When you ’re a minor , being an inventor sound like an impossibly glamourous occupation – and a unsubdivided one , too . All you have to do is invent something glorious ( like , say , the iPad ) , then sit around back and wait for the checks to roll in . But when you develop up you ascertain about capitalist economy and investors and stock price and realize that everything is a sight more complicated . One - off brilliance is not enough — you need an ongoing tax revenue watercourse , and that think of resign unexampled things on a regular basis , each rather better than the last .
receive way to make the iPad better every 18 months ( but not so good that you ca n’t excel it again next time ) is tricky enough , but Apple made another rod for its own back when it split the gimmick into multiple lines : the stock iPad , the iPad mini , the iPad Air , the iPad Pro . Now you have to check that the iPad is well than last year ’s model , the iPad Air is better than the iPad , and the Pro is better than the Air … but not so much ripe that the washy product does n’t get any sale at all . The whole thing is an unenviable juggle human activity , equal component innovation , compromise , and planned obsolescence .
Thanks to its inconsistent naming conventions , confuse technological remainder , and restrain ambit of sizes and storage capacity , Apple ’s iPad mountain range has long been anightmare for the casual vendee . But at least , up to now , the headache has been confined to the pad of paper range . That may soon change if we can believea surprising unexampled reportthat says the iPad Pro is about to jump from the M2 to the M4 processor . break the Pro to an M4 and Mac customers are going to be just as mixed-up as the poor iPad buyers .
The MacBook Pro only just got an M3 processor in March—so why would Apple upstage it so soon?
The MacBook Pro only just get an M3 processor in March — so why would Apple upstage it so soon ?
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Macworld reader are a versed bunch , so this may be a difficult thought experiment . But judge for a moment to put yourself in the shoe of Joe and Jane Q Applebuyer lining up at the Apple Store to purchase a laptop for oeuvre . They browse the selections and steady down on an M3 MacBook Pro before sauntering over to the iPad board . Suddenly they involve to grasp why the top - of - the - line MacBook Pro has a mere M3 processor when the flagship iPad has a newer and presumably faster M4 . And if they quit at the Mac mini board , they ’ll see an M2 chip and just involve more dubiousness .
The MacBook Pro only just got an M3 processor in March—so why would Apple upstage it so soon?
Now a aweary retail employee will have to explain what ’s last on , blab about sustained speeds and graphics , the nature of Apple Si and its upgrade cycle , the kind of work that ’s done on each , unified store , and other glasses to explain the distinction between the two lines .
Logically , an iPad does n’t need to be as powerful as a Mac because ( for now ) Apple has more control over the software it ’s countenance to run . iPad apps are designed with predictable hardware in mind . The top - end iPad Pro at any given time will be capable to happily run everything on the entrepot at top configurations because the devs would be harebrained to calibrate them in any other path .
mackintosh are a different thing because macOS software can come from anywhere — even ported from the world of Windows - ground gaming rigs . mac themselves are more varying and customizable than iPads , which means developers have less of a clear objective interview , in turn create more variation in organization requirement and have very gamy specs more of an advantage . And despite what Apple will have you think , the type of work people do on their Macs is inherently different than on an iPad . Simply put : The iPad does n’t ask as much force as a Mac .
collapse the iPad Pro an M4 , then , would be a bizarre decision for two reasons . It would n’t really do good the iPad Pro , because it does n’t require an M4 . And it would hurt the Mac reach , whose M2 and M3 machines would instantly appear underpowered , and create disarray for Mac buyers .
The only beneficiary of the decision would be Apple ’s tablet marketing section , who need an eye - catching way to upsell iPad emptor from the Air to the Pro model . Do n’t buy that crappy onetime M2 - power atmosphere ! Buy this M4 - powered Pro instead . “ It does AI.” ™ ️
Mark Gurman , the generator of that surprising story , point out the M4 ’s innovative nervous engine as a primary understanding for Apple to add the M4 to “ lay out its AI chip strategy without misdirection . ” If that ’s the instance , perhaps Apple will denounce the iPad Pro ’s newfangled chip as a unique variation of the M3 ( Bionic ? Plus ? ) as it did with the A12X in 2018 and A12Z in 2020 . Then Apple can focalise on the neural engine and better AI capabilities , extinguish any likely confusion with the Mac , and still give the iPad Pro its own identity .
Do n’t expect how they ’re going to market thenextiPad Pro , by the elbow room . That ’s a problem for someone else .
