For most people, the iPad Pro is a little…much. The very concept of a tablet that costs $999 as a starting price is enough to scoff at for almost everyone. But then, the iPad Pro isn’t for almost everyone: It’s for the chosen few who don’t just want a high-performing tablet, but who want one with every single one of the bells and whistles.
To put it a little more bluntly, there’s almost no one who needs an iPad Pro — and having tested every iPad release over the past few years, I can say with certainty that I don’t need something this powerful. But, with its huge performance, incredible display, and stunningly thin design, you sure might want one. Just be prepared to spend some serious cash to get it.
iPad Pro (M4)
| Pros | Cons |
| Very powerful Incredibly sleek design Stunning display Good cameras and speakers | Expensive |
iPad Pro (M4) Specs
- Price: $999+.
- Dimensions: 9.83 inches long x 6.99 inches wide x 0.21 inches deep (11-inch model), 11.09 inches long x 8.48 inches wide x 0.20 inches deep (13-inch model).
- Display: 2420 x 1668 Tandem OLED, 1600-nit peak (11-inch), 2752 x 2064 Tandem OLED, 1600-nit peak (13-inch).
- Processor: M4.
- Storage: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB.
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, 5G (optional).
- Rear camera: 12MP, f/1.8.
- Front camera: 12MP ultrawide, f/2.0.
- Colors: Silver, space gray.
A Stunningly Thin Design
Online images of the iPad Pro don’t really do its design justice. Images will show you that it has a similar premium build-quality and materials as other iPad models, and indeed, those things come together to make for a tablet that looks very high-quality.
It’s only when you actually hold the device that you’ll see what’s truly special about the design of the iPad Pro. It’s incredibly thin: It truly feels like you’re simply holding a slate of glass. Sure, the iPad Pro is only around 1mm thinner than the iPad Air, but that single millimeter actually makes a difference. There’s nothing else out there that feels as premium as the iPad Pro.
Other aspects of the design of the tablet are a bit more expected, though still premium. The iPad Pro is still the only iPad model that has Face ID, instead of the Touch ID sensor in the power button of the other iPad models. I can’t say I care about having Face ID over Touch ID a lot, but I do like it better, and I still find it a little strange that almost eight years after Face ID launched in the iPhone X, it’s still considered a “premium” feature. The Face ID sensor and front-facing camera are located exactly where they should be — the top edge, when you hold the device horizontally.
Turn the tablet 90 degrees to the right, and you’ll find the power button on the top edge, volume buttons on the right edge, and USB-C port on the bottom, which supports USB 4.
Perhaps the only fault of the iPad Pro, in my opinion, is the lack of color options. To be fair, the silver and space gray colors look nice, but I don’t see why a so-called “Pro” device can’t be colorful, too. The tablet is available in two sizes, including an 11-inch and a 13-inch model. I have the 11-inch model, which I prefer, since I find the 13-inch size to be a little unwieldy.
That aside though, the design of the iPad Pro is stunning. It’s the most premium-looking and premium-feeling tablet out there right now.
One Of The Best Displays Ever Made
The thinness of the iPad Pro is nice, but it may not really impact your experience of actually using it. What will, however, is the display on the iPad Pro.
I don’t want to overstate things, but the iPad Pro’s display is the single best-looking screen that I’ve seen in any consumer device. I’ve reviewed dozens of TVs, including some of the best from Samsung and LG models, and they don’t match the quality offered by the screen in the iPad Pro.
The key to this high quality is the display technology that Apple is using here. Apple is one of the first to adopt a technology called Tandem OLED, which basically puts two OLED layers together. Why? Well, OLED displays may have deep black levels, but they simply can’t get as bright as LED displays right now unless you combine the brightness from two of them. That means you get the same deep black levels, coupled with huge brightness, for an incredibly vibrant screen.
Other aspects of the display are high-tech, too. No matter which size of iPad Pro you get, you’ll get a crisp 264 pixel-per-inch pixel density, along with a variable refresh rate that can reach 120Hz when needed, or range down to 10Hz to save battery. It’s highly responsive, and feels nice and smooth.
There’s an option for a nano-texture glass on the iPad Pro, which costs extra, but might be worth considering. My review model has normal glossy glass, but I have a MacBook Pro with nano-texture glass and I love how well it reduces glare and cuts down on reflections.
All this is to say that the screen on the iPad Pro looks stunning while watching movies, accurate when editing photos or video, and smooth when you swipe or tap.
Performance That Beats Most Laptops
The iPad Pro is powered by Apple’s M4 chip, which is the base chip in Apple’s latest-and-greatest series of chipsets. It’s the same chip that you can find in the latest MacBook Air model and the base MacBook Pro. In other words, the iPad Pro performs like a laptop, and it’ll easily handle heavy multitasking, graphic design with the Apple Pencil, and even light video editing.
To be clear, professional video-editors with demanding workloads can’t necessarily replace their actual workstation with an iPad Pro, but the tablet will easily work as an on-the-go tool for the basics, like cutting together footage. Start adding heavier color-grading and lots of tracks, and the tablet might start to slow down, but that’s to be expected, and the fact that you get this level of performance is pretty incredible.
