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If you have read my blog before you may have seen that I said that I wasn’t going to buy the new iPad Pro M4. Guess what though I couldn’t resist and went out and bought the 13-inch iPad Pro M4 to replace my 2020 iPad Pro. I wanted to see if the M4 version could make me fall back in love with the iPad after not using it much for the past year.
So what’s different? Let’s look into it in more detail
Design:
Well, It still looks like an iPad and if you saw one you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference unless you looked extremely closely. There are however a couple of slight changes that have been introduced which are a nice upgrade to the previous Pro models. I still have to say that although not much has changed it’s still a beautiful device hence why I decided to take the plunge 😊
Camera System :
The front-facing camera how now been moved to the side rather than at the top of the screen. This makes more sense to me as I can now use it more effectively when I am on Teams calls on video or just FaceTime someone.
In terms of the rear camera, you have a 12MP Wide camera which can capture 4K ProRes video. It has certainly been sold as a creator’s companion with the addition of 4K ProRes but I can say that I use my iPad for shooting or taking photos for that matter, I would also reach for my iPhone 15 Pro as it’s so capable and also more manageable when filming.
It’s super thin:
The iPad Pro M4 13-inch model is now only 5.1mm thick and is the slimiest iPad that we have seen. As you can imagine this also makes it lighter and more portable, however, I have an Apple Magic Keyboard prominently attached to mine so I don’t really feel the difference.
Microphones & Speakers:
This iPad sports 4 speaker sound system which provides rich audio that immerses more into your content. The studio quality mics are a really great addition making you sound clear to the person on the other end of the call. I find this great as I often use my iPad for Teams calls.
The Display:
Here is the biggy the beautiful new Ultra Retina XDR Display with tandem OLED Technology. It’s beautifully bright with a full-screen brightness of 1000nits and peak HDR brightness of 1600nits. It sports ProMotion with an adaptive refresh rate of 10 – 120Hz so it’s super smooth and responsive
So what does this mean for an everyday user? It means you are getting a lovely display that is brilliant in a whole host of different ways. It’s great for general admin use but for me, it really comes to life when watching content. Watching a film on it is such a pleasurable experience.
Performance:
Well, what can I say other than it’s a beast and I will never use it to its full potential with what I use it for. The M4 chips make this super quick and smooth and you can see why they have aimed this at content creators. I haven’t used it for editing video mainly because I like a big screen but I can imagine it wouldn’t even blink at it.
Accessories:
With the release of the new iPad lineup came the release of a new Apple Pencil Pro and a new Magic Keyboard. The Apple Pencil is the one that annoys me, the fact that only the new Apple Pencil is compatible with the new iPad Pro makes me angry. Why because I already own the Apple Pencil 2nd Generation and I did not want to have to buy a new one. I get that the design may have been behind this with it being so much thinner but it still annoys so needless to say I am not using the Apple Pencil with this.
Now the Magic Keyboard on the other hand is another is also a thing of beautiful. It looks and feels more premium than the previous versions and feels more like a laptop keyboard (in my opinion). It has a bigger track pad makes it easier to use but I am not going to divulge much here as this deserves its own review.
Final Thoughts:
So what is the answer to if it’s made me fall back in love with the iPad Pro? Well Yes and No (nothing like sitting on the fence). I am using it a lot more especially for writing but I would be lying if I said I was constantly reaching for it. I am certainly enjoying the larger screen with opting to go for the 13-inch version as it allows me to multitask with multiple tabs/apps open when writing and researching.
The screen is lovely but I would still say that my main device for most things is my iPhone 15 Pro. So was it worth the upgrade for the price hmmmmmmm maybe not. But again with all of these things, it comes down to your use case and personal preference. I will continue to work it into my workflow as it does pretty much everything I need apart from the odd thing I will use my MacBook Air for.
In short, it still looks and is an iPad, there is no drastic change nor was there ever likely to be. It not claiming to be a laptop replacement it’s a brilliant tablet that is capable of everything and more that the average consumer will want to do.