iPad Pro The Pros are worth it for the OLED alone

[pdoherty]

I only watch streaming sports on it. If I’m watching a movie, I’m watching on a big TV. And when I’m using at night or early morning never had an issue with white on black text or blooming.

I even tried some of the OLED YouTube tests to see if maybe that would show a difference and we don’t.

Yeah, I'd think since both the miniLED and OLED both max out at 1600 nits that HDR would be less likely to have a noticeable difference, so not sure why he recommended that. Maybe for the blacks, but you get those in normal GUI and videos, so no need for HDR to see any difference. And the blacks on the miniLED are great already.

 

[sk1985]

Definitely justified. I love the brightness and hdr. I bought a 15 inch mba which I absolutely love but really miss hdr (I have a pro max and an m1 iPad Pro).

 

[OSXphoto]

Compared to my 2015 iPad Air 2, the new M2 iPad Air displays are a huge improvement. I watch movies on iPad weekly. The black bars on my 2015 model are so obviously shining grayish and the entire display backlight brightness goes up and down all the time as if someone keeps slowly jerking the brightness slider up and down.

Basically this is what I meant. I see this all the time on my iPad Air 2 while watching movies. Backlight level goes up and down for apparently no reason.

best visible at time mark 0:06 and 0:11

You guys see this too on your devices?

 

[sk1985]

I usually upgrade my iPhone annually, my iPad every 2-3 (or if there is a new design), and my MacBooks whenever I feel like it (2-5 yrs). In this case yes I feel the upgrade was necessary. The form factor is so thin and light. Also the the screen is a huge step up in terms of lacking blooming (better blacks too), jitteriness, and improved brightness over my old M1 Pro. Lastly the build quality is so much better than the M1 12.9 Pro…my buttons always jiggled and felt cheap. The M4 feels more like an iPhone or MacBook in comparable quality.

I personally would have gone with a 13 inch iPad Air if it had an M4 or M3.

 

[transmaster]

I usually upgrade my iPhone annually, my iPad every 2-3 (or if there is a new design), and my MacBooks whenever I feel like it (2-5 yrs). In this case yes I feel the upgrade was necessary. The form factor is so thin and light. Also the the screen is a huge step up in terms of lacking blooming, jitteriness, and brightness over my old M1 Pro. Lastly the build quality is so much better than the M1 12.9 Pro…my buttons always jiggled and felt cheap. The M4 feels more like an iPhone or MacBook in comparable quality.

I personally would have gone with a 13 inch iPad Air if it had an M4 or M3.

I was on the verge of purchasing the 13" iPad Air during the presentation. Then the iPad Pro with the M4 and the dual OLED display floated across the screen. I was not expecting the M4 Silicon it was not rumored to make its appearance until next fall and not in the iPad. With WWDC 2024 we found out why Apple realized they could not continue with Siri the way it was, and Siri has alway been a demon familiar on iOS.

 

[sk1985]

I was on the verge of purchasing the 13" iPad Air during the presentation. Then the iPad Pro with the M4 and the dual OLED display floated across the screen. I was not expecting the M4 Silicon it was not rumored to make its appearance until next fall and not in the iPad. With WWDC 2024 we found out why Apple realized they could not continue with Siri the way it was, and Siri has alway been a demon familiar on iOS.

Yeah the m4 sold me on the upgrade. The OLED is a nice upgrade but I was also happy with my 12.9 LED PRO. Also yes Siri has been total trash for the last 10 years. Apple Intelligence will be a huge improvement.

 

[DeepSix]

Even the apple fan boys from Max Tech YouTube channel feel the M2 Air is a much better deal than the M4. They feel the M4 pro‘s cost way too much. That’s a first. But I will still make up my own mind.

Now that the ipad M4 honeymoon is over, there are lots of videos on YouTube saying that the new ipad isn’t worth the money and that it’s way overpriced. M2 air is 60% of the cost of the M4 and you get 95% of the Pro. The screens are barely distinguishable from each other.

 

[EugW]

Now that the ipad M4 honeymoon is over, there are lots of videos on YouTube saying that the new ipad isn’t worth the money and that it’s way overpriced. M2 air is 60% of the cost of the M4 and you get 95% of the Pro. The screens are barely distinguishable from each other.

Nah, the screens aren’t even in the same league. I’ve seen them side by side. However, if you don’t need the improved screen features or other upgrades, then the iPad Air may be the better value.

 

[nawoo]

OLED + much thinner body and lighter weight makes it all worth it.

Screen is way better. Only people with untrained eyes wont be able to see the difference.

 

[rkuo]

OLED + much thinner body and lighter weight makes it all worth it.

Screen is way better. Only people with untrained eyes wont be able to see the difference.

This may be true, but being able to see a difference between two things does not automatically justify buying that thing. Too many people act like the last generation was garbage just because there’s something new out.

 

[TBoneMac]

I’m wondering what the subpixel layout is for the new OLED iPad Pros.

I’m used to OLEDs that have Red/Blue - Green/Blue - sub pixel layouts.
Why does this matter? It matters because it means that you only get two subpixels per pixel on many OLED screens. What this means for us as end users is that the blue pixels last longer because there’s twice as many — OLED blue pixels are prone to dying out sooner.

So this is a good thing but why is it also a compromise? It’s a compromise because it means that a 4K OLED with this R/B G/B subpixel layout will be blurrier than a similar screen that uses the classic Red/Green/Blue subpixel layout because you only get two subpixels per pixel of the resolution.

Essentially it means that if your screen was 1000 x 1000 resolution on most OLED screens then it would have 2 million subpixels whereas a classic RGB screen with a 1000 x 1000 resolution would have 3 million subpixels.

