M4 iPad Pro vs M2 iPad Air: Is it worth the extra money?

The 2024 iPad Pro levels up performance as the first Apple device with the M4 chip. And the latest mid-tier Apple tablet is the M2 iPad Air which comes in two sizes for the first time. So what’s different between these 2024 iPads and is the high-end worth the extra money? Here’s our detailed look at the M4 iPad Pro vs M2 iPad Air.

The 2022 iPad Air 5 with M1 blurred the line between the mid and high-end iPads, giving an incentive for many to buy the Air that started at $200 (or more) below the $799 11-inch iPad Pro. 

Now the 2024 M2 iPad Air lineup (6th gen) offers even more choice and power than the M1 iPad Air.

However, the new iPad Air models are contrasted with the M4 iPad Pro devices – but they are more expensive this year with starting prices of $999 and $1,299 – making the difference between an iPad Air and Pro $300-400.

M4 iPad Pro vs M2 iPad Air

Performance

The big differentiator in performance between the new iPad Pro and Air is thanks to the upgrade of the M4 chip. Apple says it delivers up to a 50% faster CPU, 4x faster GPU, and a boost in memory bandwidth from 100GB/s to 120GB/s over the M2.

Along with the new GPU comes a media engine that offers hardware-accelerated 8K H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW support – joining the Mac as a device able to handle 8K video.

Other new features include 38 trillion operations per second with the M4 Neural Engine, hardware-accelerated ray tracing, and more.

Note: iPad Pro models with 128, 256, and 512GB storage have 8GB RAM, 1TB and 2TB models have 16GB RAM.

	11″ M4 iPad Pro	11″ M2 iPad Air	13″ M4 iPad Pro	13″ M2 iPad Air
Chip	M4	M2	M4	M2
CPU	9 or 10-core	8-core	9 or 10-core	8-core
GPU	10-core	10-core	10-core	10-core
Hardware-accelerated 8K H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW support	✅	❌	✅	❌
Hardware-accelerated H.264 and HEVC	–	✅	–	✅
Hardware-accelerated ray tracing	✅	❌	✅	❌
Neural Engine	16-core	16-core	16-core	16-core
Storage	256GB – 2TB	128GB – 1TB	256GB – 2TB	128GB – 1TB
RAM	8 or 16GB	8GB	8 or 16GB	8GB
Memory bandwidth	120GB/s	100GB/s	120GB/s	100GB/s
Thunderbolt/USB 4	✅	❌	✅	❌
USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 only	–	✅	–	✅
Cellular	5G (sub-6 GHz)	5G (sub-6 GHz)	5G (sub-6 GHz)	5G (sub-6 GHz)

Other upgrades with the Pro are Thunderbolt/USB 4 and hardware-accelerated ray tracing.

One loss is mmWave connectivity for 5G with the 2024 iPad Pro models (2022 versions had this). That matches the 5G radio in the 2024 iPad Air.

Display

The new M4 iPad Pro models surpass the iPad Air with a new “Ultra Retina XDR Display.”

It’s the first to use Tandem OLED compared to the Liquid Retina Display that uses LED in the M2 iPad Air devices.

Apple says the benefits of the new OLED display are brighter specular highlights, deeper true blacks, better detail in shadows and low light, and more.

Both the smaller and larger iPad Pro feature the new OLED display and you can also now upgrade the 1 or 2TB M4 iPad Pro with nano-texture display glass.

You also get brighter SDR content up to 1000 nits with the M4 iPad Pro models (600 nits for M2 iPad Pro SDR content). That’s 2x brighter than the 500 nits for SDR with the iPad Air.

	11″ M4 iPad Pro	11″ M2 iPad Air	13″ M4 iPad Pro	13″ M2 iPad Air
Display	11″ OLED	10.86″ LED	13″ OLED	12.9″ LED
Resolution	2420 x 1668	2360 x 1640	2752 x 2064	2732 x 2048
PPI (pixels per inch)	264	264	264	264
Display brightness	1000 nits SDR, 1000 nits max full screen XDR, 1600 nits peak (HDR only)	500 nits brightness for SDR	1000 nits SDR, 1000 nits max full screen XDR, 1600 nits peak (HDR only)	500 nits brightness for SDR
True Tone	✅	✅	✅	✅
P3 wide color	✅	✅	✅	✅
ProMotion (120Hz)	✅	❌	✅	❌
Anti-reflective and fingerprint-resistant coating	✅	✅	✅	✅
Fully laminated display	✅	✅	✅	✅
Nano-texture display glass	Optional on 1TB and 2TB models	❌	Optional on 1TB and 2TB models	❌
Liquid Retina Display	–	✅	–	✅
Ultra Retina XDR Display	✅	❌	✅	❌
Apple Pencil Hover	✅	✅	✅	✅

Shared display features across all M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air models include P3 wide color, fully laminated displays, anti-reflective coating, Apple Pencil Hover, and True Tone.

Design, dimensions, weight, colors

The M4 iPad Pro is the “thinnest product Apple has ever created” at 5.1mm for the 13″ model and 5.3mm for the 11″ version.

Along with that, the new M4 iPad Pro is lighter than ever, under 1 pound for the 11″ and 1.28 pounds for the 13″.

That’s ironic since the “Air” version of Apple’s iPad and Mac usually claim the title for thinnest and lightest.

