iPad Pro M4

[...] it's still a very live and die by the app world When I saw the M4 iPad Pro, it convinced me that surely the next iPad OS is going to finally do something to help us out. [...]

I’ve been maining an M4 iPad Pro for a few months now since frying my laptop (which ran Linux) while travelling. [...] Sadly, one discovers dozens of minor bugs and annoyances, that are mostly specific to doing productivity/dev work. [...] It’s not a hardware issue- An Apple store has already replaced the keyboard for me, and the problem persists. [...] On the plus-side, I’m getting deep into doing sound synthesis / music production in iOS. [...]

[...] What doesn't work so well is that iPad Pro M4 doesn't play nice with Bose QC35 multi-point connections because it appears to "play silence" to the headphones even when there is no audio, preventing the other connected device from switching over to play audio. When I turn my iPhone on and open iMessage, it will sit at a black screen and won't open for several minutes and usually crashes. [...] There really ought to be a universal gesture or trick (that's not pull to refresh) to force iCloud sync in any app that has iCloud sync functionality. [...] And I refuse to use iOS and macOS 26 because liquid glass is slow and unusable.

I use my 13” iPad Pro M4 almost as much as my MacBook Pro. [...] It is by far more comfortable for consuming any kind of media than a laptop. If I’m researching something and I need to read any significant amount of text I’m going to grab my iPad and find a comfortable spot instead of sitting at my desk. [...] I also have a Magic Keyboard that I can simply pop on if I need to write any significant amount, like this, and pop it off again for pure consumption. It’s an amazing device for watching video (the tandem OLED looks incredible) and I often use the pencil to sketch out ideas.

With no exaggeration, iPadOS 26 is the worst piece of software I've had the displeasure of using in a very long time (and I work day-to-day with 'Enterprise' GIS software). It has me seriously considering selling my 11" M4 iPad Pro and eyeing up a Samsung Tab S11. [...] But I'm beginning to think slowly transitioning out of "the ecosystem" might be what's best for me. When you pay the eye-watering premium for an Apple product you do not expect to be subject to workflow-obliterating bugs and UX degradations. [...] It's also completely unpredictable - every time a guess as to whether a 'flicked' window will fill up the whole left/right side of my iPad's display, or whether it will just fill the space above the dock (why would I want that on an 11" display?), in the latter case requiring further attempts to actually get it to fill up the entire space. [...] Plus, switching back to full-screen mode by double-tapping the top of a window is completely broken - half of the time this gets interpreted as the old functionality of scrolling to the top of scrollable content within the referent app, meaning you risk completely losing your place in a PDF / on website whenever you attempt this. [...]

[...] In the last 5 years or so Apple Silicon has transformed expectations, not just for Apple products but for the whole industry, starting with the M1 MacBook Air, then with the M1 MacBook Pro, and more recently with the M4 Mac mini. (Meanwhile Mac Studio refactored Apple's desktop lineup, perhaps echoing the G4 Cube, and the iPad Pro M4 was a milestone product that leapfrogged Mac laptop hardware by including an OLED display and next-gen SoC. [...]

[...] Last year I bought and returned the M4 iPad Pro because they didn't make a Smart Keyboard Folio for it which I prefer to the more heavy duty Magic Keyboard. [...]

From the title, I hoped so much that this was about using UTM on Apple Silicon iPads – don’t really want the person who always complains about Apple, but it’s really a pity that the iPad has such a strong CPU inside (I own an M4 iPad Pro) and can’t do any realistic development on it. Last time I checked, there really isn’t any way to virtualize ARM machines on the iPad with UTM (unless you’re on a lower iOS version), and emulating x8664 machines were slow enough (even on M4 iPads) and not really usable. [...]

[...] • Turn off a particular smart plug I use this in an automation that runs on my iPad. That automation is set to run when the battery charge goes above 80%. My iPad charger is plugged into that smart plug, so this effectively gives me the 80% charge limit option that so far Apple has only added to the settings for iPhone 15 and 16, iPad Pro (M4), and iPad Air (M2). My iPad is a plain iPad. [...] When line out is connected to a Dot the internal speaker is disabled, which makes that Dot useless for things like checking the weather or timers unless the corresponding Denon input is selected, so I've got the mic on the Dot disabled and use an Echo Show in the same room for all those things. [...] (I'm writing "<Apple" instead of Apple's phrase to trigger their voice assistant so if anyone ever happens to run this through text to speech it will be less annoying. [...]

[...] On my M4 iPad Pro I get around 266 mhz p2 performance. [...]

