I’m thinking of moving from an M1 to an M4. It’s been out for a bit now. If you’ve upgraded, what do you think?
I upgraded from an M1 12.9 to the M4 13. 1TB, cellular version. Overall, it was a solid upgrade. I do about 80-90% of my work and play on it, mostly writing and publishing to different platforms. I don’t do any 3D modeling or intense stuff, but everything feels faster, as it should.
The weight difference is small, but you can feel it, even with the Magic Keyboard. The display is amazing. Was it absolutely necessary? Probably not. But since I use mine every day, it was worth it for me.
@Vern
I use my M1 a lot when I travel for work as a second screen. I was wondering if the weight difference was noticeable. Thanks for mentioning that. I probably won’t get a keyboard for it though.
Honestly, I don’t really notice the processor updates on the iPads anymore. The only reason I upgraded was because I wanted the OLED screen on the 11-inch. It’s nice for scrolling through Instagram (even though it’s the blown-up phone version, but that’s a different story), and the HDR videos look crazy bright.
@Cedar
Good to know! The screen is definitely one of the reasons I’m considering upgrading.
I upgraded from the Air M1 (2022) to the Pro M4 (2024). The display is better, but other than that, I don’t see a huge difference. I mostly use it for photo editing, some games, and office work.
Rey said:
I upgraded from the Air M1 (2022) to the Pro M4 (2024). The display is better, but other than that, I don’t see a huge difference. I mostly use it for photo editing, some games, and office work.
I don’t do photo editing, but I do a lot of data analytics and visualizations when traveling for work. Using it as a second screen has been amazing for that.
Just a heads up—don’t update your M1 to iPadOS 18 yet if you’re still on iPadOS 17. There’s an issue with iPadOS 18 on the M4 iPads, and Apple pulled the update for now while they fix it.
If your current iPad is on iPadOS 18 and you buy the M4, you won’t be able to transfer your backup since the M4 comes with iPadOS 17 pre-installed.
@Marin
Yeah, I saw that. Thanks for the reminder. I’ve been on the dev beta 18.1 for a while, and it’s actually been running fine for me. Surprisingly, even Parallels has been working well when extending the desktop on it.
I upgraded from the base 12.9-inch M1 to a 1TB 13-inch M4 with Nano Texture. The biggest thing I noticed was how much thinner the iPad is, and the matte screen is a game-changer. My fingers and the Apple Pencil just glide across it, and I don’t think I can go back to a regular glass screen.
Performance-wise, I haven’t noticed a big difference in everyday tasks. The M1 was already more than enough for most things. I upgraded mainly for the extra RAM for 3D sculpting and the etched glass screen.
@Hart
Thanks for the info. I’m not planning to do any 3D sculpting, but performance-wise, the M1 already meets my needs. I’m mostly considering the weight, how long the tech will last, and the new Apple Pencil. Now I just need to figure out what to do with my old folio and Pencil.