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 chosethe iPad Pro for its first OLED screen outside of iPhone, but some analysts believe that Apple was able to offer a 120 Hz OLED screen on the MacBook Air M3 in March 2024, but it did not do so.

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 MacBook Pro M3 on several counts does not pose as many consistency problems as with the MacBook Air. Now let's see if the iPad Pro M4 really does better than the MacBook Pro M3.

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

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 sincethe iPad offers a better screen.

Let us take the case of aiPad Pro M4 13 inch 16 GB RAM, 2 TB storage. This amounts to: €2779.We were wondering what we could havein the same price rangeon the side of the MacBook M3. Result :a 14-inch MacBook Pro M3, 16 GB of RAM and 2 TB of storage (€2,919). It must also be taken into account thatthe M3 has 8 CPU cores and 10 GPUs,whilethe M4inpossessedalso10 GPU cores, but offers some2 more for its CPU, and therefore rises to10 hearts.

In pure technical comparison therefore,the iPad is cheaper here for more power. We could even have the luxury of addingthe Apple Pencil at €149, which comes to €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 take into account

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