I suppose one could joke that any lawyer looking to upgrade to a new iPad (or get a first iPad) was going to love the new models introduced yesterday no matter what they were just because it has been so long since Apple announced any new iPads (October 18, 2022). But fortunately, it looks like these new iPads were worth the wait. If you are a power user, the 2024 version of the iPad Pro is incredibly impressive for multiple reasons, so I'm going to start with that exciting announcement. The new Apple Pencil Pro, which works with all of the new iPads, also looks wonderful, so I'll touch on that next. If you don't need a high-end iPad, the iPad Air is the perfect iPad for most attorneys, especially since you can now get it in either the traditional size or a larger 13" size that will be the sweet spot for many. There is also a new Magic Keyboard. So let's get to it then.
The iPad Pro M4
No longer talkin' about my generation. Apple introduced the first iPad Pro in 2015. The next five times that Apple updated the iPad Pro, it referred to each model as a different "generation." For example, I use the 5th generation iPad Pro 12.9" that was introduced on April 20, 2021, and the 6th generation was released on October 18, 2022, an upgrade that changed from the M1 to the M2 processor and added the hover function to the Apple Pencil.
The generations are over. Apple now identifies each model based on the processor and the size, such as the iPad Pro 13" (M4).
The iPad Pro used to come in an 11" and 12.9" size, and this year it comes in an 11" and 13" size. The difference between 12.9" and 13" seems pretty minor; you get an extra 20 pixels on the long end and an extra 16 pixels on the short end. But "thirteen" is easier to say than "twelve point nine" so even if this were nothing more than a name change to average up to the next inch, I'd be in favor of it. Thus, the two new iPad Pro models are the iPad Pro 13" (M4) and the iPad Pro 11" (M4).
I like this new naming method. I think it will make it easier to understand the differences between different models.
M4? Seriously? When Mark Gurman of Bloomberg reported recently that Apple was going to skip the M3 and have the iPad Pro leap from the M2 directly to the M4—a chip that Apple had not even announced yet—I was initially dubious. But the more I thought about it, the more sense it started to make. And now that we know that the rumor is true, I'm excited about what this could mean.
Any processor improvement is good because it makes the device faster, more responsive, and able to do more. And of course, that is true here. The M4's CPU is 50% faster than the M2 in the last version of the iPad Pro—i.e., 1.5x faster. And the M4's GPU is 4x faster than the one in the last version of the iPad Pro, something especially useful for 3D graphics and other complex processing. For this reason alone, this new device should feel more powerful.
But my gut tells me that there is more to this story. It has been all over the news that Apple is going to make AI a focus of its WWDC conference next month. And the rumor is that Apple will distinguish itself from other companies because Apple's products will be powerful enough to run much of the AI on the device itself, which is good news for both speed and privacy. My theory is that Apple is going to have some big AI announcements this year and that Apple's AI software will run best on an M4 processor—or the version of an M4 processor optimized for an iPhone that will start with the letter "A" and will be introduced this Fall in the 2024 version of the iPhone Pro. Before long, I suspect that the M4 (for the iPad and Macs) and what might be called the A18 Pro (for the iPhone Pro) will be considered the main platform for Apple's AI efforts. And over the next few years, the M4/A18 may become the minimum required to use the newest AI from Apple.
If my gut is right on this theory, then it is fantastic that the M4 is available now for the iPad Pro. By skipping the M3 generation, Apple is future-proofing this device so that it will remain a high-end device for many years to come.
Thin and light. Another surprise was that the new iPad Pro is incredibly thin and light. The 13" model is 5.1 mm thick (.20 inch) versus the prior model's 6.4 mm (.25 inch). The 13" weight is 1.28 pounds, compared to the prior 1.5 pounds. The 11" model is also thinner and lighter than the model it replaces.
Is this enough to notice? Apple says that it is, nothing that this is the thinnest product that Apple has ever made, even thinner than the iPod nano, if you can remember using that device long ago. And the initial reports confirm it, especially on the 13" model. For example, Federico Viticci of MacStories, who was able to try out the new model at an Apple event in London, said: "The first thing I noticed when picking up the new 13” iPad Pro wasn’t the new OLED display (more on this below); it was the thinness and lightness. It’s hard to convey in an article what it felt like, but I’ll try: the 13” model feels impossibly thin and light." He says that the difference was one that he "felt right away when I picked up the larger iPad Pro" and he added that "I can’t get over how wildly thin and light the new 13” iPad Pro feels." David Pierce of The Verge agreed, stating that "this new iPad is noticeably thinner and lighter than anything the company has made before."
