When the iPad arrived in 2010 , it was instantly clear that Apple got it veracious . The tab reckoner was n’t a raw thing , but the figure and interface of the iPad were on a different level , with a slim form divisor , speedy processor , multi - touch user interface , and a satisfying experience . It mat like a equipment from the hereafter .
Now that we ’re in that future , the original iPad seems like a token with jumbo bezels and a thicker body than two of the in vogue iPads stacked together . Thelatest iPad Prohas a processor that ’s light years ahead of the A4 that transport in the original iPad and a design that bring a importantly larger display in a body that ’s nearly 75 pct thinner :
Original iPad
M4 iPad Pro (11-inch)
Apple iPad Pro 11-inch (M4, 2024)
That ’s nothing short of remarkable . Yes , it ’s been 14 years , but few other devices have advanced like the iPad . Just compare the 15 - column inch MacBook Pro from 2010 to the 15 - in MacBook Air from 2024 :
15-inch MacBook Pro (mid-2010)
Height:0.95 inch ( 2.41 cm)Width:14.35 inches ( 36.4 cm)Depth:9.82 inches ( 24.9 cm)Weight:5.6 pounds ( 2.54 kilogram )
15-inch MacBook Air (M3)
Height:0.45 in ( 1.15 cm)Width:13.40 column inch ( 34.04 cm)Depth:9.35 inches ( 23.76 cm)Weight:3.3 pound ( 1.51 kg)5
Apple 15-inch MacBook Air (M3, 256 GB/16 GB RAM, 2024)
Of course , today ’s MacBook Air is thinner and lighter than the same - sized Pro from 2010 , but keep in mind that Apple also dropped some feature over the years to help garnish the size of it , including Gigabit Ethernet and FireWire 800 ports and an 8x slot - adulterate SuperDrive . That ’s loosely how it works — to get devices thinner , Apple absent legacy features , such as USB - A on the iMac and the 3.5 mm jak on the iPhone . The solvent is almost always a compromise that tries to overshadow what was lose through a stunning design .
Bucking that trend , the iPad from 2024 is significantly good in every way of life than the 2010 model — exhibit , design , connectivity , execution , and features . Pick one up and it ’s heavy to trust it ’s a actual machine and not some motion picture prop . And when you plunge into what ’s inside it , it ’s practically unimaginable .
Lighter than Air
With a thickness of a stern - in , the iPad Pro simply does n’t make sense . How Apple can pack an OLED display , Face ID , an M4 fleck , 1 TB hard drive , 16 GB of RAM , 12MP photographic camera , and 10 hours of battery life into a ridiculously slender and light enclosure that blows away any other iPad is a marvel .
Even if you compare the iPad Pro to Apple ’s other products , it ’s a standout , with a better central processor than the MacBook Air , a better concealment than the MacBook Pro , and a overnice design than the iPhone 15 . It ’s arguably the best tablet ever made and one of the overnice designs to ever come out of Cupertino . And the front camera is finally in the right spot .
If I did n’t have sex better , I ’d reckon it was a Jony I ve existence . Just take hold it brings back memory of the iPod nano or original MacBook Air . It ’s that shocking , especially when you consider it ’s also one of Apple ’s most hefty equipment . Even the accessories are incredibly impressive . The Apple Pencil Pro better on the 2d - gen theoretical account with Find My , a young squeeze gesture and theMagic Keyboardmanages to add function key and a larger field glass trackpad while go on the unbelievable float cantilever pattern .
The M4 iPad Pro is light enough to use for hours on end.
The M4 iPad Pro is light enough to use for hours on end .
Foundry
The impossible dream
So why is n’t the iPad Pro held in the same admiration as the MacBook Pro or iPhone Pro ? Yes , it ’s expensive , but the start Leontyne Price is quite a bit lowly than the iPhone 15 Pro Max and MacBook Pro . The M4 iPad Pro should be Apple ’s most successful pad of paper , nay estimator , but by all accounts , it ’s far and aside the least popular .
The easiest account is the simplest one : iPadOS . Back in 2019 , Apple decided to split iOS 13 into two , iOS for phones and iPadOS for tablet . It was a watershed mo — or at least it should have been . However , after the initial liberation that deliver multitasking for the first , iPadOS has n’t really separated itself from iOS in any meaningful way other than the introduction of Stage Manager . Many of the safe iOS features are delay by a year and they all find like they were designed for the iPhone first .
The iPad Pro looks like a laptop computer but does n’t do like one .
The M4 iPad Pro is light enough to use for hours on end.
On the other end of the spectrum , the iPad still has n’t gained enough macOS characteristic to gainsay the productivity of a MacBook . It has the piece — a keyboard , trackpad , multitasking , gorgeous display , rivet front camera , extreme portability , long shelling life — but most Apple user still reach for a MacBook when they postulate to get work done .
It ’s not like the great unwashed do n’t sleep together their iPads . Even on a down month , Apple still sells some $ 6 million Charles Frederick Worth of iPads , but that ’s the thing . The $ 999 iPad Pro is manifestly salutary in every mode than the $ 349 tenth - gen iPad , but it ’s not all that evident in the thing most people do with it . The affair that make the M4 iPad Pro so telling do n’t really count as much on the iPad as they do on the iPhone or Mac . There are clear reasons to purchase a MacBook Pro or an iPhone Pro that you ’ll bask every twenty-four hours — that ’s not the case with the iPad Pro . Yes , using it is impressive and you could certainly palpate the speed , but at last you ’re not working any faster or smart .
And therein lies the trouble . As much as the M4 iPad Pro should be the primary equipment , it still assume a backseat to the MacBook and iPhone . We ’ve come to wait the impossible from Apple , and with the M4 iPad Pro , it unfeignedly deliver it . But when the wonder wears off , you startle to wonder where the potential is .
The M4 iPad Pro is light enough to use for hours on end.
The iPad Pro looks like a laptop but doesn’t act like one.
