Apple debuts M4 processor in new iPad Pros with 38 TOPS on neural engine

News
By ,
published

The new chip is all in on AI.

Apple M4
(Image credit: Apple)

Apple announced its latest processor, the M4, in a video event today. The new chip, which is meant to focus on AI performance, will debut in the new iPad Pro tablets — the first time Apple has introduced an M-series chip in an iPad rather than a Mac.

The M4 is built on a 2nd-generation 3-nanometer process. It features four performance cores, six efficiency cores, and a 10-core GPU that brings ray tracing and hardware-accelerated mesh shading to the iPad for the first time. Apple called out the greater chip industry for just starting to put NPUs in its chips, while Apple has been doing it for years. The M4's new 16-core neural engine supports 38 trillion operations per second.  In total, Apple's latest chip has over 28 billion transistors on board.

The reason for the sudden jump to M4 is Apple's new iPad Pros, which include new AI features (Apple did use the term "AI" rather than "machine learning") and a new screen that uses a novel display engine on M4.

Apple claims that "compared with the latest PC chip in a thin and light laptop, M4 can deliver the same performance using just a fourth of the power." In its testing notes, Apple says it used an Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (UX3405MA) with an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H and 32GB of RAM for the comparison.

The M4 brings AV1 hardware acceleration to the iPad for the first time, alongside  H.264, HEVC, and ProRes. Alongside the new chip and tablets, Apple showed off new AI features for Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro.

Image 1 of 5
Apple M4 diagrams
(Image credit: Apple)

iPad Pro (11-inch and 13-inch)

The first devices to use Apple’s new powerful M4 chip are the new 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro. Apple’s ambitions regarding performance for the new generations of iPad Pros meant that the existing M3 processor just wouldn’t do – which is where the M4 comes into play.

According to Apple, when used in the iPad Pro, the M4 is 50% faster than the M2 used in the previous generation models. Alternatively, the M4 can deliver the same performance as the M2 while using half the power. Apple was also able to deliver 20% improved thermal performance thanks to the use of copper in Apple logo and graphite sheets in iPad housing.

Image 1 of 5
iPad Pro
(Image credit: Apple)

The other big news is with the displays, which are now OLED-based. Apple uses Tandem OLED panels in each iPad Pro, combining the light from both. The new display is called Ultra Retina XDR, and delivers 1,000 nits full screen brightness and 1,600 nits peak HDR brightness. Apple has also added an option for a nano-texture finish for the display.

The 13-inch iPad Pro is Apple’s thinnest device to-date at just 5.1mm, while the 11-inch model is slightly thicker at 5.3mm. Like the new iPad Airs, the 12MP FaceTime HD camera on the new iPad Pros has been moved to the side of the device, which makes it easier for video conferencing (and while using the Magic Keyboard).

The new 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $999, while the larger 13-inch model starts at $1,299. Both now come standard with 256GB of storage, which is double the amount of their predecessors. Preorders start today, with shipments commencing next week.

iPad Air (11-inch and 13-inch)

iPad Air

(Image credit: Apple)

Apple also announced an all-new iPad Air, which now is available in two screen sizes: 11 inches and 13 inches. While the exterior design is not a huge leap forward, there are some minor revisions to make the user experience better. For example, the 12MP FaceTime HD camera has been repositioned from the top of the device to the side — this puts the camera in the optimum position when using the iPad Air in a landscape orientation. The stereo speakers have also been optimized for use in landscape orientation, and Apple claims that the 13-inch model has twice the bass compared to the smaller 11-inch model.

While the previous iPad Air used an M1 chip, the new 11-inch and 13-inch models use the M2 chip. Apple says that it is up to 50% faster than the M1. Other additional features include support for the Apple Pencil “hover” feature, which was previously only available on Apple’s flagship iPad Pros. In addition, Apple has doubled the amount of base storage, which should appease critics. Now, the iPad Air comes with 128GB of standard storage, and the new Air also supports a maximum of 1TB of onboard storage.

The 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Airs are available for preorder today starting at $599 (the same as the previous generation model) and $799, respectively. The two tablets will ship next week.

Brandon Hill
Brandon Hill

Brandon Hill is a senior editor at Tom's Hardware. He has written about PC and Mac tech since the late 1990s with bylines at AnandTech, DailyTech, and Hot Hardware. When he is not consuming copious amounts of tech news, he can be found enjoying the NC mountains or the beach with his wife and two sons.

See more CPUs News
80 Comments Comment from the forums
  • abufrejoval
    And just what good will all that AI do?

    Can it do the dishes?

    Can you have a meaningful conversation with it?

    Judging from what I get from the various Llamas with my RTX 4090, which got plenty more power going and still garbage going out, all those transistors are total waste of sand.
    Reply
  • kealii123
    So TLDR for $1000 the 11 inch ipad will have roughly double the performance as my steamdeck but in a fanless design probably staying under 10 watts sustained load. The screen will be as good as my flagship OLED phone, and their OS isn't full of adware, spyware, bloatware, and other nonsense.

