So I Finally Got My Hands on the iPad Pro M4 — And Yeah, It's Worth Every Rupee at This Price
Look, I'll be honest. I've been going back and forth on whether to recommend the iPad Pro M4 at full price. One lakh twenty thousand rupees for a tablet? In India? That's a decent second-hand car in some cities. But when Amazon dropped the price to Rs 99,999 — and I mean, honestly dropped it, not that fake "was Rs 2,00,000 now Rs 1,19,900" nonsense some sellers pull — I'd to sit up and pay attention. Because at under a lakh, this thing starts making a lot more sense for a lot more people.
I've been using the iPad Pro M4 11-inch for about three weeks now, and I want to give you an honest take. Not a spec sheet dump. Not a rehash of Apple's marketing. Just what it actually feels like to use this thing day to day in India, whether the deal is truly good, and who should actually buy it.
First Impressions — It's Absurdly Thin
The first thing that hits you when you pick up the iPad Pro M4 is how thin it's. At 5.3mm, this thing is thinner than most phones I've reviewed. Thinner than my old Kindle. I actually thought I was holding just the screen protector when I first pulled it out of the box. Not exaggerating.
But here's the thing — it doesn't feel fragile. Apple has done something genuinely clever with the build quality here. The aluminium feels dense, solid, almost cold to the touch in the Bangalore winter mornings when I sit on my balcony with chai. It's the kind of premium feel that you immediately notice compared to, say, a Samsung Tab or even the older iPad Pros.
Weight-wise, 444 grams is noticeable but not tiring. I read on it in bed for a solid two hours the other night and my wrists were fine. Try doing that with a laptop. Not happening.
That Display Though — Tandem OLED Changes Everything
I've seen a lot of tablet displays. AMOLED on Samsung tabs, IPS on the budget Xiaomi and Lenovo ones, the older Liquid Retina on regular iPads. But the Ultra Retina XDR display on the M4 Pro is something else entirely.
Apple calls it "tandem OLED" because they're literally stacking two OLED panels on top of each other. The result? You get 1,000 nits of full-screen brightness — which is already brighter than most tablets — and then 1,600 nits peak for HDR content. I watched Dune Part Two on Apple TV+ the other day and I actually paused the movie just to stare at a desert scene. The blacks are absolute black. The highlights in bright scenes have this depth that LCD screens simply can't reproduce.
For anyone doing photo or video work, the P3 wide colour gamut and True Tone make colour accuracy really reliable. A friend of mine who runs a wedding photography business in Jaipur ordered this specifically for showing clients previews on-site, and he says the colour accuracy matches his calibrated desktop monitor about 95% of the time. That's wild for a portable device.
The 120Hz ProMotion is also one of those things you don't appreciate until you go back to a 60Hz tablet. Scrolling through long documents, swiping between apps, even just navigating the home screen — everything feels like it's responding to your finger instantly. Go use a regular iPad after this and it feels like you're dragging your finger through honey.
Real-World Performance — Is the M4 Chip Overkill?
Okay, let me address the elephant in the room. The M4 chip is absurdly powerful for a tablet. Like, this processor can run desktop-class applications. Final Cut Pro. Logic Pro. Full Photoshop. DaVinci Resolve. I exported a 15-minute 4K video in Final Cut Pro on this thing and it took about 6 minutes. On my 2021 MacBook Air with the M1, the same project took around 14 minutes. A tablet outperforming a laptop from three years ago. Let that sink in.
The 10-core GPU handles everything I've thrown at it. I tried running some heavy Procreate files — we're talking 40+ layers on a 4K canvas — and there was zero lag. Absolutely zero. My older iPad Pro would start stuttering around 25 layers on the same canvas size.
The 16-core Neural Engine is something most users won't think about directly, but it powers all the on-device machine learning stuff. The new iPadOS features that do things like automatically cut out subjects from photos, or the live text recognition in Hindi and English — all of that runs locally on this Neural Engine. No cloud processing needed, no internet required.
