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iPad Pro Question for iPad Pro M1/M2 (2021/2022) owners (with XDR display)

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OSXphoto

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 23, 2013
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Hey all,
I'm looking for advice from users of iPad Pro 2022 - 2021 12.9", with XDR display. After 9 years iPad Air 2 (2015) I am in for a new iPad to last another 9 years. So naturally my first look was at the current M4 Pro / M2 Air lineup, tried both but doesn't work for me.

So my question to owners of iPad Pro M1 or M2 12.9" : do you find your iPad Pro XDR displays as good as or close to the MacBook Pro XDR displays? Or if you're not familiar with those, would you say the blacks appear black during movie watching?

If you would share personal experience it could help me a lot!

Thanks!
Pete

Further explanation:
As I crave movie watching on iPad, I am looking for the best display possible. My 16" MBP M1 Max (2021) XDR display has deep blacks. Movies look fantastic on that display. I would like my new iPad to have that too.

What I tried:
Step 1: iPad Pro M4 11" (2024) ordered, fantastic display with deep blacks, brilliant for movies, sadly returned because I could not cope with the OLED display

Step 2: iPad Air M2 11" (2024) ordered, lousy display compared to the M4 OLED.

Then I did some research looking at older iPad Pro specs:
iPad Pro 6th gen 13" (2022) has an XDR display with 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio. So has the iPad Pro 5th gen 13" (2021). Both even have FaceID. Curiously, the iPad Pro 4th gen 11" (also 2022) appears to have completely different display technology. This article on apple.com describes the 12.9" 5th and 6th gen XDR display technology. There doesn't appear to be any 11" iPad Pro with XDR display.
 
Best display possible would be the latest M4 series with OLED. While I have no qualms about the Mini-LED, as my desk TV replacement and for watching movies, videos, YouTube content; the best display would be the latest ones with OLED.

Blacks are black but Mini-LED has the blooming around bright edges, so that is something to consider and will always be pronounced with white text/captions or a light to dark image. it doesn’t bother me, but keep that in mind.
 
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Yeah like I wrote in my OP the m4 oled is fantastic but it bothers my eyes.

So it’s either the 2024 M2 iPad Air or the 2022 M2 iPad Pro. Sadly, the latter is out of stock in the Netherlands.
Also, only the 2022 iPP 12.9” has the XDR display while the 11” doesn’t. And the 11” size suits me best.
 
Okay, and I’m just pointing out “best display possible” is/was the OLED suggestion, regardless if it hurts your eyes or not. Secondly, the Mini-LED iPads aren’t a bad choice—Certainly better than the LCD iPads.
 
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Thanks and yes you’re absolutely correct.
I wonder about the rationale why Apple only released 12.9” models with XDR in 2021/2022 and not the 11”.
 
I actually think that the MacBook Pros Mini-LED is a better panel than the one of the iPad. I’m not sure exactly why it should be better, but for me the blooming is more noticeable on the iPad compared to the Macs. But the iPad Pros display is not bad at all.

I do also own an OLED iPad. I do also have a little bit of eye constraint. I hope this will be fixed before putting them in a mac. Hopefully they will get some improvements for the better like my experience between iPad and Macs mini led displays
 
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Hi Xander, thanks for sharing your experience. Yes I kinda counted on the miniLED iPP XDR display to roughly match the 2021 MBP M1 that I have. Thank you for the heads up.

Now that the 2022 iPP is out of stock it’s all becoming a bit academic. I can either go for the new M4 OLED (which I tried and returned bc of my eyes) or the 2024 M2 air.
Really the air display seems such a low bid from Apple, having seen what the OLED display looks like. It’s such a bummer that my eyes have difficulty with that OLED display. I would have paid 600 for the OLED quality alone.
It’s not that I had immediate severe eye strain, nausea and headaches like some on this forum do, but after a couple of minutes I do feel something bothers my head, my eyes start to hurt a little and in the front of my head I start feeling unease, like when I am trying to solve a puzzle without my reading glasses on.
Anyway it’s probably going to be the air I will settle on for the coming 9 years. No other current option and going forward Apple will probably expand on OLED and not go back to new miniLED display technology.
 
Super Xander said:
I actually think that the MacBook Pros Mini-LED is a better panel than the one of the iPad. I’m not sure exactly why it should be better, but for me the blooming is more noticeable on the iPad compared to the Macs. But the iPad Pros display is not bad at all.
Click to expand...
Yeah the blooming is definitely more noticeable on iPad. It bothered me enough to upgrade to the new OLED iPad Pro, but I don't really notice the blooming on my MacBook Pro 16".

OSXphoto said:
Now that the 2022 iPP is out of stock it’s all becoming a bit academic.
Click to expand...
There's still certified refurbished on the (U.S.) Apple Store, if you don't mind used.
 
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Digitalguy said:
Price point, they wanted the pro to start at $800
Click to expand...

I think Apple would have happily sold a $900 base iPad Pro with Mini-LED if it met their other requirements.

Iirc, they mentioned increased weight was a bigger concern for the 11” model than it was the 12.9” so they decided to forgo Mini-LED for the 11” Pro.
 
