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00:00Hey guys, I'm Tomlitechchap and this is the new 2024 iPad Pro 13 with the ludicrously
00:06fast M4 chip, with the thinner and lighter design, with the OLED screen, with the doubled
00:11base storage, with the centered landscape camera, and with the new Apple Pencil Pro
00:15and Magic Keyboard.
00:18And it's all very, very nice, like as a thing to look at and use.
00:23Kind of blows my mind how this can be so fast, literally this gives the M3 Pro in a MacBook
00:28Pro a run for its money, while also being fanless, while also giving us a 10 hour battery
00:33the same as before, fantastic speakers, great cameras, especially now they've put it in
00:37this central landscape orientation, and somehow they've managed to squeeze in the new Pencil
00:43Pro charging stuff up there as well, all in this.
00:50Literally 5.1mm thick, making it the thinnest device Apple's ever made.
00:55It is such a cool bit of tech.
00:59So from a hardware perspective, it's nuts, but it's also very expensive, it's actually
01:03$200 more than the previous Pro, although they have doubled the base storage from 128
01:07to 256, so that kind of offsets that a little bit.
01:10But the problem is, and you know exactly what I'm going to say, this doesn't do anything
01:15that my old iPad didn't.
01:16Or at least not yet.
01:18The problem with reviewing this device right now is we have Apple's WWDC event just around
01:23the corner where they'll announce all the new software like iOS, MacOS, and iPadOS,
01:27and it's pretty much guaranteed there's going to be some big AI news, utilising the powerful
01:32neural engines that are built into these M-series chips.
01:35So I will absolutely revisit this review after dub-dub, as they call it, although to be fair
01:40while they will announce the software it probably won't be released to the public until like
01:43October-November time, but I'm definitely going to come back and see if there's more
01:48reason to get an M4 iPad Pro, because until then, I'm not sure.
01:54The thing is, I was sat down writing this review with the iPad in front of me and just
01:57on the home screen, thinking, okay, what shall I open?
02:01How shall I test this and, you know, get the most out of it?
02:03I fired up the new Logic Pro 2 app and quickly realised I have no idea how to use this, although
02:08fair play if you are mixing on your iPad.
02:10I've got Final Cut Pro, and there's an updated Final Cut Pro 2 coming soon, and it all still
02:15runs very smoothly, and now it can handle more 4K Pro res streams than my old one.
02:19Oh, and actually, speaking of Final Cut, you can now edit projects from an external SSD
02:24plugged into the USB-C port, which actually is very helpful, but again, not exclusive
02:28to this new Pro.
02:29It's also been fun squeezing and doing barrel rolls with my new Apple Pencil Pro, and genuinely
02:34actually I did speak to a few illustrators and artists at Apple's launch event for the
02:39new iPads, and they were very excited about this new Pencil.
02:42I think there isn't really another system, another sort of setup where you can get a
02:46Pencil that has these features, that level of responsiveness on an OLED screen like this
02:51with the ecosystem and the apps that you can get on the iPads.
02:54So for proper artists and illustrators, I know they absolutely love this setup, and
02:58the best bit is this new Pencil Pro supports Find My.
03:01So now every time you lose it down the side of the sofa, you can track where it is.
03:05So for me, I use my iPad as a secondary device.
03:08Instead of my heavier MacBook Pro to take notes at briefings and in meetings, I watch
03:12a lot of TV shows and movies on it, especially when I travel, I read sometimes, although
03:16I do find this 13-inch a bit too big for that, and occasionally I'll jot down notes and
03:20do some brainstorming in various apps like Freeform, and actually combined with the excellent
03:25keyboard and Pencil, it is one of the most versatile gadgets I own.
03:30But again, nothing new with the new iPads.
03:34It's just all hamstrung by iPadOS.
03:35This has been the issue for like the last five, six years, ever since really they introduced
03:39the keyboard for it, turning it more into a laptop, and actually this new Magic Keyboard,
03:44which is very, very nice, although it's ÂŁ350 for this 13-inch version.
