Apple iPad Professional 11-inch (M4) evaluate: inventive freedom

I personal a sixth era iPad which does an enough job of letting me browse the online, examine my electronic mail, and even edit the occasional Digital Digital camera World video evaluate in iMovie. Nonetheless, my iPad is now exhibiting its age, because it doesn’t help the iOS Closing Lower Professional app which was launched in June 2024. I used to be due to this fact very comfortable when Apple loaned me an 11-inch iPad Professional (M4) in order that I might take a look at out iOS Closing Lower Professional and its integration with the brand new iOS Closing Lower Digital camera app (particularly in relation to broadcasting dwell video from a number of iPhones to iOS Closing Lower Professional on the iPad Professional – extra on that workflow within the Efficiency part). One other thrilling factor about testing the iPad Professional is that it’s the first machine to have an M4 chip powering it. I do my day-to-day video modifying in macOS Closing Lower Professional on a 15-inch MacBook Air which has an M2 chip. That’s nonetheless highly effective sufficient to edit 4K films in macOS Closing Lower Professional, so I used to be due to this fact very eager to place the M4 chip by its paces in relation to video and photograph modifying. 

I examined the Silver incarnation of the iPad Professional, nevertheless it’s additionally accessible in House Black. If I might afford one I’d go for House Black as that matches the look of my iPhone 15 Professional Max, although the Silver iPad Professional does look nice on the silver Magic Keyboard that I used to be additionally loaned for this evaluate. I reviewed the mobile mannequin which is the primary time I’ve used an iPad that may hook up with the online from anyplace. This was helpful after I examined the iPad in a studio atmosphere that didn’t have Wifi, as I wanted to hook up with the online to subscribe to iOS Closing Lower Professional.  Oh – Apple additionally kindly popped an Apple Pencil Professional into my evaluate package, which I’ll cowl in a separate evaluate. 

iPad Professional 11-inch (M4): Specs

iPad Professional 11-inch (M4): Design & Dealing with

The iPad Professional is available in two sizes – the 11-inch mannequin that I’m reviewing right here and a 13-inch model which is the thinnest product that Apple has ever created. Though not fairly as skinny because the 5.1mm deep 13-inch iPad Professional, the 11-inch mannequin is impressively slim. Certainly at 5.3 mm it’s slimmer than my 8.25mm iPhone 15 Professional Max which was a shock to me.  Like my iPhone 15 Professional Max, the iPad Professional has rounded corners. Nonetheless, the iPad Professional’s edges are sharper than the iPhone’s and are virtually bevel-free, which is an enormous distinction in design in comparison with the extremely curved bevel on the sting and rear of my sixth era iPad (which can also be a lot ‘fatter’ at 7.5 mm – sorry to fat-shame my previous iPad!). 

The iPad Professional’s M4 chip blows my ‘historic’ sixth era iPad out of the water relating to velocity courtesy of its M4 chip, however what additionally units the newest mannequin other than my previous iPad is the iPad Professional’s Extremely Retina XDR OLED show. This kicks out 1,000 nits of brightness (or a peak of 1,6000 when viewing HDR belongings), which is way brighter than my 15-inch MacBook Air’s 500 nits).  This makes 10-bit HDR Professional Res footage shot on my iPhone 15 Professional Max look superb on the iPad Professional – with a hanging distinction vary of two,000,000:1 that produces deeper blacks and whiter whites because of the mixed mild of two OLED panels. Because of ProMotion’s adaptive 10-120Hz refresh price video footage appears smoother than ever. (At this stage in my evaluate my fatter, slower, and duller sixth era iPad is slinking quietly and forlornly out of the room). 

iPad Professional 11-inch (M4): Efficiency