The 2024 iPad Professional ranges up efficiency as the primary Apple machine with the M4 chip. And the brand new mid-tier Apple pill is the M2 iPad Air which is available in two sizes for the primary time. So what’s all totally different between these 2024 iPads and is the high-end value the additional cash? Right here’s our detailed take a look at the M4 iPad Professional vs M2 iPad Air.
The 2022 iPad Air 5 with M1 blurred the road between the mid and high-end iPads, giving an incentive for a lot of to purchase the Air that began at $200 (or extra) beneath the $799 11-inch iPad Professional.
Now the 2024 M2 iPad Air lineup (sixth gen) presents much more selection and energy than the M1 iPad Air.
Nonetheless, the brand new iPad Air fashions are contrasted with the M4 iPad Professional units – however they’re costlier this 12 months with beginning costs of $999 and $1,299 – making the distinction between an iPad Air and Professional $300-400.
M4 iPad Professional vs M2 iPad Air
Efficiency
The massive differentiator in efficiency between the brand new iPad Professional and Air is because of the improve of the M4 chip. Apple says it delivers as much as a 50% quicker CPU, 4x quicker GPU, and a lift in reminiscence bandwidth from 100GB/s to 120GB/s over the M2.
Together with the brand new GPU comes a media engine that provides hardware-accelerated 8K H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW assist – becoming a member of the Mac as a tool in a position to deal with 8K video.
Different new options embrace 38 trillion operations per second with the M4 Neural Engine, hardware-accelerated ray tracing, and extra.
Observe: iPad Professional fashions with 128, 256, and 512GB storage have 8GB RAM, 1TB and 2TB fashions have 16GB RAM.
| 11″ M4 iPad Professional | 11″ M2 iPad Air | 13″ M4 iPad Professional | 13″ M2 iPad Air | |
| Chip | M4 | M2 | M4 | M2 |
| CPU | 9 or 10-core | 8-core | 9 or 10-core | 8-core |
| GPU | 10-core | 10-core | 10-core | 10-core |
| {Hardware}-accelerated 8K H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW assist | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| {Hardware}-accelerated H.264 and HEVC | – | ✅ | – | ✅ |
| {Hardware}-accelerated ray tracing | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Neural Engine | 16-core | 16-core | 16-core | 16-core |
| Storage | 256GB – 2TB | 128GB – 1TB | 256GB – 2TB | 128GB – 1TB |
| RAM | 8 or 16GB | 8GB | 8 or 16GB | 8GB |
| Reminiscence bandwidth | 120GB/s | 100GB/s | 120GB/s | 100GB/s |
| Thunderbolt/USB 4 | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 solely | – | ✅ | – | ✅ |
| Mobile | 5G (sub-6 GHz) | 5G (sub-6 GHz) | 5G (sub-6 GHz) | 5G (sub-6 GHz) |
Different upgrades with the Professional are Thunderbolt/USB 4 and hardware-accelerated ray tracing.
One loss is mmWave connectivity for 5G with the 2024 iPad Professional fashions (2022 variations had this). That matches the 5G radio within the 2024 iPad Air.
Show
The brand new M4 iPad Professional fashions surpass the iPad Air with a brand new “Extremely Retina XDR Show.”
It’s the primary to make use of Tandem OLED in comparison with the Liquid Retina Show that makes use of LED within the M2 iPad Air units.
Apple says the advantages of the brand new OLED show are brighter specular highlights, deeper true blacks, higher element in shadows and low gentle, and extra.
Each the smaller and bigger iPad Professional function the brand new OLED show and you too can now improve the 1 or 2TB M4 iPad Professional with nano-texture show glass.