I recently bought the M4 iPad Pro with the nano texture glass, etc. [...] During this focused time, I am far better at responding to emails and reading long documents than when I am back on my chaos machine - an M2 MacBook Pro with the Studio Display. Yes, I got the keyboard and the pencil; without a keyboard, I couldn’t be productive on the device. I’m not much of an artist, but I am gradually growing to love having the pencil. I’ve started using GoodNotes with the pencil to make diagrams like mind maps and to do brainstorms. My handwriting is awful so forget about handwriting with the pencil. It’s more useful for drawing pictures. [...]

Macs were long hindered by Intel processors to have long battery lifes AND/OR good performance. [...] Great form factor, bad software (graphics driver code was especially poor), poor keyboard, lousy battery life, slow CPU & graphics. [...] Too heavy, not enough cooling, extra GPU chip (in the laptop) with lots of power demand, Thunderbolt chips with lots of power demand, CPU with lots of power demand, fans were often on (for example with anything which uses the extra GPU). [...] I currently have a Mac mini with M2 Pro, a MacBook Pro with M2 Pro and the new iPad Pro M4. All are very snappy and virtually silent. [...] The i9 MacBook Pro would produce a lot of heat when attached to an external screen and doing a "simple" video call, due to the power hungry additional GPU needed to drive the external screen.

[...] I owned the first generation iPad Pro when it launched and used it until I got the 4th generation model that I’m still rocking with. [...]

Nano texture was the entire reason I upgraded to an iPad Pro M4. The camera on the long edge is a major regression as far as I am concerned, however. The only drawback is fingerprints are harder to remove,you really need that special microfiber cloth or one of the cheap Chinese clones.

I am trying to figure out what devices I am going to upgrade, and sell off the rest. Currently eye-balling the iPhone Duo and a Mac mini, getting rid of my iPad Pro M4 and MBA M1. I really wanted to use the iPad as my primary computing device with an Apple Studio Display, but its compromised.

I recently purchased a "paperlike" for my iPad Pro (M4, if it matters). [...] The feel of the screen is somewhat irritating, though it looks nice when the backlight is dim so I thought I'd go to Apple and check out the nano-texture. [...] I have no idea how people can live with nanotexture on iPad screens. That said, a consistent issue I have with my Macbook Air and my iPad pro is that the "peripherals" touch the screen. My Macbook ends up with oily cubes where the keyboard and its edge has rubbed up against the screen display; and similarly on the iPad I have a perpetual line where the smart folio has its segments. [...]

Mac hardware has so significantly outpaced software needs I think there are diminishing returns. I'm a software developer who uses all sorts of advanced stuff and I only bought an M4 Pro, not a Max, because it wasn't worth the extra money. [...] My M4 iPad Pro is amazing but feels totally overpowered for what it's capable of. [...] I want longer battery life, 5G connectivity, WiFI 7, lighter weight, a better screen, a better keyboard, etc.. [...]

iPad Pro M4 with magic keyboard, main/only work laptop. [...] I pay for some software. Blink Shell (ssh/mosh client for iPad), Working Copy (git client for iPad), Control-D custom DNS/VPN replacement. [...]

Had an M4 iPad Pro for nearly 2 years. Everything's so fast and fluid I doubt I'd notice if the CPU were twice as fast. If this ever died I'd likely replace it with an Air - the Pro is overkill for what's basically a consumption device.

I bought a M1 iPad Pro about three years ago, and I paid a lot more for 1 TB of storage in order to get 16G RAM. [...] I imaging the new M4 iPad Pros will frequently use LLMs, so future-proofing a new iPad model by getting 16G memory is a good idea. [...]

[...] One of the few pieces of tech that is worth every penny imo. The screen and snappiness can’t really be beat. [...]

Iam using the M4 IPad pro11 in for the last 7 months and I love it.

I have the 11 inch wifi only variant. been having it since january and it still good and it doesn't really dissapoint. this ipad too nice for me honestly

I got mine last year when it launched and came from a 2020 iPad Pro 12.9. Absolutely love it and will keep it for another couple of years

I have been using Procreate since it first came out for $5 on the first iPad Pro my parents gave me for Christmas when I was 12 13. I used that old iPad Pro to fund my second iPad Pro which is the M2 in 2020. 4 years later 2024, I used that iPad Pro to fund my new iPad Pro M4!

How do you do any productivity on it if getting files in and out is such a pain? I had M4 iPad PRO and is just collecting dust. Too clunky to use.

Neither does developing software given we've all been doing it for ages despite the M5 not existing, still nice to have though. Plus you get more longevity, I'll keep my M4 iPad Pro until doesn't get OS updates anymore. I still feel no impetus to update my M1 laptop despite it being 4 years old.

I bought iPad Pro M4 and I am yet to find a use case for it. [...]

