iPad Pro M1 Owners: Are you going to upgrade?

[aakshey]

Same here. I had the OG iPad Pro and I liked the screen size, but the weight/unwieldiness of it ended up pushing me back to the smaller iPad. I have the M1 iPad Pro and it has been great, but I use my iPad as a laptop replacement more now than ever before and I am super ready for both a bigger screen and a full-size keyboard.

Even I’m going from 11 M1 to 13 M4
No keyboard though

 

[teralpar]

Yes, upgrading from an 11" M1 to the 13" M4.

 

[heretiq]

I’m still on the fence. The only thing that makes me want to is the oled screen. I have both a 11” and 12.9” and would need both magic keyboards and the new pencil so upgrading for me would be very expensive. I just can’t imagine needing anything more than what I currently have.

I’m upgrading from my 12.9” M1 iPad Pro to the 13” M4 iPad Pro because it is thinner and lighter. The increased performance and better screens are a bonus. I’m also getting the Pencil Pro because I want to be prepared to take advantage of every iPadOS enhancement that is announced at WWDC 24. I’m getting the new Magic Keyboard largely because it’s also the best stand for the iPad that I’ve seen — I would buy a cantilever stand that matched the design, quality, footprint and utility of the Magic Keyboard but haven’t found one.

 

[Ghost31]

Definitely not, definitely not worth the upgrade from 12.9 M1.
I like it is lighter and it is OLED (but maybe it will be too easy to bend it?), but if I wanted to upgrade I would wait for ios18.
If ios18 won't be a revolution then the upgrade will be not worth it at all.
It's too expensive as a browser, reader and a paper holder

And even then, most of the iOS updates will probably just be on your existing iPad as well so whatever features you get, you won’t need the new iPad anyway.

 

[ndouglas]

Back in 2021, I bought the iPad Pro 12.9 (5th Gen), Wi-Fi only, in the 1TB size when it was released, along with the Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard.

I just now ordered the new iPad Pro 13” (M4 chip), Wi-Fi only, in the 2TB size, with Pencil Pro and Magic Keyboard.

Reasons? My current iPad’s battery has diminished in it’s charge level and has noticeable less battery life than when it was new. I also need (want?) the OLED display as I use the Adobe Creative Suite. Additionally, I’m also looking forward to the lighter weight of both the iPad and of the keyboard.

Any links or info about how much lighter the keyboard is? I guess it may take time… when I looked on apple.com they seem to list the ipad weights as virtually identical to 2021 models… “tech specs” on the keyboard in the apple store app shows no weight info for it.

EDIT: Ok, so revisiting the specs for the tablet itself, 11” models seems to be about 16-18 grams lighter… good I guess. But kind of funny to me folks are considering that lighter in a significant way. Still, if the new keyboard is lighter too then I guess it might* be noticeable…

 

[ndouglas]

I was on the fence a little, mainly for the new OLED screen and I love new Apple products.

But I have the M1 2021 11“ 3rd Gen, and the only reason I’d use the OLED would really be for a couple films and watching YouTube Videos, and a little editing my Drone videos / photos.

I would then need to try sell this, and then there’s the new accessories outlay, Pencil, Logitech Keyboard (when released) and a screen protector, that’s already an extra £300 on top, plus extra to make up the new iPad difference.

I checked my battery health for my M1 which is sitting at 88%, fine for a purchase on April 2022

The M1 chip for my needs is still going very much strong.

Same here, i haven’t checked the % lately but I remain very impressed with the battery life of mine, same model 2021 11”. I think it’s probably >90 still. Will check sometime soon. Wish it was easier to do w/o connecting to coconut batttery app on the Mac only.

 

[Surfsalot]

Don’t iPad owners always get skunked at wwdc lol

 

[gotong]

Kept my M1 12.9-inch and ordered M4 11-inch 🤞

 

[prospervic]

Kept my M1 12.9-inch and ordered M4 11-inch 🤞

I think I’m going to make both of those moves. But I want to see what happens with iOS 18. After WWDC I’ll know for sure.

 

[MacDaddyPanda]

I don't feel the need to. While the 13" would be a nice to have. I haven't used my ipad Pro as much beyond as a glorified Remote for my home theatre. I'll probably hold on to my M1 for a while longer.

