise) - and do most of my reading on that.

Comparing the two for me (mini 5 and the 2018 11 Pro) - there was a big difference in screen size text. I didn't take a picture so I have to go off of memory (February 2020 - when I got my 11 Pro).

Maybe my setting the text down affected my decision? I thought even on the default setting there was a bit of a difference.

Biggest thing for me - I want the iPad mini 5 for the ability to read 1 handed without a pillow on my lap.

Does the adjusting text size affect websites though? I know about that "AA" button in Safari to set font size. But I noticed sometimes sites would do some strange things with the zooming. Sometimes sites would be zoomed in with me needing to scroll the site to read all text across the page and I can't unzoom. Good thing I usually use Reeder or Pocket so I can adjust the font size that way.

Yeah..dropping the mini on the face when dozing off definitely hurts less than dropping my 11" Pro. ?

 

[sunking101]

The iPad Air also brings those features to the table.

My point was, what does the iPad pro bring to the table, that the iPad Air and M1 both do not.
Do certain people really need the increased screen real estate and other iPad Pro exclusive features that much, that the iPad Air will not suffice?

The Air 4 is barely cheaper than the Pro here in the UK.