03:48This is like the most laptop you can get without being a proper laptop, and it's just a shame
03:53we're still on this bloody iPadOS, but outside of a few Apple Pro apps and a couple of very
03:58niche productivity tools, I just don't know what to do with all this power.
04:03One comment on my first impressions video said it was like putting a V12 engine in a
04:07Ford Fiesta.
04:08I quite like that.
04:10But when it costs ÂŁ1,000, actually no, that's for the 11-inch, this is ÂŁ1,300 for the 13-inch,
04:16it's an awful lot of money, and in fact, let's go down this rabbit hole for a second.
04:20Would you rather a new iPad Pro, 13-inch, silver, like I have here, let's go with one
04:25terabyte of storage, more than most of us would probably need, although it does also
04:29double the RAM, give us an extra processor core, and then you also have the option for
04:32the nanotexture screen if you want.
04:34Add the Pencil Pro, add the Magic Keyboard, which is, again, ÂŁ349, all in ÂŁ2,377.
04:43Now would you rather have that, or, for ÂŁ70 less, a MacBook Pro 14 with the M3 Pro chip
04:51and also a terabyte of storage?
04:53That just seems crazy to me, and I would take the MacBook Pro every day of the week.
04:58But just for a minute, let's park all that pricing and value for money, and also the
05:03commercial advert thing that they made for this, which is not everyone's favourite.
05:07In fact, if they literally just reversed it and had, like, everything coming out of the
05:10iPad, that would have been so much better.
05:12But anyway, let's park all that to one side, what's this actually been like to use?
05:15Well, I can tell you straight away, if you buy one of these, or even just pop into an
05:19Apple Store and pick one up, I promise you, you're going to have a smile on your face.
05:22As I say, the 11-inch is 5.3mm thick, the 13, 5.1, and for what is essentially just
05:29a big slab of glass, it is nothing short of incredible how capable this is.
05:34Although for me, as I take this travelling quite a lot, it's actually more about the
05:37weight than the thickness that I'm interested in, so let me bring in my trusty kitchen scales.
05:42We have the previous 2022 iPad Pro 13, 687g, then the new 2024 iPad Pro 13, 590g.
05:52So we've shaved 97g off the weight, and actually, this new Pro is 25g lighter than the so-called
05:59iPad Air.
06:00But what about the Magic Keyboards?
06:02Well, old one, 699g, new one, 669g.
06:06So combined, at least according to my not very fancy scales, where I think it might
06:10be a gram or two off, the new iPad Pro with the new Magic Keyboard is 1.26kg versus 1.385
06:18on the old setup.
06:19And for context, a MacBook Pro 14 is just shy of 1.6kg, so a good deal heavier.
06:25So the new Pro has lost a little bit of weight, but it has also lost the ultra-wide camera.
06:30Although on the plus side, they have added an adaptive True Tone flash, so photos taken
06:34with the flash have a bit more natural white balance.
06:36They've also got rid of mmWave support for 5G, and also the physical SIM card tray.
06:41If you were going to buy the cellular version, now it is eSIM only.
06:44They have also added WiFi 6e, up from WiFi 6 last time, and there is a new Space Black
06:49colour.
06:50Or, like I have here, the silver and silver combination.
06:55Oh, and they have also added an OLED screen and the first ever M4 chip.
07:00We should probably talk about those.
07:03So this is the first OLED screen on an iPad.
07:06Tandem OLED, as Apple call it, as apparently they had to use two OLED panels on top of
07:10each other to get the brightness they wanted.
07:12So on the previous Pro, we had mini-LED.
07:14Although only on the 13-inch, which was frustrating, its smaller 11-inch brother was stuck with
07:19a regular IPS LED screen.
07:21So right off the bat, the good news is that both new Pros get the exact same OLED screen.
