Will the New iPad Pro Really Have the M4 Chip?

[xxray]

Don’t forget @Jamie I ‘s post that showed some naming patterns that indicate the M4 chip in the iPad Pros.

iPad Pro using M4?

We have been expecting M3 iPad Pros for a while now but I was just browsing through some of the rumors and I noticed something interesting. There was information from a private X account with a proven track record that shared chip identifiers for the new WiFi + cellular iPad Pros and it’s...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[iAppleOrchard]

M4 Chip on the iPad Pro first sounds very weird...

Shouldn't it come to the Mac first?
So should I not get an M3 MacBook Air after all? I was so close to buying one, but now I want to wait for M4 to get the longest longevity. If it has the M3 chip, then I will continue to get my M3 Air.

 

[xbjllb]

"across the entire line"

"No wait, not on the big ones until next year"

"on the iPads means moving quicker...."

But hey, if we didn't like being jacked around like the first swimmer in "Jaws", we wouldn't be here, would we.

 

[MayaUser]

M4 Chip on the iPad Pro first sounds very weird...

Shouldn't it come to the Mac first?
So should I not get an M3 MacBook Air after all? I was so close to buying one, but now I want to wait for M4 to get the longest longevity. If it has the M3 chip, then I will continue to get my M3 Air.

is not about M4 ipad or mac first...its about that Apple until now, introduced the new SoC arhitec with their main device, the iphone
So i still think iphone pro will be the first N3E device

 

[xyz01]

I'm having a hard time believing it.

It would reduce the splash of their main product in the autumn, and they also don't have software to use it - yet.

2024-05-07: I was wrong.

 

[Realityck]

related

It makes no sense to give the iPad Pro an M4 chip before the Mac

Apple's confusing tablet range is about to start creating problems for other products.

www.macworld.com

 

[Matcha]

of course it will have M4 the iPad Pro would be a dud on arrival If it was released with specs that isn't compatible for features that debut the following month.

 

[klasma]

it will have disappointment.

Is that a new Calendar function?

 

[MayaUser]

M4 Chip on the iPad Pro first sounds very weird...

Shouldn't it come to the Mac first?
So should I not get an M3 MacBook Air after all? I was so close to buying one, but now I want to wait for M4 to get the longest longevity. If it has the M3 chip, then I will continue to get my M3 Air.

this is about the ipad pro and not macbook air...so no matter what if its M3 or M4 into the ipad....the next macbook air will be M4 and the release date is not affected by the ipad SoC

 

[Xil3]

I really wish they would focus more on some productivity software updates, rather than just making it faster every iteration. Not even an M1 iPad can utilize the speed, given the OS limitations.

 

[gonidog]

I'm leaning towards yes. Why? Because of the little talked about zero day exploit that is built into the M1, M2 and M3 chips. Apple's move to M4 is to avoid the exploit. Regardless, it should be a fun event.

 

[nicholsi00]

While Apple's upcoming iPad Pro models have been expected to feature the M3 chip for over a year, recent reports have unexpectedly suggested that the new devices will instead feature the as-yet-unannounced M4 chip.

Last week, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that he now believes there is a "strong possibility" that the upcoming iPad Pro models will be equipped with Apple's next-generation M4 chip, rather than the M3 chip that debuted in the MacBook Pro and iMac six months ago. He said a key new feature of the M4 chip will be an upgraded Neural Engine that boosts performance for AI tasks, and he believes Apple will market the next iPad Pro as an AI-powered device.

Introducing the M4 chip in an iPad and only six months after the previous chip generation would be unprecedented moves. Yet this is not the first time that the new iPad Pro models have been rumored to feature the M4 chip. In March, the chip details of 16 new Apple devices were revealed by a source with a proven track record of sharing accurate information about Apple's plans.

The disclosed technical information contained four identifiers for an unreleased chip that relates to the upcoming 11- and 13-inch iPad Pro models display sizes. This sequence of identifiers suggested that the iPad Pro will contain the M4 chip, rather than the M3. With Gurman now supporting this possibility and the potential of an AI focus, it seems like an increasingly likely eventuality.

If Apple does introduce the M4 chip in the new iPad Pro, its Apple silicon roadmap would appear to be moving faster than expected. It is possible that TSMC's N3E production volume remains low, making it more suitable for a device like the iPad rather than the iPhone or Mac at this point in time.

Apple is expected to announce the new iPad Pro models at its "Let Loose" event on May 7. Do you think the new iPad Pro will contain the M4 chip and why? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Article Link: Will the New iPad Pro Really Have the M4 Chip?