Basically, the iPad Pro is easily the best-performing tablet out there, followed only by the iPad Air, which is powered by the Apple M3.
It’s important to note that if you really only need a tablet for productivity, then you may not need to buy an iPad Pro over an iPad Air — the M3 chip in the iPad Air is still more than enough for web apps, office apps, emails, and so on. The M4 is technically more powerful, but the performance difference may not make much of a difference for you, depending on your workload.
In testing the iPad Pro, I used the device for productivity, gaming, and video editing. My video editing needs are pretty basic — I’m no professional video editor — but regardless, the iPad Pro handled all of the tasks I put it through with ease.
Better-Than-Expected Speakers And Cameras
Everything else about the iPad Pro is the best you can get from Apple, too. The speakers in the tablet are pretty incredible for how thin they are, and while they won’t replace a decent pair of headphones or desktop speakers, they’re great in a pinch. They deliver much more depth and bass than you would expect, and detail is solid, again, for a pair of speakers built into a tablet.
The cameras are good, too. The iPad Pro has a 12-megapixel camera with an f/1.8 aperture, and it’s easily good enough to capture detailed and vibrant photos. The only time I really use a rear-facing camera on an iPad is when I’m on a video call and want to show whoever I’m talking to something, but there are some professional settings in which a decent camera on a tablet can come in handy. Basically, it’ll do just fine.
On the front, the iPad Pro has a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera, which supports Apple’s Center Stage feature. This essentially crops video and moves the crop around to follow you as you move around a room. It works well, and it’s a feature I quite like.
A Keyboard That I Could Type On For Hours
As you would expect, the iPad Pro supports all of Apple’s best tablet accessories. For example, it supports the Apple Pencil Pro, which is Apple’s highest-end Apple Pencil that supports a range of helpful features and gestures to help you switch tools and control the software. For me, it’s fun to play with, but nothing more: I don’t use a stylus for any professional tasks, and I’m certainly not a graphic designer. That said, in use, the Apple Pencil Pro, combined with the 120Hz display on the iPad Pro, feels smooth and natural.
As a writer, however, an accessory that I did use a lot was the Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro. The Magic Keyboard is incredibly expensive, but I absolutely love using it. The keys offer a good amount of travel and are well-spaced, and the touchpad on the Magic Keyboard is responsive and premium-feeling. In fact, it feels as high quality as the touchpads on MacBook laptops, though, of course, it’s a fair bit smaller on the 11-inch model. I’m used to the feel of the keyboard in the MacBook Pro and the Magic Keyboard for Mac desktop computers, and the Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro feels very similar. There’s really no learning curve, which helps in getting used to the spacing and typing efficiently.
That’s not to mention the fact that I love how easy it is to attach and detach the iPad from the Magic Keyboard, and the fact that the keyboard has a USB-C port built into the hinge that can pass power through to the iPad. It’s a very well-thought-out accessory and plays a big role in bridging the gap between tablet and laptop.
iPadOS Takes Some Getting Used To
So far, there’s nothing that I’ve disliked about the iPad Pro, but if there’s anything to criticize about it, it might be the software. To be fair, I’m more or less used to how iPadOS works and find that I can proficiently multitask on the tablet, switching between apps easily and finding what I need when I need it. That said, I’ve used iPadOS for a number of years now, and if you’re new to using iPadOS for productivity, you will find that there’s a bit of a learning curve.
I’m still a little confused as to why Apple treats certain features and functions differently on the iPad than it does on the Mac. I use Spotlight to open Finder on a Mac many times every single day, to the point where it’s become muscle memory. Type Finder into Spotlight on the iPad, and you’ll run into a roadblock — the file management app on iPadOS is simply called “Files,” and Apple hasn’t even taken the time to program “Finder” to surface the Files app when searched for. This is a minor complaint, and again, those new to iPadOS will have bigger problems, like getting used to how windowed apps work and learning to use features like Slide Over and Stage Manager.
I’m used to those things by now, and for my workflow, I can make iPadOS work perfectly fine. I find it easy to open up a content management system in one Safari window and have another window for research on the side. Google Docs works great, and I have no problems scrolling through emails on the device.
The Verdict
Let’s get one thing out of the way now: the iPad Pro is the best tablet out there, period. It has an excellent design, an incredible display, performance that beats most laptops, and even solid speakers. The question you’ll have to figure out for yourself, however, is do you need those things?
If you’re looking for a tablet for productivity, the performance offered by the M3 and the iPad Air is still going to be more than enough for your needs. So who is the iPad Pro for? Well, it’s kind of for two groups of people. First, there are graphic designers and creators who actually need the best performance they can get for things like serious graphic design and video editing. Then there are the enthusiasts, those who don’t need any of it, but who can tell when a display is better than another, and who like pushing devices like the iPad to their limits.
iPad Pro (M4)
That’s all to say that if you’re looking for a tablet for most tablet-like tasks, like watching movies, browsing social media, and playing games every now and then, the iPad Pro is overkill for you. But if you could actually use a superior display and the best performance in any tablet out there, then it’s worth considering the iPad Pro, as long as you’re willing to spend $999 for the tablet alone, and more if you want accessories like the Magic Keyboard and the Apple Pencil Pro.
