Electronics
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- Best display on any portable device, full stop
- M4 chip matches desktop-class CPU performance
- Apple Pencil Pro with hover is transformative for artists
- Thinner than any iPhone — remarkable engineering
- Front camera finally in landscape orientation
- Fully accessorized, it costs more than a MacBook Air
- iPadOS still limits what the M4 hardware can do
- Battery capacity limited by the thin design
- 20W charger is too slow; 35W sold separately
Apple’s iPad Pro has always been the benchmark for what a tablet can achieve, and the M4 generation takes that lead to a new extreme. The iPad Pro M4 pairs a chip that rivals desktop computers with the thinnest Apple product ever made and a stunning Ultra Retina XDR OLED display. It’s a genuine technological marvel. The question every potential buyer must answer, however, is whether all that power translates into a meaningfully better experience for the tasks they actually perform. Here’s the honest assessment after extensive daily use.
The display is genuinely extraordinary
Apple’s Ultra Retina XDR OLED with tandem OLED technology achieves 1000 nits of sustained full-screen brightness and 1600 nits peak HDR brightness while maintaining the perfect blacks OLED is known for. The 120Hz ProMotion refresh rate makes everything feel fluid, and the nano-texture glass option virtually eliminates reflections for artists and video professionals working in bright environments. For anyone who cares about display quality, this is the finest screen available on any portable device today — no asterisks.
M4 performance: what desktop-class actually means
The M4 chip is a genuine leap. Built on TSMC’s 3nm process, it delivers CPU performance that matches many laptop processors while consuming a fraction of the power. In practice: 4K video editing in Final Cut Pro without hesitation, complex 3D rendering in apps like Nomad Sculpt, and large RAW photo libraries processed with zero lag. For professional creative workflows, the performance ceiling has been raised to a level where the device itself is rarely the limiting factor. The bottleneck, now, is software — not silicon.
Design: impossibly thin, carefully refined
At 5.1mm, the iPad Pro M4 is thinner than any iPad or iPhone ever made. It feels almost impossibly light in hand for a device of its size. The aluminum and glass construction is premium and precise, the squared-off edges provide a secure grip, and Space Black is particularly striking in person. The thinness does require some adjustment for typing in landscape mode — fingers sometimes reach the edge of the device — but after a week it feels normal. This is, visually and tactilely, the most refined iPad Apple has ever shipped.
Apple Pencil Pro: hover is a game-changer
iPadOS 18 brings meaningful improvements to multitasking, but the real story here is the Apple Pencil Pro. The new Pencil detects your tip up to 12mm above the screen, enabling creative apps to preview brush strokes before you commit. Barrel-roll rotation, haptic feedback, and squeeze gestures add up to the most capable stylus on any tablet. For artists and note-takers, the combination of iPad Pro hardware and Apple Pencil Pro is without peer in the category — this is the main reason Wacom users finally move.
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Battery, cameras, and the charging gripe
Battery life is good but not exceptional given the chip’s power. Expect around 9–10 hours of mixed use, dropping closer to 7 hours during intensive tasks. The M4’s efficiency helps, but the slim design limits battery capacity. The included 20W USB-C charger is adequate for overnight charging but slow for top-ups during a busy workday — pick up the 35W Apple adapter separately if you use the iPad heavily. On cameras: the rear system pairs a 12MP wide and 10MP ultrawide with LiDAR. The big improvement is the front camera finally moving to the landscape edge, which fixes years of awkward video-call framing.
The elephant in the room: price
The base iPad Pro M4 starts at a premium price, and adding the Apple Pencil Pro, Magic Keyboard, and cellular connectivity pushes the total well past a fully equipped MacBook Air. For creative professionals who genuinely need the display quality, portability, and touch interaction, the iPad Pro M4 is worth every penny. For everyone else — web browsing, streaming, reading, occasional note-taking — the iPad Air M2 delivers most of the real-world experience at substantially lower cost.
- You’re a professional artist, illustrator, or designer
- You edit 4K video or do serious photo work on the move
- You want one device that handles drawing, editing, and work
- The display quality matters more than anything else
- You primarily browse, stream, and read — iPad Air is plenty
- You want laptop workflows — buy a MacBook Air instead
- Budget is tight — keyboard and Pencil quickly double the price
- You won’t use a stylus at all — much of the value is there
Worth considering instead
Frequently asked questions
The verdict
The iPad Pro M4 is the best tablet ever made, full stop. The combination of display quality, processing power, and thinness is a genuine engineering achievement that nothing else on the market approaches. Whether it’s worth the price depends entirely on how you’ll use it. Professional artists, video editors, musicians, and mobile creatives will find it transformative. Casual users who primarily browse and stream will be better served by the far more affordable iPad Air M2 — which is itself an excellent tablet.
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