iPad Pro M4 iPad Pro: Will burn-in be an issue for an iPad mainly being used as a digital notebook?

[John981]

I'm looking to upgrade my 2017 10,5" iPad Pro, which I'm mainly using for notetaking during language learning or researching. Since I've really come to like the 120 Hz display, I already decided that I want another one on my new iPad. That really only leaves me with another iPad Pro, so I've been thinking about picking up either a leftover (but new) M2 iPad Pro or the more recent M4 iPad Pro.

Since the new M4 iPad Pro now features an OLED screen, I've been wondering what that would mean for the device given my use case. I know from my OLED iPhone that Apple devices aren't prone to burn-in per se, but with the iPad I'd be subjecting the OLED display to the worst possible scenario, extended periods of time displaying (mostly) white background. I could enable dark mode or something and write white font on a black screen, but I really dislike the way that looks, so I'd like it the digital page to be white or off-white.

Does anyone have a similar use case or can perhaps even speak from experience in dealing with (other) OLED tablets and how they tend to handle this use case?

I'm planning to use this iPad for another 5 years at least, likely longer. So I'd really be bummed out if it were to suffer burn-in or significant deteriorating in the display quality during that time frame. I've had a display issue with my 2017 iPad Pro that's been annoying me for years, I'd really like to avoid that in the future.

 

[Apple_Robert]

This article should allay your concerns.

The iPad Pro 2024's new Tandem OLED screen explained: why it's important, and why it took so long to come

What 'Ultra Retina XDR' really means

www.techradar.com

 

[John981]

This article should allay your concerns.

The iPad Pro 2024's new Tandem OLED screen explained: why it's important, and why it took so long to come

What 'Ultra Retina XDR' really means

www.techradar.com

I appreciate the link, but it doesn't exactly alleviate my concern entirely. It's two panels instead of one, so sure, the degradation will be slower than it would be on a more conventional single layered panel, but it'll still be a suboptimal use case for an OLED panel.

And don't get me wrong here, I don't doubt that Apple has ensured that users won't encounter burn-in or significant image quality degradation in the first two or three years, but again, with the iPad it's longevity that I want. If possible, I'll use this next iPad for five years at the very least.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I appreciate the link, but it doesn't exactly alleviate my concern entirely. It's two panels instead of one, so sure, the degradation will be slower than it would be on a more conventional single layered panel, but it'll still be a suboptimal use case for an OLED panel.

And don't get me wrong here, I don't doubt that Apple has ensured that users won't encounter burn-in or significant image quality degradation in the first two or three years, but again, with the iPad it's longevity that I want. If possible, I'll use this next iPad for five years at the very least.

If you want a 100% guarantee it won’t happen, don’t upgrade, because nobody can give that kind of assurance to every person regardless of usage.

I think you worrying over 5 years down the line over what possibly could happen is an exercise in futility.

 

[John981]

If you want a 100% guarantee it won’t happen, don’t upgrade, because nobody can give that kind of assurance to every person regardless of usage.

I think you worrying over 5 years down the line over what possibly could happen is an exercise in futility.

I‘m not asking anyone for a guarantee, I‘m asking if anyone‘s more familiar with the subject matter (e.g. from having used another OLED tablet).

And while I generally agree with you in that no one can know if a certain device or technology is going to experience problems in the future, I think it‘s perfectly reasonable to wonder if an expensive new product is right for one‘s primary use case.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I‘m not asking anyone for a guarantee, I‘m asking if anyone‘s more familiar with the subject matter (e.g. from having used another OLED tablet).

And while I generally agree with you in that no one can know if a certain device or technology is going to experience problems in the future, I think it‘s perfectly reasonable to wonder if an expensive new product is right for one‘s primary use case.

I agree with the latter. With older OLED screens, I think your concern would be certainly warranted. I haven’t seen such with new models of quality tv and tablets etc. Since this is a first gen product from Apple, none of us can give you any more of an answer. It is too early to say what the 6 month and year+ outcome will be for the average user. As an owner of the M4 iPad Pro, I am not worried about it. I have AC+. If something is found to be defective or or faulty, I should be covered.

 

[Student of Life]

I'm looking to upgrade my 2017 10,5" iPad Pro, which I'm mainly using for notetaking during language learning or researching. Since I've really come to like the 120 Hz display, I already decided that I want another one on my new iPad. That really only leaves me with another iPad Pro, so I've been thinking about picking up either a leftover (but new) M2 iPad Pro or the more recent M4 iPad Pro.

Since the new M4 iPad Pro now features an OLED screen, I've been wondering what that would mean for the device given my use case. I know from my OLED iPhone that Apple devices aren't prone to burn-in per se, but with the iPad I'd be subjecting the OLED display to the worst possible scenario, extended periods of time displaying (mostly) white background. I could enable dark mode or something and write white font on a black screen, but I really dislike the way that looks, so I'd like it the digital page to be white or off-white.

Does anyone have a similar use case or can perhaps even speak from experience in dealing with (other) OLED tablets and how they tend to handle this use case?

