The brand new M4 iPad Professional brings huge technological leaps to Apple’s high-end pill. It packs a cutting-edge OLED show and a quick M4 chip contained in the “thinnest Apple product ever.” Upgrades within the M2 iPad Air, unveiled Tuesday alongside the Professional mannequin throughout Apple’s “Let Loose” event, aren’t as spectacular. An in-depth M4 iPad Professional vs. M2 iPad Air comparability, nonetheless, reveals that the midrange Apple pill probably makes a more sensible choice for a lot of customers.
So, are you confused about shopping for the M4 iPad Professional versus the M2 iPad Air? This comparability will enable you determine.
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M4 iPad Professional vs. M2 iPad Air: A comparability of latest 2024 iPads
Apple went all out with the M4 iPad Pro, giving it the most important improve since its inception. The adjustments are huge. And should you use your iPad Professional as a laptop computer alternative, you’ll profit from them. However that doesn’t imply the brand new M2 iPad Air is a foul selection. For one factor, it prices $400 lower than the Professional, making it a way more enticing selection.
Discover out the variations between the M4 iPad Professional and M2 iPad Air in our comparability beneath to seek out out which one is healthier for you.
Desk of contents: M4 iPad Professional vs. M2 iPad Air
Design: M4 iPad Professional vs. M2 iPad Air
- M4 11-inch iPad Professional: 249.7 x 177.5 x 5.3 mm, 444 grams (Wi-Fi)/446 grams (mobile), Face ID, four-speaker audio, 4 studio-quality microphones
- M2 11-inch iPad Air: 247.6 x 178.5 x 6.1 mm, 462 grams (Wi-Fi)/462 grams (mobile), Contact ID, panorama stereo audio system, two microphones
- M4 13-inch iPad Professional: 281.6 x 215.5 x 5.1 mm, 579 grams (Wi-Fi)/582 grams (mobile), Face ID, four-speaker audio, 4 studio-quality microphones
- M2 13-inch iPad Air: 280.6 x 214.9 x 6.1 mm, 617 grams (Wi-Fi)/618 grams (mobile), Contact ID, panorama stereo audio system, two microphones
The brand new iPad Professional and iPad Air look virtually the identical as their predecessors, although there are some minor adjustments. The M4 iPad Professional is thinner and lighter than its predecessor. Plus, it contains a redesigned digital camera hump, with a single rear digital camera, a True Tone flash and a LiDAR scanner.
You’ll be able to’t inform the 2024 iPad Professional and the iPad Air aside from the entrance except you look carefully. The 11-inch iPad Professional is a wee bit taller and narrower than the 11-inch Air, whereas the 13-inch Professional is each taller and wider than the 13-inch Air. Surprisingly, regardless of the “Air” branding, the M4 iPad Professionals are lighter and slimmer than this 12 months’s midrange tablets.
The M4 iPad Professional has two key design benefits over the 2024 iPad Air. First, it ships with a louder four-speaker audio setup. With the Air, you get stereo panorama audio system. Second, the Professional comes with Face ID for safe authentication, whereas the iPad Air integrates a Touch ID sensor into its aspect key.
Apple gives 4 colour choices for the iPad Air, together with new purple and blue shades. As for the iPad Professional, it’s obtainable in area black and silver.
From a design standpoint, there’s no single motive why it’s best to get the Professional over the Air. That’s except you need the slimmest or lightest pill potential. In any other case, the 11-inch or 13-inch iPad Air gained’t disappoint you.
Show: iPad Professional is the primary Apple pill with OLED
- M4 11-inch iPad Professional: 11-inch Extremely Retina XDR show, tandem OLED, ProMotion, 2420 x 1668 decision, 1,000 nits SDR brightness, optionally available nano-texture glass, Apple Pencil hover help, works with Apple Pencil Professional and USB-C
- M2 11-inch iPad Air: 11-inch Liquid Retina show, 2360 x 1640 decision, 500 nits SDR brightness, Apple Pencil hover help, works with Apple Pencil Professional and USB-C
- M4 13-inch iPad Professional: 13-inch Extremely Retina XDR show, Tandem OLED, ProMotion, 2752 x 2064 decision, 1000 nits SDR brightness, optionally available Nano-texture glass, Apple Pencil hover help, works with Apple Pencil Professional and USB-C
- M2 13-inch iPad Air 13-inch Liquid Retina show, 2732 x 2048 decision, 600 nits SDR brightness, Apple Pencil hover help, works with Apple Pencil Professional and USB-C
The show is an space the place the M4 iPad Professional differs significantly from the M2 iPad Air. Whereas there’s no display measurement distinction, the Professional and Air use vastly totally different show applied sciences. With the 2024 iPad Professional, you get Apple’s latest Extremely Retina XDR show. Apple calls this a “tandem OLED” panel. It comes with 120Hz ProMotion help, and may hit a claimed peak brightness of 1,600 nits when viewing HDR content material. Being an OLED panel, the colours and distinction are superior to different screens, even when considered at an 0ff angle.
