I keep going back and forth. Not having any performance issues really so seems like it would be a waste of money right? Mine just got replaced with a brand new one due to the first one having battery issues, so it's tough to upgrade an iPad that only has 7 cycles on it currently. What are you all doing? Have you noticed any performance issues with the 8gb of ram?
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iPad Pro M4 with 8gb of ram iPad Pro owners: Are you upgrading to the M5 to get more ram?
- Thread starter Jacoblee23
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Not upgrading. My 512gb 11" is serving me very well. With my use case, no peformance issues at all. Mainly content consumption and light remote IT managment work.
If you invite...yes!
I only use it for watching movies so...no still ios 26 needs improvement.
If i were rich of course i would.
Also bear i mind the basic pro is now more expensive. 163 bucks more expensive at least for me now.
I only use it for watching movies so...no still ios 26 needs improvement.
If i were rich of course i would.
Also bear i mind the basic pro is now more expensive. 163 bucks more expensive at least for me now.
Yes, I definitely am and essentialy for that, RAM. I have a M1 and M2 both with 16GB RAM and my M4 only has 8 and the difference in reloads is massive. It used to be different when I bought it on iPadOS 17. But since 18 I regularly lose my tabs (I only have between 5 and 10 sometimes even less) when I leave Safari to open other apps and come back later.
I actually tried to measure how much RAM each tab was taking by opening the same tabs on a Mac and I noticed that safari was using around 3-4GB RAM with those tabs (a few desktop gmail pages + a few youtube videos mainly). I also checked what the average iOS apps were using in terms of RAM and it can go from less than 100MB to several GBs for heavy games and RAM hungry apps like Davinci (there are videos by developers about RAM usage of iOS apps on youtube). So assuming the OS itself takes say 1.5GB on 17 (which had to work (poorly) on a 2GB RAM iPad 6), you have around 3GB left for other apps, which used to be enough, especially as iPadOS uses memory compression. But my guess is that iPadOS 18 takes more like 2.5GB of RAM by itself (it had to work on 3GB iPads), which leaves more like 2GB free for all the other apps once Safari and the OS have taken their share, so tabs start to be ejected much more frequently. 26 didn't change much and I even made a post here comparing RAM usage between 18 and 26 and they are similar.
My 16GB iPads hardly ever reload. A 12GB RAM iPad has something like 6GB or headroom (instead of 2 for a 8GB one and 10 for a 16GB one) for other apps before it has to eject stuff from iPad. I am confident things won't change much since iPadOS 27 will have to support the 3GB RAM iPad 9 and iPadOS 28 will have to support the iPad 10 with 4GB. I hope that things don't get out of hand once the no 4GB iPad will have to be supported on iPadOS 29...
I actually tried to measure how much RAM each tab was taking by opening the same tabs on a Mac and I noticed that safari was using around 3-4GB RAM with those tabs (a few desktop gmail pages + a few youtube videos mainly). I also checked what the average iOS apps were using in terms of RAM and it can go from less than 100MB to several GBs for heavy games and RAM hungry apps like Davinci (there are videos by developers about RAM usage of iOS apps on youtube). So assuming the OS itself takes say 1.5GB on 17 (which had to work (poorly) on a 2GB RAM iPad 6), you have around 3GB left for other apps, which used to be enough, especially as iPadOS uses memory compression. But my guess is that iPadOS 18 takes more like 2.5GB of RAM by itself (it had to work on 3GB iPads), which leaves more like 2GB free for all the other apps once Safari and the OS have taken their share, so tabs start to be ejected much more frequently. 26 didn't change much and I even made a post here comparing RAM usage between 18 and 26 and they are similar.
My 16GB iPads hardly ever reload. A 12GB RAM iPad has something like 6GB or headroom (instead of 2 for a 8GB one and 10 for a 16GB one) for other apps before it has to eject stuff from iPad. I am confident things won't change much since iPadOS 27 will have to support the 3GB RAM iPad 9 and iPadOS 28 will have to support the iPad 10 with 4GB. I hope that things don't get out of hand once the no 4GB iPad will have to be supported on iPadOS 29...
If you’re considering upgrading while having no performance issues now, it sounds like you’re only upgrading to future proof. In that case, it’s a waste of money. In the time it takes you to have performance issues with your current model, one or more new models could be released which will have upgrades on much more than just RAM (i.e. CPU, GPU, connectivity, display, etc.).