It has been almost a decade since I made the move from a "normal" iPad size to the large version of the iPad Pro, and I still remember when I first made the move that the larger iPad Pro was noticeably larger and heavier. I have gotten used to this change over time, but I often spend hours on end holding an iPad Pro as I read and annotate legal briefs, and I have often thought how nice it might be to have an iPad Pro that is thinner and lighter. So I think that having a thinner and lighter iPad Pro is a great change that professional users will greatly appreciate.
Vivid screen. When I take pictures on my iPhone 15 Pro, they often look considerably better on my iPhone versus any other device that I own (except perhaps for my LG 4K television) because the iPhone 15 Pro has 1000 nits, with the ability to go up to 1600 nits max for HDR content. The same pictures and videos look relatively flat on my computer and my iPad. The new iPad Pro looks like it has a screen that is just as good as a high-end iPhone—and considerably better because it is so much larger—thanks to a new display that uses OLED. In fact, it uses two OLED screens, a configuration that Apple calls Tandem OLED, to become what Apple is calling an Ultra Retina XDR display.
As a lawyer, I don't need legal briefs to look this good. Having a home screen that is even more vivid is unnecessary eye candy. But I suspect that when you take a break from work and look at pictures and videos on the iPad that were taken with a modern iPhone, they will look stunning.
By the way, if you are annoyed with the glare that you see on an iPad screen—either because you are working outside or because lighting is an issue for you in your work environment—Apple will also let you purchase an iPad Pro with a Nano-texture display that has a matte finish and substantially reduces glare. Apple considers this a high-end feature, so it is only available as a $100 and-on for the most expensive models of the iPad Pro (starting at 1 TB).
A camera for video calls. I virtually always use my iPad in landscape orientation, which has traditionally meant that the camera is on the side. As a result, on a video call, it is difficult to appear to be looking at the camera. The new iPad Pro puts the camera on the long edge where it belongs while still having an area where you can charge an Apple Pencil on top. Thank goodness for this long-overdue change for the iPad Pro.
Adaptive True Tone flash. The new flash on the iPad works better when you are scanning documents because it can adapt the flash in different ways to avoid casting a shadow on a document that shows up in the scan. Without seeing this in action, I don't yet understand how it works.
Cost. The iPad 13" M4 starts at $1299 for a model with 256 GB, which is sufficient for many lawyers. You have space to store even more documents and videos if you get the 512 GB model for an extra $200 at $1499. At the high end, $1899 for the 1 TB model and $2299 for the 2 TB model not only get you a ton of storage space but also these models (1) come with double the RAM and a slightly faster version of the M4 and (2) allow you to add the Nano-texture display for an additional $100. But the 512 GB model is likely the right size for many lawyers, even those who use the iPad enough to justifying splurging on the Pro model instead of the Air.
If the 11" model is better for you, the iPad 11" M4 starts at only $999 for the 256 GB model, and then the price increases as you add more storage just like the iPad 13" M4.
Apple Pencil Pro
All of the new iPads support the Apple Pencil Pro. The Apple Pencil Pro takes everything that was great about the Apple Pencil second generation such as the ability to charge while attached magnetically to the top of the iPad and adds a few new features.
First, you can squeeze the Apple Pencil Pro, and this brings up a palette on the screen just above where the pen tip is located to make it quick and easy to change things like the color, tip size, type of pen, etc. Different apps can make the palette do different things. It looks like a nice and fast way to swap virtual pens.
Second, a gyroscope was added to the Apple Pencil Pro so that you can rotate the barrel of the pencil in your hands to change things like the brush thickness. This sounds cool if you are an artist, but I don't yet know if it will make a difference if you are simply taking notes or annotating a document.
Third, a new haptic feedback engine provides feedback that you can feel. This makes it easier to confirm that the Apple Pencil Pro sensed a squeeze or a double-tap.
Fourth, you can use the Find My app to locate your Apple Pencil Pro if you misplace it. I remember many years ago leaving an Apple Pencil in a conference room after I gave a presentation to a group of lawyers. When I realized my mistake, the hotel told me that they had no idea where the Pencil ended up and I had to buy a new one. If the Find My feature had existed back then, I wonder if I would have been reunited with my Pencil. Hopefully, I won't have to test this in the future, but it is nice to know that this feature exists just in case I need it.
With all of these changes, the Apple Pencil Pro adds quite a bit but remains at only $129. I had expected Apple to charge more for an Apple Pencil with "Pro" in its name. You cannot use an original and the second generation Apple Pencil with the 2024 iPad models, but you can use the $79 Apple Pencil (USB-C) that Apple introduced last year.
Magnetic charging is such a nice feature that even if that were the only difference, I would recommend spending the extra $50 for the Pro model of the Apple Pencil. Considering that you also get double-tap, squeeze, barrel rotation, haptic feedback, and Find My, the Apple Pencil Pro is the clear winner in my mind.
