The iPad Pro 2024 features a fantastic OLED display, powerful M4 performance, a thin yet solid lightweight design and long battery life. Though some of its peripherals and upgrades are pricey, Apple has arguably delivered its best premium tablet in years. But should you buy or skip this device?
Category
🤖
TechTranscript
00:00Should you buy or skip the iPad Pro 2024?
00:03Let me tell you why.
00:04This tablet is a big deal.
00:07The iPad Pro is the very first Apple device of any kind
00:10to feature the company's M4 chip.
00:13This is the most powerful tablet Apple has ever made.
00:15It's also the first iPad to have an OLHU,
00:18which is a feature that a lot of people
00:20have been asking for.
00:21But that performance comes at a price.
00:2313-inch iPad Pro costs $1,299,
00:26which is $200 more than the previous model.
00:28So the question is, should you get the iPad Pro
00:31or get a MacBook instead?
00:33The first reason you should buy the iPad Pro
00:35is for its thin design.
00:37The new iPad Pro is 5.1 millimeters thin,
00:40which is the thinnest device that Apple has ever released,
00:44even thinner than an iPad Nano.
00:46The iPad Pro is also super light at 1.28 pounds.
00:50It's actually lighter than the iPad Air 13-inch,
00:53which is 1.3 pounds.
00:54I know that doesn't sound like a big difference,
00:56but trust me, when you hold it, you will notice it.
00:59Even if you tack on the Apple Magic Keyboard,
01:02it actually doesn't weigh that much more,
01:03which is really cool if you're taking this around.
01:06For me personally, I'd rather travel with this
01:07than a MacBook Air.
01:09The second reason to get the iPad Pro
01:10is for the gorgeous OLED display.
01:13So Apple claims that the display can output
01:151,000 nits of brightness.
01:16In our testing, it got a little bit above that,
01:18which is really, really nice.
01:20And in certain parts of the screen,
01:21it could get up to 1,600 nits of brightness,
01:24which is something we also confirmed.
01:26Apple officially calls this an Ultra Retina XDR display.
01:29You could also upgrade to a nanotexture glass,
01:32which makes it anti-glare,
01:34but we'll talk about that a little bit later.
01:37The next reason to get the iPad Pro
01:38is for the M4 performance.
01:40We've run the iPad Pro M4 through Geekbench,
01:43and it is about twice as fast than the iPad Pro M2,
01:47which is already a really fast tablet.
01:49This is insane performance.
01:51So what does that performance mean for everyday use?
01:53It means that you could run games like Resident Evil 4
01:56and Genshin Impact at really, really good quality.
01:59Not only do they run well,
02:00but they look really nice as well.
02:01I can't give you exact frame count
02:03because they don't have a FPS counter here,
02:05but to my eyes, Genshin Impact runs pretty close to 60 FPS.
02:09Resident Evil doesn't,
02:09but it still runs very, very smoothly.
02:12And for other uses, it can handle things like web browsing
02:15and video watching without a hitch.
02:18And the final reason you should buy the iPad Pro
02:20is for its insane battery life.
02:23We tested this and we got it to run
02:24for 13 hours and 13 minutes,
02:27which is a lot more than all day use.
02:29If you need a machine that's dependable,
02:31that's gonna last you way more than a day, this is it.
02:34For comparison's sake, the iPad Pro with the M2 chip
02:37lasted 10 hours and 39 minutes,
02:39which is still really good,
02:40but this gives you three more hours, which is awesome.
02:43Because of the battery life,
02:44you could theoretically use this tablet all day for work.
02:47Then you come home and unwind for a couple more hours
02:49watching some YouTube videos.
02:50Those are the biggest pros,
02:52but be sure to check out my full review
02:53over at TomSka.com.
02:55The iPad Pro has a lot going for it.
02:56However, there are reasons to skip it
02:58and they're both related.
03:00Price.
03:01The first reason to skip is that
03:02if you wanna upgrade to nanotexture glass,
03:05you're gonna have to pay an obscene price.
03:0713-inch iPad Pro starts at $1,299.
03:10If you wanna upgrade to nanotexture glass,
03:13you need to get the configuration
03:14with one terabyte of storage,
03:16which bumps the price up to $1,999.
03:18At that price, you may as well get a MacBook Pro.
03:21The other reason to skip the iPad Pro
03:23is because of the Magic Keyboard,
03:25which is also pretty expensive.
03:28If you wanna use the iPad Pro as a laptop replacement,
03:31you'll need the Magic Keyboard.
03:32And this is actually a redesign of the previous model.
03:35And it's a lot better.
03:36The keys are more responsive.
03:37It has this really nice aluminum finish on the palm rest
03:40and the touchpad, which makes it feel more like a MacBook.
03:44This peripheral has also been redesigned
03:46to be lighter and thinner than the previous model,
03:48which makes it really easy to carry around
03:51when you're traveling with the iPad.
03:53Unfortunately, like the previous model,
03:55this Magic Keyboard costs $350.
03:57That's on top of the $1,299 you're paying for the iPad Pro.
04:00This has been a problem with the Magic Keyboard for a while,
04:02and it still stings.
04:05Even though it's expensive, especially with the add-on,
04:07I would absolutely buy the iPad Pro.
04:10As things stand, this is the most impressive tablet
04:12that Apple has ever released.
04:13No hyperbole, this is the most gorgeous OLED display
04:16I've ever seen.
04:17And the thin design is unbelievable.
04:19And obviously, you get M4 power and insane battery life.
04:22There is so much to like about this tablet.
04:25But if you're on a budget
04:26and you don't need the power of the M4,
04:28I suggest the iPad Air 13-inch.
04:30Even though it has an M2 chip,
04:32may not have the same OLED display,
04:33but it is super portable,
04:34and it gives you almost all the features that this one does.
04:38Even with all this power,
04:40iPadOS still isn't as robust as macOS,
04:42so that's something you have to go past.
04:44But the M4 chip in this device should future-proof it.
04:48Again, expensive, but I would absolutely buy this.
04:51Well, what do you think of the iPad Pro?
04:52Let me know in the comments below,
04:54and make sure to head over to Tom's Guide.com
04:55to read my full review.
04:57You can also follow us on social, at Tom's Guide.
04:59Once again, I was Tony Polanco,
05:00and I'll see you around.
05:02Later.