Can someone who owns the new OLED iPad Pros confirm what the subpixel layout is? You can do this by taking a zoomed in photo of the screen when it’s displaying say a white background.

Thank you so much for your help MacRumors family! It’s really much appreciated.

 

[gnomeisland]

The thing that's missing from this conversation is that previous generations use different display tech depending on the size. The difference isn't as obvious (IMO) between the M2 and M4 in 13" (and I'm an OLED fanboy) but it should be pretty stark for most people comparing the 11" models. Motion and SD brightness are the two big caveats from my brief time comparing the models. The M2 13" maxed at 600nits of SD brightness and the motion blur/LCD response times muddied the effect of 120hz.

 

[jterp7]

i mean for those of that dont get it, compare your oled iphone 120hz with the older ipads and its quite apparent the response blur. The 1000nits for SDR is insane too. I have it set to no more than 20% vs say it was 50-60% on my old 2018

 

[pdoherty]

I’m wondering what the subpixel layout is for the new OLED iPad Pros.

I’m used to OLEDs that have Red/Blue - Green/Blue - sub pixel layouts.
Why does this matter? It matters because it means that you only get two subpixels per pixel on many OLED screens. What this means for us as end users is that the blue pixels last longer because there’s twice as many — OLED blue pixels are prone to dying out sooner.

So this is a good thing but why is it also a compromise? It’s a compromise because it means that a 4K OLED with this R/B G/B subpixel layout will be blurrier than a similar screen that uses the classic Red/Green/Blue subpixel layout because you only get two subpixels per pixel of the resolution.

Essentially it means that if your screen was 1000 x 1000 resolution on most OLED screens then it would have 2 million subpixels whereas a classic RGB screen with a 1000 x 1000 resolution would have 3 million subpixels.

Can someone who owns the new OLED iPad Pros confirm what the subpixel layout is? You can do this by taking a zoomed in photo of the screen when it’s displaying say a white background.

Thank you so much for your help MacRumors family! It’s really much appreciated.

Good post. They showed the layout and it's not a normal RGB layout and that's why this new display is more blurry than the miniLED Pros, especially with text.

 

[the future]

They showed the layout

Where?

that's why this new display is more blurry than the miniLED Pros, especially with text.

Do you have links/sources? Because I certainly don‘t see that on mine (12.9“ M1, 11“ M4).

 

[pdoherty]

Where?

It's all over - just search for ipad pro tandem oled

Like here:

As for the text the tandem OLED not being a pure RGB layout will make the text less distinct/sharp. How could it not?

 

[nawoo]

This may be true, but being able to see a difference between two things does not automatically justify buying that thing. Too many people act like the last generation was garbage just because there’s something new out.

if you can't tell the difference between non oled and oled, then sure by all means, dont upgrade.

Coming from my 2018 ipad pro, the difference is night and day. Not everyone upgrades every year lol.

I had an iphone 12 mini before upgrading to 15pro last year. Difference was also night and day.

Upgrading from 14pro to 15pro is obviously going to be much less of a difference to people who want to do that. Then they come in here to complain about it, lol

 

[Rafterman]

if you can't tell the difference between non oled and oled, then sure by all means, dont upgrade.

Coming from my 2018 ipad pro, the difference is night and day. Not everyone upgrades every year lol.

I had an iphone 12 mini before upgrading to 15pro last year. Difference was also night and day.

Upgrading from 14pro to 15pro is obviously going to be much less of a difference to people who want to do that. Then they come in here to complain about it, lol

It sounds like the "Safari is snappier" effect. Everyone has a new, shiny toy, and they overestimate improvements.

 

[DeepSix]

The picture quality and the blacks on my M1 iPad 11 look perfectly fine. The blacks are black.

Even Tech Radar released an article yesterday saying the new iPads are a waste of money.

 

[nawoo]

The picture quality and the blacks on my M1 iPad 11 look perfectly fine. The blacks are black.

Even Tech Radar released an article yesterday saying the new iPads are a waste of money.

waste of time to you. not waste of time to me who upgraded from 2018. You assume everyone is the same as you. thats your problem, not theirs.

 

[DeepSix]

i mean for those of that dont get it, compare your oled iphone 120hz with the older ipads and its quite apparent the response blur. The 1000nits for SDR is insane too. I have it set to no more than 20% vs say it was 50-60% on my old 2018

I don't see any blur on my M1 iPad. And in the two and a half years of owning my iPad, there hasn't been a single time where I felt that the screen wasnt bright enough. Phones are a completely different case because we always have our phone with us so it will be used in daylight all the time. we don't always have our iPad with us.

 

[sparksd]

The picture quality and the blacks on my M1 iPad 11 look perfectly fine. The blacks are black.

Even Tech Radar released an article yesterday saying the new iPads are a waste of money.

Not quite. The author said "they may be a waste of money" but the author also said he had yet to try iPadOS 18.

 

[Surfsalot]

11" M1 needs full brightness for video, worst thing about it.

 

[nawoo]

11" M1 needs full brightness for video, worst thing about it.

my 2018 ipad pro was significantly dimmer than the new M4 at full brightness Even before the m4 came out, i was pissed at the full brightness of it. Also, the blacks werent really black.

 

[Nikhil72]

The picture quality and the blacks on my M1 iPad 11 look perfectly fine. The blacks are black.

Even Tech Radar released an article yesterday saying the new iPads are a waste of money.

If someone has limited funds then sure, it’s a luxury item. For someone who can spend the money, who gives a crap?