	11″ M4 iPad Pro	11″ M2 iPad Air	13″ M4 iPad Pro	13″ M2 iPad Air
Height	9.83 inches (249.7 mm)	9.74 inches (247.6 mm)	11.09 inches (281.6 mm)	11.04 inches (280.6 mm)
Width	6.99 inches (177.5 mm)	7.02 inches (178.5 mm)	8.48 inches (215.5 mm)	8.46 inches (214.9 mm)
Depth	0.21 inch (5.3 mm)	0.24 inch (6.1 mm)	0.20 inch (5.1 mm)	0.24 inch (6.1 mm)
Weight	0.98 pounds (446 grams)	1.02 pounds (462 grams)	1.28 pounds (582 grams)	1.36 pounds (618 grams)

New this time around is the Space Black finish replacing Space Gray for the M4 iPad Pro while silver remains the other choice.

Meanwhile, the M2 iPad Air is available in four color choices: Space Gray, Starlight, blue, and purple.

Connectivity and accessories

The new iPad Pro and Air models work with the same type of Apple accessories. Those come in the form of a new Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro – or you could opt for the mid-tier Apple Pencil with USB-C.

• Apple Pencil Pro launches, with squeeze gesture and roll, plus Find My support
• Apple debuts Magic Keyboard for M4 iPad Pro with larger trackpad, function row, aluminum palm rest

The other main I/O upgrades with the iPad Pro are Face ID and Thunderbolt connectivity.

	11 and 13″ M4 iPad Pro	11 and 13″ M2 iPad Air
Apple Pencil Pro support	✅	✅
Apple Pencil gen 2 support	❌	❌
Apple Pencil USB-C	✅	✅
Magic Keyboard support	✅	✅
5G	✅ (sub-6Ghz)	✅ (sub-6Ghz)
WiFi 6E	✅	✅
SIM	eSIM only	eSIM only
Bluetooth	5.3	5.3
USB-C	✅ USB 4	✅ USB 3.1 Gen 2
Thunderbolt	✅	❌
Face ID	✅	❌
Touch ID	❌	✅

Beyond the drop of mmWave for 5G, the M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air devices also only have an eSIM, no physical nano-SIM slot.

Battery life

The 2024 iPad Pro and Air models come with the same battery life as previous iPads:

• 10 hours of web or video use on WiFi
• 9 hours of web use with cellular

Storage and price

Storage is been updated with the M4 iPad Pro starting with 256GB and going up to 2TB models. And the nano-texture glass is another $100 upgrade.

Storage also gets bumped for the M2 iPad Air starting with 64GB and going up to 1TB.

	11″ M4 iPad Pro	11″ M2 iPad Air	13″ M4 iPad Pro	13″ M2 iPad Air
128GB WiFi	–	$599	–	$799
128GB + cell	–	$749	–	$949
256GB WiFi	$999	$699	$1,299	$899
256GB + cell	$1,199	$849	$1,499	$1,049
512GB WiFi	$1,199	$899	$1,499	$1,099
512GB + cell	$1,399	$1,049	$1,699	$1,249
1TB WiFi	$1,599	$1,099	$1,899	$1,299
1TB + cell	$1,799	$1,249	$2,099	$1,449
2TB WiFi	$1,999	–	$2,299	–
2TB + cell	$2,199	–	$2,499	–

Cameras, video, and audio

On the M4 iPad Pro rear camera system, you’ve got a 12MP wide lens, LiDAR Scanner, and a Retina Flash with True Tone.

Interestingly, the M4 iPad Pro has ditched the 10MP ultra wide lens of the M2 iPad Pro. That means the M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air are more similar in camera capabilities.

On the front, you get a 12MP ultra wide lens with Center Stage support that’s now centered on the long landscape edge instead of the short edge with the 2024 M4 iPad Pro models.

	11 and 13″ M4 iPad Pro	11 and 13″ M2 iPad Air
12MP wide lens	✅	✅
10MP ultra wide lens	❌	❌
LiDAR	✅	❌
4K video	✅	✅
ProRes video up to 4K 30 fps	✅	❌
Extended dynamic range	✅	✅
Slo-mo video	✅	✅
Rear camera flash	✅	❌
TrueDepth with Face ID	✅ (landscape edge)	❌
Ultra wide 12MP front camera	✅ (landscape edge)	✅ (landscape edge)
2x optical zoom out	✅	✅
Smart HDR 4 photos	✅	✅
Center Stage auto-tracking	✅	✅
4-speaker audio	✅	✅
Stereo recording	✅	✅
Studio-quality mics	4	❌
Standard mics	–	2

M4 iPad Pro vs M2 iPad Air conclusion

Why buy M4 iPad Pro?

Choosing between the M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air, it may make the most sense to only buy the new model if you’re a pro or aspiring pro with workflows that will benefit from the M4 chip. Or you’re just fine with spending the money on the latest and greatest from Apple 😁.

Upgrades include the new OLED display with a nano-texture option and higher brightness, higher top storage, Thunderbolt, a more powerful chip, and a slimmer design.

The M4 iPad Pro is available at Apple, Amazon, soon Best Buy, and more.

Why buy M2 iPad Air?

When you can get many of the M4 iPad Pro core features with the M2 iPad Air and the processor difference not being a limiting factor for many users, saving the money could be a nice move. Or you could keep your current iPad.

Also, at a discount, the M1 iPad Air is a great choice for people with light to medium workflows or casual use. It’s got many of the great features of the modern M2 iPad Air/Pro and the same design.

Thanks for reading our guide on the M4 iPad Pro vs M2 iPad Air!

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