iPad Pro [Suggestion]: Don't Buy The M4 iPads

[MarkC426]

In the UK this is a very good price...
I was expecting a considerable price hike (based on the rumours).

Previous M2 base model 128gb £1249
New M4 base model 256gb £1299.

£50 pound more for double storage and new screen and whatever...

Also (in UK)
256gb M2 is £1369.....

I don't remember the last time an upgrade was cheaper.
Time to upgrade my 1st gen.

 

[profH]

2018 12.9 was -almost- light enough for me to comfortably lecture for an hour holding it in my hand for notes. M1-M2 definitely was not close. This one just might make the cut...

 

[MarkC426]

Slightly OT:
I noticed the M4 has 6E WiFi, my router is quite old, I assume it will still connect with older WiFi standards...(2.4 and 5ghz)..?

 

[Rafterman]

OK. But...counterargument:

DO buy the M4 iPad.

 

[TigerNike23]

(Deleted comment)

 

[Rafterman]

2018 12.9 was -almost- light enough for me to comfortably lecture for an hour holding it in my hand for notes. M1-M2 definitely was not close. This one just might make the cut...

There isn't much weight dif on the 11 (1.02 vs .98 lbs) but the 12.9 was pretty significant: 1.5 vs 1.28 now.

 

[troubleonline]

Also (in UK)
256gb M2 is £1369.....

I don't remember the last time an upgrade was cheaper.
Time to upgrade my 1st gen.

Also in the UK

2022 10.9” iPad Air 256gb - £849
2024 11” iPad Air 256gb - £699

 

[MarkC426]

It's about time the UK prices reduced a bit....

 

[Allen_Wentz]

I don’t have a choice. My last iPad Pro “bricked” with the update to iPadOS 16 (I think)!! This was right after my iPhone 13 Pro did the same on a similar iOS update, but it was still under warranty, so a new one was provided. I am real tired of Apple’s BS on their hardware/software longevity!! I have a whole pile of Apple Trash products!! 🙄😬

Sounds like PEBKAC. I have 40 years of many, many Apple products and never had a device brick nor have I ever observed "hardware/software longevity!!" issues. Not to say that it does not happen, because it does. But multiple times for one user is a red flag IMO.

 

[Elusi]

I think it's meant to last for around that time sadly. M series iPads have always had terrible standby battery life for some reason.

Apart from that, the M4 doesn't look like an upgrade from the M3 at all (so it didn't affect me much that they pushed it even though I got an MBA a few weeks ago) but, I don't know, it seems like the most powerful tablet ever, even compared to Windows tablets, and a terrible deal at the same time

Lol not 7 hours kind of bad. Probably a rogue BT device in the home trying to make contact and preventing sleep states.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

My 2020 iPad is old and tired. A12Z and it's measly 6GB of memory chug under real multitasking. These refreshes aren't for people with M2 tablets - they're for the ones with M1, A12Z, A12X even.

 

[Yourbigpalal83]

Yeah just because its not right for you doesn't mean we have to feel the same way!

 

[Lukomaldini]

In the UK this is a very good price...
I was expecting a considerable price hike (based on the rumours).

Previous M2 base model 128gb £1249
New M4 base model 256gb £1299.

£50 pound more for double storage and new screen and whatever...

Agreed with you on that one! My M1 Pro in 2024 £’s is around £1,300, that’s essentially no price change from the M1 Pro, that’s very unlike Apple!

 

[Allen_Wentz]

Folks with older iPads are not looking at the silly comparison the OP lays out. Folks like me with a v1 iPad Air are instead saying hmm, are the latest changes enough to make spending for a new tablet worthwhile? In my case probably not, because I have two MBPs and generally far prefer Mac OS to iPad OS. However if I do upgrade the tablet it very likely will be to one of the new M4s, which rock. The available nano display alone sells me.

 

[aevan]

It's not twice as fast though, that would be 100% improvement. They quoted up to 50% performance improvement over M2

Well, yeah, but the GPU is 4x as fast, so let’s meet in the middle

 

[acorntoy]

THE CAMERA HASNT CHANGED?!!! OUTRAGEOUS!

But really; you could've crafted a much greater troll post but made... this? It shows less effort than Apple.

