Apple introduced its first ever OLED iPad Pro yesterday, and it looks set to become one of the best tablets you can buy thanks to both its beautiful new display and its built-in M4 chip. But all that high-end goodness comes at a price, and it turns out that if you max out the iPad Pro with every add-on and optional extra, it costs more than an entry-level MacBook Pro.
To see what we mean, head to Apple’s iPad Pro page and select the larger 13-inch model. If you then load it up with the maximum 2TB of storage, nano-texture glass and Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity, the final tally tops out at $2,599 / £2,599 / AU$4,479.
By comparison, an entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M3 chip will set you back $1,599 / £1,699 / AU$2,699 without any add-ons. Maxed out, that model costs $2,619 / £2,709 / AU$4,229.
Things get even more expensive for the iPad Pro if you add in its latest accessories, the Apple Pencil Pro and the Magic Keyboard, both of which saw new versions at Apple’s Let Loose event on May 7. Throw those two devices into your basket and your final tally for the 13-inch iPad Pro comes to $3,077 / £3,077 GBP / AU$5,277.
Interestingly, although Apple has increased the price of both the 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro by $200 compared to the sixth-generation model, display industry expert Ross Young says this is far less than he expected.
“Surprised the OLED iPad Pros are priced as low as they are given the high price of the tandem OLED panels along with a costly M4 chip,” Young wrote on Twitter (formerly X). The iPad Pro also now starts at 256GB compared to the previous 128GB, so that will influence the price, too.
iPad Pro or MacBook?
Of course, a comparison between iPads and MacBooks isn’t exactly like-for-like. There are many different use cases for each device, as well as different reasons for the pricing discrepancies. But it does create some interesting scenarios for prospective buyers.
For example, you might pick the 13-inch iPad Pro with the same 512GB storage as the entry-level MacBook Pro, then add on the new Magic Keyboard for a laptop-like experience.
Doing this, you’ll notice the iPad Pro comes out at $1,848 / £1,848 / AU$3,128 – that’s $249 more than the 14-inch MacBook Pro with the same specs. Should you pay extra for a device that can flip between tablet and laptop modes and also comes with a superior OLED display and a newer chip? Or should you stick with the MacBook considering it can run more games and beefier software than on iPadOS?
Adding the M4 chip to the iPad Pro before the MacBook means Apple has created all sorts of dilemmas like this for buyers, and it will be interesting to see how that plays out in the long run. We can expect the first M4 MacBooks to launch later in 2024, according to the rumor mill – until then, the iPad Pro is the only M4 game in town.
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