The iPad Air (M2)
The iPad Air (4th generation), announced on March 8, 2022, was the perfect device for most lawyers. It copied the key design features of the iPad Pro such as the thin bezels and the USB-C. And it was powerful enough that you could get real work done. Sure, the screen wasn't quite as nice as the iPad Pro, but it was more than good enough for almost all tasks, and the price was right. For the past two years, whenever a lawyer has sought my advice on what iPad to get, as long as they were interested in the traditional iPad 11" screen size, I virtually always recommended the iPad Air (4th generation).
The new iPad Air (M2) is once again going to be the sweet spot for many lawyers. The M2 processor will be more than fast enough to get real work done, and the 11" model has all of the advantages of the iPad Air (4th generation) plus some cool new features brought to the iPad Pro such as (1) a camera on the long side that is so much better for videoconferencing, (2) support for the newest Apple Pencil Pro, and (3) the Adaptive True Tone flash.
By going with the 11" iPad Air (M2) instead of the same size iPad Pro (M4), you save $400 with a starting price of $599. And if you are not a power user, the features that you give up probably won't matter to you:
• The nicer and brighter OLED screen: not a big deal because the iPad Air screen also looks great.
• The M4: not a big deal because the M2 is still plenty fast
• Face ID: not a big deal because you can instead use a fingerprint and use Touch ID
• Four speakers / four microphones: not a big deal because the iPad Air still has two speakers and two mics.
• Less storage capacity: not a big deal if you don't need much space. And you can still pay more to get additional space on an iPad Air. For example, an iPad Air 11" M2 with 512 GB costs $899, so you save $300 versus the iPad Pro 11" M4 at $1199.
For a large number of attorneys, the extra features of the iPad Pro simply won't matter, so the iPad Pro (M2) with its lower price will be perfect.
Better yet, you no longer have to pay more for an iPad Pro just because you want the larger 13" size. For the first time ever, the iPad Air now comes in a large size: 13", just like the iPad Pro. Bravo!
When you are doing extensive work with documents—for a lawyer, this means reading briefs, highlighting caselaw, viewing exhibits and zooming in to see details, etc.—having a larger screen helps you to be so much more productive. It's like the difference between working with standard 8.5" x 11" sheets of paper and the smaller paper that one might find on a notepad provided in a hotel room. Sure, you can still work with the smaller paper if you have to, but the larger size is so much nicer and feels right. Indeed, when you turn a 13" iPad to portrait orientation and account for the white space on the four sides, a 13" iPad is about the same size as a letter-size piece of paper.
In the past, when I have helped lawyers decide what iPad to buy, I have tried to temper my enthusiasm for the large screen because I felt bad talking a lawyer into an iPad Pro 12.9" when they didn't need all of the power features that result in the higher price. That is no longer an issue. For only an extra $200, you can jump from an iPad Air 11" (M2) to an iPad Air 13" (M2) at $799. My only gripe is that the iPad Air starts at 128 GB, which I think might be a little tight on space. Spending an extra $100 for the $699 11" model or the $899 13" model is a wise upgrade.
Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro
Apple is continuing to sell the $299 Magic Keyboard and it works with the new iPad Air (M2). But if you buy an iPad Pro (M4), you'll need a new and different model of the Magic Keyboard called the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro. The cost is the same, $299, and as a bonus, you gain a function row across the top with 14 keys to control things like screen brightness, volume, media playback, and more.
I've never owned a Magic Keyboard so I cannot say much about this new model other than I've heard people say that a function row would be useful. So now you have it, if you go with the iPad Pro (M4). But it seems that folks who have been Magic Keyboard users in the past like the new design For example, Jason Snell of Six Colors wrote: "It retains the clever cantilever design but takes advantage of the lighter iPad Pro weight to slide it further back, adding room for a larger trackpad (with haptic click!) and a full row of function keys. Oh, to finally adjust my iPad’s volume and brightness without taking my hands off the keyboard."
Conclusion
Yesterday was a huge day for iPad hardware. The new iPad Pro (M4) adds impressive new features that power users will love. But for most attorneys and other professionals who just want a solid tablet to use to get work done, the iPad Air (M2) is perfect, especially now that you can get a larger 13" model. Apple will continue to sell the low-end iPad and the iPad mini, but folks trying to get significant work done are likely to be disappointed with those limited models.
My hope is that at WWDC next month, Apple previews some great new iPad software to go with these impressive new hardware devices. And as noted above, I'm especially interested to see how AI factors into all of this.
Whether you are ready now or will wait until later this year, such as perhaps the holiday season, these new 2024 iPad models are really impressive. Lawyers and other professional users are going to love them.