 

[DeepSix]

It depends how much better the battery life is compared to M1 and how much better the OLED screen is and how much brighter it is. Im willing to pay more for a brighter and better screen. I did it with my phone, when I went from 1200nits to 1750nits. It was night and day difference and there was no going back. It makes the device more usable and more pleasant to use in bright sunny conditions.

But overall the new OLED iPads are very poor value especially since we have to buy a new pencil and new case and/or keyboard to go with it. I have a $250 Logitech Combo Touch case that I bought just last year. So because the new ipad is thinner, I will have to buy the same case again when Logitech puts one out? Tough to justify that.

I will check it out in person on Wednesday but this new ipad literally has to blow me away for me to justify the money to upgrade. The better and brighter screen has to make the overall ipad experience that much better. Would likely cost me $1000CAD just to upgrade it after I sell my current M1 ipad with the case and pencil.

 

[DeepSix]

I initially ordered the M4. But then I slept on it. The issue I am having now is that the 13" iPad Pro costs $2,048 at the minimum spec I would buy (512GB, cell, with keyboard). Deducting my $510 trade in would mean I am shelling out over $1,500 net (before Applecare, additional covers, new pencil, etc). What I am I getting for that - a lighter package, additional storage, and a new landscape front camera. OLED seems nice, but Mini LED is also very nice. M4 looks great, but it would have no additional impact on my workflow. So I am not sure the upgrade makes sense for me at that price.

Honestly, it’s really REALLY poor value and that’s saying it lightly. For instance if someone wanted it just for the OLED screen to watch content on, you can get a much larger OLED tv for the same money…and you keep your current ipad. Much more value there.

The 40% price increase over the current M1 and M2 iPads is greedy to say the least. I can understand 10-15% but 40%?

 

[Macalicious2011]

This is my 4th iPad. The day I replace my M1 128GB iPad is the day Apple announce a new iPad with an OS that enables me to replace my both my M1 iPad and MacBook.

Until then, there is no real life gain to switch from M1 to M2 or M4. The performance is the same unless you edit large videos on the device or use procreate with 30-50 layers.

 

[julesme]

As a side note, your comment brings-up an interesting point: the upgrade is more significant for 11" users as they never got the miniLED upgrade.

The sad reality for us M1 iPad Pro (11”) owners is that most HDR content doesn’t look great by today’s standards, especially if there are dark scenes. When Apple added miniLED to the 12.9”, this only emphasized the disparity for 11” owners.

To add insult to injury, the overly dark HDR problem (on the 11” Pro) is oddly more pronounced in the Apple TV app, and the only way to turn off HDR (so the dark areas are visible) is to turn on “low battery” mode.

Is that a reason to upgrade? Well, in my case, I hadn’t decided yet, but then I accidentally cracked the screen a couple weeks ago. Now I’m getting the M4.

 

[prospervic]

Honestly, it’s really REALLY poor value and that’s saying it lightly. For instance if someone wanted it just for the OLED screen to watch content on, you can get a much larger OLED tv for the same money…and you keep your current ipad. Much more value there.

The 40% price increase over the current M1 and M2 iPads is greedy to say the least. I can understand 10-15% but 40%?

Huh? Where are you getting 40% from? The $1299/$999 starting price includes bumped up storage to 256 GB, which would’ve cost you $100 more on the previous iPad anyway. So, technically the price increase is only $100.

 

[teh_hunterer]

If I was still using my (11") M1 iPad Pro as my main device I would definitely upgrade.

Seeing as I've got a 16" MacBook Pro now, the iPad is used in bed and on planes for the most part and I just don't think it's quite worth the upgrade for me.

 

[jonnyb098]

It certainly depends on the person. I remember when the iPhone X was released and there were many here who suddenly claimed LCD iPhones were rubbish because the screen was so much better on the X. Now we pretty much all have OLED iPhones and some of us used OLED and LCD side by side and in reality it was a load of fuss about very small improvements. It might be very different on a larger screen iPad of course, but I doubt everybody will be that fussed and these iPads will appeal to the niche that are willing to pay big money for a difference they can see.

Exactly. I do design work for a living and notice all these differences but is my OLED iPhone OMG level different compared to the pre-OLED iPhone? Not really except in a dark room. It’s a bigger deal about outdoor brightness. But apples color quality on all their screens for years has been unmatched. Some of the android OLED phones look like utter garbage as far as color, green tints, obnoxiously over saturated colors. OLED is diminishing returns unless in a dark room. Which is why it’s great for movies.

