iPad Pro 2024 hands-on review — Finally, the Apple tablet that we have all been anticipating

Summary

The new iPad Pro, which was introduced at Apple’s “Let Loose” event (during which we also had the opportunity to meet the new iPad Air 2024), has a design that is more compact than its predecessor. Additionally, it has an OLED display and an Apple M4 processor. Not only does the latter stand out due to Apple’s assertions about its enhanced performance and efficiency, but it also stands out because of its artificial intelligence capabilities.

The Apple iPad Pro 2024, which measures 13 inches, left an impression on me after my quick hands-on experience with the premium tablet. It was instantly noticeable that the device was smaller in weight and had a thinner profile (even thinner than an iPod Nano). These are not the large and cumbersome iPad Pros of the past. In fact, I would like to refer to this as the iPad Pro Air due to the fact that it is so lightweight.

My mouth dropped open as I took in the sharp contrast between the blacks and whites of the new OLED panel, which has a contrast ratio of 2,000,000:1. In addition, the price is really staggering. The starting price of the iPad Pro is $200 more than the starting price of the previous model for both sizes.

It seems like Apple’s tablet is going to be a success, both in light of what the company has stated about the iPad Pro 2024 and the fact that I have had the opportunity to use the gadget. This tablet has the potential to be among the greatest tablets available, thanks to its slimmer design, OLED display, and the performance that has been promised for the M4.

In the following paragraphs, you can discover my early opinions about the iPad Pro 2024.

iPad Pro 2024 hands-on review: PRICE AND AVAILABILITY

On May 15, the new iPad Pro will be released, and pre-orders are now being accepted.

Additionally, the iPad Pro is equipped with an 11-inch Ultra Retina XDR display, 256GB of storage space, a Wi-Fi connection, and an M4 processor that has a 10-core central processing unit (CPU) and a 10-core graphics processing unit (GPU). In comparison to the M2 iPad Pro’s initial price of $799, this results in a $200 increase. In order to get a model that has nano-texture glass, you will be required to upgrade to a 2TB storage capacity, which may cost up to $2,099 in total. It will cost you an extra $200 to get Wi-Fi and cellular service.

Then there is the iPad Pro with a 13-inch display, which has a starting price of $1,299, which is also $200 more expensive than the previous generation. A 13-inch Ultra Retina XDR display, 256GB of storage space, Wi-Fi connection, and an M4 processor with a 10-core central processing unit and a 10-core graphics processing unit are all included in this model. You will need to upgrade to 2TB in order to have a nano-texture glass display, just as you would with the 11-inch model.

Finally, there are the peripherals to consider. The new Apple Pencil Pro can be purchased for $129, while the Apple Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro can be purchased for $299 for the 11-inch variant or $349 for the 13-inch type.

The fact that Apple did not increase the price of the iPad Pro M4 at its entry-level model is something that is welcomed. Unfortunately, if you want nano-texture glass, you will have to shell out a significant amount of money since it is only available in versions that come with 2 terabytes of storage space.

iPad Pro 2024 hands-on review: SPECS

	11-inch iPad Pro	13-inch iPad Pro
Price	from $999	from $1,299
Display	11-inch Tandem OLED (2420 x 1668 pixels)	13-inch Tandem OLED (2752 x 2064 pixels)
Colors	Silver, Space Black	Silver, Space Black
Chip	M4	M4
Storage	256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB	256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB
Cameras	12MP front landscape, 12MP rear	12MP front landscape, 12MP rear
Wireless	Wi-Fi 6E, 5G	Wi-Fi 6E, 5G
Size	9.83 x 6.99 x 0.21 inches	11.09 x 8.48 x 0.2 inches
Weight	0.98 pounds	1.28 pounds

iPad Pro 2024 hands-on review: DESIGN

The fact that the new iPad Pro is not a remodel but rather an “all-new” device is something that Apple stresses. In spite of the fact that it seems to be a standard iPad Pro at first sight, the fact that it is truly in your hands demonstrates that Apple is not trying to deceive us. There is no doubt that this is a brand-new iPad Pro, and the design of this device is truly fantastic.

I have been using the iPad Pro M2 ever since it was released, and even when I handled the new iPad Pro, I was able to quickly see the difference. The tablet is so thin and light that I could easily mistake it for the iPad Air 2024, which has a screen size of 13 inches. Although it weighs 1.28 pounds, this tablet with a 13-inch screen seems lighter than it really is because of its great weight distribution.

