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Gelam

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 31, 2021
189
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Hey all of you who have already receive the M4 iPad Pros.

How are the speakers? And how do they sound compared to the M2 iPP and the older generations?
I have heard mixed reviews about them.
 
They are worse, speaking of 13 M4 vs 12.9 M1, I read thinner form factor's impact and subjectively I think it's very true. Not trash by any means, but sound is not as deep as it used to be. Kind of flat I would say.
I would agree with this. Side by side my 12.9 M1 sounds a little more full compared to the slightly flatter M4. I figured that would be a compromise on a thinner body when they announced. Not bad but not quite as good.
 
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They are worse, speaking of 13 M4 vs 12.9 M1, I read thinner form factor's impact and subjectively I think it's very true. Not trash by any means, but sound is not as deep as it used to be. Kind of flat I would say.
I would agree with this. Side by side my 12.9 M1 sounds a little more full compared to the slightly flatter M4. I figured that would be a compromise on a thinner body when they announced. Not bad but not quite as good.
Looks like Apple did not manage to compensate the thinner speakers with a larger/longer driver.
Also interestingly, in Jerryrigs video, we manage to see the M4 iPP speakers has a different driver shape. They are
now circular instead of oval shaped.

If the M1 12.9" deepness/clarity/quality/richness is 100%
What would you rate the new 13" M4 as?
 
Subjective - if 12'9 M1 was 100%, 13 M4 is 85%-90% for me.

@Gelam thanks for confirmation, so it's also hardware change on drivers. The price for thinner form, in the end I believe everyone will get use to it with time. Unless you gonna use older 12,9 iPads to remind you :)
 
I upgraded from a gen 4 iPad air to the M4 Pro 13. Audio quality seems good to me (I also have a 16 inch M3 MBP and it sounds comparable minus some bass response). But I am surprised that I have to crank the volume up to 60 or 75% just to match the volume of my iPad air at only 20% volume or so. I'm receiving a 11 inch M4 iPad today, so I will be able to compare later. Not sure if the volume scaling is just alot different from older iPads or maybe my speakers are just a bit quiet.

edit-

Just wanted to provide a little update. As far as my speakers seeming quiet, it seems like it's just a different audio scaling on these new iPads. 0-50% audio seems to go in much smaller, minute increments. Not necessarily a bad thing. But past 50% volume, it does really start climbing quicker. And at full it's just as loud as my previous iPad.

I've been able to test the new 11 and 13 side by side, and there are a few things one would expect. The 13 is a bit louder overall (bigger speakers and all) and also packs a slight bit more bass. But honestly, if I were not listening to these side by side for direct comparison, I would be completely happy with either one. The sound is very good.

I can't compare to any previous generation of iPad pros. Just my 4th gen air. So take this as you will!
 
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11” M4 pro here and compared to my 10.5 Pro the sound is pretty bad. I have been comparing the two side by side with lossless audio and if I didn’t love the display it would be going back. Clarity is nearly gone, mids are way flatter no punch compared to the 10.5. Bass is non existent but wasn’t great on the 10.5, but it tried at least. The new speakers on the M4 Pro even with EQ tweaking are a let down for sure.
 
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11” M4 pro here and compared to my 10.5 Pro the sound is pretty bad. I have been comparing the two side by side with lossless audio and if I didn’t love the display it would be going back. Clarity is nearly gone, mids are way flatter no punch compared to the 10.5. Bass is non existent but wasn’t great on the 10.5, but it tried at least. The new speakers on the M4 Pro even with EQ tweaking are a let down for sure.
Yikes! Yeah some others are claiming the same thing!
 
