Don't WASTE Your MONEY! iPad Pro M4 vs iPad Air M2 Explained
Summary
TLDRApple's latest iPads, the M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air, offer a range of new features and accessories. The M4 Pro boasts a thinner design, a vibrant tandem OLED display, and advanced capabilities like hardware-accelerated ray tracing and Thunderbolt 4. The M2 Air, while similar in size to its predecessor, includes upgrades like WiFi 6E and hover functionality for the Apple Pencil. Both models feature landscape-oriented cameras and the new Apple Pencil Pro, but the Pro's additional power and features cater to creative professionals and gamers.
Takeaways
- 📱 The M4 iPad Pro and the M2 iPad Air are the newest models from Apple, offering more features than their predecessors.
- 🔍 The M4 iPad Pro has been redesigned to be thinner and lighter, with a noticeable difference in weight compared to the M2 iPad Air.
- 🖥️ The M4 iPad Pro features a new tandem OLED Ultra Retina XDR display with significantly higher peak brightness levels than the M2 iPad Air's IPS panel.
- 🎨 Both iPads support the new Apple Pencil Pro, which introduces features like tool palette access through barrel squeezing and brush rotation by rolling the barrel.
- 🔊 The M4 iPad Pro has a four-microphone array compared to the two-microphone array on the M2 iPad Air, enhancing audio capture for video calls.
- 💻 The M4 iPad Pro is equipped with an M4 chip with options for a 9 or 10-core CPU and advanced features like hardware-accelerated ray tracing, while the M2 iPad Air has an 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU.
- 🛠️ The M4 iPad Pro supports ProRes encoding and decoding and has a more powerful neural engine, making it better suited for creative work and AI tasks.
- 🔌 The M2 iPad Air has improved wireless connectivity with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, aligning with the latest Apple devices.
- 📚 The new Magic Keyboard for the M4 iPad Pro includes a function row and a haptic touchpad, but the M2 iPad Air still uses the older model without these features.
- 🎶 The M4 iPad Pro has a superior sound quality with four-speaker audio, contrasting the dual speakers of the M2 iPad Air.
- 💰 The M2 iPad Air starts at $599, while the M4 iPad Pro starts at $999, indicating a significant price difference reflecting their varying capabilities.
Q & A
What are the new features added to the M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air?
-The M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air have new features such as a thinner design, new display technologies, updated cameras, and landscape-oriented front-facing cameras. They also support new accessories like the Apple Pencil Pro and have improved wireless connectivity with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.
How does the thickness and weight of the M4 iPad Pro compare to its predecessor?
-The M4 iPad Pro is significantly thinner and lighter than its predecessor. The 11-inch model is now 5.3mm thick and weighs 444g, while the 13-inch model is 5.1mm thick and weighs 579g, which is a substantial reduction from the previous generation.
What is the difference between the displays on the M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air?
-The M4 iPad Pro features a new tandem OLED Ultra Retina XDR display with up to 1,600 nits of peak brightness in HDR, while the M2 iPad Air retains a 60Hz IPS display with a peak brightness of 500 nits, or 600 nits for the 13-inch version.
What is the Apple Pencil Pro and what does it offer over the previous Apple Pencil?
-The Apple Pencil Pro is a new accessory that works exclusively with the 2024 iPads. It offers features like the ability to squeeze the barrel to bring up the tool palette, a new haptic engine for feedback, and the ability to roll the barrel to rotate brush strokes in supported apps.
How does the camera setup differ between the M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air?
-Both the M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air have landscape-oriented front-facing cameras, but the Pro model includes a LiDAR scanner for AR experiences and an all-new Adaptive flash for scanning documents. The Pro also has a four-mic array compared to the two-mic array on the Air.
What performance differences are there between the M2 iPad Air and the M4 iPad Pro?
-The M2 iPad Air features an 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU, while the M4 iPad Pro has either a 9 or 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU. The M4 Pro also includes dedicated media engines for encoding and decoding video, hardware-enabled ray tracing, and a more powerful neural engine for AI features.
