On May 7, 2024, Apple gave a conference dedicated to the presentation of its new generation iPads. On this occasion, the Apple brand unveiled the iPad Pro 2024, a competition tablet equipped with an OLED screen and an M4 chip announced as super powerful.
Something promised, something due. As agreed, Apple gave a new conference this Monday, May 7, 2024 dedicated to the presentation of its new iPads. Alongside new generation iPad Airthe apple brand revealed the iPad Pro 2024, the undisputed star of this show.
And suffice to say that this year, the Cupertino company has chosen to do things in a big way. For good reason, this 2024 edition marks a clear break with the previous ones thanks to numerous improvements. Inevitably, these improvements come at a high price, but we will come back to that later. But then, what’s new on this iPad Pro M4?
The M4 chip, the real novelty of this iPad Pro
First of all, and as you can see from its name, the new iPad Pro has the honor of being the first Apple-branded device to benefit from the latest M4 chip. Engraved in 3nmthis processor will offer a considerable performance gain and better energy management according to the manufacturer. So the new CPU can “mobilize up to four performance cores and now six high energy efficiency cores” for performance up to 1.5x faster than M2 chip.
The 10-core GPU integrates several new features on iPad such as dynamic caching, Ray Tracing or hardware-accelerated mesh shading. In terms of energy consumption, Apple announces that the M4 chip is capable of providing the same performance for half as much.
The iPad is going AI…
But what we will especially remember about the M4 is the contribution of artificial intelligence with the latest version of Apple’s Neural Engine. Thus, the iPad Pro M4 will be able “to perform no less than 38,000 billion operations per second, a speed 60x faster than that of Apple’s first Neural Engine, in the era of the A11 Bionic chip”. What concrete interest for the user? The Cupertino company gave some examples. Owners of iPad Pro M4 will be able to “isolate a subject from its background in 4K video with a single gesture with the Scene Remove Mask in Final Cut Pro”.
…And on the OLED screen
After Huawei, Samsung, Lenovo and Nintendo with the OLED Switch, Apple is finally bringing its tablets into the the OLED era with the iPad Pro 2024. In fact, the device introduces the Ultra Retina XDR, a panel that uses tandem OLED technology (i.e. two OLED panels) to better combine the light.
Apple thus promises full-screen brightness of 1000 nits For SDR and HDR contentand a peak brightness of 1,600 nits for HDR format. We then find in the brand’s speech the usual praise linked to OLED: deeper blacks, more vibrant colors, ultra-precise contrast, etc.
A wasp waist
The move to OLED doesn’t just have benefits for the video experience. As proof, these slabs are generally lighter and thinner. This is what allowed Apple to melt the iPad Pro line. According to the American company, we are facing the thinnest Apple product ever designed with respectively 5.1mm and 5.3mm thick for the two models available (11″ and 13″ screen). The weight on the scale has also decreased, 500 grams on the 11-inch variant and 100 grams on the 13-inch.
Nothing exciting on the photo side
Concerning the photo set on the other hand, nothing really exciting to note on this iPad Pro 2024. In fact, we still find a single 12 MPX sensor on the rear. However, let us point out that he is not alone since he is accompanied by a True Tone adaptive flash and LiDaR scanner. Thanks to these devices and AI, note that the iPad Pro will be able to scan documents much more quickly and easily than usual.
No better on connectivity
In terms of connectivity, we are looking at a rather classic set:
- USB-C connector with support for Thunderbolt 3 and USB 4
- Wi-Fi 6E compatibility
- eSIM on cellular models for 4G and 5G connections
We will therefore regret the absence of Wi-Fi 7 compatibility, the latest generation of wireless connection. Too bad, at a time when certain boxes like the Freebox Ultra allow you to take advantage of the high speeds offered by this standard.
Let us finally add that the iPad Pro arrives with two new accessories, namely Apple Pencil Pro (compatible with the Locate function) and the Magic Keyboarda new wireless keyboard with magnetic attachment.
Prices that continue to rise
As one might expect, these multiple improvements (OLED screen, M4 chip) have driven up the prices of the new iPad Pros. Here is the detailed price list:
- iPad Pro 11″ Wi-Fi: €1219
- iPad Pro 11″ 4G/5G: €1469
- iPad Pro 13″ Wi-Fi: €1569
- iPad Pro 13″ 4G/5G: €1819
Of course, the rating will become higher by opting for a larger storage capacity. Offered as standard with 256 GB, users can choose to have 512 GB, 1 TB or 2 TB. For the last proposition, it will be necessary to count no less than €2,429!
Finally, let us add that the new iPad Pros are available for sale on the Apple website from this May 7, 2024. Partner resellers such as Boulanger, Fnac and others will offer them in stores from from May 15.