You additionally get brighter SDR content material as much as 1000 nits with the M4 iPad Professional fashions (600 nits for M2 iPad Professional SDR content material). That’s 2x brighter than the five hundred nits for SDR with the iPad Air.
| 11″ M4 iPad Professional | 11″ M2 iPad Air | 13″ M4 iPad Professional | 13″ M2 iPad Air | |
| Show | 11″ OLED | 10.86″ LED | 13″ OLED | 12.9″ LED |
| Decision | 2420 x 1668 | 2360 x 1640 | 2752 x 2064 | 2732 x 2048 |
| PPI (pixels per inch) | 264 | 264 | 264 | 264 |
| Show brightness | 1000 nits SDR, 1000 nits max full display screen XDR, 1600 nits peak (HDR solely) | 500 nits brightness for SDR | 1000 nits SDR, 1000 nits max full display screen XDR, 1600 nits peak (HDR solely) | 500 nits brightness for SDR |
| True Tone | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| P3 extensive colour | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| ProMotion (120Hz) | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Anti-reflective and fingerprint-resistant coating | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Absolutely laminated show | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Nano-texture show glass | Optionally available on 1TB and 2TB fashions | ❌ | Optionally available on 1TB and 2TB fashions | ❌ |
| Liquid Retina Show | – | ✅ | – | ✅ |
| Extremely Retina XDR Show | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Apple Pencil Hover | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Shared show options throughout all M4 iPad Professional and M2 iPad Air fashions embrace P3 extensive colour, absolutely laminated shows, anti-reflective coating, Apple Pencil Hover, and True Tone.
Design, dimensions, weight, colours
The M4 iPad Professional is the “thinnest product Apple has ever created” at 5.1mm for the 13″ mannequin and 5.3mm for the 11″ model.
Together with that, the brand new M4 iPad Professional is lighter than ever, beneath 1 pound for the 11″ and 1.28 kilos for the 13″.
That’s ironic for the reason that “Air” model of Apple’s iPad and Mac often declare the title for thinnest and lightest.
| 11″ M4 iPad Professional | 11″ M2 iPad Air | 13″ M4 iPad Professional | 13″ M2 iPad Air | |
| Peak | 9.83 inches (249.7 mm) | 9.74 inches (247.6 mm) | 11.09 inches (281.6 mm) | 11.04 inches (280.6 mm) |
| Width | 6.99 inches (177.5 mm) | 7.02 inches (178.5 mm) | 8.48 inches (215.5 mm) | 8.46 inches (214.9 mm) |
| Depth | 0.21 inch (5.3 mm) | 0.24 inch (6.1 mm) | 0.20 inch (5.1 mm) | 0.24 inch (6.1 mm) |
| Weight | 0.98 kilos (446 grams) | 1.02 kilos (462 grams) | 1.28 kilos (582 grams) | 1.36 kilos (618 grams) |
New this time round is the House Black end changing House Grey for the M4 iPad Professional whereas silver stays the opposite selection.
In the meantime, the M2 iPad Air is out there in 4 colour decisions: House Grey, Starlight, blue, and purple.
Connectivity and equipment
The brand new iPad Professional and Air fashions work with the identical kind of Apple equipment. These come within the type of a brand new Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Professional – or you possibly can go for the mid-tier Apple Pencil with USB-C.
The opposite essential I/O upgrades with the iPad Professional are Face ID and Thunderbolt connectivity.
| 11 and 13″ M4 iPad Professional | 11 and 13″ M2 iPad Air | |
| Apple Pencil Professional assist | ✅ | ✅ |
| Apple Pencil gen 2 assist | ❌ | ❌ |
| Apple Pencil USB-C | ✅ | ✅ |
| Magic Keyboard assist | ✅ | ✅ |
| 5G | ✅ (sub-6Ghz) | ✅ (sub-6Ghz) |
| WiFi 6E | ✅ | ✅ |
| SIM | eSIM solely | eSIM and nano-SIM |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 | 5.3 |
| USB-C | ✅ USB 4 | ✅ USB 3.1 Gen 2 |
| Thunderbolt | ✅ | ❌ |
| Face ID | ✅ | ❌ |
| Contact ID | ❌ | ✅ |
Past the drop of mmWave for 5G, the M4 iPad Professional and M2 iPad Air units additionally solely have an eSIM, no bodily nano-SIM slot.