What is the starting price for the base 11-inch variants of the M2 iPad Air and M4 iPad Pro?
-The base 11-inch variant of the M2 iPad Air starts at $599 USD, while the M4 iPad Pro starts at $999 USD.
What is the significance of the Thunderbolt 4 support on the M4 iPad Pro?
-Thunderbolt 4 support on the M4 iPad Pro allows for faster data transfer speeds of up to 40 Gbps compared to 10 Gbps on the M2 iPad Air. This is beneficial for creative work with large files or when using an external display.
How does the sound quality differ between the M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air?
-The M4 iPad Pro has a four-speaker audio system that provides noticeably better sound quality compared to the dual speakers on the M2 iPad Air. The Pro model is said to have a more immersive and richer audio experience.
What new keyboard accessory is available for the M4 iPad Pro?
-The M4 iPad Pro supports a new Magic Keyboard with a working function row and a haptic touchpad made from glass that allows multi-touch, offering an enhanced typing and navigation experience.
What are the main reasons someone might choose the M4 iPad Pro over the M2 iPad Air?
-One might choose the M4 iPad Pro over the M2 iPad Air for its superior display technology, more powerful performance capabilities, Thunderbolt 4 support, advanced camera features, and the option to use the new Magic Keyboard with a haptic touchpad.
Outlines
📱 Overview of the New iPads from Apple
The video introduces the M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air, highlighting that while they may not look drastically different from previous models, they come with a variety of new features and accessories. The presenter, Kyle Ericson, discusses the potential benefits for different users and the overlap in specs and functionality between the models. The M4 iPad Pro is noted for its slimmer design compared to previous versions, with a significant reduction in weight, which might challenge the 'Air' designation of the iPad Air due to its traditionally lighter and thinner design. The base models of both the iPad Air and Pro are priced at $599 and $999, respectively, and have improved minimum specs that have been long-awaited by consumers.
🖥️ Display and Design Differences in the New iPads
The video delves into the design and display differences between the iPad Pro and iPad Air. The M4 iPad Pro features a tandem OLED Ultra Retina XDR display with significantly higher peak brightness levels compared to the M2 iPad Air's IPS panel. The Pro model also offers a 120 Hz ProMotion display, which is absent in the Air model that sticks to a 60 Hz refresh rate. The presenter discusses the benefits of the Pro's display for content consumption and gaming, as well as the availability of a Nano-texture finish option for the Pro models, which is designed to reduce glare and provide a more matte appearance. The video also mentions the landscape-oriented front-facing cameras on both models and the single rear camera on the Pro, which replaces the previous dual-camera setup.
✏️ Apple Pencil Pro and Performance Comparison
The presenter introduces the new Apple Pencil Pro, which is compatible only with the 2024 iPads and comes with several new features, such as the ability to squeeze the barrel to access the tool palette and a new haptic engine for feedback. The video also covers the performance aspects of the M2 and M4 chips, with the M4 Pro outperforming the M2 in benchmarks. The M2 iPad Air lacks ProRes encoding and decoding capabilities and has a less powerful neural engine compared to the M4 Pro. The M4 iPad Pro also features hardware-enabled ray tracing, which is absent in the M2 Air, making it more suitable for resource-intensive creative work and gaming. The video concludes with a brief mention of the RAM differences between the models, with the Pro offering up to 16GB of RAM in the 1TB storage configuration.
📸 Camera and Connectivity Enhancements in the New iPads
The video discusses the camera and connectivity upgrades in the new iPads. Both the iPad Pro and Air now feature landscape-oriented cameras, which are more user-friendly for video calls. The Pro model includes a four-mic array compared to the two-mic array on the Air, enhancing audio quality. The presenter provides a comparison of the audio and video quality between the two models. The Pro also introduces an Adaptive Flash feature for document scanning, which is absent in the Air. Connectivity-wise, the M2 Air sees an upgrade to Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, aligning with Apple's current lineup. The video concludes with a discussion on the new Magic Keyboard for the M4 iPad Pro, which includes a functional row of keys and a haptic touchpad, in contrast to the older Magic Keyboard available for the Air.