I own an M4 iPad Pro and can't figure out what to do with even a fraction of the horsepower, given iPadOS's limitations. [...] A higher ceiling on performance is only one aspect of an upgraded CPU. [...]

I bought an M4 iPad Pro and ended up returning it because I just don't like the magic keyboard. My current iPad is from 2018 and I use the Smart Keyboard Folio and (for me) it's just about perfect. Small, lightweight, not too expensive, easy to clean, and works great. I've been hoping there were enough people like me that a third party would make a replacement but that never happened. I know my current iPad Pro won't last forever so I suppose I'll end up with a Magic Keyboard setup eventually.

[...] My 13” M4 iPad Pro Cellular is like a Mercedes. [...] No financial analysis can justify it, but it’s luxurious and totally worth every penny.

I bought an 13" M4 iPad Pro when it was released and returned it a week later because I didn't like the magic keyboard. I went back to my 2018 iPad Pro with the Smart Keyboard Folio. I've been waiting and hoping for some third party to come along and clone the Smart Keyboard Folio. If they did, I'd repurchase an M4 iPad because other than the keyboard it was great. I was just looking at the apple website to see if the Smart Keyboard Folio is available for the new iPads and it looks like that product line is gone for all iPads. [...]

Gaming and local LLM to name two specific things I use my m4 iPad Pro for. I have no idea if an M1 or whatever would have the same performance. I think it's really cool that I can have the same processor-ish in my laptop and my tablet, but that's not a reason to spend $2k.

I would add the nano-texture display option on the M4 iPad Pros (1TB+ SKUs only) and the newest MacBook Pros. [...]

I wish somebody would figure out a way to get the Smart Keyboard Folio working with the 13" M4 iPad Pros. I bought one with the Magic Keyboard and returned it. [...] So I'm back to using my well loved 2018 iPad Pro with the Smart Keyboard Folio. [...] I don't think I'll have many options aside from giving in and getting a Magic Keyboard. [...]

I bought and returned a 13" iPad Pro M4 because I couldn't get a Smart Keyboard Folio for it. Only the Magic Keyboard is available. I'm still using my 2018 iPad Pro.

This is ultimately why I returned my M4 iPad pro. Amazing hardware that's so limited by restrictive policy that it amounts to little more than a fancy dumb terminal.

[...] I never said otherwise, I asked what's the point of commenters bringing up the M4 performance in comparisons with X86/Qualcomm when due to the open vs closed nature of the platforms they're not directly comparable because the M4 is much more restricted in the iPad vs the other chips. [...] Sure, a Fierari will always be faster than a van, but you can do a lot more things with a van than with a faster Ferrari, and just like M4 iPad Pros, Ferraris are lot less relevant to the function of society than vans which deliver your food, medicine, kids to school, etc. [...]

It seems so much worse on my iPad than my iPhone, which is weird because my iPad Pro M4 is way more capable and recent than my iPhone SE3.

£45 for a second hand ESR keyboard for the iPad Pro M4. [...] Just typed a draft for a blog post on it, it is a very good keyboard. The keyboard can be back lit. [...] Yes it is charging as when I got it the battery was dead.

Finally doing it, saying goodbye to my iPad Pro M4 and hello to MacBook Air M5. This will go nice with my M4 Pro MacMini power house.

Even more so for my iPad Pro M4 with 1Tb of storage. The official line is something like it is hard to decide on the trade-offs for macOS to retain an iPad 'feel' with touchscreen etc. Given they own the full vertical integration, I believe the technical term for this take is 'bull dust'.

Yes but it’s so limited. On my iPad Pro M4 with 16GB of RAM running two apps it will often close the other app when switching back. Then I’ll have to restart where I was.

[...] I have an iPad Pro M4 with the keyboard folio. I got a great deal on it from a friend. [...]

[...] The response time when switching between apps on my iPad Pro M4 is a joke since the latest OS. Moments of staring at a blank screen while it comes out of one app and tries to re-draw the ‘Finder’. [...]

Yeah this ipad is class i ve got the same one with the magic keyboard and pen it's raw power

Its been a pleasure using M4 ipad , I no longer uses my laptop . What a fantastic machine Apple created .

I just bought new 2025 iPad Pro 13 M4 chip, 😊😊😊it’s awesome new features

My iPad Pro 13inch M4 keeps springing quite frequently and restarts automatically usually on safari. My wife’s M1 iPad does as well. Interestingly my old 2028 iPad 12.9inch never had any problems in this respect.

Yeah, it’s not too thin. That’s the main reason I got it. Feels absolutely delightful to hold being so light and thin, which is important for a handheld device, especially one handed.