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日本Apple iPad Pro 13 (2024) review – The Ultimate Tablet
The Apple iPad Pro 13 (2024) strikes the market with its premium design and powerful hardware. This thin device houses the latest and greatest Apple M4 SoC. Of course, there is a small catch. The 256 and 512GB models rely on the slightly underpowered version of the chip with a 9-core CPU. These machines are also configured with just 8GB of RAM. If you want the full-blown M4 experience, you should get an iteration with 1TB or 2TB of storage that is also tied with 16GB memory. Speaking of which, the fancy nano-texture display glass option is only available for the abovementioned top dogs. At least for us, this coating is totally worth the extra $100 since it keeps the reflections as low as possible even when using the tablet outdoors on a sunny day.
The Ultra Retina XDR display is the main event. This OLED screen offers true-to-life colors, outstanding contrast, and pleasant smoothness during work thanks to the 120Hz refresh rate. This high-end screen doesn’t hurt the battery life at all! The iPad Pro 13 shocked us (in a positive way) with its tremendous autonomous work away from the charger but more on that later.
Now, the starting price of the 13-incher is $1299 for the bone-stock 256GB model. When you add 2TB storage, nano-coating, and cellular connectivity, the end price reaches a whopping $2599! The additional accessories such as the Apple Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro will add another $478 on top. If money isn’t a problem why not? Still, the base model is a smart choice because it’s more than enough punchy for standard daily tasks.
You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/apple-ipad-pro-13-2024/
Contents
Specs Sheet, What’s in the box
| Apple iPad Pro 13 (2024) | |
|---|---|
| Processor | 9-core CPU with 3 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores / 10-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores |
| GPU | 10-core GPU |
| Operating System | iPadOS 17 |
| Memory | 8GB or 16GB of RAM |
| Storage | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB |
| Display | 13″ (2752×2064), 4:3, ~264 ppi, Tandem OLED display |
| Battery | Integrated 38.99Wh rechargeable lithium-polymer battery |
| Dimensions | 281.6 mm x 215.5 mm x 5.1 mm (11.09 x 8.48 x 0.20 inches) |
| Weight | 579 g for the Wi-Fi models or 582 g for the eSIM models (1.28 lbs) |
| Ports/Slots |
|
| WiFi and Bluetooth |
|
| Sensors |
|
| Cameras | Front 12MP, ƒ/2 aperture, Auto image stabilization, 1080p@60FPS video rec. / Rear 12MP, ƒ/1.8 aperture,4K@60FPS video rec. |
What’s in the box?
The small yet sturdy box contains the tablet itself, a bit of paperwork, a 1-meter USB-C Charge Cable, and a polishing cloth for the nano-texture display. At least in our case, there is no sign of the 20W USB‑C Power Adapter in the package.
Design and construction
The Apple iPad Pro 13 (2024) features a cutting-edge appearance with a sleek design complemented by rounded corners and an impressively thin 5.1 mm profile. The Wi-Fi models are minimally heavier (579 g) than the eSIM-enabled siblings (582 g). The available color options are Silver and Space Black. We got the latter and its surface is a true fingerprint magnet.
The camera bump on the back isn’t significant but it’s tall enough to cause wobbling when using the tablet on an even surface. The aluminum build is impressively sturdy and premium to the touch.
This device’s comfortable grip and weight distribution make it a pleasure to use, even with its large screen.
Ports
Expectedly, there are no ports on the left. The Magnetic connector and the Volume buttons are positioned on the right.
The top houses two speaker grills and the Power button. Another pair of speaker grills and a Thunderbolt 4 / USB4 connector are on the bottom side. The USB port offers charging and DisplayPort functionality (for up to 6K@60Hz external screens).
Display and Sound Quality
Apple iPad Pro 13 (2024) is equipped with a 13-inch (33 cm) „Ultra Retina XDR“ Touch display manufactured by “Tandem OLED” third-generation technology. The cooperative operation of two OLED displays connected in tandem ensures increased brightness, improved efficiency, and enhanced longevity. The displays have rounded corners. When measured diagonally as a rectangle, the iPad Pro is 13 inches. The actual viewable area is less.
The panel comes with a 2752 х 2064p resolution. The screen ratio is 4:3, the pixel density – 264 ppi, and their pitch – 0.1 x 0.1 mm. The maximum refresh rate is 120 Hz, using “ProMotion” technology with adaptive refresh rates from 10 Hz to 120 Hz depending on picture content. The screen can be considered “Retina” when viewed from at least 13.0″ (33 cm) – this is based on the pixel density and the typical viewing distance at which individual pixels cannot be distinguished by the human eye.
The display has a fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating and Nano-texture display glass with incredibly good anti-reflection capability. In the microscope photo below, it was not possible to focus on the OLED pixels. The panel supports the Apple Pencil Pro digital pen.
Viewing angles are good. We offer images at different angles to evaluate the quality.
Also, a video with locked focus and exposure.
The maximum measured brightness in XDR mode is 1630 nits (cd/m2). The maximum measured brightness in a full-screen browser window is 506 cd/m2 („True Tone“ Off). The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen and at maximum brightness is 6690K („True Tone“ Off). The contrast ratio of OLED panels is practically infinite, due to their ability to turn off black pixels entirely.
In the illustration below you can see how the display performs from a uniformity perspective. The illustration below shows how matters are for operational brightness levels (approximately 180 nits).
To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction to the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. To start, there’s the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye, giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy.
Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that is being used by millions of people on HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors, etc for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook.
Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios, as well as the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s difficult for today’s displays to cover that well. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day.
The yellow dotted line shows Apple iPad Pro 13 (2024)’s color gamut coverage.