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01cowherd said:
There's still certified refurbished on the (U.S.) Apple Store, if you don't mind used.
Click to expand...
I had already checked the Dutch official Apple Store refurbs. Only gen5 at this point. I could wait though.
Come to think of it, if I’d get a 12.9” gen6, I would go large size just for the Mini LED XDR. That’s pretty wide off my intended path.
Also, now that I’ve tried the 11” M4 and M2, I notice a pretty significant net screen size difference compared to the older base iPads (with home button). The housing is the same size but the bezels are much thinner. Especially noticeable when watching movies side by side.
Thinking I’d have even larger than that makes me scratch my head.
But hey the 13” size is popular so that’s probably not for nothing. Maybe I should just try one and see how I like it
 
There is a 5th gen 12.9” iPP refurbished w/ 512GB for 1179.

Do the 5th and 6th gen share the exact same display? When I compare the specs on the Apple website I see almost no difference between the two. Just M1 vs M2 and some ProRes video codecs and WiFi 6E vs 6.

I do like the idea of having face id back
 
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OSXphoto said:
There is a 5th gen 12.9” iPP refurbished w/ 512GB for 1179.

Do the 5th and 6th gen share the exact same display? When I compare the specs on the Apple website I see almost no difference between the two. Just M1 vs M2 and some ProRes video codecs and WiFi 6E vs 6.

I do like the idea of having face id back
Click to expand...
The displays are the same.
 
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I have’t used my old M1 12.9” since getting my 11“ M4 (sold to help cover the cost) but I loved the display on the larger iPad Pro. I would have kept it but I wanted a smaller iPad again so I got the 11“ M4. Thankfully OLED has never hurt my eyes, so I can’t speak to that experience. I will say I notice the OLED is a tad sharper and the blooming doesn’t exist. It never bothered me on the M1 iPad Pro other than reading content in a dark room, which I didn’t do often.
 
rui no onna said:
I think Apple would have happily sold a $900 base iPad Pro with Mini-LED if it met their other requirements.

Iirc, they mentioned increased weight was a bigger concern for the 11” model than it was the 12.9” so they decided to forgo Mini-LED for the 11” Pro.
Click to expand...
I remember, but I don't buy that excuse, weight was even less of an issue on the 11". I believe price was the main issue but that's probably something Apple is less comfortable discussing.
 
OSXphoto said:
Hey all,
I'm looking for advice from users of iPad Pro 2022 - 2021 12.9", with XDR display. After 9 years iPad Air 2 (2015) I am in for a new iPad to last another 9 years. So naturally my first look was at the current M4 Pro / M2 Air lineup, tried both but doesn't work for me.

So my question to owners of iPad Pro M1 or M2 12.9" : do you find your iPad Pro XDR displays as good as or close to the MacBook Pro XDR displays? Or if you're not familiar with those, would you say the blacks appear black during movie watching?

If you would share personal experience it could help me a lot!

Thanks!
Pete

Further explanation:
As I crave movie watching on iPad, I am looking for the best display possible. My 16" MBP M1 Max (2021) XDR display has deep blacks. Movies look fantastic on that display. I would like my new iPad to have that too.

What I tried:
Step 1: iPad Pro M4 11" (2024) ordered, fantastic display with deep blacks, brilliant for movies, sadly returned because I could not cope with the OLED display

Step 2: iPad Air M2 11" (2024) ordered, lousy display compared to the M4 OLED.

Then I did some research looking at older iPad Pro specs:
iPad Pro 6th gen 13" (2022) has an XDR display with 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio. So has the iPad Pro 5th gen 13" (2021). Both even have FaceID. Curiously, the iPad Pro 4th gen 11" (also 2022) appears to have completely different display technology. This article on apple.com describes the 12.9" 5th and 6th gen XDR display technology. There doesn't appear to be any 11" iPad Pro with XDR display.
Click to expand...

Hi, I have an M1 11” iPad Pro and a M3 Max 14” MacBook Pro, and can tell you the difference is quite noticeable, the Mac screen is significantly better in its deep and richness of colours, but you can still comfortably watch films on the iPad although the black bars are significant.
if you want the best display it’s the OLED on the M4 Pro.

I would suggest getting a refurb 13” with the mini LED XDR display from Apple, still powerful with the M2 chip. And then test it extensively for films and videos and see if you like it. If it doesn’t work out due to blooming you can return it.
 
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Pezimak said:
Hi, I have an M1 11” iPad Pro and a M3 Max 14” MacBook Pro, and can tell you the difference is quite noticeable, the Mac screen is significantly better in its deep and richness of colours, but you can still comfortably watch films on the iPad although the black bars are significant.
if you want the best display it’s the OLED on the M4 Pro.

I would suggest getting a refurb 13” with the mini LED XDR display from Apple, still powerful with the M2 chip. And then test it extensively for films and videos and see if you like it. If it doesn’t work out due to blooming you can return it.
Click to expand...
I did exactly that. Picked up a refurb 12.9" 2022 iPad with XDR display.

And yes, it's quite similar to my M1 Max MacBook Pro XDR display. Rich colours and deep blacks, an absolute joy to watch movies. I see blooming if I look very closely, but I don't notice it in normal use.

The only downside is it's, well, 12.9". 11" suits me better. But the display quality difference is so very noticeable, that I am considering keeping this display and return the 11" Air M2.

I must say that the difference while watching movies (deep blacks) is especially noticeable in a low lit room. Real low lit. I watched a movie on the commuter train today, I was sitting next to a window, and I found that even the M2 air has nice blacks, because the eyes are adjusted to more ambient light and they cannot see the grey-ish LCD blacks.
 
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