As a 70 year old retired white male, I am not the target demographic that Apple is trying to reach with its “Crush” ad. I don’t have the disposable income necessary to afford these latest highest level Pro iPads. I therefore approached Apple’s “Cut Loose” iPad introduction with considerable skepticism. When I watched the “Crush” ad I was absolutely appalled. The Verge‘s Elizabeth Lopatto summed up my feelings in another article (see link below):

The message many of us received was this: Apple, a trillion-dollar behemoth, will crush everything beautiful and human, everything that’s a pleasure to look at and touch, and all that will be left is a skinny glass and metal slab.

What a lovely way to inspire future customers of your product and your brand!

You should know by now I’m an Apple user and have been for decades. Right now I’ve got a 2019 iPhone 11 Pro Max and I just updated four of my family members to regular iPhone 14s using a special AT&T promotion. Additionally I’ve got my share of Apple computers, and I’m writing this post on my 2021 16.2″ M1 Max MacBook Pro, which I picked up at about a 50% discount back in late December 2023 from B&H Photo and Video (love that place).

So with those bonafides, am I in the market for the newest iPad Pro with Apple Silicon M4? No.

In order to make it usable for me I’d want the new Pencil Pro as well as the new keyboard. I’d also want a device with decent on-board storage, at least 1TB (my 2021 MBP has 1TB). By the time I got that fancy 13″ iPad with its accessories, it would cost US$2,477 before taxes, more than what I spent on this new/old MacBook Pro I’m writing on at the moment.

The biggest emphasis wasn’t on tech, it was on how thin it is, as if the new iPad were a fashion accessory. I don’t give a damn how thin it is. Thin devices are delicate devices, easily damaged and/or broken. Apple already has had to deal with thin iPad bending going back to 2018, either bent when received as new or else bending easily under use. In fact Apple’s attempt to wave off the issue of bending has all the smell of Apple’s denial that the MacBook butterfly keyboards weren’t a problem, until they finally replaced it with a completely new design around 2020.

And then there’s Apple Silicon. Apple Silicon really is an advance over every other processor out there, especially x86_64 Intel and AMD processors. However the reason I waited until last December to get the M1 Max MacBook Pro is that it’s more than powerful enough to hold its own against the M2 and M3 variants at the price I was willing to pay. That’s because fundamentally, while you might measure an increase in performance between those variants under certain use cases, unless you have those edge use cases that would justify such a purchase, you won’t for the vast majority of the cases note any difference. And I’m willing to bet good money that applies to the M4.

The fact it showed up first in an iPad is interesting, as it shows how desperate Apple is to boost iPad sales. When and if Apple creates the M4 Pro and the M4 Max is unknown at this point, and it won’t matter anyway because I’ll continue to rock my M1 Max machine with great effect.

Here I am with far more raw computing capability than I’ve ever owned up to this point, waving the latest M4 equipped iPad Pro on by. I’ll be using that older but no less capable M1 Max to add to everything beautiful and human, not attempt to mindlessly crush it into oblivion.

Links

Apple doesn’t understand why you use technology — https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/9/24152987/apple-crush-ad-piano-ipad

Apple confirms some iPad Pros ship slightly bent, but says it’s normal — https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/19/18148957/apple-ipad-bend-pro-2018-shipping-manufacturing-confirmed