Whereas you will get the iPad Professional with an optionally available nano-texture glass remedy, it’s best to keep away from it. Firstly, it’s only obtainable with the 1TB or 2TB storage variants, and prices an extra $100. However extra importantly, the Professional Show XDR’s nano-texture coating is delicate and requires cautious upkeep. If the iPad Professional’s matte glass is analogous, it’s unlikely to retain its antireflective properties for lengthy.
As compared, the iPad Air makes use of a standard LCD panel with an SDR brightness of 500 nits — 50% decrease than the iPad Professional. It additionally lacks ProMotion help, that means the show refreshes at a relentless 60Hz.
Each tablets use a fingerprint-resistant, oleophobic and antireflective coating and help True Tone and Extensive Coloration (P3). The panels are totally laminated to eradicate gaps between the duvet glass and the show itself. And regardless of which iPad you decide, they each help the brand new Apple Pencil Pro, which gives a brand new “squeeze” gesture and different advances.
In case you are a digital creator or artist, the iPad Professional is the superior selection on your skilled work. Its OLED panel is healthier than the iPad Air’s Liquid Retina show in each facet. However for normal use, persist with the iPad Air, because the OLED display gained’t considerably profit you.
Efficiency: Apple M4 vs. M2
- M4 11-inch iPad Professional: M4 chip, 10-core CPU with three efficiency cores and 6 effectivity cores, next-gen 10-core GPU, new 16-core Neural Engine, 8 or 16GB RAM, 256GB to 2TB storage choices, 8K H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRAW video encode/decode engine, AV1 decode
- M2 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Air: M2 chip, eight-core CPU with 4 efficiency cores and 4 effectivity cores, 10-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, 8GB RAM, 128GB to 1TB storage choices, H.264 and HEVC video encode/decode engine
Efficiency is one other space the place the iPad Professional packs an enormous benefit over the iPad Air. The 2024 iPad Professional options Apple’s quickest chip but, the M4. Based mostly on TSMC’s second-gen 3nm node, Apple says the M4 packs 28 billion transistors. It sports activities next-generation CPU cores with improved department prediction and wider decode and execution engines. Apple claims the M4’s CPU is 1.5x sooner than the M2.
By comparability, the 2024 iPad Air makes use of the M2 chip fabricated on the second-gen 5nm node.
The M4’s GPU efficiency enhancements are much more vital. In comparison with the M2, the M4’s 10-core GPU helps hardware-accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading. Apple says this boosts rendering efficiency in apps and video games by as much as 4x. Professionals will profit from the M4’s extra highly effective 8K video encode/decode engine, which helps ProRes and ProRAW. For extra environment friendly video streaming, the 2024 iPad Professional provides a devoted AV1 decoder.
Energy effectivity can also be higher for the 2024 iPad Professional. “M4 can ship the identical efficiency as M2 utilizing simply half the ability,” says Apple’s press launch. You may get the M4 iPad Professional with as much as 2TB storage. The 1TB and 2TB fashions add one other efficiency enhance: They ship with a whopping 16GB RAM.
For heavy video modifying or manufacturing work, the iPad Professional’s M4 chip can turn out to be useful. In any other case, the iPad Air and its M2 SoC will serve you simply high-quality.
Digicam: Apple downgraded the iPad Professional
- M4 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Professional: 12MP Extensive digital camera, f/1.8 aperture, Sensible HDR 4, 4K60fps recording, ProRes at 4K30fps, Audio Zoom, LiDAR, Adaptive True Tone Flash; Entrance – 12MP Panorama Extremely Extensive TrueDepth digital camera, f/2.4 aperture, Heart Stage, Retina Flash with True Tone
- M2 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Air: Rear – 12MP Extensive digital camera, f/1.8 aperture, Sensible HDR 4, 4K60fps recording; Entrance – 12MP Panorama Extremely Extensive digital camera, f/2.4 aperture, Heart Stage, Retina Flash
To be sincere, you shouldn’t use any iPad for taking footage or capturing movies. However should you want it for skilled work, the M4 iPad Professional ought to be your decide. The pill helps ProRes recording, with LiDAR and Adaptive True Tone Flash serving to in low-light situations. The end result gained’t be nearly as good as the latest iPhone, nevertheless it ought to work in a pinch.
