iPad Pro Looking for people’s experiences with the new higher spec M4 iPad Pro with 16GB RAM - Updated with real world results

[Macintosh101]

I’m looking for some feedback from those who bought the new iPad Pro M4 10 core model with 16gb RAM. Are you noticing any tangible benefits?

I initially bought the base 256gb model (11”) but was so in love with it but I’ve placed an order for the 1TB version (standard glass) and plan on returning the base model. I use Logic Pro (a lot) and could do with the increased storage, and wanted to know if others are seeing any benefits from having the extra core and the 16gb Ram, not necessarily using Logic Pro, but with any use case / work flow.

Thanks!

Edit: I’m back with some real world testing for my use case, and some other general tests that may interest people.

I picked up the 1TB M4 11” this morning and have been able to directly compare it to the 11” M4 base model, which I’ve using since launch.

I started the tests after i had restored all my apps, settings, etc so it was identical to the base model in terms of what was installed. Both iPads were on airplane mode, with no other apps open, on the same brightness. However it was likely the 1TB was still indexing the background, so I will try some of these again tomorrow.

I exported some rather large Logic Pro files (using the exact same export settings). These projects are about 30 mins in length, are very complex with multiple tracks and lots of plugins (some are much more complex than others.) Results are below:


iPad Pro M4 11” 256GB (8GB RAM) 9 cores - 3 performance, 6 efficiency.

Export times (in minutes and seconds):

File 1: 05:19
File 2: 04:32
File 3: 04:45
File 4: 04:09
File 5: 01:58
File 6: 01:32

iPad Pro M4 1TB (16GB RAM) 10 cores - 4 performance cores, 6 efficiency

Export times (in minutes and seconds):

File 1: 04:41 (- 38secs)
File 2: 03:59 (- 33 secs)
File 3: 04:24 (- 21 secs)
File 4: 04:05 ( - 4 secs)
File 5: 01:39 (-19 secs)
File 6: 01:21 (-11 secs)

I did the tests a number of times and the results were consistent.


For reference, I also exported 2 of the files using Logic Pro on a MacBook Pro M1 with 16GB RAM (10 cores - 8 performance, 2 efficiency)

Export times (in minutes and seconds):

File 1: 05:57
File 4: 04:46

Other observations.

I loaded the same 20 tabs on safari on both iPads, and opened other apps like News, a video player, Music, Logic Pro, Weather, etc. I noticed that apps opened consistently quicker on the 16GB model (individual projects on Logic Pro opened quicker too). While the 256GB had to reload apps like Logic Pro after switching to a few different apps, the 16GB model didn’t. The tabs in safari needed to reload on the 256GB model more often too, and never reloaded on the 1TB model.

Incidentally I didn’t notice any ‘grain’ others have reported, either on the 256GB model, and I’m not seeing this on the 1TB model either, and I’ve tested it in a dark room at low brightness.

SSD Speed:

JazzDisk returned the following sequential results for the 1TB model:

Read: 2844.44 MB/s
Write: 2226.09 MB/s

Compared to the following for the 256GB model:

Read: 1656.96 MB/s
Write: 1395.10 MB/s

Edit 2:

After using the the 1TB model for 24 hours and switching back to the base model, the differences in using the higher spec version feel marginal in day-to-day use, and are not substantial enough to me to warrant spending the extra £600, so its likely the 1TB model will be going back.

 

[Systra72]

Waiting for WWDC to see what they are presenting there. But I don't think so, it's mostly placebo right now. These local AI language models love memory and will make everybody upgrade their devices.

 

[Donza]

My previous iPad Pro was from 2017 so everything feels insanely fast for me 😆

Low-bar benchmark not having Safari to reload tabs is already met by this hardware at least under normal use / multitasking. I’m planning to edit my next videos with Final Cut Pro on iPad and I also expect Safari to keep all the tabs active in the background during this “heavy pro work”.

 

[Macintosh101]

Waiting for WWDC to see what they are presenting there. But I don't think so, it's mostly placebo right now. These local AI language models love memory and will make everybody upgrade their devices.

Yes, part of the reason for me upgrading to the higher spec model is definitely with an eye on on the local LLMs.

 

[SpitUK]

I have ordered the 1Tb as I saw it as a quadruple upgrade… more RAM, full M4 chip plus faster and more storage.

 

[nappes]

I got 1TB because I wanted to 2x ram, storage from M1 iPad Pro I have and one of my family members needed a hand me down.

But I've noticed no difference versus eg 8GB in safari tab reloading, even when I try to load up ~20 tabs

And I'm second guessing myself, as Jazz Disk benchmarks (at least on 11" model) seem to suggest 1TB has slower SSD than the 512. It was rumoured apple would move to slower SSD tech called QLC for their large capacity devices in 2024 so maybe that is what happened.

I'm dubious about in memory resident LLM. In theory yes, in practice what LLM small enough to run on device is going to be useful enough for anything

 

[Macintosh101]

I got 1TB because I wanted to 2x ram, storage from M1 iPad Pro I have and one of my family members needed a hand me down.

