iPad Pro M4 Review — A Laptop Replacement? Almost.

iPad Pro M4 — Stunning Hardware, Frustrating Software

The iPad Pro M4 is the thinnest Apple product ever made. It has a display that makes everything else look dull. It runs on a chip that outperforms most laptops. And yet, after two months of trying to use it as my primary work device, I'm back to my MacBook.

That tension — between what the hardware can do and what iPadOS lets you do — defines this product.

Specs

Spec	Details
Display	11" / 13" Ultra Retina XDR (Tandem OLED), ProMotion 120Hz
Chip	Apple M4
RAM	8 GB (256/512 GB) / 16 GB (1 TB / 2 TB)
Storage	256 GB / 512 GB / 1 TB / 2 TB
Rear Camera	12 MP wide
Front Camera	12 MP TrueDepth (landscape)
Battery	Up to 10 hours
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 6E / 5G (cellular models)
Weight	444 g (11") / 579 g (13")
Price (India)	₹99,900 (11" / 256 GB Wi-Fi)

The Tandem OLED Display

This is the star of the show, and it deserves top billing. Apple stacked two OLED panels together to achieve 1,000 nits full-screen brightness and 1,600 nits peak HDR. The result is a display that makes the previous mini-LED iPad Pro look washed out by comparison.

Blacks are absolute. Colours are vivid without being oversaturated. HDR content — Netflix, Apple TV+, YouTube — looks breathtaking on this screen. I watched Dune: Part Two on the 13-inch model and genuinely forgot I wasn't in a theatre for a few minutes.

The anti-reflective coating (Apple calls it "nano-texture" on the higher-end models) makes a real difference in well-lit rooms. Standard glossy OLED panels fight with overhead lights. This one handles it gracefully.

M4 Chip in a Tablet

The M4 is overkill for iPadOS, and everyone knows it. This chip can handle tasks the operating system won't let you perform. You can edit 4K ProRes video in DaVinci Resolve for iPad, run complex Procreate illustrations with hundreds of layers, and handle large spreadsheets without breaking a sweat.

But you can't run two instances of the same app. You can't have proper external monitor support without workarounds. You can't install desktop-class apps like full Photoshop or Final Cut Pro (the iPad versions are stripped down). The M4 is a sports car stuck in a school zone.

Apple Pencil Pro

The new Apple Pencil Pro adds barrel roll (rotation detection), squeeze gesture, and haptic feedback. For artists and note-takers, these are meaningful upgrades.

The squeeze gesture brings up a tool palette — squeeze to switch between pen and eraser. It becomes second nature within a day. Barrel roll lets you rotate shaped brushes and pens by physically rotating the pencil. It's subtle but adds precision for digital art.

Find My integration means you can locate a lost Pencil via the Find My app. Given that Apple Pencil costs ₹11,900, this is reassuring.

Magic Keyboard

The Magic Keyboard case transforms the iPad Pro into something resembling a laptop. The keyboard is comfortable to type on — I've written several articles on it, including parts of this review. The trackpad is functional but small compared to a MacBook.

My issue is the setup's weight. The 13-inch iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard weighs more than a MacBook Air. At that point, you're carrying laptop weight with tablet limitations.

The keyboard costs ₹29,900. That's almost a third of the iPad's price. Combined with Apple Pencil Pro (₹11,900), you're looking at ₹1,41,700 for the full setup. That's MacBook Air M4 money.

Battery Life

Apple quotes 10 hours, and I get about 8-9 hours of real usage. That's fine for a tablet, but if you're using it as a laptop replacement with the Magic Keyboard and demanding apps, expect closer to 6-7 hours. The OLED display is power-hungry at high brightness.

Real-World Usage

For content consumption — This is the best tablet in the world. Watching movies, reading, browsing, casual gaming — nothing touches it. For note-taking and art — With Apple Pencil Pro, it's exceptional. Students and artists will love this device. For productivity — This is where it falls apart. Stage Manager on iPadOS is better than it was at launch, but it's still clunky compared to macOS window management. Split-screen is limited to two apps plus a slide-over. File management remains frustrating. And many "pro" workflows simply don't have iPad-optimized apps.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Tandem OLED display is the best screen on any portable device
• M4 chip delivers absurd performance
• Incredibly thin and light (without keyboard)
• Apple Pencil Pro is a meaningful upgrade
• Front camera finally in landscape position

Cons:

• iPadOS remains the bottleneck for productivity
• Magic Keyboard + Pencil push total cost past MacBook Air territory
• Battery life is shorter than previous LCD models
• 8 GB RAM on base models feels limiting for "Pro"
• External monitor support is still half-baked

Verdict

The iPad Pro M4 is a masterpiece of hardware engineering trapped by software conservatism. If Apple gave this thing macOS — or even a dramatically improved iPadOS — it would replace laptops for millions of people.

As it stands, buy it if you want the best tablet experience, the best digital art tool, or the best portable media consumption device. Don't buy it expecting to replace your laptop. The hardware says "pro," but iPadOS says "maybe next year."

Rating: 8/10