07:25But also, while mini-LED is very good, and to be quite honest, day to day, you'd be
07:30hard pressed to notice the difference, in some high contrast scenarios, like where you
07:34have a really bright area next to a really dark one, you'll see this blooming, this
07:38sort of purple haloing.
07:40But now, since the pixels on OLED panels can turn themselves on and off individually, that
07:44is basically gone.
07:46You get a much cleaner image, properly inky blacks rather than washed out, dark grey-y
07:51blues.
07:52I've also noticed the colours are just a little bit warmer and more vibrant.
07:55The older mini-LED has a slightly cooler, almost greenish tone to it sometimes.
08:00And surprisingly, while Apple's specs say the brightness should be the same between
08:04the mini-LED and the OLED, with my lux meter here, I recorded the OLED to be around 150-200
08:09lux brighter, for both regular SDR content and HDR video.
08:13And that's full screen brightness.
08:15Obviously though, it is tricky to show this off on camera, especially as I'm not shooting
08:18this in HDR, so take my word for it that in person, this new OLED screen does look brighter
08:23and punchier.
08:24It's also better at handling motion, as there's a lower response time, and we also
08:28get a much higher Pulse Width Modulation, or PWM.
08:31Although I couldn't tell you the precise hertz, but slowing the shutter speed on my
08:35camera right down, you can see the difference, and while it appears the screen's refreshing
08:39slower on the right with the new one, it's actually much faster.
08:43And this does help reduce eye strain, particularly at lower brightnesses, so that's a nice bonus.
08:48And especially versus the iPad Air, this is the new 2024 Air, which has the exact same
08:52screen as before, so we're talking 60hz, IPS LED, and the limited brightness just makes
08:57HDR content fall flat, really, although the bigger issue is that refresh rate.
09:02For a ÂŁ700 tablet in 2024, 60hz is a bit unforgivable, just like the regular iPhone
09:0815 series.
09:09Again, hard to show in a 60fps video, but the pros with that 120hz ProMotion just makes
09:15everything feel smoother and faster.
09:18Another first is the introduction of a nano-texture glass option.
09:22We've seen this micro-etched glass on their studio monitors before, and it does cost $100
09:27extra, and you can only spec it on the 1 or 2TB models, which means it'll cost you at
09:32least ÂŁ1,900 to get it, but from my brief hands-on time with it, while it does significantly
09:38reduce reflections, it does also throw off the contrast and kind of wash out the screen,
09:43particularly if you're looking at it off-angle.
09:45If you regularly use your iPad outside or in really bright lighting, then yes, it could
09:49be a good option, but it's not going to be for everyone, especially with that high price
09:53of entry.
09:54But of course, the headline upgrade is this, the M4 chip.
10:00Completely skipping the M3, which we have in the latest MacBook Pros and Airs, this
10:04is the very first time we've seen an M4 chip in any device from Apple, and one of the reasons
10:08for that is it has a display engine specifically for this OLED display, the Tandem OLED with
10:13that 1600-nit 120Hz, so maybe that means next-gen MacBooks with M4 chips could also have OLED
10:20screens?
10:21Fingers crossed.
10:22But just how fast is this?
10:23Well, first off, this is the top-spec M4, and by that I mean the 1 and 2TB storage models
10:29come with a 10-core CPU and 16GB of memory, whereas the cheaper 256 and 512 options get
10:36a 9-core CPU and 8GB.
10:38Everything else is the same though, and I doubt it would make a significant difference.
10:42Now versus the previous-gen iPad Pro with the M2, which has now made its way to the
10:46new Airs, in Geekbench 6, single-core performance is up 42%, multi-core, 45%.
10:54And in the Geekbench graphics test, we're looking at a 16% uptick.
10:57Also, just look at the difference in the colours within Geekbench.
11:00The older mini-LED on the left looks just kind of green.
11:04Anyway, back to performance, and in the Antutu test, the M4 is 24% faster.
11:15But if you're wondering how that competes with a top-spec M3 Max MacBook Pro 16, and
11:20I know you were, well, here's one I made earlier.
