iPad Pro Apps limited to 5GB of RAM on M1 iPad Pro

[Zorori]

On the Procreate forums, it’s seems that Apps can only access 5GB of ram a mere 0.5GB increase from the 2020 model. One of the devs of Art Studio pro confirms this:

Hi, Artsutdio Pro developer here.

There is a big problem with M1 iPad Pro. After making stress test and other tests on new M1 iPad Pro with 16GB or RAM, it turned out that app can use ONLY 5GB or RAM! If we allocate more, app crashes. It is only 0.5GB more that in old iPads with 6GB of RAM! I suppose it isn't better on iPad with 8GB.

New Ipad pro 12.9 has less layers ?

This is for community Help & Support - seek answers, share solutions, and help others.

folio.procreate.art

Perhaps this limitation will go away with the next version of iPadOS...

 

[HerbertDerb]

There goes the "You need 16gb RAM"- debate.

 

[Ludatyk]

There goes the "You need 16gb RAM"- debate.

Umm… Perhaps, as the OP suggest… with WWDC coming along in about 2 weeks Apple could address it in iPadOS 15.

 

[Shirasaki]

This M1 powered iPad Pro is completely hamstrung by the sheer lack of capability of the iPadOS. Yes, it has features that can do a bit of multitasking and create some creative workflow to get things done, but these mobile OS limitations really limits what iPad Pro can truly do. I dunno what Apple is trying to do here, band-aid-ing an OS that was designed for power saving mobile device back in 2010 or truly redesign something that can harness the power of those new iPad Pro. Tbh, for most people, the most demanding apps running on an iPad Pro would be games lol, and yet they are not allowed to use more than 256MB of RAM (maybe higher now, idk), a limit that does not make any sense today.

 

[HerbertDerb]

Umm… Perhaps, as the OP suggest… with WWDC coming along in about 2 weeks Apple could address it in iPadOS 15.

Doubt it.
Even the Final Cut Pro doesn't "Require" more than 5gb of ram.

 

[Ludatyk]

Doubt it.
Even the Final Cut Pro doesn't "Require" more than 5gb of ram.

Maybe. But even so… 16GBs of RAM allows for more apps to stay in memory. Could simultaneously use Procreate and another demanding app without any hiccups.

 

[HerbertDerb]

Maybe. But even so… 16GBs of RAM allows for more apps to stay in memory. Could simultaneously use Procreate and another demanding app without any hiccups.

iPad's doesn't use HDD's anymore. The SSD's (NVME?) are pretty fast. The App (Can theoretically) hibernate itself to the SSD without being closed and then when needed re-open again. It doesn't (theoretically) have to use RAM for that.

Also, 4gb per app is plenty for this. (OS eats partition of this but still)

IF your specific needs are that you need to run (theoretically) Final Cut Pro and Procreate etc. at the same time. It creates a question is a iPad right device to you from the get go?

 

[mi7chy]

So there are two issues. You're currently limited to 2GB RAM on M1 iPad Pro until Procreate is updated then it's limited to 5GB RAM until OS is updated. If you're not in a hurry, better to wait for OS and apps to catch up with hardware and by that time there might be a sale or Apple might become less greedy and release a 16GB RAM and 256GB/512GB storage model like on M1 Macbooks.

We can't yet say how long it will take us to bring out a patch to make the new iPads compatible with Procreate. At the moment Procreate automatically caps your device at 2GB RAM, due to it being an 'unidentified' device. The good news is that the M1 arrived here at Savage today so we're straight into testing and starting to work on the new patch.

There is a big problem with M1 iPad Pro. After making stress test and other tests on new M1 iPad Pro with 16GB or RAM, it turned out that app can use ONLY 5GB or RAM! If we allocate more, app crashes. It is only 0.5GB more that in old iPads with 6GB of RAM! I suppose it isn't better on iPad with 8GB.

 

[rui no onna]

iPad's doesn't use HDD's anymore. The SSD's (NVME?) are pretty fast. The App (Can theoretically) hibernate itself to the SSD without being closed and then when needed re-open again. It doesn't (theoretically) have to use RAM for that.

iPads have never used HDDs. They just use much faster flash storage now.

iOS allows save state but that's still slower and not all apps implement it.

 

[one more]

Why is this surprising? Apple Pro line is all about cutting edge tech & future-proofing. However, we must not forget that there are still lots of iPads out there with 2-3-4 GB of RAM. Can you imagine the customer backlash if the newly released/updated app could only run properly with, say, 6 GB of RAM? The app developers might not be happy either, as they would then need to make a light and full versions of their apps, accommodating for different RAM. This would be a nightmare. Which means any current app out there should run well enough on 3 GB of RAM (iPad 8). The only real advantage of those 16 GB right now, IMO, is that you can keep several RAM-heavy apps running side by side without them slowing you down or refreshing too often.

