Apple has a history of offering faster devices than the competition, but when comparing its own products, one question always comes up: Is the fancy new hardware worth the upgrade? I often find myself telling people to buy an M1 iPad Pro, an iPhone 12 Pro, or a previous generation Mac with an M-series chip and save money.
This is a testament to how well Apple’s hardware performs over the long term, especially compared to competitors. If you look at it from another perspective, it’s hard to tell the difference in an iterative upgrade from Apple. I felt the same way when I upgraded from the iPhone 14 Pro to the iPhone 15 Pro, or when I ditched the perfectly perfect M2 MacBook Air for its M3 variant this year.
You don’t feel the difference, and it’s certainly not worth the extra money you’re paying for the latest addition to Apple’s portfolio. This year things are different. This new iPad Pro is here to shake up perceptions, and it does so very well. I have a love-hate relationship with the iPad and rarely suggest splurging without a very specific and practically demanding reason to support that monetary outlay.
In 2024, I have slightly different thoughts. I spent over $2,000 to get a new 13-inch iPad Pro with an M4 chip, along with a redesigned Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro. Right off the bat, this seems like a leap forward. A true generation-to-generation upgrade that costs a lot of money. This is top-of-the-line Apple hardware.
The new iPad Pro is something special
It all starts with design. It’s still unmistakably the iPad in all its metallic glory. Apple claims this is the thinnest device the company has ever made, achieving a cross-sectional profile of just 5.1 millimeters. But you have to hold the new iPad Pro in your hands to realize that a machine with M4-level firepower, fantastic speakers and a great display shouldn’t be this stylish.
It looks and feels stunning. And the screen too. From the moment I started the setup, I could feel the pleasant saturation of the background. A few HDR videos later and I can say that this is the most beautiful panel I have ever worked with. It was bright, had great viewing angles and a sharpness that would make you want to look into it.
Switching from an LCD screen to the M1 iPad Pro, the improvement in visual brilliance was striking to me. I put the Asus ZenBook S13 OLED side by side with it and I can definitely say that the laminated OLED panel of the iPad Pro is simply better. Invite, I dare say, would be the best word. You don’t come across a screen so beautiful that it forces you to work. Or at least that was my impression of the iPad Pro so far.
Faster than necessary
But the real beauty lies inside the recycled aluminum casing. The M4 chip is here, the first time Apple has chosen a tablet to showcase the all-new M-series silicon. The intentions are clear: Apple wants you to approach this machine as more than just a workhorse, all the while your workflow drops. within your territory (which is quite limited) and you’re not just looking at another screen for Netflix and YouTube.
The performance improvement here is brazenly more obvious than any iPhone or Mac jump I’ve made in the last six or seven years. The transition from Lightroom to Teams, Chrome and Asana in Stage Manager was incredibly seamless. I can confidently say that it was faster than the MacBook Air M3, but that could also be due to the difference in mobile and desktop platforms.
Compared to the M1, the speed gain is undeniably obvious. In the few scenarios where I was engaged in cloud-related creative tasks, such as applying assets to a video timeline in Adobe Express, the entire flow felt faster. Then I burned an hour Diablo the Immortal AND Devil May Cry: Peak Combat. Once again, the experience was amazing.
That 120Hz display is also now ready to support hardware-accelerated ray tracing, so AAA titles that push the limits of the Metal API will be a feast for the eyes on this machine. The four-speaker array delivers arguably the best sound you’ll get from any tablet in 2024.
Another interesting change this year is the horizontally placed front camera. For a machine that Apple wants you to believe is as good as a computer, this is a natural place for a webcam. I hated the angle-corrected camera feed for video calls on previous generations of iPads, where the Face ID module was on the edge of the portrait. Speaking of cameras, the ultra-wide camera on the back is gone.
I haven’t had a chance to test battery longevity yet, but I’m curious to see how the added stress of powering an OLED display and a faster chip works. I will save this aspect for our review. But the M4 iPad Pro is a strange machine, tempting you to spend more on the whole package (the iPad and its new accessories). It’s an unfortunate caveat, but that’s the cruel beauty of life with an iPad Pro.
Beauty is in the package
This year, this expensive poison is a little more acceptable. The Magic Keyboard costs the same as the previous iteration, but there are a few changes, both inside and out. Interestingly, this looks like a bigger redesign than the iPad Pro itself. This was always meant to be the ultimate accessory for a keyboard that still costs $299 for the 11-inch model and $349 for the 13-inch. It’s just a shame it took Apple this long to figure it out.
The new Magic Keyboard includes three key changes, all significant. The first is the addition of a full function row key, along with an exit button. Not having to open Control Center for something as basic as adjusting brightness and controlling media is a convenience that only those who have suffered will appreciate. My favorite, however, is the dedicated Spotlight button.
For someone whose work life is spread across multiple workstations, each with its own set of app preferences, I like the quick path to Spotlight search to launch apps without using the trackpad. When it comes to typing experience, Magic Keyboard 2024 is excellent. I reached my normal typing speed within minutes of launching Google Docs.
The aluminum deck is significantly superior to the touch and looks better too. In my experience, the metal case seems to add an extra touch of basal stability to the deck when typing. Apple has also flattened the ridge and now leaves the metal side exposed. I sincerely hope that these metal parts can finally redeem the Magic Keyboard from the curse of skin peeling on the old version. It looked ugly and it’s a shame for Apple’s engineering.
Finally, we have the trackpad, now larger and covered in glass. Both of these features are desirable and definitely make the overall experience more functionally liberating. Clicks are more balanced and even throughout the entire trackpad area, while the addition of a haptic engine underneath is another nice plus.
I also had a chance to play with the Apple Pencil Pro. Adding support for Find My is one of the most significant upgrades. Support for compression and haptic feedback is also a nice surprise. It’s been a smooth experience so far, but I’m looking forward to testing the new pipe system in drawing applications.
Restricted to Apple only
Overall, I think the iPad Pro powered by the M4 is the best device Apple has ever made, ignoring the usual Apple cuts we’ve come to expect from this brand’s hardware. It is almost a complete list, of course in a complementary way. You have to pair it with the new Magic Keyboard to understand the whole evolution.
It’s a polished machine, through and through, that covers all the bases in a luxurious, impressive way. In an ideal world this should disappear from the shelves. But the reality is still there. This reality check is that iPadOS is a criminally sparse operating system that doesn’t match what the iPad Pro’s hardware ecosystem brings. Oh, did I tell you that Apple won’t let you manually tinker with the keyboard backlight? Phew!
I hope Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) isn’t all AI razzamatazz. After being an avid iPad Pro user for the past few years, I’m looking forward to more desktop-level improvements to iPadOS that will do justice to the iPad Pro’s hardware. For now, we’re stuck with a great machine married to an operating system that just can’t keep up. And I’m afraid the status quo isn’t going to change anytime soon.
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