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DougFNJ

macrumors 65816
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Jan 22, 2008
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I bought the new M4 standard display on day 1. I had been back and forth on which display to get, but the lack of availability of the Nano Texture display made it kind of an easy decision. I upgraded from an M1 primarily for the OLED, and it was worth it. The color stands out, and it really is great to look at how much more vivid the colors in every aspect.

I’ve never been a fan of matte screen protectors because of the sharpness you lose. I have found they always added a graininess. I had looked at the Nanotexture in store and found that effect to be minimal. I was having battery issues with my iPad, after going back and forth with support, and ultimately an appointment at the Apple Store, they offered to exchange the iPad, and allowed me to upgrade to the Nano paying the difference.

The main differences that had me decide on the Nano was of course glare, the feel of the screen, less fingerprints, and I really like how it looks reading books.

On the glare, I use the iPad a lot outside. I did find myself having to position myself, or position the iPad to remove glare. This shows an immediate, obvious improvement.

On the feel of the screen, there is a less feeling of swiping on glass, you don’t feel the texture as much with the fingers as you feel the difference with the pencil. Hard to describe it, but this display adds some element that was missing with drawing and writing on standard glass with the pencil with just enough texture to FEEL like you are drawing and writing on it. If you own a kindle, that screen feel would be similar to this, and if you own a Kindle, you likely also notice you don’t see a lot of fingerprints on those displays….that is how this Nano seems to work.

And that also brings me to the reading. This display is a little easier on the eyes when reading. I don’t read ebooks in dark mode. The nano texture diffuses the light for a better reading experience which is where I do tend to see the most glare in most environments.

Definitely worth the upgrade. Side by side between the 2 iPads in store is going to be a different experience then using it in your own lighting environments outside, normal indoor room lighting, and in the dark. Definitely glad this worked out the way it did.
 

Surfsalot

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Mar 18, 2023
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Nice review.
Glare is annoying on my M1 and I only use it under my covered veranda not direct sunlight.
It's not bright enough either even indoors have it on full watching video.
Agree on the FP and if reading is better would be good.
Would be nice not to see your face in a mirror when using it.

But the price just shy of $3KAUD, add keyboard and same price as a 14" 18/512gb MBP.
And those speakers lol
 
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GDF

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Jun 7, 2010
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Appreciate the review. I also went from a M4 13 Pro glossy Oled to the M4 13 Pro Nano. I really enjoyed both, but like the Nano better for when outside and in bright environments. I also do a lot of reading and it is better for that too.

What was your battery life issue? I think the battery life on my glossy Oled seemed to last longer than this Nano Oled. Maybe I am just imaging things those. Tempted to buy another Nano iPad to see if I am right and this current one has an issue.
 
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Johnny Steps

macrumors 6502a
Jun 29, 2011
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I think in the future I’d like to get the nano texture, but only if offered on the lower storage models. I can’t tell you how long I kept going back and forth on whether I should fork over the money for the 1TB model just for the nano texture, but ultimately decided against it.
 
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DougFNJ

macrumors 65816
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Jan 22, 2008
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Nice review.
Glare is annoying on my M1 and I only use it under my covered veranda not direct sunlight.
It's not bright enough either even indoors have it on full watching video.
Agree on the FP and if reading is better would be good.
Would be nice not to see your face in a mirror when using it.

But the price just shy of $3KAUD, add keyboard and same price as a 14" 18/512gb MBP.
And those speakers lol
Yea, the price of admission is steep, but its the one time in 4 years I splurge on the iPad, and I use it a lot.
Appreciate the review. I also went from a M4 13 Pro glossy Oled to the M4 13 Pro Nano. I really enjoyed both, but like the Nano better for when outside and in bright environments. I also do a lot of reading and it is better for that too.

What was your battery life issue? I think the battery life on my glossy Oled seemed to last longer than this Nano Oled. Maybe I am just imaging things those. Tempted to buy another Nano iPad to see if I am right and this current one has an issue.
I found the battery life in standby mode getting worse and worse. First it was Find my and Siri, then HomeKit accessories, then it just showed blank usage but down 25% off a full charge overnight. Battery life when using was fine, but something was up.