🔍 Choosing the Right iPad: A Summary and Conclusion
The final paragraph summarizes the key points of the video, offering advice on which iPad to choose based on user needs. The M2 iPad Air is recommended for most people due to its balance of performance and features, while the M4 iPad Pro is suggested for those requiring more powerful encoding, GPU capabilities, or engaging in creative work with large files. The presenter also invites viewers to share their thoughts and requests for further testing or comparisons between the two models, emphasizing the desire to provide helpful content for potential buyers.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡M4 iPad Pro
💡M2 iPad Air
💡Apple Pencil Pro
💡OLED Ultra Retina XDR Display
💡ProRes Encoding and Decoding
💡Thunderbolt 4
💡Landscape Oriented Cameras
💡Magic Keyboard
💡Nano Texture
💡Hover Functionality
Highlights
Apple introduced the M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air with new features and accessories.
The M4 iPad Pro is thinner and lighter than previous models, with a noticeable difference in hand.
The M2 iPad Air retains the same size as the previous generation and is compatible with older cases.
The M4 iPad Pro features a new tandem OLED Ultra Retina XDR Display with higher peak brightness.
The M2 iPad Air has a 60 Hz display with 500 nits peak brightness, suitable for most users.
Both iPads support the new Apple Pencil Pro with features like tool pallet access via barrel squeeze.
Paperlike screen protector is recommended for a paper-like feel when using the Apple Pencil.
The M2 chip in the iPad Air and the M4 in the iPad Pro offer significant performance for various tasks.
The M4 iPad Pro has dedicated media engines and hardware-enabled ray tracing for enhanced creative work and gaming.
The iPad Pro's camera setup includes a LiDAR scanner for AR experiences, replacing the ultra-wide lens.
The M2 iPad Air has an upgrade to Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 for faster wireless connectivity.
The M4 iPad Pro comes with a new Magic Keyboard featuring a haptic touchpad and function row.
The iPad Pro has a superior sound quality with a four-speaker audio system compared to the dual speakers of the Air.
The M4 iPad Pro is recommended for users needing powerful encoding, GPU features, or resource-heavy gaming.
Thunderbolt 4 in the iPad Pro provides faster data transfer and is beneficial for creatives working with large files.
The video provides an in-depth comparison to help viewers decide which iPad model suits their needs best.
Upcoming in-depth reviews will further explore the capabilities and performance of the new iPads.
Transcripts
this is the M4 iPad Pro and the M2 iPad
Air the newest iPads from Apple and
while they don't look all that different
from their predecessors there's more to
these than you might think Apple added a
host of new features on both of these
models including some brand new
accessories some that are going to be
beneficial to everyone and some that are
going to cater towards some pretty Niche
use cases that ends up blurring the
lines a little bit for one it make sense
to pick one of these up over the other
upgrading from previous generations or
choosing accessories and that's what
we're going to talk about today so if
you're in the market for a new iPad and
you want to make sure you get the right
model and you don't waste your money or
you're just curious to see what the
latest lineup has to offer stick around
and let's get into
[Music]
it hey everyone Kyle Ericson here iPads
have become one of the most confusing
sets of products in Apple's lineup over
the last few Generations there's quite a
bit of overlap between each model in
terms of specs and functionality they
all support different accessories and at
a glance it can be hard to know which
model is the right one for you the iPad
Air and the pro were kind of notorious
for this in the past especially on the
11-in models where you could often use
the same cases the screens were very
similar and even performance didn't feel
all that different but this time around
that does seem to be changing and that
all starts with the design the M4 iPad
Pro is now only 5.3 mm thick or 5.1 on
the 13-in model where previously it was
5.9 on the 11 in and 6.4 on the 13 that
might not seem like a whole lot given a
millimeter is pretty Tiny But when you
have it in your hands combined with a
difference in weight it is quite
noticeable the 11in pro weighs in at
only 444 G while the 13-in model comes
in at 579 which is down quite a bit from
the previous genin that makes this
substantially smaller than the air in
both thickness and weight which kind of
makes me wonder if it's even worth