 

[TracerAnalog]

I don’t have a choice. My last iPad Pro “bricked” with the update to iPadOS 16 (I think)!! This was right after my iPhone 13 Pro did the same on a similar iOS update, but it was still under warranty, so a new one was provided. I am real tired of Apple’s BS on their hardware/software longevity!! I have a whole pile of Apple Trash products!! 🙄😬

Never experienced bricking in my life, and I had literally every iPhone and iPad. Also no one in my circle of family and friends had such a disaster. You sir, are very unlucky!

Try another brand of phone or tablet. Samsung has a good assortment, although I actually had two bricking events with their early Notes. Luckily their software support has improved a lot in recent years.

 

[LevorgPenmancho]

The inevitable new product post…
1) Device iteratively updated with new features, as usual and as expected for 99% of products launched.
2) Immediate complaints that 1.

 

[Adelphos33]

For someone like me, that travels with a laptop and an 12.9” iPad, the weight savings in the bag of this M4 iPad plus Magic Keyboard, plus a refresh/update of front facing camera, screen, a new battery, and for me, adding more storage (I am bumping up against my 256GB) make it kind of a no brainer upgrade that will last for four or five years. Ordered the 1 TB, Cell version.

 

[xxray]

Slightly OT:
I noticed the M4 has 6E WiFi, my router is quite old, I assume it will still connect with older WiFi standards...(2.4 and 5ghz)..?

Yes assuming your router isn’t ancient. WiFi 6E compatibility just means the iPad can use the standard, not that it’s required.

 

[Onimusha370]

Use The Comparison Chart on The Apple Website Store, the Old Specs are nearly identical, only a slightly brighter screen, marketing a whole entire M CPU Generation Bump and allegedly twice as fast OMFG!!!!

Camera Megapixels haven't changed at all

Apple wants another $100 - 200 for Nano Texture Glass

Apple didn't say that OLED would burn in versus Mini LED

Apple wants $5,000 for a Monitor and charges $1,000 for a Plastic Stand

Tim Cook: We couldn't be more excited for the greatest iPad ever
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Don't Waste $2,600 and just stick with your Old mini LED iPad

Where can I buy the $1,000 plastic stand?

 

[dawnrazor]

While I do think the OP is deliberately ignoring some of the key differences and zoning in on the similarities, they do have a point…

I have an M1 12.9 2021 iPad Pro and Magic keyboard.

Comparing it to the just released 13” iPad Air and 13” M4 iPad Pro on Apples site and it’s hard to make a compelling argument to upgrade to either… to “upgrade” to the Air would really be a sideways upgrade… But looking at the M4 iPad Pro I can’t make any kind of argument to go there when my 2021 iPad is trucking along for everything I need it to do…

I’d like to do a hands on with the 13” pro in the case so I can check out the weight and thickness…

It’s a shame the new keyboard isn’t backward compatible but then again I’m not totally surprised at that… The new OLED screen would be lovely I’m sure, but 3 years of looking at the 2021 iPad Pro Retina screen hasn’t annoyed me, localised blooming in certain viewing situations is, like titles on black background etc is distracting but you learn to ignore it… If I didn’t have a 65” OLED TV this might be a very attractive option…

In many ways the ‘Pro’ moniker is perhaps worthy of this model over others in the past… especially if your workflow is ‘pencil on screen’ interactive work…

Will I upgrade my 2021 12’9” iPad Pro…?

No.

Would I like to?

Yes - just for the screen alone and the M4 future proofing… but can’t justify the cost at all and that would be with looking at selling my M1 ipad pro…

Guess I’ll wait for the M5 version and make a decision then… that and iOS 18 and see if it has a battery health function included so I can get an idea of what state my battery is in and look at getting it replaced perhaps…

 

[Bubbiv]

Based on this rec I bought 2. Tnx

 

[PsykX]

Apple didn't say that OLED would burn in versus Mini LED

Very unlikely. I don't know why but I've never seen a single Apple OLED device with burn-in. Not even the 4 OLED devices I own.

But thanks for the rant, it was well done 👌🏻

 

[Dstopsie]

On a side by side basis the OP is correct, there is little difference overall with the old model when looking at spec at a high level. But as always there are differences and advantages. For most it’s not an upgrade that will make any difference to their current use. For others it will.

And of course not everyone has the most recent model iPad, anyone with an older one looking to upgrade will see big upgrades here. Those like me sitting with the most current version iPad Pro 12.9 aren’t going to care too much about this unless there is a stand out, must have feature for their use case.

My iPad is 3 years old from 2021 so for me it will be an upgrade.