I think in the future I’d like to get the nano texture, but only if offered on the lower storage models. I can’t tell you how long I kept going back and forth on whether I should fork over the money for the 1TB model just for the nano texture, but ultimately decided against it.
I store everything on my devices, all music, photos, video, and now with Final Cut Pro I plan to do a ton of video editing, the high capacity storage was already needed, the upgrade to the nano was a bonus.
 
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Nikhil72

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Oct 21, 2005
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Yea, the price of admission is steep, but its the one time in 4 years I splurge on the iPad, and I use it a lot.

I found the battery life in standby mode getting worse and worse. First it was Find my and Siri, then HomeKit accessories, then it just showed blank usage but down 25% off a full charge overnight. Battery life when using was fine, but something was up.



I store everything on my devices, all music, photos, video, and now with Final Cut Pro I plan to do a ton of video editing, the high capacity storage was already needed, the upgrade to the nano was a bonus.
For battery, did you restore from new?
 

GDF

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Jun 7, 2010
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Was your battery issue with both nano and glossy or just the glossy one and the nano is fine? I might exchange my nano, since my previous glossy oled seemed to have great battery life.
 

DougFNJ

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Jan 22, 2008
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I usually do a backup and restore through my MacBook. This time I restored from an iCloud backup. I’ll have a better idea this week and will update in this post how the battery life on this one compares to the standard glossy display.
 

musicpenguy

macrumors 68000
Oct 29, 2006
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Have to say a glass treatment of nano texture will have absolutely no battery life difference if using at same brightness level.
 
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Nikhil72

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Oct 21, 2005
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Have to say a glass treatment of nano texture will have absolutely no battery life difference if using at same brightness level.
Agree. Only thing I might say is with nano texture I find I can reduce the screen brightness when reading in direct sunlight to 50% which obviously has an indirect benefit on battery (vs glossy which gets harder to read with half brightness)
 

G5isAlive

Contributor
Aug 28, 2003
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Agree. Only thing I might say is with nano texture I find I can reduce the screen brightness when reading in direct sunlight to 50% which obviously has an indirect benefit on battery (vs glossy which gets harder to read with half brightness)

I think most battery comparisons are going to be anecdotal at best unless conditions are really tightly controlled and the iPads have had a few days to make sure they have properly indexed. I find early battery usage to be complicated by a lot of background tasks. Even after things have stabilized it seems to be dependent on numerous factors including how many air tags and other find my devices you have. You explanation of a potential difference/benefit is the best I have seen but even then, not sure its worth chasing it down for a definitive answer.
 

BB8

macrumors 6502
Jan 26, 2016
346
1,284
I just got my nano-texture iPad after much debate in my head and finally returning the regular version. I think it is incredibly slept on especially by reviewers.

In my mind, the "nano-texture ruins the display" narrative is highly overblown. In dark or dimly lit environments, it's like 90-95% as good as the regular display and definitely still a massive improvement over LCD. The viewing angles are worse, but when you're looking at it straight on the blacks are just as black as the regular display. A lot of review videos make it seem worse than it is because they are not always looking at it straight on (you know, how you'll actually use it).

But then you get to what actually makes the nano-texture great, which is every environment that isn't dark/dimly lit. I'm not even a professional, but I realized the reason I want my iPad at all is for travel and mobile use. Coffee shops. Airports. On the plane and the guy next to you won't close the freaking window. At the park/outside. This is where the nano-texture really outperforms the regular display. I already have an OLED television to watch shows at home. I don't need yet another display that gives me the perfect movie-watching experience, I need a device that gives me a really solid multifunctional experience when I'm traveling.

In my mind, requiring the 1TB model is the only real knock on the nano-texture. I hope Apple reconsiders that in the future, but Apple gonna Apple.
 

the future

macrumors 68040
Jul 17, 2002
3,642
5,933
I like it better for movies too. They look more like they’re projected on a screen, in a good way.

That‘s a very good way to put it! For films I also vastly prefer a projected image to the artificially punchy OLED experience, and the nano texture comes close to this.
 