I'm planning to use this iPad for another 5 years at least, likely longer. So I'd really be bummed out if it were to suffer burn-in or significant deteriorating in the display quality during that time frame. I've had a display issue with my 2017 iPad Pro that's been annoying me for years, I'd really like to avoid that in the future.

I think as long as you get Apple Care, and then when it expires do the month to month warranty you will be covered and it should last you easily over 5 year. If you have any burn in you can just get it fixed for free with the Apple Care coverage.

 

[John981]

I think as long as you get Apple Care, and then when it expires do the month to month warranty you will be covered and it should last you easily over 5 year. If you have any burn in you can just get it fixed for free with the Apple Care coverage.

Fair enough, but you have to be willing to pay for that long as well. It's 7,99€ per month for an 11" iPad Pro here in Germany. Over the course of five years, that'd be 479,4€. And even the slightly cheaper option of purchasing it for two years (159€) and then switching to the monthly plan is still 446,64€.

Consider that I could purchase an M2 iPad Pro for somewhere in the ~650€ range (with a bit of trickery, to be fair) and it just doesn't make any sense, I might as well buy a different new iPad when I'd be paying close to 70% of the price of one for insurance.

The more I'm thinking about this the more I'm thinking it's just not worth it. OLED is nice, no doubt about it. But given that I plan to use this device with lots of screen-on time with a lot of static content on it, I think I'll go for the older M2 iPad Pro. It's cheaper and there's a lot less cutting edge technology to worry about.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm probably the odd one here. If I'd be using the iPad for videos or games, I'd probably go for M4 iPad Pro instead.

 

[Pezimak]

I'm looking to upgrade my 2017 10,5" iPad Pro, which I'm mainly using for notetaking during language learning or researching. Since I've really come to like the 120 Hz display, I already decided that I want another one on my new iPad. That really only leaves me with another iPad Pro, so I've been thinking about picking up either a leftover (but new) M2 iPad Pro or the more recent M4 iPad Pro.

Since the new M4 iPad Pro now features an OLED screen, I've been wondering what that would mean for the device given my use case. I know from my OLED iPhone that Apple devices aren't prone to burn-in per se, but with the iPad I'd be subjecting the OLED display to the worst possible scenario, extended periods of time displaying (mostly) white background. I could enable dark mode or something and write white font on a black screen, but I really dislike the way that looks, so I'd like it the digital page to be white or off-white.

Does anyone have a similar use case or can perhaps even speak from experience in dealing with (other) OLED tablets and how they tend to handle this use case?

I'm planning to use this iPad for another 5 years at least, likely longer. So I'd really be bummed out if it were to suffer burn-in or significant deteriorating in the display quality during that time frame. I've had a display issue with my 2017 iPad Pro that's been annoying me for years, I'd really like to avoid that in the future.

Considering the iPhone OLED screens rarely get burn in, I’d say no. It’ll have tech built in to alleviate burn in like an iPhone does. I think pixel shift is one thing? Where the pixels are shifted rapidly to reduce it? Could be wrong. But I know anti burn in tech on quality OLED screens have existed for sometime now.

 

[murzika]

This won’t be an issue because Apple will have tested all scenarios.

 

[John981]

Considering the iPhone OLED screens rarely get burn in, I’d say no. It’ll have tech built in to alleviate burn in like an iPhone does. I think pixel shift is one thing? Where the pixels are shifted rapidly to reduce it? Could be wrong. But I know anti burn in tech on quality OLED screens have existed for sometime now.

I fully agree on iPhones, but on iPads my use case is a lot different. I don't really ever have a lot of static content being displayed on my iPhone, but with my iPad I often have it next to me to take notes, displaying a white(-ish) page with the usual application menus.

This won’t be an issue because Apple will have tested all scenarios.

They have definitely tested all scenarios and ensured that the device will last throughout the warranty period, but beyond that I'm not so sure. My previous 10,5" iPad Pro from 2017 developed an issue on the screen where it has a faint white glow just above the home button (just like this user described).

That only occurred once the device was well beyond the original warranty period. I plan to use this new iPad for at least five years, and as Apple_Robert pointed out, since there's no real-world experience with this tech over such an extended period of time (yet), nobody can guarantee that it'll last until then. With the older LCDs, there's at least 2+ years of experience for every device that one can base their opinions about longevity on.

 

[sk1985]

I appreciate the link, but it doesn't exactly alleviate my concern entirely. It's two panels instead of one, so sure, the degradation will be slower than it would be on a more conventional single layered panel, but it'll still be a suboptimal use case for an OLED panel.

And don't get me wrong here, I don't doubt that Apple has ensured that users won't encounter burn-in or significant image quality degradation in the first two or three years, but again, with the iPad it's longevity that I want. If possible, I'll use this next iPad for five years at the very least.

All screens even lcd have degradation with time. The tandem panels minimize burn in and run extremely cool to the touch. Something my M1 did not do. Reality is you’ll probably be trading it in or buying a new tablet before it degrades.

 

[Treborray]

I feel like ti will not be an issue since its 2 displays working together! Plus Apple is pretty consistent. It Just Works