In case you don’t care in regards to the cameras, the M2 iPad Air’s 12MP rear digital camera ought to work simply high-quality. It misses out on ProRes recording and Audio Zoom, however you’re unlikely to make use of these options a lot anyway.
On the entrance, the M2 iPad Air and M4 iPad Professional each sport a 12MP Extremely Extensive digital camera in panorama orientation. It helps Center Stage, guaranteeing you’re at all times in deal with video calls.
Connectivity
- M4 iPad Professional: Wi-Fi 6E, MIMO, Bluetooth 5.3, 5G, Gigabit LTE (as much as 31 bands), Thunderbolt/USB 4, eSIM, Sensible Connector
- M2 iPad Air: Wi-Fi 6E, MIMO, Bluetooth 5.3, 5G, Gigabit LTE (as much as 31 bands), USB-C, eSIM, Sensible Connector
The brand new iPads help all of the connectivity requirements you’ll be able to ask for: Wi-Fi 6E, 5G and Sensible Connector. They do lack an Extremely Wideband chip, so you can’t get Precision Discovering within the Find My app. The one distinction is that the iPad Professional helps Thunderbolt 4. So, you’ll be able to switch knowledge at as much as 40Gbps speeds or join high-bandwidth equipment to the pill. As compared, the iPad Air’s USB-C port tops out at 10Gbps speeds.
Battery life
- M4 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Professional: As much as 10 hours of video playback or Wi-Fi browsing, 9 hours of internet browsing on cellular knowledge
- M2 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Air: As much as 10 hours of video playback or Wi-Fi browsing, 9 hours of internet browsing on cellular knowledge
Regardless of the dimensions, display and chip variations, Apple says the M2 iPad Air and M4 iPad Professional lineups provide the identical battery life. All tablets will present as much as 10 hours of video playback or Wi-Fi browsing. There may very well be some real-world variations, however that may solely be clear in just a few weeks.
Worth: M4 iPad Professional vs. M2 iPad Air
- M4 11-inch iPad Professional: Begins at $999 (Wi-Fi) or $1,199 (mobile)
- M2 11-inch iPad Air: Begins at $599 (Wi-Fi) or $749 (mobile)
- M4 13-inch iPad Professional: Begins at $1,299 (Wi-Fi) or $1,499 (mobile)
- M2 13-inch iPad Air Begins at $799 (Wi-Fi) or $949 (mobile)
The M4 iPad Professional is certainly a superior pill, packing a cutting-edge show and SoC right into a super-slim package deal. However this cutting-edge know-how comes at a value, with costs beginning at $999. That’s a staggering $400 greater than the M2 11-inch iPad Air. And if you would like the 13-inch mannequin, be ready to spend $1,300 — $500 greater than the 13-inch iPad Air. The worth hole will additional enhance should you go for the next storage tier of the iPad Professional or the nano-texture glass.
The M2 iPad Air gives a greater price-to-performance ratio. The 11-inch mannequin begins at an affordable $599, whereas the 13-inch mannequin begins at $799. For the reason that base storage is now 128GB, most customers gained’t must improve to the next storage tier.
M4 iPad Professional vs. M2 iPad Air: Which 2024 iPad do you have to purchase?
If in case you have the cash or your workflow can justify the iPad Professional’s superior {hardware}, the professional pill is a no brainer. However keep in mind that the M2 iPad Air and M4 iPad Professional each run the identical iPadOS construct. So, you gained’t get any further options by shopping for the Professional mannequin; you solely get additional horsepower and a greater show. (This might change with iPadOS 18, as Apple may make some AI options unique to the M4 iPad Professional.)
For common customers, although, the iPad Air is the smarter selection. It would ship the identical expertise because the M4 iPad Professional whereas saving you tons of of {dollars}. You need to use that cash to purchase some helpful iPad equipment, just like the Apple Pencil Pro, AppleCare+ or distinctive instances.
M4 iPad Professional
Purchase from: Amazon
M2 iPad Air
Purchase from: Amazon