 

[mi7chy]

Why is this surprising? Apple Pro line is all about cutting edge tech & future-proofing. However, we must not forget that there are still lots of iPads out there with 2-3-4 GB of RAM. Can you imagine the customer backlash if the newly released/updated app could only run properly with, say, 6 GB of RAM? The app developers might not be happy either, as they would then need to make a light and full versions of their apps, accommodating for different RAM. This would be a nightmare. Which means any current app out there should run well enough on 3 GB of RAM (iPad 8). The only real advantage of those 16 GB right now, IMO, is that you can keep several RAM-heavy apps running side by side without them slowing you down or refreshing too often.

Just proves that prior iPads have been RAM deficient with hard caps set. Going forward, hopefully, it'll be more like laptops with sufficient and varying amounts of RAM from 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, etc. and OS allowing apps to dynamically use what's available.

 

[Ludatyk]

The only real advantage of those 16 GB right now, IMO, is that you can keep several RAM-heavy apps running side by side without them slowing you down or refreshing too often.

That’s the point I was making. Rumors have it that Apple plans to redesign HomeScreen on iPadOS, but I’m hoping that Apple tweak multitasking for iPadOS as well.

IF your specific needs are that you need to run (theoretically) Final Cut Pro and Procreate etc. at the same time. It creates a question is a iPad right device to you from the get go?

I mean, I get it. You can get better use out of Final Cut Pro and Procreate on a Mac… with a bigger display, have a selection of windows opened at the same time…. while not being limited in view.

But me personally... I value the iPad over the Mac, but that’s me. I’m sure a large majority with that type of workflow would use the Mac and I totally understand with the above advantages I mentioned.

 

[jsmith1]

So how much was the extra ram total to get...$1000? No one here doesn’t think Apple was deceiving in all,this and is ripping people off?

 

[BigMcGuire]

So how much was the extra ram total to get...$1000? No one here doesn’t think Apple was deceiving in all,this and is ripping people off?

Deceiving? No... I don't think so. Especially with iPad OS 15 coming along... I'm sure that's going to change.

As far as ripping people off, Apple products have always been high and more expensive than competition - yet people keep buying them - they aren't forced to.

I left iPad OS this year after using it as my almost primary device for the last few years - BECAUSE of the limitations of iPad OS. So, while I agree that iPad OS is a massive limiting factor for some of us (myself included) - I won't play the "Apple was deceiving" card. I'm sure future iPad OS versions will utilize this and I'm sure someone with the M1 iPad + 16GB of ram will have insane longevity because of that ram.

I think it's more of a ripoff to sell a MBP/iMac with 8GB of ram in 2021. At least people who buy a $2k iPad do so cuz they can.

 

[jsmith1]

Deceiving? No... I don't think so. Especially with iPad OS 15 coming along... I'm sure that's going to change.

As far as ripping people off, Apple products have always been high and more expensive than competition - yet people keep buying them - they aren't forced to.

I left iPad OS this year after using it as my almost primary device for the last few years - BECAUSE of the limitations of iPad OS. So, while I agree that iPad OS is a massive limiting factor for some of us (myself included) - I won't play the "Apple was deceiving" card. I'm sure future iPad OS versions will utilize this and I'm sure someone with the M1 iPad + 16GB of ram will have insane longevity because of that ram.

I think it's more of a ripoff to sell a MBP/iMac with 8GB of ram in 2021. At least people who buy a $2k iPad do so cuz they can.

Good feedback but did they say when they were announced that 16 really won’t be beneficial till sometime in the future? I don’t know I didn’t see the announcement

 

[BigMcGuire]

Good feedback but did they say when they were announced that 16 really won’t be beneficial till sometime in the future? I don’t know I didn’t see the announcement

The only thing I can think of is they could have 3 apps running >4GB so it’s not completely useless but I do see your point. Had I paid $2k for a 16GB iPad and find out apps are limited to 5GB I wouldn’t be happy.

 

[revz190]

More RAM just add more layers in Procreate and nothing else so it doesn't matter if an iPad has 2 GB RAM or 16 GB RAM the drawing performance remains more or less the same. Also there are now some features specific to M1, for example Procreate 3d model painting feature will only work on M1. Luma fusion will soon offer editing capability from external drive which will work optimally only on M1 so its not like devs are forced to make apps which work equally on all iPads. When 4th generation iPad was released initially procreate could use only 4 GB RAM but soon it was updated and layer count increased so same will happen with M1 iPad.

 

[rui no onna]

Good feedback but did they say when they were announced that 16 really won’t be beneficial till sometime in the future? I don’t know I didn’t see the announcement

They didn't actually talk about 16GB RAM in the keynote. "Up to 16GB" was just on the backdrop that lists all the stuff the 2021 Pros have.