Most people use their phones for browsing the web, social media, texting. In this cases OLED is pointless. Hell everyone complains about HDR instagram videos burning their eyeballs anyway.

 

[jonnyb098]

Honestly, it’s really REALLY poor value and that’s saying it lightly. For instance if someone wanted it just for the OLED screen to watch content on, you can get a much larger OLED tv for the same money…and you keep your current ipad. Much more value there.

The 40% price increase over the current M1 and M2 iPads is greedy to say the least. I can understand 10-15% but 40%?

Apple made a huge mistake not making the new pencil and keyboard no backwards compatible. They would’ve gotten $429 from many current ipad Pro/air customers. The price to upgrade from an M1 or M2 pro is painful at best even with trade in. Especially given the fact the lower storage models get a binned chip and Apple charges so much to upgrade storage (yet doesn’t return any of that cost when you trade in)….

 

[meDANOcine]

Yes I’m upgrading because I am very annoyed by the mini-LED blooming issues and the shadow that outlines the entire screen.
There is no performance reason that I need to upgrade. Battery life on the M1 is still stellar for me, never had an issue with maxing out the M1.

 

[DeepSix]

Apple made a huge mistake not making the new pencil and keyboard no backwards compatible. They would’ve gotten $429 from many current ipad Pro/air customers. The price to upgrade from an M1 or M2 pro is painful at best even with trade in. Especially given the fact the lower storage models get a binned chip and Apple charges so much to upgrade storage (yet doesn’t return any of that cost when you trade in)….

Having to rebuy all your current accessories is ridiculous. I want to use my pencil 2 on it. I couldn't care less about haptic feedback or the twist feature that they put into pencil pro. Wow you can twist the pencil pro and it reacts on the screen...so innovative!

For people who have an expensive case for their current Ipad, they have to buy it again. Samsung does it right and offers very good trade in offers and it often does include a keyboard case. And the customers save a lot of money.

 

[prospervic]

Yes I’m upgrading because I am very annoyed by the mini-LED blooming issues and the shadow that outlines the entire screen.
There is no performance reason that I need to upgrade. Battery life on the M1 is still stellar for me, never had an issue with maxing out the M1.

Funny. I’ve never experienced any problems with the alleged blooming on my M1. Just lucky I guess.

 

[heretiq]

Funny. I’ve never experienced any problems with the alleged blooming on my M1. Just lucky I guess.

+1. Same here. Never experienced blooming on my M1 iPad Pro either (if it occurred I never noticed it). The primary reason I’m trading it in for the M4 iPad Pro is because the M4 is thinner and lighter — the horizontal camera is secondary driver and the OLED and performance improvements are a tertiary bonus.

 

[jonnyb098]

Funny. I’ve never experienced any problems with the alleged blooming on my M1. Just lucky I guess.

Blooming is a non issue unless you use your ipad in a dark room at 50+ percent brightness which….good luck…Your retinas will burn out of your skull soon and none of it will matter 🤣

 

[thadoggfather]

No,... I have a 1TB M1 iPad Pro... It'll cost me ~$3000 CAD to upgrade for a similar experience that's highly neutered by iPadOS.

My main gripe right now is my M1 iPad Pro stills screams and works perfectly fine - with exception to the battery. For a company that's now holding back stickers to save the environment, they sure could just replace the battery in my iPad and I could easily get another 2-3 years out of it - but no, they want me to throw away the keyboard, pen and iPad to go buy a bunch of new devices, packaging, and carbon footprint from shipping.

I've hit a point where I just don't think I can support the hypocrisy and anti-consumer ways of Apple anymore. There's not enough value to justify it anymore for me.

Should say a lot coming from someone who has been an Apple customer since the iPhone 3G (owned the 3G, 4,5,6,7,X,11,12,14PM and multiple iPads/MBPs over the years). My entire family is also on Apple products (phones/laptops/homepods/airpods etc). My plan is to still continue a MBP refresh, but moving everything else away in products that are less ecosystem locked and legitimately half the price.

im feeling a little burnt out on upgrade cycles too mostly being exorbitantly priced and largely very samey experience wise after the hassle of trading up or reselling

15 inch m2 air
11 inch m1 iPad Pro
iphone 14 pro max

..iphone upgrades are always on the table as a consideration but even that has been a lot more iterative in recent years.

 

[Caviar_X]

I want the OLED screen but I'll prob wait another few months. Nothing wrong with my 12.9".