One week with the M4 iPad Professional: stuffed with surprises and questions

It’s been a full week for the reason that M4 iPad Professional first arrived in customers’ arms, and I’ve been working full-time on mine every single day since then.

I’ve used my new 13-inch iPad Professional for all my work at 9to5Mac, each indoors and outdoor, plus TV watching, journaling, organizing for a transfer, giving speeches, and extra.

Listed here are the issues which have most stunned me in my first week of use, plus the questions on my thoughts forward of subsequent month’s WWDC.

Surprises from week one

The 13-inch is a significantly better pill than earlier than

I’ve used each the 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Professionals extensively up to now, and my conclusion was clear:

• The 11-inch iPad was an excellent pill and poor laptop computer
• The 13-inch iPad was a poor pill and nice laptop computer

Relying on what you needed out of your iPad, both mannequin may serve your wants properly. However neither mannequin was versatile sufficient to be a compelling pill and laptop computer.

The 13-inch M4 iPad Professional will get very near attaining that candy spot. It’s undoubtedly simply pretty much as good a laptop computer as earlier than—even higher, in truth, due to the vastly improved Magic Keyboard (see beneath).

It is usually, due to its exceptional thinness and radical weight discount, a extremely manageable pill for the primary time ever.

Does the iPad nonetheless really feel a bit outsized when held as a pill? Positive. But it surely’s additionally surprisingly comfy to carry, even one-handed.

New Magic Keyboard is without doubt one of the greatest options

I’ve already extensively praised the brand new Magic Keyboard elsewhere, so I’ll direct you to that piece for a full run-down. In abstract, the Magic Keyboard has been one of the vital nice surprises of the M4 iPad Professional for me.

I used to be under no circumstances sad with the earlier Magic Keyboard, however the brand new mannequin improves on it in each means conceivable. It affords the next:

• bigger trackpad with haptic clicks
• operate row with brightness and quantity keys I’ve been utilizing loads
• a premium really feel due to the aluminum palm rests
• higher viewing angles
• lowered weight

To me, the brand new Magic Keyboard alone is a compelling cause for consumers to decide on an iPad Professional over an iPad Air, which is caught with the outdated keyboard.

The Extremely Retina XDR show’s surprising benefit

Apple claims the iPad Professional contains “the world’s most superior show.” Huge phrases, however early opinions appeared to point they had been merited.

I knew entering into that the brand new Extremely Retina XDR show would shine in on a regular basis indoor use, particularly as a video system. My spouse and I watch most of our TV on the iPad, so I used to be particularly excited for the true blacks and punchier colours this improve would supply. The tandem OLED has not upset.

What I didn’t count on was how a lot profit I’d get out of the show’s 1,000 nits of max brightness. This represents an enormous enhance over my 2018 mannequin’s 600 nits, which itself stayed constant right through the 2022 model.

I like to work outdoors on my iPad, and even with out the nano-texture glass, the brand new peak brightness on the Extremely Retina XDR has been an asset in my on a regular basis use.

The M4 doesn’t imply a lot to me

Right here’s the primary shock that hasn’t been constructive. The iPad Professional comes outfitted with Apple’s strongest chip ever. It outperforms Apple’s full Mac lineup in single-core testing.

Have I seen that? Probably not.

The M4 iPad Professional is quick, however in my makes use of, it feels about as quick as my 2018 iPad Professional felt when it first launched. That system has slowed down considerably up to now couple years, so the M4 remains to be an enormous improve for me. However does it really feel any sooner than earlier iPads did after they first debuted? Not for my use instances.

If I had been modifying video or performing some superior AI work, I’m certain my reply could be completely different. However for the issues I do every day—writing, looking, electronic mail, some gentle photograph modifying—the M4 doesn’t imply a lot.

Questions forward of WWDC

Will iPadOS 18 benefit from the M4?

That is the query on many iPad customers’ minds. Sadly, I believe the reply will principally be ‘no’.

There’s an optimistic group of customers who think about that iPadOS 18 should convey huge modifications that can benefit from the M4. I’ve been an iPad person lengthy sufficient to know the cycles of hope and disappointment, and this 12 months feels prefer it’ll be disappointing.

The brand new iPad Professional bought the M4 as a result of Apple wanted to maneuver previous the M3 line for manufacturing causes, and since the tandem OLED setup requires the brand new chip. Are there going to be new iPadOS 18 options that profit from the chip’s energy? Almost certainly—however they’ll additionally in all probability run high-quality on an M2 or M1-equipped iPad.

All reviews level to this being an AI-heavy WWDC, so the iPad is certain to profit from that. However I’d be very stunned if Apple introduced something that made me say, “Aha! It’s a very good factor I’ve my M4 iPad Professional.”

Is Stage Supervisor Apple’s greatest shot at multitasking?

I partly already answered this query with my skepticism about iPadOS 18. Whereas I don’t suppose there are any main iPadOS overhauls coming this 12 months, I do surprise if we’ll get some hints concerning the iPad’s future.

Perhaps these hints will take the type of doubling down on Stage Supervisor due to some minor tweaks that make it higher. Perhaps there are new APIs that time builders down a sure path with their iPad apps. I’ll be paying shut consideration, as a result of I actually need to consider Apple can do higher with the iPad’s multitasking.

I’ve used Stage Supervisor on and off since its debut, nevertheless it’s principally been off. Apple’s unique Cut up View and Slide Over system works usually high-quality for me. However I’d like to see a compelling cause to provide Stage Supervisor one other shot. Even when that cause is just that Apple begins deprecating a number of the instruments that energy its legacy multitasking choices.

Wrap-up

The brand new iPad Professional remains to be an iPad. It nonetheless runs iPadOS. Nothing about this very costly mannequin modifications that. However in case you love the iPad, Apple has improved its {hardware} in nearly each means.

The M4 iPad Professional is a leap ahead for the iPad, making it a greater pill than ever earlier than, a greater laptop computer than ever, and setting the platform up for hopefully a compelling software program story sooner or later.

Greatest equipment on your new iPad Professional