iPad iPad 12.9 M1 owners upgrading to 13 M4?

Well I moved from the 12.9 M1 ipad to the M4 13 and wow I think it is a massive upgrade. The screen is absolutely delicious — watching video on it is insanely immersive. Everthing pops on this screen. Think vibrance, contrast, dynamic range. It is truly a remarkable screen and it is a quantum leap from the M1 IMHO. The magic keyboard is also a whole nuther beast now — better key travel, better overall design. And everything is just way faster in general. Blazing, really. I am delighted with mine. But all that said, at the end of the day it is still an iPad and does the same things as older versions. That’s what makes it a tough call.
 
I was also upgrading from an M1 12.9“ to the M4 13”. After a few days of use, and changing my mind many times, I think I’ve finally decided to return the M4. The most compelling reasons I could find for keeping the M4 would have been the lighter weight and the display performance in the dark. I didn’t notice any other improvements. As nice as it feels to hold the M4 it just feels like a waste to upgrade.
 
I’ve just been reading about people finding the M4 speakers being very inferior to the M1. Apparently because of the thinner case, the speakers are apparently smaller and round rather than oval shape. They say there is less bass and mids, which would make them horrible. I’m a musician and this is important to me.

I dont like using headphones all the time.

it‘s crazy, they make the screen fabulous but wreck the sound because they want to make it thinner?
 
I upgraded from a M1 12.9 to the M4 13 on Wednesday. So far fantastic!!!

the screen is great, is it the leap the M1 had with the mini-led? no, but it is definitely better. Color saturation is phenomenal, no blooming whatsoever, contrast and black levels are fantastic.

the speed and snappiness are a bit of a surprise. I ran my favorite video app and the results compared to the M1 were noticeable. Both the IPP’s have 16gig and 1 tb. I really was not expecting a noticeable improvement in speed and yet there is.

face-id with the landscape camera is flawless. Very welcome improvement.

whîle I don’t use the keyboard all the time, the upgrade is huge. I finally feel like it is close to worth the ridiculous price asked for it.

the weight and slimness are welcome, I usually have it in a case, but even there it is noticeabl.

only downside are the speakers, their clarity is improved, but bass is missing. Not a huge difference but if one listens to both, it is pretty obvious.

All in all very happy I did the upgrade.
 
random person said:
Well I moved from the 12.9 M1 ipad to the M4 13 and wow I think it is a massive upgrade. The screen is absolutely delicious — watching video on it is insanely immersive. Everthing pops on this screen. Think vibrance, contrast, dynamic range. It is truly a remarkable screen and it is a quantum leap from the M1 IMHO. The magic keyboard is also a whole nuther beast now — better key travel, better overall design. And everything is just way faster in general. Blazing, really. I am delighted with mine. But all that said, at the end of the day it is still an iPad and does the same things as older versions. That’s what makes it a tough call.
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I did & it’s Wonderful. on another feed on here someone posted this to watch to test the full advantage of the iPad & turn on to 2160
 
I decided not to even make the purchase. By my calculations, selling my 1TB M1 combo and rebuying everything with equivalent specs would be a 1200+ upgrade (assuming I sell my current m1 ipad for at what it’s selling for around ebay). I can move down in storage to make it more palatable. 1TB M1 -> 256GB M4 will be like a $600 upgrade with keyboard.

I don’t know I don’t feel compelled. I like the weight savings but I also don’t feel like compromising on storage/ram.
 
I’m in the same situation as I have the M1 12.9 also. The new iPad looks great and I’ll enjoy those features someday. But after the new smell wears off, I doubt I’d notice much difference.
 
i think the move from 11 m1 to 13 m4 is superb upgrade for me.
I could not use 12.9 m1 as it was too heavy. On the other hand 13 m4 is much lighter, much thinner makes it much more enjoyable.
I think if everyone is considering to move to 13, i think this is perfect deal to do it.
 
Biggest upgrade I’m noticing so far? The screen doesn’t overheat and dim within 5 minutes of using it in direct sunlight. That is huge for me, personally. It also doesn’t feel so damn heavy as the old 12.9.
 
Giant_enemy_crab said:
Biggest upgrade I’m noticing so far? The screen doesn’t overheat and dim within 5 minutes of using it in direct sunlight. That is huge for me, personally. It also doesn’t feel so damn heavy as the old 12.9.
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Exactly, finally 13 which you can actually use and it's not painfull.