But I've noticed no difference versus eg 8GB in safari tab reloading, even when I try to load up ~20 tabs

And I'm second guessing myself, as Jazz Disk benchmarks (at least on 11" model) seem to suggest 1TB has slower SSD than the 512. It was rumoured apple would move to slower SSD tech called QLC for their large capacity devices in 2024 so maybe that is what happened.

I'm dubious about in memory resident LLM. In theory yes, in practice what LLM small enough to run on device is going to be useful enough for anything

interesting. when you say you've "noticed no difference versus eg 8GB in safari tab reloading, even when I try to load up ~20 tabs", do you mean the tabs are reloading even with 16gb RAM?

also: "Jazz Disk benchmarks (at least on 11" model) seem to suggest 1TB has slower SSD than the 512." Are you noticing any real-world impacts from this?

 

[nappes]

I can load 20ish chrome tabs in both and don’t notice any reloading..not using any other apps.

The biggest annoyance I’m noticing on safari now, is that it rerenders the page even if you just have two tabs. You have to look very carefully because it’s only for a quarter of a second or so. You might have to do screen recording to see it, but once you do, you can’t unsee it

 

[EugW]

But I've noticed no difference versus eg 8GB in safari tab reloading, even when I try to load up ~20 tabs

I was under the impression that while some apps can request up to 12 GB RAM, I thought Safari wasn't one of them. Not sure though.

And I'm second guessing myself, as Jazz Disk benchmarks (at least on 11" model) seem to suggest 1TB has slower SSD than the 512. It was rumoured apple would move to slower SSD tech called QLC for their large capacity devices in 2024 so maybe that is what happened.

I'm still skeptical on this. I think we need to wait to see more examples in the wild before coming to this conclusion definitively.

 

[Bubble99]

interesting. when you say you've "noticed no difference versus eg 8GB in safari tab reloading, even when I try to load up ~20 tabs", do you mean the tabs are reloading even with 16gb RAM?

also: "Jazz Disk benchmarks (at least on 11" model) seem to suggest 1TB has slower SSD than the 512." Are you noticing any real-world impacts from this?

It may be web browser are not allowed to use more than two GB of RAM that why you see no increase in amount tabs open on the 16GB one or 8GB RAM one.


May be Apple things no more than 20 tabs open is what you need.

 

[nappes]

I'm still skeptical on this. I think we need to wait to see more examples in the wild before coming to this conclusion definitively.

Idk if we are going to get definitive, everyone who is tearing down the iPads is doing the cheap models. I haven’t seen a 1TB teardown

here is the Jazz Disk SSD speed results for 11” Wifi model (cellular and 13” diff a bit)
you can see, 256 is slowest, 512 is fastest, then write speed drops off significantly for 1TB, which would be consistent with QLC (as does random reed and write and i ops speed) 2TB recovers, I *think* cause bigger discs are using faster, they can read from more parts of the ssd at once.

Jazz Disk Bench

 

[nappes]

May be Apple things no more than 20 tabs open is what you need.

Oh I didn’t test more than 20.

 

[Bubble99]

Oh I didn’t test more than 20.

May be Apple security thing is to high where if OS sees browser using X amount of RAM it reloads the page even if you have more RAM.

 

[Cirillo Gherardo]

I’m looking for some feedback from those who bought the new iPad Pro M4 10 core model with 16gb RAM. Are you noticing any tangible benefits?

I initially bought the base 256gb model (11”) but was so in love with it but I’ve placed an order for the 1TB version (standard glass) and plan on returning the base model. I use Logic Pro (a lot) and could do with the increased storage, and wanted to know if others are seeing any benefits from having the extra core and the 16gb Ram, not necessarily using Logic Pro, but with any use case / work flow.

Thanks!

Well if anything is going to benefit, it's going to be an app like Logic Pro, so you're more likely to be able to tell people here. iPadOS doesn't use memory the same way the Mac does, so 16 GB vs. 8 GB for general tasks is not going to be noticed.

 

[Bubble99]

Well if anything is going to benefit, it's going to be an app like Logic Pro, so you're more likely to be able to tell people here. iPadOS doesn't use memory the same way the Mac does, so 16 GB vs. 8 GB for general tasks is not going to be noticed.

Apple could have limit how much memory a browser can use before the tab reloads. So say you using Firefox or Safari the OS could place upper limit of no more than X about of RAM and after that it reloads may be that why you not seeing any improvements going from 8GB of RAM to 16GB of RAM.

 

[glhaynes]

Apple could have limit how much memory a browser can use before the tab reloads. So say you using Firefox or Safari the OS could place upper limit of no more than X about of RAM and after that it reloads may be that why you not seeing any improvements going from 8GB of RAM to 16GB of RAM.

I'm not an expert in this area, but I think what you were getting at with your first message (that Safari isn't an app that uses this entitlement: https://developer.apple.com/documen...apple_developer_kernel_increased-memory-limit) is most likely the main thing having an effect here, and most likely its performance wouldn't differ much even if the device had many times as much RAM.