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ZaniCWB

macrumors member
Mar 16, 2004
77
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Brazil
I confirm and add that I personally prefer the nano texture even in "ideal" reflection-free conditions since I find it "softer" and more restful for the eyes. Of course I also confirm that 1 TB is too much for the most of us.
This! Plus, I’ve owned almost every version of the iPad Pro since 2016, and I currently have a slightly scratched 13” nano-texture model with scratches in more than one spot. It has had the same usage as all previous devices, always coupled with a quality cover. I’m not sure how the scratches happened, but I think they might not have occurred if it had standard glass. Overall, I still love it and would buy it again, but it’s definitely not as durable as standard glass. Fortunately, I have AppleCare+ for peace of mind.
 

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Sheepish-Lord

macrumors 68030
Oct 13, 2021
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This! Plus, I’ve owned almost every version of the iPad Pro since 2016, and I currently have a slightly scratched 13” nano-texture model with scratches in more than one spot. It has had the same usage as all previous devices, always coupled with a quality cover. I’m not sure how the scratches happened, but I think they might not have occurred if it had standard glass. Overall, I still love it and would buy it again, but it’s definitely not as durable as standard glass. Fortunately, I have AppleCare+ for peace of mind.
That ain’t a slight scratch. Poor iPad…the JerryRig YouTuber did a scratch test and the nano is a level 3 presumably due to the coating vs standard which is your typical 6 hardness.
 

Christopher Kim

macrumors 6502a
Nov 18, 2016
768
740
This! Plus, I’ve owned almost every version of the iPad Pro since 2016, and I currently have a slightly scratched 13” nano-texture model with scratches in more than one spot. It has had the same usage as all previous devices, always coupled with a quality cover. I’m not sure how the scratches happened, but I think they might not have occurred if it had standard glass. Overall, I still love it and would buy it again, but it’s definitely not as durable as standard glass. Fortunately, I have AppleCare+ for peace of mind.
Curious, by “a quality cover”, do you mean like a glass screen protector? Or do you mean just a case around it like the Smart Folio?

I’m one of those who use all my devices naked / without a cover (inc. My iPhone 15PM and my new standard glass 11” M4 iPP, other than being in a new Magic Keyboard). If it’s a screen protector, I wonder if there’s something with the nano-texture where glass covers over the screen can somehow get things trapped in between and then make a scratch somehow?
 

Nikhil72

macrumors 68000
Oct 21, 2005
1,620
1,462
This! Plus, I’ve owned almost every version of the iPad Pro since 2016, and I currently have a slightly scratched 13” nano-texture model with scratches in more than one spot. It has had the same usage as all previous devices, always coupled with a quality cover. I’m not sure how the scratches happened, but I think they might not have occurred if it had standard glass. Overall, I still love it and would buy it again, but it’s definitely not as durable as standard glass. Fortunately, I have AppleCare+ for peace of mind.
That’s unfortunate! My nano screen looks better than my glossy! No scratched but the glossy just shows off fingerprints like crazy
 

geoelectric

macrumors 6502
May 19, 2008
376
66
That ain’t a slight scratch. Poor iPad…the JerryRig YouTuber did a scratch test and the nano is a level 3 presumably due to the coating vs standard which is your typical 6 hardness.
Even then, though, he said in the video it wasn’t clear if the level 4 test probe (ie steel) was actually damaging the glass or whether it was finely grinding itself into the texture like a graphite pencil on paper.

Plus IIRC he said it’s not the glass itself that’s less hard—it’s that you can wear off the nano bumps at a macro level by knocking them off from the side. Scratching a surface at a micro level due to hardness differences can build up from the slightest pressure, but breaking it away structurally is more of an all or nothing thing where hardness doesn’t matter (eg you can break steel with wood). It looked like it took a fair amount of effort for him to make those marks.

Upshot is I hope what happened to that other screen doesn’t happen *casually*. I will be annoyed if I went $2k into a tablet and got something like that y-shaped scratch on it. I’d at the very least be making a strong argument to the Apple Store that a scratch like that affects usage.
 
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