Battery life
The 2024 iPad Professional and Air fashions include the identical battery life as earlier iPads:
- 10 hours of net or video use on WiFi
- 9 hours of net use with mobile
Storage and worth
Storage is been up to date with the M4 iPad Professional beginning with 256GB and going as much as 2TB fashions. And the nano-texture glass is one other $100 improve.
Storage additionally will get bumped for the M2 iPad Air beginning with 64GB and going as much as 1TB.
| 11″ M4 iPad Professional | 11″ M2 iPad Air | 13″ M4 iPad Professional | 13″ M2 iPad Air | |
| 128GB WiFi | – | $599 | – | $799 |
| 128GB + cell | – | $749 | – | $949 |
| 256GB WiFi | $999 | $699 | $1,299 | $899 |
| 256GB + cell | $1,199 | $849 | $1,499 | $1,049 |
| 512GB WiFi | $1,199 | $899 | $1,499 | $1,099 |
| 512GB + cell | $1,399 | $1,049 | $1,699 | $1,249 |
| 1TB WiFi | $1,599 | $1,099 | $1,899 | $1,299 |
| 1TB + cell | $1,799 | $1,249 | $2,099 | $1,449 |
| 2TB WiFi | $1,999 | – | $2,299 | – |
| 2TB + cell | $2,199 | – | $2,499 | – |
Cameras, video, and audio
On the M4 iPad Professional rear digital camera system, you’ve received a 12MP extensive lens, LiDAR Scanner, and a Retina Flash with True Tone.
Apparently, the M4 iPad Professional has ditched the 10MP extremely extensive lens of the M2 iPad Professional. Which means the M4 iPad Professional and M2 iPad Air are extra comparable in digital camera capabilities.
On the entrance, you get a 12MP extremely extensive lens with Middle Stage assist that’s now centered on the lengthy panorama edge as a substitute of the brief edge with the 2024 M4 iPad Professional fashions.
| 11 and 13″ M4 iPad Professional | 11 and 13″ M2 iPad Air | |
| 12MP extensive lens | ✅ | ✅ |
| 10MP extremely extensive lens | ❌ | ❌ |
| LiDAR | ✅ | ❌ |
| 4K video | ✅ | ✅ |
| ProRes video as much as 4K 30 fps | ✅ | ❌ |
| Prolonged dynamic vary | ✅ | ✅ |
| Slo-mo video | ✅ | ✅ |
| Rear digital camera flash | ✅ | ❌ |
| TrueDepth with Face ID | ✅ (panorama edge) | ❌ |
| Extremely extensive 12MP entrance digital camera | ✅ (panorama edge) | ✅ (panorama edge) |
| 2x optical zoom out | ✅ | ✅ |
| Good HDR 4 photographs | ✅ | ✅ |
| Middle Stage auto-tracking | ✅ | ✅ |
| 4-speaker audio | ✅ | ✅ |
| Stereo recording | ✅ | ✅ |
| Studio-quality mics | 4 | ❌ |
| Commonplace mics | – | 2 |
M4 iPad Professional vs M2 iPad Air conclusion
Why purchase M4 iPad Professional?
Selecting between the M4 iPad Professional and M2 iPad Air, it might take advantage of sense to solely purchase the brand new mannequin when you’re a professional or aspiring professional with workflows that may profit from the M4 chip. Otherwise you’re simply fantastic with spending the cash on the newest and biggest from Apple 😁.
Upgrades embrace the brand new OLED show with a nano-texture possibility and better brightness, larger high storage, Thunderbolt, a extra highly effective chip, and a slimmer design.
The M4 iPad Professional is out there at Apple, Amazon, quickly Greatest Purchase, and extra.
Why purchase M2 iPad Air?
When you may get most of the M4 iPad Professional core options with the M2 iPad Air and the processor distinction not being a limiting issue for a lot of customers, saving the cash may very well be a pleasant transfer. Or you possibly can maintain your present iPad.
Additionally, at a reduction, the M1 iPad Air is a superb selection for individuals with gentle to medium workflows or informal use. It’s received most of the nice options of the fashionable M2 iPad Air/Professional and the identical design.
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