Apple iPad Pro M4 Review: The Software Is the Ceiling
The best portable display ever made, 5.3mm thin, running a laptop-class chip — limited by iPadOS rather than by anything Apple could have engineered.
The iPad Pro is the most impressive piece of consumer hardware Apple makes and the hardest to recommend without a paragraph of conditions. It is 5.3 mm thick. It has a display technology that did not exist in a tablet before it. It runs a chip that would be respectable in a laptop. And a great many people who buy one end up using it for the same things a tablet costing a third as much would have done perfectly.
That gap — between what the hardware can do and what the software will let you do with it — is the whole review. Everything else is superlatives, and the superlatives are all deserved.
The display, which genuinely is new
Apple calls it Ultra Retina XDR and the underlying technique is tandem OLED: two OLED panels stacked and driven together.
The reason that matters is a real engineering problem. OLED gets its extraordinary contrast by switching pixels off, but pushing a single organic layer hard enough for high brightness degrades it faster. Stacking two layers lets each run at lower power for the same output — so you get high brightness and a longer panel life, rather than trading one for the other.
In use it means true blacks with brightness that holds up outdoors, on a tablet you might actually take outdoors. Combined with 120 Hz ProMotion, it is the best screen on any portable device, and that is not a close contest.
Worth being honest about who notices: the display is transformative if you grade photos, watch a lot of film, draw, or read in bright conditions. If you mostly browse and watch in a normally lit room, a good LCD tablet shows you the same content and you will stop noticing the difference within a week.
The thinness, and whether it is a feature
At 5.3 mm and around 445 grams for the 11-inch, this is thinner than most phones and light enough that holding it up to read for an hour is comfortable rather than an endurance test.
That is a genuine benefit and it was not free. A thinner body means less room for battery and less thermal mass, and it means the tablet flexes more than a thicker one would — with a case and reasonable handling this is a non-issue, but it is a physical reality rather than a rumour.
Whether thinness is worth what it cost depends on how you carry it. For someone commuting, travelling, or reading in bed, it is the difference between a device you bring and one you leave at home. For someone whose tablet lives on a desk in a keyboard case, it is a specification rather than a benefit.
The M4, and the thing everyone eventually says
The chip is extraordinary. It handles 4K video scrubbing without hesitation, runs demanding creative applications comfortably, and will not be the limiting factor in anything you do for years.
It is also, for most owners, wildly beyond what the software allows them to use. This is the well-worn criticism of the iPad Pro and it persists because it remains true. iPadOS has become steadily more capable — proper external display support, better multitasking, real professional applications — and it is still not a desktop operating system. File management is more constrained. Background processing is more limited. Many professional workflows have a step somewhere in the middle that simply cannot happen on iPadOS, and that one step sends you back to a computer.
The practical consequence: buying an iPad Pro for its performance only makes sense if you have specific applications that use it. Buying it hoping the performance will let you replace a laptop is how people end up with an expensive tablet and a laptop.
What it is genuinely brilliant at
Drawing and design. The clearest case by a distance. Low-latency stylus input on the best display available, with professional applications that are genuinely good rather than compromised. Illustrators, designers and architects get full value here.
Photo and video review. The display’s colour and contrast make it a genuinely useful screen for judging work, and the chip handles high-resolution footage without complaint.
Reading and media, at a premium. Nothing is nicer to read on or watch on. Whether that is worth the price is a personal question, but the experience is not in dispute.
Portable everything. The combination of thin, light and powerful means it does more away from a desk than any other device this size.
The costs, plural
The 11-inch OLED model starts around $1,199, and that is the beginning rather than the total.
The stylus is a separate purchase. The keyboard is a separate and expensive purchase. Storage tiers escalate quickly and there is no card slot to fall back on. A realistically configured iPad Pro with the accessories that make it useful for work costs meaningfully more than a capable laptop — which is the comparison worth making honestly, since the laptop has fewer software limits.
None of that makes it bad value for someone who needs what it does. It makes it poor value for someone buying it because it is the best one.
What it does well
- The best display on any portable device, by a clear margin
- Genuinely thin and light enough to change how you carry it
- M4 performance that will not limit you for years
- Outstanding for drawing, design and creative review
- Excellent professional creative applications
What to think about first
- iPadOS, not the hardware, is what limits you
- Stylus and keyboard are substantial extra purchases
- Storage escalates in price with no expansion option
- Configured for work it costs more than a good laptop
- Most buyers will not use what they are paying for
How it compares
| Option | Strongest at | Weakest at | Choose it if |
|---|---|---|---|
| iPad Pro M4 | Display, thinness, drawing, performance | Price, iPadOS limits | You draw, design or need the screen |
| iPad Air | Most of the experience for much less | LCD screen, less performance | You want an iPad, not the best iPad |
| Galaxy Tab S9 FE | Stylus included, IP68, price | Screen, performance, app quality | Handwritten notes are the whole use case |
| MacBook Air | A real operating system, keyboard included | No touch, no stylus, less portable | Your work has a step iPadOS cannot do |
The second and fourth rows account for most people honestly. The Air gives you the iPad experience at a much lower price, and the MacBook removes the software ceiling. The Pro is for people whose work specifically needs the screen or the stylus.
Who it is for
Illustrators, designers and anyone who draws professionally. Unambiguous. The stylus and display combination has no equivalent, and the price is straightforwardly justified by the work.
Photographers and video editors reviewing work on the move, where display accuracy is the point and the chip removes any waiting.
People who genuinely live on a tablet — heavy readers, travellers, anyone whose computing happens on a sofa or a plane rather than at a desk.
It is the wrong buy if you want to replace a laptop and have not checked that every step of your work runs on iPadOS, if you mostly browse and watch, or if you are buying it because it is the best model. In the last two cases an iPad Air does the same job and leaves several hundred pounds for something else.
Check the current price
Storage and connectivity options change the total substantially, and the stylus and keyboard are separate purchases worth pricing in before deciding.
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Frequently asked questions
Can it replace my laptop?
Is the tandem OLED display worth the extra money?
Does it bend?
Do I need the stylus and keyboard?
How much storage should I get?
Should I get the Air instead?
The verdict
The best tablet hardware anyone makes, limited by software rather than by anything Apple could have engineered. Buy it if you draw, design, or need display accuracy on the move — for those people it is worth every penny and there is no alternative. Everyone else should look hard at an iPad Air, and anyone hoping to replace a laptop should check every step of their workflow against iPadOS first rather than after.
Sources and method
Specifications and display technology descriptions are Apple’s published information, with the tandem OLED explanation reflecting how the technique is documented. Assessments of iPadOS limitations and real-world use reflect consistent findings across independent reviews. Starting price is quoted as a reference point and current pricing and configurations will differ. We have not tested this device ourselves and do not claim to have. Primary source: Apple’s iPad Pro page.
Considering a cheaper tablet? See iPad Pro M4 vs Galaxy Tab S9 FE — one question decides it.