"Let Loose"... of your wallets!

 

[MrWillie]

I don’t understand it. The MacBook Air with M3 just came out and we already have the M4? How often does Apple release new chips?

Well, when you have a hardware security flaw that releases encryption keys to hackers (under the right circumstances), you need to release a new chip PDQ.

It wouldn’t surprise me if we also got new M4 Mac Studios and Minis. (Mac Pros will be in other 3 years or so…)

 

[FasterQuieter]

It would make sense if they have the chips ready and they don't want to update it for a long time. If they use a next-gen chip they can leave it for a couple of years and it will have the resources for whatever AI updates occur during that period. They could also use it to help justify whatever ungodly price is coming our way.

 

[prombough]

I've called it elsewhere already, but I am predicting that "Let Loose" is not referring to speed but to them finally enabling Mac OS on an extremely powerful iPad (M4 or M3X). I know, I know, it's wishful thinking. But if I am right I can come back and gloat. If I am wrong... well, I probably won't remember by then anyway. (I am still laughing at the other commenters remark about taking it with a "Grain of Gurman" ... especially how that sounds to a French Canadian! LOL.)

 

[Tuck_]

Maybe an M3-S or something.

 

[Plerf]

I feel like any reasonable improvement to the basic chip now gets a new number.

In the past they would have been like, ok this is the M3 family and this variant is the M3[random letter or ‘+’]. The next one will be M4.

Now it’s just: is it new in some way? Slap a new number on it! So the “M4” is really just a variant M3, and what would have been the M4 is now the M5.

I feel this is what happened with the M1 and M2.

Also please note, I have no idea what I’m talking about.

 

[MrWillie]

I've called it elsewhere already, but I am predicting that "Let Loose" is not referring to speed but to them finally enabling Mac OS on an extremely powerful iPad (M4 or M3X). I know, I know, it's wishful thinking. But if I am right I can come back and gloat. If I am wrong... well, I probably won't remember by then anyway. (I am still laughing at the other commenters remark about taking it with a "Grain of Gurman" ... especially how that sounds to a French Canadian! LOL.)

It could be that “Let Loose” is referring to your encryption keys…

 

[jz0309]

imho opinion it doesn't make sense to equip an iPad Pro with the next gen M chip before the Macs, from what I red here a lot iPadOS is so "crippled", why does it need it? and since "AI features" are not going to be released til the fall ...
maybe it will be the N3E process but I would guess Apple might call it something else than M4 ...

but whatever, now that the hype is built up, if it doesn't get released with the M4 there will be so many complaints here on MR ...

 

[Bigkool2inSC]

I don't even know what chip my current iPad has and it works great..

 

[Populus]

I’m assuming the next iPad Pro is coming with the M4 SoC. That’s out of question for me.

What I’m really curious about, is wether this new chip will be only improved on its neural engine, or the CPU and GPU cores will also be greatly improved with a whole new architecture and much better IPC.

 

[PlayUltimate]

Does it make more sense for the iPad PRO to get an older chip or a "cutting edge" chip? Granted this may be mostly nomenclature, but I would not be surprised to see the iPad PRO getting an M4. And then the MacBook Pro getting an M4 Pro/M4 Max in the Fall. The iPad Air could then get a base M3. This would thus make the chips connect to device families: M3: MacBook Air, iPad Air ; M4: MacBook Pro, iPad Pro. The base iPad would use an iPhone chip. By following a scheme like this, it would simplify the logic of the devices.

 

[AppleTO]

Doesn’t matter with the OS as restricted as it is. They could put an M100 in and it wouldn’t change how it works.

 

[smulji]

I've called it elsewhere already, but I am predicting that "Let Loose" is not referring to speed but to them finally enabling Mac OS on an extremely powerful iPad (M4 or M3X). I know, I know, it's wishful thinking. But if I am right I can come back and gloat. If I am wrong... well, I probably won't remember by then anyway. (I am still laughing at the other commenters remark about taking it with a "Grain of Gurman" ... especially how that sounds to a French Canadian! LOL.)

If Apple is planning something to that extent, I would expect it to be shown at WWDC

 

[Populus]

I don't even know what chip my current iPad has and it works great..

To be fair, my old iPhone 8 is still around the house, and it’s physically identical to my current SE 3. The other day I grabbed it and I barely noticed differences, aside from the battery life and maybe a slight difference in animation smoothness.