calling the iPad Air anymore given that
the whole premise of the air was that it
was small and light in any case the
11-in M2 iPad Air is pretty much exactly
the same size as the previous generation
I can actually still use my old Logitech
combo Touch case from two generations
back if I want to so if you've got a
fourth or fifth gen error you can expect
it to be pretty much identical now
before we dive too deep into things both
versions that I have here are the base
11in variants with the air coming in at
599 USD and the pro at 999 and they
finally bumped up the minimum specs on
these which I've been waiting for for
years in terms of the overall design
language or shape of these iPads you've
still got the squared edges with the
metal finish along the sides of each
with the same button placement
interestingly enough on the back of the
pro you've only got one camera now
instead of two which we'll get into in a
few minutes and both the air and the pro
now have landscape oriented front-facing
cameras just above each display the
displays themselves are noticeably
different from each other this
generation and frankly this is probably
one aspect that people are the most
excited about with a pro and for good
reason on the pro you've got the allnew
tandem OLED Ultra Retina xdr Display
with 1,000 nit Peak brightness in SDR
content and up to 1,600 with HDR which
is a noticeable difference from the 11in
M2 iPad Pro that only went up to 600
nits on an IPS panel what apple is doing
with this display is stacking two OLED
panels on top of each other to boost up
that brightness level and the nice thing
about this is you get the added
brightness without sacrificing any
contrast or black levels like you do on
some other OLED screens on a lot of
newer OLED monitors and TVs they'll use
a quantum dot layer combined with the
OLED panel that also lifts the
brightness but it can also make the
blacks appear more gray in bright
settings and I honestly much prefer the
iPad Pro screen to those you get those
deep Inky blacks with great contrast in
color with the 120 HZ promotion display
it looks fantastic when you're watching
content playing games and just generally
using the thing this particular iPad
that I have is just the regular glossy
finish but now you can also get them in
Nano texture if you want something that
has a matte finish and that is only
offered on the pro and only if you get
the 1 tbyte in up models for some reason
that will cost you an extra $100 and
admittedly I haven't seen one up close
yet I generally prefer glossy finishes
because they're a bit sharper and
cleaner but if you're using your iPad in
bright areas quite often that can
definitely be helpful while the pro
makes a pretty big leap forward with its
display the air is pretty much business
as usual same 60 HZ display which I know
a lot of you are probably going to be
super happy about same 500 nits Peak
brightness or 600 nits if you get the
13in version the difference between 500
and 600 is barely perceivable in the
real world so I wouldn't say that that's
a huge advantage but outside of the
brightness levels and refresh rate for
an IPS panel it is one of the best out
there you've got pretty solid black
levels again not on the same level as an
OLED panel but really good for a back
lit display both the air and the pro
have P3 wide color and are very color
accurate so if you're doing any color
critical work like graphic design or
editing photos and videos on either of
these everything is going to look and
work great both are compatible with the
all new apple pencil Pro which I'm going
to come back to in just a second but
just speaking of using the pencil if
you're doing a lot of drawing or taking
notes and you want your iPad to feel
more like you're writing on paper you're
definitely going to want to check out
this screen protector from this week's
sponsor paperlike paperlike is a screen
protector that helps you write or Draw
on your iPad by using micro bead
technology they call Nano dots Nano dots
create a surface texture giving the
right stroke resistance improving haptic
feedback to make it feel more like paper
without sacrif ricing in picture Clarity
the Nano texture that Apple makes that I
just talked about does not give you that
so if you're really looking for that
paper like feel to enhance your pencil
experience paperlike is the way to go
I've been using this one on my old iPad
Pro and the feeling that you get with
the pencil is far superior to the
regular iPad Surface you also get almost
no glare with it on and it protects your
screen as well so there's a lot to like
here you can order screen protectors for
these new iPads and other current or
past models as well so check out the
