iPad Pro Eight. Gigabytes. Of RAM.

[H_D]

Damn, the iPad now has the same HW as the MacBooks do. M4, 16GB, 1/2TB. I would love to see some way to make the device boot in iPadOS or MacOS. It would save me so much Schlepping on holidays if the iPad 13 could be used for reading at night and serious working with Adobe CC etc during the daytime. I do not believe this would cut into MacBook sales, but it would SERIOUSLY boost iPad sales, even if MacOS would be non-touch-mode only (which it shouldn't, MacOS would be so much fun with touchable UI).

 

[H_D]

With Apple, at least these last years, you really always have to get the upper echelon of the «pro» models. A MBP with a «Pro» Chip is not a good idea. A MBA with M4 only, however is. They should simply cut out the middle and be serious about «pro» tools without gimping the mid-tier-products.

On the other hand, at least 11 and 13 now are closer together in specs.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

In all honesty, the people that need more than 8GB of memory are probably also the same people that need more than 512GB of storage.

 

[off3nc3]

The 1TB option gets you 16GB of RAM. For a price.

Yea and how will you utilize the 16 gigs of ram with ipadOS ? ipadOS is the problem.

 

[Populus]

In all honesty, the people that need more than 8GB of memory are probably also the same people that need more than 512GB of storage.

To be fair, putting the 16BG of RAM on the 512GB model would create a well balanced value. So much, that it could probably oversell the other options, canibalizing the 1TB and 2TB models. Man, they know how to price their products to push you over the upsell ladder…

 

[Populus]

Yea and how will you utilize the 16 gigs of ram with ipadOS ? ipadOS is the problem.

Maybe they will give us a surprise in WWDC… I saw a couple of macOS monitors being crushed on the press to form the new iPad Pro. One can dream…

 

[rui no onna]

To be fair, putting the 16BG of RAM on the 512GB model would create a well balanced value. So much, that it could probably oversell the other options, canibalizing the 1TB and 2TB models. Man, they know how to price their products to push you over the upsell ladder…

The extra 8GB RAM isn’t free though.

Air 13”
$1099 512GB
$1299 1TB

Pro 13”
$1499 512GB
$1899 1TB

A hypothetical iPad Pro 13” with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD would likely cost $1699. Still, it would’ve been nice if at the very least, the iPad Pros let you customize RAM and storage like on MacBooks.

 

[coffeemilktea]

Also, does this mean 8GB will live on in M4 Macs?

Imagine this: it's the year 2034, and we're still stuck with 8 GB of RAM in the base model. Unrealistic? Nah, it's the legacy of the Cook era. 🤪

 

[bradman83]

Damn, the iPad now has the same HW as the MacBooks do. M4, 16GB, 1/2TB.

The M1 and M2 iPad Pros also offered 16GB on the 1TB and higher configurations.

 

[thefriendshipmachine]

hiii! i might be totally wrong but i remember maybe that the 256gb (or maybe 128?) SSD is slower in the M2 too and that its better to get the 512gb model so you get a faster one? does anyone maybe know if thats true on the M4 too or if the 256gb is just as speedy?

 

[EugW]

hiii! i might be totally wrong but i remember maybe that the 256gb SSD is slower in the M2 too and that its better to get the 512gb model so you get a faster one? does anyone maybe know if thats true on the M4 too or if the 256gb is just as speedy?

We'll probably find out next week or the next after that. Not that I care though for my own usage.

 

[rui no onna]

hiii! i might be totally wrong but i remember maybe that the 256gb (or maybe 128?) SSD is slower in the M2 too and that its better to get the 512gb model so you get a faster one? does anyone maybe know if thats true on the M4 too or if the 256gb is just as speedy?

Likely still the case. That’s kinda normal when it comes to SSDs. It’s not just Apple.

 

[bob24]

The 1TB option gets you 16GB of RAM. For a price.

True, but it is a very costly RAM upgrade if you don’t happen to also need the extra storage. If Apple is acknowledging that 16GB of RAM makes senses on the ipad, IMO they should offer it as upgrade with the 256 and 512 versions (As they do for Macs).

 

[bob24]

hiii! i might be totally wrong but i remember maybe that the 256gb (or maybe 128?) SSD is slower in the M2 too and that its better to get the 512gb model so you get a faster one? does anyone maybe know if thats true on the M4 too or if the 256gb is just as speedy?