Speculation just blew up here in the forums about what Apple may be planning because we used to have wait until teardowns to know how much RAM iPads have and Apple has been historically stingy with the amount of RAM they put on iOS devices.

 

[tekchic]

More RAM just add more layers in Procreate and nothing else so it doesn't matter if an iPad has 2 GB RAM or 16 GB RAM the drawing performance remains more or less the same. Also there are now some features specific to M1, for example Procreate 3d model painting feature will only work on M1. Luma fusion will soon offer editing capability from external drive which will work optimally only on M1 so its not like devs are forced to make apps which work equally on all iPads. When 4th generation iPad was released initially procreate could use only 4 GB RAM but soon it was updated and layer count increased so same will happen with M1 iPad.

Procreate confirmed that 3D painting is not exclusive to the M1 (not sure how far back device support will go, though but I think my 2018 will be able to use it). They also didn't get their M1 iPad Pro in time so the app currently recognizes the new devices as "unknown" and only allocating 2gb of RAM. That should be fixed in the next patch, but the 5gb hard limit will most likely still exist until we know more from Apple.

Excited about the LumaFusion being able to edit from an external drive though - that'll be sweet!

EDIT: Here's the tweet... took me awhile to dig up.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1384741014594752512

 

[Ethosik]

iPad's doesn't use HDD's anymore. The SSD's (NVME?) are pretty fast. The App (Can theoretically) hibernate itself to the SSD without being closed and then when needed re-open again. It doesn't (theoretically) have to use RAM for that.

Also, 4gb per app is plenty for this. (OS eats partition of this but still)

IF your specific needs are that you need to run (theoretically) Final Cut Pro and Procreate etc. at the same time. It creates a question is a iPad right device to you from the get go?

I think what that post was trying to say was you could be in the middle of exporting a video and use Procreate without any issues.

 

[AutomaticApple]

Doubt it.
Even the Final Cut Pro doesn't "Require" more than 5gb of ram.

Rumors have suggested otherwise.

 

[Ludatyk]

That should be fixed in the next patch, but the 5gb hard limit will most likely still exist until we know more from Apple.

Tbf, 5gb hard limit on the newest iPad Pro makes sense… regardless if I’m on a 16GB RAM model. It would only benefit me if I’m running apps simultaneously, that’s why I’m hoping multitasking is revamped… it’s been roughly the same since iOS 11.

I would hope a more window-style.. resizing it and whatnot, but I don’t think Apple would do such a thing.

 

[LogicalApex]

I know I sound like a broken record. But WWDC is where we will learn how the hardware lines up with the software. It is abundantly clear that the M1 iPad Pro was made for iOS 15. The hardware on many fronts is barely being used on iOS 14.

Does that mean WWDC will blow our socks off and deliver the second coming? No. It can still deliver nothing. If you are on the fence. Wait. Period. Full stop.

The full picture is still yet to be fully revealed so we are just guessing all around...

Since I enjoy a good guess or two as well. I am not surprised by this. Apple likely will keep this limit in place for iPad apps as it would keep compatibility across the iPad lineup. It also aligns with the lack of RAM visibility and control in iOS (even my M1 doesn't show its RAM amount in iOS even though apple put it on the specs sheet). But running macOS apps could allow full use of the remaining RAM and easily allow multi-tasking between the two. We shall see...

 

[Ethosik]

I know I sound like a broken record. But WWDC is where we will learn how the hardware lines up with the software. It is abundantly clear that the M1 iPad Pro was made for iOS 15. The hardware on many fronts is barely being used on iOS 14.

Does that mean WWDC will blow our socks off and deliver the second coming? No. It can still deliver nothing. If you are on the fence. Wait. Period. Full stop.

The full picture is still yet to be fully revealed so we are just guessing all around...

Since I enjoy a good guess or two as well. I am not surprised by this. Apple likely will keep this limit in place for iPad apps as it would keep compatibility across the iPad lineup. It also aligns with the lack of RAM visibility and control in iOS (even my M1 doesn't show its RAM amount in iOS even though apple put it on the specs sheet). But running macOS apps could allow full use of the remaining RAM and easily allow multi-tasking between the two. We shall see...

The only barrier remaining getting fully functional apps is the OS. So if Apple makes the next iPad OS better to utilize the RAM, it makes sense. Final Cut Pro, Logic and XCode are all Apple Silicon native. It wouldn't take THAT MUCH now to allow it on iPad.

 

[richpjr]

If you are on the fence. Wait. Period. Full stop.

That is exactly what I (eventually) decided to do. Was going to order a 1 TB (maybe even a 2 TB) model "just in case" the OS limitations were fixed there were finally apps out that can use it. Than I decided that that were other things I could use that money for and impulsively preordered a 256 model. After a couple of days I cancelled that and will wait and decide what to get after seeing what is announced.