link in the description if you're
interested in picking one up all right
so this is the apple pencil Pro and it
works on only these 2024 iPads and has a
fair amount of new features the one that
most people will likely use if you're an
avid pencil user is squeezing the barrel
to bring up the tool pallet you don't
have to squeeze it too hard but it's
enough that you're not going to get any
inadvertent touches or anything that's
accompanied by the new haptic engine
that's located in the pencil that gives
you feedback any any time that you do
squeeze or in some apps like procreate
if you're snapping objects you can now
also roll the barrel to rotate brush
strokes and you still have all your
pressure and tilt functionality so if
you're an artist or someone who is
really leaning into the pencil this
might be of interest to you but I'd say
if you're just taking notes and just
occasionally using it the USBC pencil
works on both of these and is also a lot
cheaper as well just one other minor
thing to note with the pencil
functionality the M2 air finally
introduced hover functionality which the
previous versions did not have and were
only available in the Pro which I found
to be quite handy but that combined with
the internals on the air brings this on
a similar playing field to the previous
gen iPad Pro both the 2022 iPad Pro and
the 2024 air have an M2 Chip with an 8
core CPU and 10 core GPU while the new
2024 pro has an M4 with either a 9 or 10
core CPU depending on your configuration
and also has a 10 core GPU I will say up
front that in iPad os's current state
any of these chips are likely more than
powerful enough for almost anyone even
my old M1 a was more than capable for
editing simple videos and semi complex
tasks if you are going to be doing any
kind of resource heavy creative work
both the M2 a and the M4 Pro have
dedicated media engines for encoding and
decoding video but the M2 iPad Air does
not have prores encoding and decoding
like the M4 and the pro does and the
neural engine in the M2 is a lot less
powerful so any kind of onboard AI
features in Creative software is likely
going to feel a little bit more Snappy
on the pro the M4 iPad Pro also has
Hardware enabled Ray tracing which the
Air does not have which will not only
help with GPU heavy creative work but
games as well I've briefly ran a couple
of benchmarks on these and the M4 blows
the M2 out of the water but if you're
gaming on either of these with stuff
like apple arcade they're going to feel
pretty similar now both of these models
that I have here have 8 gigs of RAM but
if you move up to the 1 tbte storage
option in the Pro that gets pushed up to
16 where you'll also get the extra CPU
core going from 9 to 10 and you'll still
have Thunderbolt four speeds capable of
40 gbit per second as opposed to 10
gbits on the air so that does make the
pro a much more capable device for me
I'm not really doing anything other than
editing photos and maybe an Instagram
reel here or there so I don't really
need a ton of power and I'd say that's
probably the same for most people for
anything like these videos I'm always
going to use a Mac but I know a lot of
folks like working on an iPad in
different ways and I can totally
understand why people would want to use
this over a MacBook with the display and
the size so it's definitely nice to have
that option I'm not going to dive too
deep into performance because I still
have a lot more to test and these
literally just came out this week but I
will have in-depth reviews on both of
these in the coming weeks so if future
wants to check these out make sure that
you're subscribed and those will drop
shortly so there's still a couple of
things worth mentioning on both of these
some that I think are pretty important
upgrades starting with the cameras both
of these finally have landscape oriented
cameras like the iPad 10 and have gone
away from the awkward portrait ones that
they had on the previous versions these
are so much nicer to use on calls
although the camera is about the same
quality on each the iPad Pro also has a
four mic array while the air only has
two mics and just to give you an idea of
what that looks and sounds like here's a
sample of each all right so right now
I'm on the iPad Air and as you can see
it looks pretty good it's decent enough
for video calls and things like that and
I will say that the audio does sound
pretty good just going through the
internal speakers but now let's head
over to the iPad Pro and see what that
looks like and sounds like so now I'm on
the iPad Pro and as you can tell things
look relatively the same but they
probably sound a little bit different
due to to that 4 mic array and I also
have access to different things on this
