Apple introduced the new M4 chip yesterday and if you read the fine print you'll see that there are actually two discarded versions of that chip. Not that unusual, except that for the first time both bins are available on the same device.
First the chip. The CPU in the Apple M4 has 4 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores, except on some iPad Pro (2024) models one of the performance cores is disabled. For those unfamiliar with binning, this is the oldest trick in the book: you can increase revenue by choosing chips with a non-fatal defect and selling them as a lower tier.
The Apple M4 has 10 CPU cores (4+6), unless one performance core is missing
Take the standard iPhone 13 as an example: it had an A15 chipset with 4 GPU cores, while the iPhone 13 Pro had an A15 with 5 GPU cores. Then came the vanilla iPhone 14 a year later with an A15 chipset, this time with all five cores enabled. But that was a mild upgrade over two different generations – with the new iPad Pros it's a same-generation upgrade, an upgrade that depends on the amount of storage you buy.
The Apple iPad Pro 11 (2024) And iPad Pro 13 (2024) comes with 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB or 2 TB storage. The two lower capacities get 8 GB of RAM and the two higher ones get 16 GB. This was the case with the 2022 Benefits too, but this time the two lower tiers also lose one of their powerful CPU cores.
You'll find the prices of the 2024 Pro iPads below and let's just say the jump from 512GB to 1TB is big – and it should be pretty obvious why.
Whether you actually feel a difference in performance is another matter. First, both versions of the M4 chip have 10-core GPUs. Both also deliver 38 TOPS of AI computing power. Finally – and somewhat strangely – the iPads have a memory bandwidth of 120 GB/s, regardless of whether you have an 8 GB or 16 GB model.
The M4 has a 10-core GPU and 16-core NPU
And for better or for worse, iPadOS just isn't macOS. Did the previous Pro models ever push the M1 and M2 to their limits? Now the M4 claims to have 1.5x higher CPU performance than the M2 and even if that multiplier is a little lower for the 9-core version, will you notice? However, you should notice the improved energy efficiency.
By the way, the M4 was created on a new TSMC N3E interchange, while the M3 series was on a N3B interchange. This move, along with the number of iPad Pros Apple expects to sell, may be why binning became necessary (as we said, it's a way to increase revenue).
| Apple iPad Pro (2024) prices | ||
|---|---|---|
| US | ||
| Wi-Fi only, 5G is $200 more, nano-textured glass is $100 more | ||
| 11” | 13” | |
| 256GB | $1,000 | $1,300 |
| 512GB | $1,200 | $1,500 |
| 1TB | $1,600 | $1,900 |
| 2TB | $2,000 | $2,300 |
| Britain | ||
| 5G is £200 more, nano-textured glass is £100 more | ||
| 11” | 13” | |
| 256GB | £1,000 | £1,300 |
| 512GB | £1,200 | £1,500 |
| 1TB | £1,600 | £1,900 |
| 2TB | £2,000 | £2,300 |
| Germany | ||
| 5G is €250 more, nano-textured glass is €130 more | ||
| 11” | 13” | |
| 256GB | €1,200 | €1,550 |
| 512GB | €1,450 | €1,800 |
| 1TB | €1,930 | €2,280 |
| 2TB | €2,410 | €2,760 |
| India | ||
| 5G is ₹20,000 more, nano-textured glass is ₹10,000 more | ||
| 11” | 13” | |
| 256GB | ₹100,000 | ₹130,000 |
| 512GB | ₹120,000 | ₹150,000 |
| 1TB | ₹160,000 | ₹190,000 |
| 2TB | ₹200,000 | ₹230,000 |