Is the iPad Pro M4 actually better than the MacBook Pro M3?

The latest technological advances have pushed Apple to completely review its copy on several points. The Apple firm must in fact regularly make important strategic decisions in what it chooses to implement or not on its new devices. For example, Apple chose the iPad Pro for its first non-iPhone OLED screen, but some analysts believe that Apple was capable of offering a 120 Hz OLED screen on the M3 MacBook Air in March 2024, but it did not. didn’t do it.

This would not have been a consistent choice with the release of the M3 MacBook Pros a few months earlier, in November 2023, because their owners would probably have felt shortchanged. At that point, offering OLED on the Air would have significantly narrowed the gap in differences between the MacBook Air and Pro lineups. Apple therefore had to release a laptop that costs more than 1000 euros in 2024, but which does not align with the minimum market standards in terms of screen (On paper).

Anyway, with the new iPad Pro M4, this type of phenomenon is seen less, because it is a different device, which uses a different OS. Therefore, the fact that the new iPad Pro outperforms the M3 MacBook Pro on several counts doesn’t pose as many consistency issues as it does with the MacBook Air. Now let’s see if the iPad Pro M4 really does better than the MacBook Pro M3.

Better equipped than the MacBook Pro M3?

In a post on the social network X, user Beta Profiles shared the following snapshot:

© Apple

Seeing this photo, we said to ourselves that these are just the broad outlines. But indeed, even upon closer inspection, the iPad Pro M4 seems to be a better compromise, and not only in its minimum configuration. Especially since the iPad offers a better screen.

Let us take the case of a iPad Pro M4 13-inch 16 GB RAM, 2 TB storage, and Magic Keyboard. This amounts to: €2779. We were wondering what we could have in the same price range on the side of the MacBook M3. Result : a 14-inch MacBook Pro M3, 16 GB of RAM and 2 TB of storage. It must also be taken into account that the M3 has 8 CPU cores and 10 GPUs, while the M4 in possesses also 10 GPU coresbut has some 2 more for its CPUand therefore rises to 10 hearts.

In pure technical comparison therefore, the iPad is cheaper here for more power. We could even have the luxury of adding the Apple Pencil at €149, which makes €2,828, barely more expensive than the 14-inch MacBook Pro M3 mentioned above. We get more for the same price with the iPad Pro 2 TB (comparison is not valid for other storage capacities).

But it does illustrate that the iPad Pro may be able to outperform the Mac for less money. There remains the question of the OS and applications, which is fundamental.

To consider

It is also good to take into consideration that iPad Pro’s M4 chip is further optimized for portable, cost-effective use. Moreover, macOS remains superior to iPadOS in terms of IT productivity and the richness of applications, particularly professional ones.