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M4 iPad Pro8
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Magic Keyboard9
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Apple Pencil Pro8
Yesterday, I rigged up three cameras, plonked three freshly delivered boxes onto my a-roll desk and cracked on with the task in hand.
This is known as an ‘unboxing’ video and it’s quite a bit harder to make than you might think (I certainly had a far more romantic idea of what such videos were like to produce before I became a tech YouTuber). You have to combine storytelling with the process of actually experiencing whatever it is you’re unboxing for the first time. As a result, the latter often gets lost in the mix as you think more about keeping stuff in frame, and deal with bad takes.
My unboxing of the 13-inch M4 iPad Pro, new Magic Keyboard, and Apple Pencil Pro were just as tricky, but it was surprisingly easy to remain focused on the stuff that emerged from that packaging.
The new iPad Pro is a super interesting device – as are its two accessories.
13-inch M4 iPad Pro
You know you’re in for a slightly different experience with the new iPad Pro when you compare its retail box to that of the M2 version. It’s considerably less bulky.
Inside the box, we get the iPad (obviously), a shed load of region-specific mini instruction manuals, a lovely braided USB-C to USB-C cable, and, well, that’s it. No Apple stickers, I’m afraid (this is, apparently, an environmental thing, which essentially removes any ability to get stroppy about it).
Once unsheathed from its protective paper packaging, the 13-inch iPad Pro is genuinely surprisingly thin. If you weren’t aware, this is Apple’s thinnest product, ever, which means that even the iPod Nano cannot claim to be any more svelte than its comically more capable distant cousin.
If you’re wondering, I opted for the base model M4 iPad Pro, which features 256GB of storage, 8GB of RAM, and a chip with a 9-core CPU and 10-core GPU. If you want the top dog iPad Pro with 16GB of RAM and the 10-core CPU, you’ll need to splash out on the 1TB or 2TB model.
I can’t comment on performance yet, because I’ve only had the iPad Pro for a couple of days, and I genuinely have no idea how to push this thing. Sorry. It’s just very powerful and immensely capable – we all know that.
In terms of initial impressions beyond that ludicrously thin frame, there are a couple of things to note. Firstly, we no longer get an ultra-wide camera on the iPad; on the rear of the device sits just one lens – the standard wide angle. This is fine; no one, clearly, shoots photos or videos with their iPad (and if you don’t agree with me, please tell me when Apple last removed a camera lens from an iPhone).
The FaceTime and FaceID hardware switch to the landscape edge of the iPad Pro is immediately satisfying – to the point where I genuinely couldn’t wait to use it for a Zoom call yesterday.
Lastly, we have the display, which is now an OLED panel. Sorry – two OLED panels which have been fused to create a tandem panel that is capable of delivering up to 1,600 nits of peak brightness for HDR content. It’s a lovely-looking thing and definitely offers a richer image than the M2 iPad Pro. The blacks are deep, the display itself feels brighter in normal use, and it just ‘pops’ a little more. But you do have to compare it with the previous generation to really spot the difference; iPad displays have been lovely for a long time, and the switch to OLED is more iterative than revolutionary.
There’s not much more to say about the M4 iPad Pro after my first few hours with it. This isn’t a bad thing – remember, I couldn’t even be bothered to get the M2 iPad Pro out of the box when I first received it.
The new Magic Keyboard
I opted for the white version of the new Magic Keyboard rather cautiously. Every image I saw of it before hitting the ‘buy now’ button gave me serious 90s laptop vibes, thanks to that new silver keyboard frame. At worst, it looked a bit like a cheap third-party accessory.
The good news is that, in person, the white/silver Magic Keyboard is a smart-looking accessory. It works beautifully with the silver iPad Pro and that aluminium frame that surrounds the keyboard is far more satisfying to rest your palms on than the previous generation.
We also get a function key row, which we first saw on the Magic Keyboard Folio for the 10th-generation iPad. It was a strange omission from the original Magic Keyboard, but we do at least finally have an escape key to play with, and a bunch of controls for the iPad and features within iPadOS.
The trackpad is larger and features a haptic motor, rather than the physical click on the previous generation Magic Keyboard. I always found the previous version a little bit tight during use, so the extra space is welcome, and the haptic feedback is as magical as it has always been on the MacBook Pro trackpad.
We have the same maximum viewing angle on the new Magic Keyboard, but it doesn’t tilt as far forward as the previous version. It’s hard to explain without handling both side by side, but the hinge feels more refined. In fact, as a package, the new Magic Keyboard is the epitome of refinement. The key travel, sound, and feel haven’t changed, but they didn’t need to – it’s just everything surrounding it that has improved.
Apple Pencil Pro
Heads-up: I can confirm that the second-generation Apple Pencil, categorically, does not work at all with the M4 iPad Pro. It doesn’t even rest securely on the magnetic charging dock.
This is because of the aforementioned relocation of that FaceTime camera system. Apple has had to redesign the Apple Pencil charging mechanism to fit around those optical gubbins. Why they didn’t simply move the charging location for the Apple Pencil to the shorter edge of the device is anyone’s guess, but we are where we are.
This means you’ll need to buy the new Apple Pencil Pro if you want to take handwritten notes or get particularly creative with your new M4 iPad Pro. At £129 it isn’t the cheapest stylus you’ll find on the market, and given that it’s an essential purchase for anyone who relies on their Apple Pencil, it’s yet another thing to budget for.
The Apple Pencil Pro does, therefore, need to impress.
Good news: it does.
There’s a caveat here which is that the basic user experience of the Apple Pencil hasn’t changed. It’s still as responsive and enjoyable to use as before – we just get three updates which are genuinely impressive and useful.
Firstly, the Apple Pencil Pro can be added to Find My, which is good news for anyone who has lost their Apple Pencil in the past. Which is everyone.
Secondly, we get a new squeeze function, which uses haptic feedback (there’s a theme developing here, isn’t there?) to confirm that you’ve squeezed sufficiently to instigate an on-screen menu. Just like the Magic Keyboard trackpad, it’s an uncanny experience; it genuinely feels like you’re clicking a physical button on the Apple Pencil Pro. We’re limited to a tool pallet in Apple Notes at the moment, but developers have access to this too, and I have a feeling they’ll make great use of it.
Thirdly, the Apple Pencil Pro has a gyroscope, which means it’s aware of being twisted between your fingers. The result is the ability to change the direction of a wide brush while drawing or writing. It’s immediately responsive, and intuitive, and will be welcomed, I’m sure, by those who are blessed with creative fingers.
The Apple Pencil Pro isn’t a massive upgrade from the second generation version, and it’s still faintly annoying that Apple decided to completely kill off backwards compatibility, but just like the Magic Keyboard, I think they’ve done enough to make that extra outlay a little less frustrating.
Wrapping up: what’s next?
If you’re wondering – yes, I’m typing this blog post on the M4 iPad Pro. I’d normally be doing so on my 15-inch MacBook Air, which has quickly become my favourite computer at home for writing and general business admin.
I’ve decided to switch to the M4 iPad Pro for those tasks. I need to give it a chance and work towards the release of iPadOS 18 later this year.
I also need to get back into Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro on the iPad. Both have received interesting updates and I’d be a fool not to put this incredibly powerful M4 iPad Pro to creative use.
My full review of Apple’s flagship tablet will follow in due course. Stay tuned.