I wanted to move to 13 already but when tested it, it was too heavy, this new one is such a relief not only on my eyes but also on my arms :) Great upgrade all around.
 
I’m keeping my M1 12.9, but also upgrading to the M4 11 inch. This way I can avoid having to sell my current big-boy Pro (which I still like and use), keyboards (2) and pencil at a huge loss, while also getting a smaller, lighter iPad Pro (with OLED!) for travel.
 
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While I'd love to have the function key row on my MK, and the rotating brushes in the new Pencil, having to purchase all three just isn't worth it to me. My M1 is fine.
 
Upgraded from an M1 12.9 1TB to an M4 13 1TB and went cellular this time.
Lighter and thinner is noticeable and it feels a little “snappier”. The screen is wonderful and I also picked up the Pencil Pro as I want to get into designing 3D prints using Shapr3D. Did I spend too much…..yes, I am happy with it ………yes.
 
the5rivers said:
I am upgrading because OLED (so no more blooming which was annoying), and the weight savings alone which should make daily use even more comfortable. M1 to M4 upgrade may be less obvious in day to day usage but more apparent if you do a lot of photo/video processing and editing. Trading in the old device also lessens the blow of the upgrade price, so for me, it was worth it.

I am debating between the magic keyboard and getting another logi combo touch pro (I like the full protection), but then the weight savings becomes moot.
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I used the logi combo cases on my M1 and M2. When I bought the 13 M4 Pro I went with the Magic Keyboard. It feels really nice when. I carry it and the smaller size is a little bonus.
 
There would have to be some kind of killer *software* app would have to be introduced at WWDC that was not available to my 2021 M1 iPad Pro but only on the new M4. Seems unlikely! But I’d love to be wrong and see some substantial movement forward for the iPad in terms of software.
 
Well, after seeing and holding the M4 13“ in the Apple store, I’m turning 180° from what I posted here before. The OLED screen’s noticeably richer colors along with the iPad’s thinness and lightness and the repositioned Face Time camera are to me productivity enhancements that will encourage me to use it more, especially in tablet mode, and I’ll definitely carry it with me more often.

I was also dead set against purchasing another Magic Keyboard, but it also being lighter (plus the newly added function row) makes it more appealing to me, although I can hold off buying this for a while as I’m getting pretty decent at typing on the software keyboard (which, ironically, causes me to make less errors than the MKB as my thumbs are not constantly hitting that too-close trackpad).

So, over the next few weeks I’ll be doing extra work to generate the cash (so that I’m not using current funds) and selling my M1 12.9 and MKB on Craigslist or Swappa, and then I can pick up my awesome new tool. Getting excited!
 
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Question. I have a working 12.9, 2015, gen 1. A mini., a 2020 Air with a keyboard. I never use the keyboard. Prefer folio type cases. 90% of my use is on my lap. Strictly for personal consumption, including a lot of You Tube and a lot of reading. No games.

The Apple outlet is listing a number of 12.9 M1s of varying storage. The savings are about $ 450 over the M4. Example: $ 849 for the 256 GB. I consider that substantial. I also would take monthly AppleCare that can be extended indefinitely, on either device I buy.

Is the M1 worth buying for a $ 450 savings?
 
Pstein15 said:
Question. I have a working 12.9, 2015, gen 1. A mini., a 2020 Air with a keyboard. I never use the keyboard. Prefer folio type cases. 90% of my use is on my lap. Strictly for personal consumption, including a lot of You Tube and a lot of reading. No games.

The Apple outlet is listing a number of 12.9 M1s of varying storage. The savings are about $ 450 over the M4. Example: $ 849 for the 256 GB. I consider that substantial. I also would take monthly AppleCare that can be extended indefinitely, on either device I buy.

Is the M1 worth buying for a $ 450 savings?
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For your use case, totally worth it. Especially coming from the 2015 Pro which didn’t even have a P3 wide color gamut display . You’ll be blown away by the richer and more vibrant colors of the mini LED display on the M1 iPad Pro, as well as the 120hz Pro Motion.
M1 is certainly powerful enough for what you’ll be doing on your iPad. Go for it!
 