11:22And incredibly, the M4 iPad Pro, the fanless iPad Pro I might add, is 20% faster in single-core,
11:30although the laptop is a good deal faster in multi-core and graphics.
11:33Although actually, it's not far off the results from an M3 Pro and a MacBook Pro.
11:37And of course, just because the iPad is ludicrously fast, it is still running iPadOS, and it can't
11:43run desktop versions of apps.
11:45So no Blender, no Premiere Pro for me, or let's say proper gaming on Steam.
11:50Don't get me wrong, it is always satisfying to see these arbitrary benchmark numbers go
11:54up with each generation, but 98% of the time, you're not really going to see any performance
12:00difference here.
12:01So actually, versus the M2 just firing up Death Stranding, it was maybe half a second
12:05quicker to load the game, and just moving around, rotating the camera, performance felt
12:10exactly the same.
12:13To be fair though, this is an iPad Pro.
12:16It's in the name.
12:17This is a professional's device, or really, it should be with that price tag.
12:21And most of us use iPads for watching YouTube or Netflix, and this is like the most powerful,
12:26overkill content consumption device you can possibly buy.
12:30But for those of you who do use this in a more advanced way, then first of all, let
12:35me know how you use it, what apps you use in the comments below.
12:37And if you can take advantage of all that raw performance from the M4 chip, then yeah,
12:42this might actually be worth buying, especially if you're, I don't know, working for a company
12:45or a business where they can pay for this for you.
12:47You've also got by far the nicest tablet keyboard ever with this new Magic Keyboard, both the
12:52keyboard itself with its new function row here at the top, and the bigger glass trackpad
12:56with haptic feedback, genuinely just as good as my MacBook Pro.
13:00It's so nice to use.
13:01And as soon as I popped the iPad onto it, I just immediately used that function row
13:05like it had always been there, changing the brightness and the volume without interrupting
13:08what's on screen.
13:11Although you can't use the old Magic Keyboard or even the old Apple Pencils with these new
13:15OLED iPad Pros.
13:16So if you aren't going to upgrade your setup, you basically have to buy everything again,
13:20which is an awful lot of money.
13:21You could save a chunk by going with the new iPad Air instead, which the new Apple Pencil
13:25Pro also works with, but not the new Magic Keyboards.
13:29And if this is all a bit confusing, I am working on a full iPad buying guide coming soon.
13:33I'm going to wait until June when Apple announces all their stuff at WWDC.
13:38But stay tuned.
13:39Make sure you've hit that subscribe button because I will walk you through everything
13:42you need to know for the entire iPad lineup.
13:44Okay, let's wrap up.
13:45And Apple said this is the biggest leap for iPads since the original iPad.
13:49And I just don't think that's true at all.
13:51But it is a very nice upgrade nonetheless.
13:53Thinner, lighter, faster, brighter, OLED, better camera placement, much nicer keyboard,
13:59upgraded pencil.
14:00And I am very pleased it comes with 256GB of storage as standard.
14:03But it is more expensive and right now it doesn't really do anything that my old one
14:08didn't.
14:09Maybe, if you're still rocking a 2018 or 2020 Pro, it could be worth upgrading now.
14:14For me, and also absolutely spoiling my upcoming buying guide, I think the base 10th gen iPad
14:20is absolutely the one everyone should buy.
14:22ÂŁ349.
14:23Same in dollars, same price as that bloody keyboard.
14:26But as I say, if you are buying one of these, if you can take advantage of the M4, or you
14:30know, reckon you might be able to, let me know what you're using it for in the comments
14:33below.
14:34I'd be really, really interested.
14:35So watch this space.
14:36Let's see what Apple does with the software and we'll revisit this.
14:39Thank you so much for watching, guys.
14:40If you enjoyed the video, a cheeky like and subscribe would be fantastic.
14:43And I'll see you next time right here on the Tech Chat.