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I upgraded from a gen 4 iPad air to the M4 Pro 13. Audio quality seems good to me (I also have a 16 inch M3 MBP and it sounds comparable minus some bass response). But I am surprised that I have to crank the volume up to 60 or 75% just to match the volume of my iPad air at only 20% volume or so. I'm receiving a 11 inch M4 iPad today, so I will be able to compare later. Not sure if the volume scaling is just alot different from older iPads or maybe my speakers are just a bit quiet.

edit-

Just wanted to provide a little update. As far as my speakers seeming quiet, it seems like it's just a different audio scaling on these new iPads. 0-50% audio seems to go in much smaller, minute increments. Not necessarily a bad thing. But past 50% volume, it does really start climbing quicker. And at full it's just as loud as my previous iPad.

I've been able to test the new 11 and 13 side by side, and there are a few things one would expect. The 13 is a bit louder overall (bigger speakers and all) and also packs a slight bit more bass. But honestly, if I were not listening to these side by side for direct comparison, I would be completely happy with either one. The sound is very good.

I can't compare to any previous generation of iPad pros. Just my 4th gen air. So take this as you will!
Yeah the 2018-2022 iPad pros had amazing speakers and it seems it’s definitely not the case with the M4 series in comparison. The air always had inferior speakers to the pros for years.
 
Glad I’m coming from an Air 5 and not as likely to notice any issues, because I’m not returning mine. ;-p

I don‘t really recall how my last 11” pro sounded.
 
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Have my m1 12.9 xdr, a m2 12.9 xdr and they are set up to the m4 13 oled.
audio testing to begin.
the m1 and m2 sound the same and the m4 does not.
there is not as much base on the m4 and the volume controls work differently. That is to say the m/1/2 go up and down in pretty even increments. On the m4 0-50 are the minutest of changes and then it really cranks.

it appears the m/1/2 are more robust in sound when compared directly to m4. They all get plenty loud and are easy to listen too.

IMO all 3 have More than adequate spearkers and I can’t see a decision be made on that choice alone.
 
Yikes! Yeah some others are claiming the same thing!
Oh man this reddit thread is so much full of infos compared to this MacRumors thread. That's very disappointing, apparently speakers on both models were downgraded, even compared to the 2018/2020 models. In the 12.9 the M1 has been a clear upgrade in speakers, and now it's even worse than the 2018.
I was still tempeted, I saw this morning they are 10% at a retailer, but for me speakers are extremely important... :(
 
Oh man this reddit thread is so much full of infos compared to this MacRumors thread. That's very disappointing, apparently speakers on both models were downgraded, even compared to the 2018/2020 models. In the 12.9 the M1 has been a clear upgrade in speakers, and now it's even worse than the 2018.
I was still tempeted, I saw this morning they are 10% at a retailer, but for me speakers are extremely important... :(
Can confirm not as good as M1, been going between both, I use speakers a lot in my home office, everything else is better though lol
who asked for thinner :(
 
You will be disappointed.
I know, I will not be replacing my M1. I was maybe considering replacing my 2018 pro, but if they are even worse than that, not even that is worth it (I have been spoiled by the M1 and by the Tab S9 amazing speakers that even the 2018 is barely enough). Maybe I'll wait for a future larger iPad ultra if it ever comes, hoping at least that will have decent speakers
 
Greetings,

just to be sure: Did you disable the volume adjustment in the settings of the music app?

In General, the speakers of my 2024 13 do not have the clarity of the 2021 12.9 iPad. Sound like the mids are too strong. Maybe this is a result of the approach to generate a a solid bass (and bass sounds good on my device).
Speakers are still better compared to nearly all Windows Laptops, but within the Apple universe, this is a slight downturn.
However, maybe this will be optimzed with a coming iPad OS update.
 
I compared my M4 Pro 11" to my M1 pro 11" and yes i noticed the M4 was not as detailed. Also got the M4 Pro 13" as well and that sounds a bit better due to the larger casing I guess.

The thing is though due to them being so thin now the rear casing and glass screen vibrate quite bad with medium volume. The 13 being much worse that the 11.

I know speakers have to vibrate to work but in conjunction with such a thin case this is what happens.
 
As many have shared, the soundstage is indeed of worse quality. Audio feels more compressed, too. Most affected are bass and mids, with strings still having similar levels of fidelity of other Apple products.
 
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