camera that I don't on the error like
depth and lighting effects but this is
what the iPad Pro looks like and sounds
like as you can see there's not a ton of
disparity there they're essentially the
same front camera with a 12 megapix f2.4
lens as are the rear cameras that both
support a 12 megapix f1.8 lens you might
notice the absence of the ultrawide lens
the pro used to have which may seem like
a downgrade but I'm not sure if how many
people end up using those cameras anyway
personally I rarely open up the camera
app on my iPad except maybe to test for
these videos and the pro replaced the
ultra wide lens with a lar scanner for
things like AR experiences which I think
is much more fitting for realistic use
cases on the iPad the pro also has an
allnew Adaptive flash for scanning
documents that works with your camera to
take a bunch of different photos of a
document and Stitch them all together to
avoid any kind of Shadows which again I
think if you're using this more for work
makes so much more sense than what you'd
historically use the cameras for the M2
air on the other hand hasn't really
changed all that much from the previous
generation with cameras and honestly on
paper there's really not much else
that's different on the ear from the
last gen except for wireless
connectivity it got a bump from Wi-Fi 6
in Bluetooth 5.0 to Wi-Fi 6E in
Bluetooth 5.3 to match basically the
rest of Apple's lineup I've mentioned
this multiple times on the channel
before but provided you have a Wi-Fi 6
router the speeds are quite a bit faster
versus wi-fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 is
generally a lot more efficient with
external accessories speaking of
accessories you can buy the new magic
keyboard for the M4 iPad Pro that you
can't get on anything else that does
have relatively the same design as
before but you do get a working function
role in this model which you didn't get
on the last magic keyboard and it has a
new haptic touchpad made from glass that
allows multi-touch which I've been
really impressed with so far the air is
still stuck with the older magic
keyboard unfortunately although I don't
know how likely it is that you're going
to drop 300 bucks on a keyboard for your
iPad that cost 600 outside of that
you've got the same Biometrics same
listed battery specs the speakers seem
pretty much unchanged on both of these
compared to their previous versions the
pro sounds amazing and noticeably better
than the airor as you do have four
speaker audio versus the Dual speakers
in the air I believe the 13 18-in air is
supposed to sound a little bit better
than the 11in but like I said the pro
and the air are Worlds Apart in my
opinion in sound quality so with all
that being said which one of these
should you choose if you're just
strictly looking for a solid iPad with a
decent display that's more than powerful
enough to run most things I think the M2
iPad Air is a great device and probably
the right choice for most people it's
not that far off from the M2 iPad Pro
you get some nice addition like pencil
hover WiFi 6E and you can use the new
Apple pencil Pro with that being said if
you go take a look at one of these new
iPad Pros if you're like me you're
probably going to want it just strictly
because of how great it looks and feels
but from a practical standpoint if
you're working with a lot of media and
you need more powerful encoding or GPU
features or if you're just planning on
playing some more resource heavy tripa
games the iPad Pro is definitely what
I'd go for you're also going to get
Thunderbolt 4 with a Pro which is going
to make a world of difference if you're
doing anything creative with large files
or you end up using an external display
so it definitely does have some
practical advantages but it's also just
totally fine if you want the best of the
best as well even if you don't have a
particular use case in mind I'm going to
continue to put these through the paces
and test out as much as I can so if you
guys want to see anything show up in
either of you for the M2 air or the M4
Pro let me know in the comments down
below because I cannot wait to dig into
these more that's all I have for you
today I really just wanted to get this
out there for anyone who is maybe
considering picking either of these up
and maybe was unsure so I hope it was
helpful in that regard or at the very
least you enjoyed the video if you did
feel free to hit that like button if
you'd like to see more Tech related
content or help me build a robotic
lawnmower that plays tag with Garden
Gomes Please Subscribe thank you so much
for watching and I will see you in the
next upload
[Music]
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