    I hate apple. I hate their OSes. I love using my own software, or at least my own choice of software, like Brave browser, and running desktop software on a tablet (like Fusion 360, IDEs, etc). But man, RIP to Intel and AMD. Apple silicon is crushing, and Windows 11 is now worse than MacOS. Even if Qualcomm comes thru with all their promises, thats still a chip thats 1 generation behind Apple AND is married to Windows and Microsoft. Its infuriating.

    I have AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm Windows devices, and my work machine is an M1 macbook. I've use all of them. Hats off to Apple, for everything but gaming its not even a choice.
    Reply
  • CelicaGT
    M silicon is largely wasted in an iPad. Most of these end up media consumption devices, expensive but trendy POS terminals, or wrapped in an industrial case inventory/inspection terminals. Three gen old A series does all that fine. If they want the iPad to do more and actually be relevant they need to fix the software. Make it more like macOS or allow it to run macOS. I did read that Apple is working towards on device AI models, so perhaps this is heading towards an even worse HomePod/Siri experience but on a tablet? Sounds awful to me.
    Reply
  • The Hardcard
    abufrejoval said:
    And just what good will all that AI do?

    Can it do the dishes?

    Can you have a meaningful conversation with it?

    Judging from what I get from the various Llamas with my RTX 4090, which got plenty more power going and still garbage going out, all those transistors are total waste of sand.
    No AI is going to transform how people use computers in key ways. In five years, most people will insist on AI accelerators. What you have today is AI in its infancy. Llama 3 is like the Commodore PET-Apple I era. Hobbyists feeling their way around.

    Polished AI that will do complex, tedious tasks will arrive inside of 3 years and will transform all aspects of computer and device work. I’m astonished by the number of tech enthusiasts who are not seeing the biggest technological transformation of their lifetime.

    It should be clear that by 2030, there will be no need to learn Excel, AutoCAD, DaVinci Resolve, VS Code, Photoshop, Powerpoint or myriad other apps. People take classes and get certificates to show they can do highly complex, technical work using professional applications. Mature AI apps will allow people who know nothing about today’s applications to get better results.

    We are going to be able to just tell the devices what we want and have the results provided without thinking or even knowing about cells, formulas, filters, grids, macros, formatting, layers, plugins, coding, and the like.
    Reply
  • usertests
    CelicaGT said:
    M silicon is largely wasted in an iPad. Most of these end up media consumption devices, expensive but trendy POS terminals, or wrapped in an industrial case inventory/inspection terminals. Three gen old A series does all that fine.
    It's the Pro model, which is ostensibly for more than just media consumption.
    Reply
  • The Hardcard
    CelicaGT said:
    M silicon is largely wasted in an iPad. Most of these end up media consumption devices, expensive but trendy POS terminals, or wrapped in an industrial case inventory/inspection terminals. Three gen old A series does all that fine. If they want the iPad to do more and actually be relevant they need to fix the software. Make it more like macOS or allow it to run macOS. I did read that Apple is working towards on device AI models, so perhaps this is heading towards an even worse HomePod/Siri experience but on a tablet? Sounds awful to me.
    Silicon waste is not determined by whether there are people who don’t use its full potential. It would be wasted if nobody used it. You could argue that there are people wasting their money by getting more compute than they need just to have a halo device. To be sure, Apple makes extra billions off of those people.

    But millions of iPad M4s will be often be maxed out. Hundreds of thousands will be regularly maxed out. The M4 is not nearly the end of the road for necessary iPad capacity. Many people will have use for the future chips.
    Reply
  • CelicaGT
    usertests said:
    It's the Pro model, which is ostensibly for more than just media consumption.
    And yet, that's what most people will want because Pro simply means the best now. It's more of a status symbol than anything.
    Reply
  • Notton
    Only 38TOPS?
    Are they going to claim Apple TOPS is double the performance of what will end up in Windows PCs?
    Reply
  • JamesJones44
    Given TOPS isn't a great metric and they are touting a 50% performance increase over a 2 gen old CPU with two less cores (e cores, but with no SMT, makes a difference) and a node that is almost half in size of the M2's this is a lot of "see what we did" with out a lot of meat to back it up IMO.

    For all the hype I expected a lot more, this is very much iterative vs the M3 overall.
    Reply
  • CelicaGT
    The Hardcard said:
    Silicon waste is not determined by whether there are people who don’t use its full potential. It would be wasted if nobody used it. You could argue that there are people wasting their money by getting more compute than they need just to have a halo device. To be sure, Apple makes extra billions off of those people.

    But millions of iPad M4s will be often be maxed out. Hundreds of thousands will be regularly maxed out. The M4 is not nearly the end of the road for necessary iPad capacity. Many people will have use for the future chips.
    It's a turn of phrase nothing more, don't read so far into things. Here it indicates that typical home users will purchase something powerful well beyond their use case simply because it's the "best". I'm sure there are dozens of people that will max these out in a "Pro" capacity. Some may play games that push it to it's boundaries, the other several million will purchase something fit for a professional use case, like a full blown Macbook featuring the same processor or its PC equivalent. You know, something with actual IO and a functional keyboard that isn't costing them the equivalent to a second, entry level iPad. My beef with the iPad is that it is OS limited, the hardware is capable of so much more. This is a complaint echoed throughout the Appleverse, it's not just me.
    Reply