Its display covers 100% of the sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976, and 100% of Display-P3.
PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation) Flicker
Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is an easy way to control monitor brightness. When you lower the brightness, the light intensity of the display is not lowered, but instead turned off and on by the electronics with a frequency indistinguishable to the human eye. In these light impulses, the light/no-light time ratio varies, while brightness remains unchanged, which is harmful to your eyes. You can read more about that in our dedicated article on PWM.
Apple iPad Pro 13 (2024)’s display pulsations are with a limited amplitude. This makes the panel comfortable to use in this aspect.
Health Impact: Screen Reflectance
Glossy-coated displays are sometimes inconvenient in high ambient light conditions. We show the level of reflection on the screen for the respective laptop when the display is turned off and the measurement angle is 60°.
The iPad Air 13 has a reflectance of 7.3 GU. This is the lowest measured value that we’ve seen, drastically lower than the best in this respect display to date.
It’s a perfect example of our screen reflectance measurement, so we’ll show you what it looks like compared to a typical OLED display. The one on the right is the ProArt P16 with 147 GU, but most OLED screens on the market have similar reflectance.
Left: iPad Pro, 7.3GU | Right: Typical OLED, 147 GU
High Gloss: >70 GU
Medium Gloss: 30 – 70 GU
Low Gloss: <30 GU
Sound
Apple iPad Pro 13 (2024)’s speakers produce a sound of very good quality. Its low, mid, and high tones are clear of deviations.
We wanted to test the Nano-texture display, so we were forced to buy a configuration with 1TB of storage, which is the smallest option that Apple offers with their most advanced screen—for an additional $100, of course.
It was totally worth it because, as you know, we love low-reflectance displays, and this is the most anti-reflective screen we’ve ever tested!
Here’s a comparison against a high-end OLED laptop (ASUS ProArt P16):
Benchmarks, Camera
Back Camera
Good Ambient Light:
Low Ambient Light:
Front Camera
Video Footage – 4K at 60fps:
Comparison with Apple iPhone 15 Pro
When compared to the iPhone 15 Pro, the pictures taken with the tablet are with less details and punchy colors. On the other hand, the overall picture quality is fine for such a device.
Good Ambient Light
Low Ambient Light
Performance: CPU, GPU
CPU options
The M4 SoC with 4 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores is a powerhouse. It demolishes the M2 chip in the iPad Air 13 and the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 in the Lenovo Legion Tab (TB320FC) in Geekbench 6.
| CPU Benchmarks | single/multi Geekbench 6 |
|---|---|
| Apple iPad Pro 13 (2024) | 3656 / 14625 |
| Apple iPad Air 13 (2024) | 2590 / 9762 |
| Lenovo Legion Tab (TB320FC) | 1843 / 4679 |
GPU options
The Adreno 730 in the Lenovo Legion Tab (TB320FC) doesn’t stand a chance against the Apple 10-core M2 GPU in 3DMark tests.
| GPU Benchmarks | 3DMark Wildlife | 3DMark Wildlife Extreme | 3DMark Steel Nomad Light |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple iPad Pro 13 (2024) | 20014 | 8294 | 3401 |
| Apple iPad Air 13 (2024) | 10020 | 5098 | 2468 |
| Lenovo Legion Tab (TB320FC) | 10480 | 2799 | 860 |
| Lenovo Tab P12 (TB370FU) | 2158 | – | – |
| Lenovo Tab M10 Plus Gen 3 | 1199 | – | – |
| Lenovo Yoga Tab 11 | 1342 | – | – |
| Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE | 1109 | – | – |
| Huawei MateBook Pro | 3281 | – | – |
| Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 | 2118 | – | – |
| Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 | 4240 | – | – |
Stress test stability, Battery Life
The 3DMark Wild Life Stress Test with its 20 loops is enough to heat up every mobile hardware. Compared to the first run, the lowest score here indicated a sub-10% performance loss which is a respectable result for a thin tablet.
Comfort during full load
Even when the machine is pounded with demanding benchmarks for a long time, the hotspot on the screen reaches 45°C and the one on the back hits just 41°C which still doesn’t feel hot to the touch.
Battery
The battery life is very good for such a strong hardware and OLED display! A single change is enough for 17 hours and 56 minutes of video playback.
Verdict
If your wallet is wide enough and you need a high-end tablet with a great display and the latest and greatest SoC, the Apple iPad Pro 13 (2024) could give you all that but at a hefty price. You can transform this machine into a portable workstation for photo or video editing if you purchase the optional Apple Magic Keyboard at the price of a mid-range Android phone.
The build quality is exceptional. The aluminum build remained intact when we tried to twist it a bit. The thin profile allows you to hold the tablet comfortably for longer periods. The OLED display is a true gem thanks to the infinite contrast ratio and the high max brightness of 506 nits in SDR mode and 1630 nits in XDR mode. The panel fully covers the Display-P3 gamut. The real deal here is the optional nano-texture display coating that is extremely anti-reflective and makes the tablet a joy to use on the outside.
The iPad Pro 13 impresses us with its capable hardware, decent camera setup, good audio quality, and super-long battery life. All in all, that’s the tablet to beat in 2024.
You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/apple-ipad-pro-13-2024/
Pros
- Superb build quality
- Great sustainable performance
- Wi-Fi 6E + Bluetooth 5.3
- Super long battery life given the OLED display
- OLED panel with infinite contrast ratio
- 120Hz display with 506 nit max brightness in SDR mode
- Full Display-P3 coverage
- Capable rear camera (for a tablet)
- Outstanding CPU and GPU performance
- Adequate chassis temperatures during long stress tests
Cons
- High price
- Just one USB port
- The nano-texture display glass option is only available for the 1TB and the 2TB versions of the tablet
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