No one knows for sure at this stage, but it is quiet likely as the lowest flash storage capacity options are often slower vs others.

 

[bob24]

To be fair, putting the 16BG of RAM on the 512GB model would create a well balanced value. So much, that it could probably oversell the other options, canibalizing the 1TB and 2TB models. Man, they know how to price their products to push you over the upsell ladder…

That’s basically it yes. They know that many of the customers who are interested in 16GB of RAM would actually be fine with 512 or even 256GB of storage, and their pricing strategy is aimed at forcing those people to also pay for storage they don’t need if they want their 16GB of RAM.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

Given how often Safari reloads tabs, I disagree. Or maybe the software needs more optimizing.

It's the software. Don't be surprised if a lot of the perceived slow downs are actually due to iPadOS. I found this to be true going to the iPhone 15 Plus. Still lags occasionally here-and-there and I know it ain't the hardware...

 

[thefriendshipmachine]

i was on engadget reading about the new ipad pro and they said the 1TB version also has a better processor

iPad Pro 2024 vs. 2022: What’s changed

Apple updated its top-of-the-line tablets at its Let Loose event today. Our comparison lets you quickly glance at all the changes to the new model — big and small — to help you decide whether it’s worth the upgrade.

www.engadget.com

> Apple is shipping different chip variants depending on your pricing tier. The 1TB and 2TB versions of the 2024 model have that 10-core chip, while the 256GB and 512GB models drop down to a nine-core M4 with three performance and six efficiency cores.

 

[EugW]

i was on engadget reading about the new ipad pro and they said the 1TB version also has a better processor

iPad Pro 2024 vs. 2022: What’s changed

Apple updated its top-of-the-line tablets at its Let Loose event today. Our comparison lets you quickly glance at all the changes to the new model — big and small — to help you decide whether it’s worth the upgrade.

www.engadget.com

> Apple is shipping different chip variants depending on your pricing tier. The 1TB and 2TB versions of the 2024 model have that 10-core chip, while the 256GB and 512GB models drop down to a nine-core M4 with three performance and six efficiency cores.

Yes. It's listed on Apple's iPad Pro Tech Specs page.

 

[thefriendshipmachine]

Yes. It's listed on Apple's iPad Pro Tech Specs page.

View attachment 2375630

oooh thank you, i didnt fully understand it there the first time i think! i just cancelled my 256GB order and switched to the 1TB 🙈

 

[EugW]

oooh thank you, i didnt fully understand it there the first time i think! i just cancelled my 256GB order and switched to the 1TB 🙈

Why?

 

[thefriendshipmachine]

Why?

thats a fair question to ask! I kept my iPad 2018 for 5 years, and I just want to make sure I can keep this one for at least that long too i think. Do you think its not worth it?

 

[gusping]

It's the software. Don't be surprised if a lot of the perceived slow downs are actually due to iPadOS. I found this to be true going to the iPhone 15 Plus. Still lags occasionally here-and-there and I know it ain't the hardware...

There is definitely something about not always rushing to the latest OS, and that's before you factor in how buggy Apple's software has gotten over the last 5 years...

 

[bradman83]

No one knows for sure at this stage, but it is quiet likely as the lowest flash storage capacity options are often slower vs others.

The M2 series base storage was slower because it used a single NAND chip, whereas higher capacities used two chips. Two chips mean data can be read and written in parallel. Based on third party tests and teardowns Apple rectified this design decision/flaw in the M3 series - the base 256 GB MacBook Air M3 uses two NAND chips and gets significantly better SSD performance, comparable to higher storage tiers.

 

[EugW]

thats a fair question to ask! I kept my iPad 2018 for 5 years, and I just want to make sure I can keep this one for at least that long too i think. Do you think its not worth it?

It depends on what you do with it, but if you have to ask, it's probably not worth it. The 9-core M4 is probably close to as fast as M2, which is over twice as fast as your 2018's A12X. The M4 256 GB also has 8 GB RAM, half the 16 GB in the 1 TB model, but twice the 4 GB in your 2018.

I'm buying the 11" iPad Pro 256 GB with 9-core SoC and 8 GB RAM.

 

[BradGD]

Given how often Safari reloads tabs, I disagree. Or maybe the software needs more optimizing.

I've had iPPs with both 8GB and 16GB RAM and Safari reloads tabs at the same annoying frequency on both. In my opinion it's a software issue, not a RAM limitation. So don't spend $600 or whatever in hopes it stops Safari issues.