If anyone knows of a list of apps that use that entitlement, that'd be interesting. I assume Final Cut Pro and Logic do; Pixelmator seems likely. Probably others.

 

[Bubble99]

I'm not an expert in this area, but I think what you were getting at with your first message (that Safari isn't an app that uses this entitlement: https://developer.apple.com/documen...apple_developer_kernel_increased-memory-limit) is most likely the main thing having an effect here, and most likely its performance wouldn't differ much even if the device had many times as much RAM.

If anyone knows of a list of apps that use that entitlement, that'd be interesting. I assume Final Cut Pro and Logic do; Pixelmator seems likely. Probably others.

With out the entitlement is it the upper limit only 4 GB of RAM an app can use.

 

[EugW]

I'm not an expert in this area, but I think what you were getting at with your first message (that Safari isn't an app that uses this entitlement: https://developer.apple.com/documen...apple_developer_kernel_increased-memory-limit) is most likely the main thing having an effect here, and most likely its performance wouldn't differ much even if the device had many times as much RAM.

If anyone knows of a list of apps that use that entitlement, that'd be interesting. I assume Final Cut Pro and Logic do; Pixelmator seems likely. Probably others.

Procreate I would assume too, but I don't know for sure.

EDIT:

Hmmm, at least in 2022, Procreate had the same amount of layers on an 8 GB machine as it did on a 16 GB machine. However, 8 GB allowed more layers than 6 GB, which in turn allowed more than 4 GB.

M2 iPad Pro (2022) artist review | Parka Blogs

Drawn with Concepts This is my artist review of the Apple M2 iPad Pro (2022) for visual content creators, e.g. digital artists, graphic designers, photo and video editors. Drawing performance of M1 and M2 iPad Pros is similar so I'm reusing some artworks and photos from the previous review...

www.parkablogs.com

The table below is from 2022. I don't know if things have changed for Procreate since then or not though.

EDIT again:

Things have indeed changed since then. This tweet from 2023 indicates the 16 GB now can get more layers:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1637679823429545985

 

[Gelam]

Idk if we are going to get definitive, everyone who is tearing down the iPads is doing the cheap models. I haven’t seen a 1TB teardown

here is the Jazz Disk SSD speed results for 11” Wifi model (cellular and 13” diff a bit)
you can see, 256 is slowest, 512 is fastest, then write speed drops off significantly for 1TB, which would be consistent with QLC (as does random reed and write and i ops speed) 2TB recovers, I *think* cause bigger discs are using faster, they can read from more parts of the ssd at once.

Jazz Disk Bench

Interesting if true. The read write speeds of the 1TB model is as slow as the 256gb model.
While the 512gb and 2TB models are 30%-40% ish higher equally.

Would cause a lot of complaints for sure if true

 

[EugW]

Interesting if true. The read write speeds of the 1TB model is as slow as the 256gb model.
While the 512gb and 2TB models are 30%-40% ish higher equally.

Would cause a lot of complaints for sure if true

As already mentioned, the 1 TB is not QLC.

 

[Gelam]

Procreate I would assume too, but I don't know for sure.

EDIT:

Hmmm, at least in 2022, Procreate had the same amount of layers on an 8 GB machine as it did on a 16 GB machine. However, 8 GB allowed more layers than 6 GB, which in turn allowed more than 4 GB.

M2 iPad Pro (2022) artist review | Parka Blogs

Drawn with Concepts This is my artist review of the Apple M2 iPad Pro (2022) for visual content creators, e.g. digital artists, graphic designers, photo and video editors. Drawing performance of M1 and M2 iPad Pros is similar so I'm reusing some artworks and photos from the previous review...

www.parkablogs.com

The table below is from 2022. I don't know if things have changed for Procreate since then or not though.

View attachment 2381471

If I remember correctly it did change.

I have to recall the artist vids that mentioned that the 16gb iPads can run many more layers than the 8gb ones.
Will post if I can find.


edit: here it is

 

[Gelam]

As already mentioned, the 1 TB is not QLC.

You mean they are all using the same SSD tech?
Why is the 256gb model slower?

 

[cardfan]

I got 1TB because I wanted to 2x ram, storage from M1 iPad Pro I have and one of my family members needed a hand me down.

But I've noticed no difference versus eg 8GB in safari tab reloading, even when I try to load up ~20 tabs

And I'm second guessing myself, as Jazz Disk benchmarks (at least on 11" model) seem to suggest 1TB has slower SSD than the 512. It was rumoured apple would move to slower SSD tech called QLC for their large capacity devices in 2024 so maybe that is what happened.

I'm dubious about in memory resident LLM. In theory yes, in practice what LLM small enough to run on device is going to be useful enough for anything

May as well have an antivirus program running in background.

 

[EugW]

If I remember correctly it did change.

I have to recall the artist vids that mentioned that the 16gb iPads can run many more layers than the 8gb ones.
Will post if I can find.

Ah yes, you are right. This tweet from Procreate is from 2023:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1637679823429545985

 

[Isamilis]

May as well have an antivirus program running in background.

Antivirus in iPad? Is there any? I doubt it’s possible in closed system like iPad.