The front-facing camera has been redesigned to be landscape-oriented rather than portrait-oriented, which is another significant deviation from the previous generation. Apple’s decision to finally shift the front camera, similar to what it did with the iPad 2022, is a welcome development since the majority of tablet users use the device in landscape mode. Not only will this assist you in maintaining your center of attention during video conversations, but it should also make it simpler for you to use FaceID. This relocated front camera is something that I really like.

iPad Pro 2024 hands-on review: DISPLAY

For a very long time, people have been demanding an OLED iPad Pro, and at the present moment, it has finally arrived. Although the new appearance is appealing, the Ultra Retina XDR display, as Apple refers to it, is likely to be the most appealing feature of this tablet for a number of individuals. In all honesty, it is pretty stunning.

In order to determine whether or not the iPad Pro is capable of reaching the 1,000 nits of regular brightness and 1,600 nits of HDR brightness that Apple says it is capable of, we will need to bring it into our testing lab. From my perspective, the screen seems to be vivid and full of color. The contrast between the dark and bright aspects is astounding, which results in photographs and movies that are stunning.

Even though I am a professional writer, I find it difficult to adequately explain how impressive the OLED display of the iPad Pro seems to one and everyone. The OLED display on this tablet is, without a doubt, the greatest one I’ve ever seen on a tablet. To believe it, you have to see it for yourself.

iPad Pro 2024 hands-on review: M4 POWER

In contrast to what many people anticipated, the iPad Pro is powered by Apple’s brand-new M4 processor rather than an M3 chip. This piece of Apple silicon makes use of the most recent 3nm technology, which enables it to include a greater number of functionalities within the same amount of area. Because of this, the business is able to produce a smaller iPad Pro without compromising its operating capabilities.

The M4 is a system-on-a-chip that has a neural engine, what the rest of the industry refers to as an NPU (Neural Processing Unit), as well as a 10-core central processing unit and a 10-core graphics processing unit. Apple asserts that its graphics processing unit (GPU) is based on an architecture that was first shown in the M3. M4 is the first game to offer hardware-accelerated mesh shading, ray tracing, and dynamic caching on the iPad platform. This is because of the reason stated above. The performance of computer games and rendering activities needs to be enhanced as a consequence of this.

TOPS, which stands for trillion operations per second, is a metric that is used to evaluate the effectiveness of an NPU as an artificial intelligence device. A total of 38 TOPS are awarded to Apple’s brand new M4 Neural Engine. To give you an idea of the difference between the two, the new Intel Core Ultra processors have NPUs that are capable of delivering 10–11 TOPS, while Qualcomm has said that the new Snapdragon X Elite chips have NPUs that are capable of delivering 45 TOPS.

Whether or not the results are shown on the screen is, of course, a far more important consideration than the numbers themselves. During the period that I had the iPad Pro, there were no demonstrations of artificial intelligence being used to produce visuals, but I did observe Diablo 4 being played on the tablet. The hellish environment was brought to life with the use of ray-traced reflections and a multitude of particle effects. As if that weren’t enough, the game was very fluid and didn’t even show any signs of slowness. In addition, demonstrations that included rendering applications such as Octane amazed me with the ease with which it is possible to alter 3D pictures in real time.

After putting the M4 chip through its paces in our battery testing, we will have a better understanding of the capabilities it has. Nevertheless, judging on what I’ve seen, I don’t believe that the outcomes will leave us feeling dissatisfied. A beast of a CPU is what the M4 chip ought to be about.

iPad Pro 2024 hands-on review: APPLE Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro

You will need the Apple Magic Keyboard and the Apple Pencil in order to get the most out of the iPad Pro. These are the two primary accessories that come with the iPad Pro. We are fortunate that both have gotten new versions that improve the overall experience of using an iPad Pro.

Recently, the Magic Keyboard, as well as its palm rests and touchpad, have been given an aluminum surface that is evocative to that of a MacBook. Similarly, the wider touchpad brings to mind an Apple laptop, as does the flatter hinge of the new Magic Keyboard. Both of these items remind me of Apple products. As an added benefit, this accessory does not add a significant amount of weight to the iPad Pro and has a lighter feel than it did in the past.

This new product, which is known as the Apple Pencil Pro, has the same appearance and feel as the Apple Pencil 2, but it comes with a number of cool capabilities that make it more practical. Included in this are rollover, which allows for intelligent switching of pen modes, haptic feedback, and squeeze, which allow for more advanced control of the input. In particular, the new barrel roll function is very interesting since it allows you to alter the thickness of a line by just rotating the orientation of the pen.

iPad Pro 2024 hands-on review: OUTLOOK

In order to make a definitive decision, I will need to spend more time with the iPad Pro M4, but at the moment, I believe that it has the potential to be the tablet that power users should be considering.

The tablet satisfies all of the requirements, including a design that is more compact and lighter, a CPU that is powerful, and an OLED display that is very stunning. Is it really worth an additional $200 to get all of these upgrades?

Stay tuned for a comprehensive review of the iPad Pro M4 that I will soon have for you!