Apple crammed a beautiful tandem-OLED display and the M4 chip inside the iPad Pro, while making its thinnest product ever
Price When Reviewed
1.449
Best Prices Today: iPad Pro 11 Zoll M4 (2024)
Apple’s iPad Pro M4 (2024) might seem like a spec bump, as the iPad Pro M2 (2022) was plenty fast and capable. However, the new iPad Pro packs a slew of crucial upgrades, and the blazing-fast M4 chip isn’t even at the top of the list.
A colourful and bright tandem-OLED display, 256GB of base storage, a horizontally-positioned front-facing camera, and a thinner chassis all prove to be more impactful than the speed boost in daily use.
The iPad Pro M4 is still expensive, starting at £999/$999 for the 11-inch model and £1,299/$1,299 for the 13-inch variant. With that being said, it’s actually a better value for UK buyers this time around. The 13-inch iPad Pro M4 costs just £50 more than the iPad Pro (2022) did at launch while offering double the storage.
After months of using the iPad Pro M4, I can safely say it’s the first tablet that can completely replace my Mac. On the flip side, needing to pay premium laptop prices for an iPad is still a tough sell — especially when a last-generation iPad Pro might do just fine.Design & Build
The thinnest Apple product ever
Camera bump is now enclosed in aluminum
Colour and finish options are still limited
For 12 years, the seventh-generation iPod nano remained Apple’s thinnest product ever. Now, that groundbreaking device has been usurped by the 13-inch iPad Pro M4, which is just 5.1mm thick. Even the thicker 11-inch variant measures only 5.3mm. Contrary to popular belief, the iPad Pro really did need to be thinner.
Using the past few generations of iPad Pro, thickness wasn’t an issue while using the tablet on its own. The second an iPad Pro is paired with a keyboard case or a folio cover, though, it becomes an unwieldy device.
The thinner chassis makes a real difference, and so does the lighter build. The 13-inch iPad Pro M4 weighs just 579 grams, which is nearly a 100-gram decrease from the 682-gram 12.9-inch iPad Pro M2.
For comparison, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra is 5.4mm thick and 718g.
The glass camera covering is removed, enabling the iPad Pro’s sloping, unibody aluminoum design. It looks premium but is more functional now that the unnecessary camera bump glass is removed. The camera bump itself is smaller, too, and that means the iPad Pro M4 has less wobble on a table.
Your experience with the iPad Pro M4 as a portable device will largely depend on whether you buy the 11- or 13-inch model. I tested the former, and although it’s functionally identical to the larger version aside from minor dimensions and screen size changes, it changed the way I used it.
Compared to my 12.9-inch iPad Pro from 2018, the smaller iPad was easier to use in my lap, in the car, and anywhere, really.
The display bezel is still the perfect size for your hands to comfortably grip without obstructing its viewable area. Finally, the Face ID and front-facing camera sensors are positioned for use in landscape mode. Since most iPad Pro users work with keyboard cases or folio stands, this is ideal for video calls and the like.
I tend to prefer the implementation of Touch ID on the iPad mini to Face ID on the iPad Pro, but I’m in the minority here.
For most people, this method will be ideal for basic unlocking, authorizing purchases with Apple Pay, and accessing locked or hidden apps. Unfortunately, the horizontally-positioned cameras and sensors pose a compatibility issue for Apple Pencil, which we’ll get to later.
On the back, the Smart Connector facilitates connection with keyboards. There’s a wireless charging pad on the side for the Apple Pencil Pro and a USB/Thunderbolt 4 port on the bottom.Screen & Speakers
Finally, an iPad Pro with OLED
Tandem-OLED makes for brighter and better colours
Quad-firing speakers sound great for a tablet
Apple has a reputation for waiting until technology is mature before introducing it, and that’s exactly what it did with the iPad Pro M4. It turns out that Mini-LED on past iPad Pro models were just a stopgap before tandem OLED, the technology within the iPad Pro M4, was ready.
No, Apple didn’t invent tandem OLED – there were many products with the tech released before and after the iPad Pro M4. However, it did make it mainstream with this iPad model.
In simple terms, a tandem OLED display stacks two traditional OLED panels, allowing for higher brightness levels without the loss of pixel density or colour accuracy.
