Apple iPad Pro Apple - 13-inch iPad Pro M4 chip Built for Apple Intelligence Wi-Fi 256GB with OLED - Silver Review

The 13-inch iPad Pro M4 has the best display (98th percentile) and one of the fastest chips (92nd percentile CPU) in any tablet. But its productivity score is a low 45.8, held back by iPadOS. It's an incredible entertainment and creative canvas, but a compromised laptop replacement.

The 13-inch iPad Pro M4 starts at $1199, and for that, you're getting a display in the 98th percentile and CPU performance in the 92nd. It's an impossibly thin slab of glass and aluminum that feels like it's from the future, but it's running software that's still figuring out what it wants to be when it grows up. Our data shows it excels at entertainment (74.3/100) and reading (62.5/100), but its productivity score lags at a 45.8, which tells you everything you need to know about the iPadOS experience in 2024.

Let's talk about the numbers. That M4 chip is no joke. With a 10-core CPU and GPU, it lands in the 92nd and 90th percentiles, respectively. In real-world terms, this thing will shred through video editing, 3D modeling, and any game on the App Store without breaking a sweat. The 13-inch Ultra Retina XDR OLED display is the real star, though. At a 98th percentile ranking, it's simply one of the best screens you can get on any portable device, period. The trade-off? Battery life sits at the 49th percentile. It'll get you through a day, but just barely, and that massive, bright screen is likely the culprit.

At $1199 for the 256GB model, you're paying a premium for that incredible screen and sleek design. The performance is there, but the value equation gets shaky when you consider the 8GB of RAM (72nd percentile) and the fact that to make it a true laptop replacement, you're looking at another $300+ for the Magic Keyboard. Compared to a similarly priced ultrabook, you get a better display but a more constrained operating system.

Stacked against its rivals, the iPad Pro M4 is a specialist. The Microsoft Surface Pro with Snapdragon X Elite offers full Windows 11, more ports, and likely better laptop-style productivity out of the box for a similar price, though its app compatibility for creative pros is still evolving. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10+ runs Android, which is more flexible for file management than iPadOS, and often includes the S-Pen. The 11-inch iPad Pro M5 is a more portable and slightly more affordable option within the Apple ecosystem, but you lose that breathtaking 13-inch OLED. If your workflow lives entirely in pro iPad apps and you value that screen above all else, this is your pick. If you need a true desktop OS for complex multitasking, the Surface Pro or a traditional laptop is a more data-backed choice.

Skip this if you need a true primary computer. The low productivity score (45.8) and 24th-percentile connectivity (one port, no cellular option here) are real hurdles for serious work. Also, if you're on a tight budget, the $1199 entry point is just the beginning—the essential keyboard and pencil add hundreds more. Look at a MacBook Air or a Windows 2-in-1 instead.

The 13-inch iPad Pro M4 is a masterpiece of hardware engineering let down by its software ambition. We can recommend it without hesitation if your primary use is media consumption, digital art with the Apple Pencil Pro, or light, app-focused work where that 98th-percentile screen is non-negotiable. But if your definition of 'Pro' involves heavy file management, running multiple desktop-class apps in resizable windows, or connecting to a lot of peripherals, our data suggests you'll feel the limitations of iPadOS and that 24th-percentile connectivity score pretty quickly.