Why I ordered The 13-Inch 2024 iPad Pro

It should come as no surprise to the readers of ThruMyLens that immediately following the conclusion of the Apple launch event for the 2024 13-inch iPad Pro that I placed an order. I’m upgrading from the previous M2 version of the same size which will now become my wife’s iPad.

I ordered the space black version with 512 GB of internal storage for $1499.00. That means I got the “crippled” version of the M4 chip – one less core CPU and one less efficiency core. Not a big deal in my mind because nothing that I am doing on the iPad is stressing the existing architecture much less this upgraded one. Which of course, is one of the biggest problems with the iPad, but I’ll come back to that. ?The potentially bigger sacrifice of not getting 1TB or more of internal storage is RAM – 8GB vs 16GB. But I just couldn’t justify the $400.00 increase in price that would come with moving to 1TB of internal storage.

So what does the M4 iPad have that made upgrading from the M2 iPad worth it? Not much to be honest. The screen brightness is probably the biggest change that I will see as the new iPad now has 1000 nits of brightness versus 600 in the previous version. That will make using the new iPad outside, a much more viable option. The one big area that I’m hoping will make the upgrade worth it is A.I. Apple is rumored to be coming out with a slew of new artificial intelligence based features associated with the next iPhone and version of iOS, and I am betting that only the newest generation Apple devices will support it.

HOW I USE MY iPAD

So I’m not getting the most powerful and blazing fast version of the iPad Pro – for me and how I use the iPad Pro, I think it will be OK. I primarily use the iPad Pro for four different purposes.

A Giant iPhone: The iPhone Pro I use (currently the 15 Pro) certainly has a great screen, but whenever possible, I chose to do many tasks most people do on their phone using my iPad Pro. E-Mail…banking…check the weather…checking on my 401(k)…basic surfing…these are all things I prefer to do on my iPad Pro. Bigger is better.

Media Consumption: I’ve got a late model 55” LG TV in my “man cave” downstairs, and a brand now 75” LG in the living room upstairs…why in the world do I choose to watch anything on my 13” iPad? There’s just something about laying in bed with the iPad on my chest that makes the experience quite enjoyable. I’ve got a 40” TV in my bedroom that never gets turned on…If I’m consuming media in my bedroom (YouTube…streaming TV…or even gaming) it’s on my iPad. A good 60% of my usage of the iPad is media consumption.

A Productivity Tool: I do use my iPad Pro for some productive activities. I still prefer doing Lightroom and Photoshop work on my MacBook Pro, but nearly all my iPhone photos get edited in the mobile versions of Lightroom and Photoshop. There are some editing activities I genuinely prefer doing on my iPad thanks to the Apple Pencil. I bought the 1st version of the Apple Pencil…never used it. I grudgingly bought the 2nd version and have really enjoyed using it for photo editing. So I did end up ordering the Apple Pencil Pro along with my new M4 iPad Pro. I also do a considerable amount of writing on my iPad, though I’ve never needed a keyboard. I typically dictate entire articles for ThruMyLens or scripts for the ThruMyLens YouTube channel using Siri. I typically dictate email on my iPhone too – I hate “thumb typing.”

A Travel Laptop: It’s probably been about 4 years since I brought my MacBook Pro with me on the road (yes, I’m seriously questioning why I continue to buy MacBooks). I’m typically away from home for a week or less and there’s simply nothing I can’t do on my iPad while traveling that necessitates bringing my MacBook Pro. Which is a good thing because in my day job, I typically need to have my work laptop with me when I travel. If I’m on a photo trip or assignment, I’m probably going to wait until I’m home on my big monitors to edit photos.

The thing I do not use my iPad Pro to do is video editing. I can’t (yet) do everything I need to do for video editing on my iPad, so even if I wanted to start a project on my iPad and later transfer it over to my MacBook for finishing touches, it’s still too painful getting large files on and off the iPad to make this a worthwhile endeavor. Apple showcased some slick new multicamera support in Final Cut Pro for iPad 2.0 but that’s not the type of video work I typically do so it’s not quite there yet for me. And Lord knows I don’t need to pay another five dollar a month subscription.?

On paper, there’s very little reason to upgrade my M2 iPad Pro as there’s nothing I’m currently doing or would want to do that’s limited by the M2 hardware configuration. Quite honestly, this is iPad’s biggest problem. The software is still well behind the hardware – the M2 is still more than powerful enough for how most people use their iPads. And the limitations of the iOS operating system make doing productivity tasks, like photo and video editing less palatable than doing them on macOS. ? I still hold out hope that one day Apple will allow us a dual boot option for the iPad that will give you the option of operating in either iOS or macOS. You may think that’s a pipe dream but remember… After how many years we are finally getting the calculator app on the iPad later this year? Dreams do come true.

SO WHY UPGRADE?

Based on how I use the iPad Pro and the seemingly lack of features/benefits that the M4 iPad Pro brings that would impact how I used the device, you may be wondering why I decided to upgrade? The most practical upgrade consideration for me is the battery. Battery life is advertised as being about the same between the M4 iPad and my current M2 (the M4 is said to be twice as battery efficient as the M2 iPad, but the M4 iPad is also considerably thinner which suggests the battery is smaller. So battery life is still rated at about 10 hours. But like I said, I use mine daily. I figure the battery life has significantly degraded over two years, so getting a new device with a fresh, new battery is necessary in my mind for a daily use rechargeable. As I mentioned, I did order the Apple Pencil Pro and look forward to using the nifty new interface options, and I already talked about looking forward to the 1000 nits of screen brightness and the hope of future A.I. capability. It’s that hope that this is the iPad generation that’s going to have software that will utilize the hardware – probably the biggest reason I upgraded…hope.

Let me know in the comments if you upgraded and do check back for my review of the 2024 M4 iPad Pro – I’ll get mine delivered on the 15th.