I’m not. My 512 GB with 8GB RAM m4 iPad Pro 13 serves me perfectly, and I got it for $500 USD off the price in my country last June. If at some point I find that it no longer performs as I expect, I’ll update at that time. No need to update prematurely for something that isn’t an issue and may not become an issue for a while.
https://www.tomshardware.com/tablet...-12gb-teardowns-reveal-possible-apple-hijinks
Was there any validity to the claim that the 256GB and 512GB M4 iPad Pros had 12GB of RAM?
Was there any validity to the claim that the 256GB and 512GB M4 iPad Pros had 12GB of RAM?
For 150 I would just get the new one.
Not going to upgrade from my 11" M4 cellular iPad Pro which I got just 3 months ago. While more RAM is good, and should help to prevent Safari tabs reloading, I see no point in upgrading right away. There are no other improvements. Better to wait. Future versions could bring something more/better.
If your iPad is running fine with 8GB RAM and you have no performance issues, upgrading isn’t necessary — especially since it’s nearly new. Most users find 8GB handles multitasking and apps smoothly for a few years.
No, as I explained above this should not happen to a significant extent for the next 2 OS releases because they have to support 3GB and 4GB devices respectively. The issues might come with iPadOS 29 though. Also Apple tends to have a major release every 3 generations lately (iPadOS 13, 16 and 19/26)
Exactly my thoughts. By the time it happens a more compelling upgrade for my M4 should be available.
Also the reason why I upgraded to the base M5 and not to the 1TB. 8GB were already an issue for me since iPadOS 18, but 12GB should give me no reason to upgrade for another 4 years and by that time there will be more than RAM. Also a new battery. And the 1TB model lose much more value over time.
I have seen base cellular M1 12.9 selling for 500-550 while the cellular 2TB sell for 700-800, because people are not ready to pay much more for an older device with a potentially worn battery.
True and it's worse with trade-ins for those who don't want to deal with the hassles of selling privately.
This is why recently, I just run my iPads into the ground. I used my 2017 iPP 512GB for 4 years and the 2021 M1 iPP 1TB will break that record.
I hate selling too, but sometimes it's the best solution, other times I just never sell.
It's always a dilemma. Buy an overspecced device and run it to the ground for a decade or just "embrace obsolescence" as some suggest and get a new one every couple of years, with a new battery, new features etc. without getting the top of the line.
I have kind of gone different directions over time. For the smaller size I go with buy on a deep discount a couple of years after launch (I got my 2018 11" 1TB 4G at 900, instead of 1700 in late 2020 and my 2TB 5G M1 11" at 800 in early 2024), and I plan to do the same with the M4 or M5, will get the 2TB 5G once I can find one under 1000. And I never sell the small ones, I use the older ones as "Apple care+" in situation where I don't want to risk my newer devices (currently my AC+ iPad is the 10.5, will be replaced by the 2018 in the future). So I run them to the ground.
With the 13" it's harder, you don't find those offers as easily and you generally need to go used for those top of the line models. Or spend a fortune and run them to the ground. But then Apple gets me with something I absolutely want, like the ultra-light M4.
Or some features like external monitors that the 2018 didn't get. You are in a very unique position where the 16GB M1 is extremely future proof and got all the features and has as much RAM as even the M5. So if you are ok with the weight, you are good till the end (you choose if the end is the last year of support or a couple of years later).
And if you are ok with the battery not being what it used to be (because good luck having Apple accepting a battery service)
But knowing myself, I knew that in a few years I'll probably want the M7 or M8 and the loss I'll make on my M5 will be much less than if I buy the 1TB cellular.
I try to never spend over $1500 on a tablet (the max I have spent was little mode than 1400), and that's very hard to do with the 16GB 13 models, unless you go used (which is what I have done with my 12.9)
I’d love to get the 12GB version since 8GB really shouldn’t exist in a premium device in 2025, but I’ll be damned if I a give Apple more of my money for something they should’ve included with the release of M4.
So true... I am spending the 350-400 for the upgrade but man I hate Apple for their stinginess.
I have monthly AppleCare+ on my M1 iPPs as I knew I would use them for a long time. I reckon Apple will make good on battery service when battery health drops per their diagnostics because they pretty much have to. Honestly, I always use the 12.9" when I have easy access to chargers so battery life hasn't been an issue yet.
The $2000+ for the 1TB cellular was pretty painful but I figure that's cheaper than my previous yearly upgrades in the long run. With Apple moving to OLED and OLED giving me migraines, I'm far less tempted to upgrade.