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My 12.9 M1 still runs circles around anything I do with it and the mini-LED is still fine enough for me. Would love the new display and pencil, but have no desire to upgrade for the money Apple wants.
 
the5rivers said:
I am upgrading because OLED (so no more blooming which was annoying), and the weight savings alone which should make daily use even more comfortable. M1 to M4 upgrade may be less obvious in day to day usage but more apparent if you do a lot of photo/video processing and editing. Trading in the old device also lessens the blow of the upgrade price, so for me, it was worth it.

I am debating between the magic keyboard and getting another logi combo touch pro (I like the full protection), but then the weight savings becomes moot.
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Updating my original post, but I am loving the M4. OLED is beautiful and the weight difference is very noticeable, especially for one handed use.
 
I too am waiting to see updates to procreate etc. I am glad that I don't have it now, because I would be frustrated with not being able to use the barrel roll etc yet. I have the 12.9" m1. It does seem to get hot with playing games, but still works great. I see that the displays are not much different than the m1. I like the idea about the lighter weight. Last week I was going to draw / work on my 12.9 -- started holding it, than got out my tablet holder....
 
Pstein15 said:
Question. I have a working 12.9, 2015, gen 1. A mini., a 2020 Air with a keyboard. I never use the keyboard. Prefer folio type cases. 90% of my use is on my lap. Strictly for personal consumption, including a lot of You Tube and a lot of reading. No games.

The Apple outlet is listing a number of 12.9 M1s of varying storage. The savings are about $ 450 over the M4. Example: $ 849 for the 256 GB. I consider that substantial. I also would take monthly AppleCare that can be extended indefinitely, on either device I buy.

Is the M1 worth buying for a $ 450 savings?
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Check Amazon renewed ... it isn't exactly Apple refurbished but the iPads I've gotten from there are substantially cheaper and all were in like new condition aside from the box and accessories. The return policy is ironclad as well so that really helps.
 
Pstein15 said:
Question. I have a working 12.9, 2015, gen 1. A mini., a 2020 Air with a keyboard. I never use the keyboard. Prefer folio type cases. 90% of my use is on my lap. Strictly for personal consumption, including a lot of You Tube and a lot of reading. No games.

The Apple outlet is listing a number of 12.9 M1s of varying storage. The savings are about $ 450 over the M4. Example: $ 849 for the 256 GB. I consider that substantial. I also would take monthly AppleCare that can be extended indefinitely, on either device I buy.

Is the M1 worth buying for a $ 450 savings?
Click to expand...

Definitely worth it, and even though the M1 model isn't as light as the M4, it's still lighter than your first gen Pro so you'll still be upgrading in that respect.
 
I wanted to add to this thread also.

I originally ordered a 11" with keyboard, and enjoyed the size but I need a laptop/tablet to be able to connect via Parallels client to our work windows systems. I occasionally used my previous 12.9" ipad pro and magic keyboard for that, but the small touchpad and the loud clicking sound with each press that trackpad made resulted in me buying a surface pro and using that for work purposes.

After seeing how quite mac-like aluminum build the 11" keyboard was this year, I purchased the 13" Ipp w/ magic keyboard shortly after and instantly fell in love with the feel of the keyboard, it really is mac-like! and that trackpad.....large and quietttttt. Using remote desktop for work now is just so much better all thanks to the better trackpad and the much more lap-top like feel. I returned the 11" ipp this week, since the 13" ipad + keyboard give me very much a mac-like experience for my usage, is much lighter and with an awesome screen to boot. I sold my mac many many years ago and do not plan to purchase a mac again since I use the touch screen daily often to complete and sign many documents that I get throughout the day and I absolutely use 5G for easy and long periods of connectivity when traveling without interruption. So far this ipad gives me 5G, touchscreen, great media capability for entertainment, and such a wonderful mac-like experience. I did have to spend so much, but having that new keyboard and trackpad made a world of difference for me! I will likely be giving away my surface pro to a family member or selling it since it now seems redundant and hardware-wise less capable.

I do have to add that I generally dont use a tablet hand-held since I just much rather use my pro max phone if I need something that portable. I did like the awesome portability of the 11 inch and how much it can do for its size, but was looking in the end for a more laptop like experience for me. Just my personal experience on why I upgraded this year despite the high cost.
 
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