Now, is all this power overkill for someone who just wants to watch Netflix and browse Instagram? Absolutely. 100%. If that's your use case, save your money and get the regular iPad or even the iPad Air. But if you're a creative professional — a photographer, video editor, digital artist, music producer, or even a developer who wants to code on the go — the M4 chip means you're not going to hit a performance ceiling anytime soon. This tablet will comfortably last 5-6 years before it starts feeling slow. Maybe longer.
Apple Pencil Pro — Worth Mentioning
The iPad Pro M4 supports the new Apple Pencil Pro, which has this haptic feedback thing where you feel a subtle click when you perform certain gestures. Squeeze the barrel to change tools in Procreate. Roll it to change brush angle. It's surprisingly intuitive once you get used to it.
But — and this is a genuine complaint — Apple doesn't include the Pencil in the box. At a lakh rupees. You'd think they could throw in a stylus. The Apple Pencil Pro costs another Rs 11,900. Samsung includes the S Pen with their Galaxy Tab S9 FE at half the price. Just saying, Apple. Just saying.
If you're a student taking notes in class, or an artist who sketches daily, the Pencil Pro is honestly a must-buy companion. The latency is so low it feels like actual pen on paper. I know that sounds like marketing speak, but I sat next to a friend who was sketching on a Samsung tab with the S Pen and then tried the same sketch on the iPad Pro with Pencil Pro. The difference in responsiveness is noticeable.
The Camera Situation
Nobody buys a tablet for the camera. Let's be real. But the 12MP rear camera on the iPad Pro M4 is actually surprisingly capable for document scanning, which is probably its most common use case. I scan receipts, bills, handwritten notes with it regularly, and the results are sharp and well-lit thanks to the adaptive True Tone flash.
The big upgrade is the front camera. Apple finally moved it to the long horizontal edge of the tablet, so when you're on a video call — which, let's be honest, is how 90% of people hold their iPad — you're actually looking at the camera instead of off to one side. It sounds like a small thing but it makes Zoom and Google Meet calls feel so much more natural. My colleagues actually commented that I looked different on calls and I realized it was because I was finally making "eye contact" with them through the screen.
FaceTime, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams — all work brilliantly with the new camera placement. If you work from home even a few days a week, this is a genuine quality of life improvement.
Connectivity and Ports — Thunderbolt Is a Big Deal
USB-C with Thunderbolt/USB 4 support means you can connect pretty much anything to this iPad. External SSDs, 4K monitors, audio interfaces, MIDI keyboards, SD card readers — the list goes on. I plugged in my Samsung T7 external SSD and was transferring files at legitimately fast speeds. For photographers who shoot on location, being able to dump photos from an SD card directly to the iPad, edit in Lightroom, and deliver to clients on the same day — that workflow is real now. Not theoretical. Actually real.
Wi-Fi 6E ensures fast wireless speeds if your router supports it. Most newer routers from brands like TP-Link and Asus sold in India now support 6E, so you'll be future-proofed for a while.
Battery Life — Honestly, It's Just Okay
Apple claims "up to 10 hours" and in my experience, that's accurate for light to moderate use. Browsing, emails, some video streaming — yeah, 9-10 hours is realistic. But throw in heavy creative work — running Procreate for hours, or editing video in Final Cut Pro — and you're looking at more like 5-6 hours. Which is fine, but it's not dramatically better than the previous generation.
Charging is via USB-C and while Apple doesn't advertise a specific wattage, a 30W or higher charger gets you from zero to full in about 90 minutes. Not the fastest, but acceptable. I usually charge mine overnight and it lasts comfortably through the workday.
iPadOS — The Biggest Limitation Is Software, Not Hardware
Here's where I've to be critical. The iPad Pro M4 hardware is genuinely exceptional. But iPadOS still holds it back from being a true laptop replacement for many people. You still can't run proper desktop apps in the way you can on a MacBook. The file management system is still frustrating compared to macOS or Windows. Some professional apps are still "iPad versions" that lack features from their desktop counterparts.
Stage Manager has improved a lot, and you can now run multiple windows side by side with external monitor support, which is great. But there are still weird limitations — like certain apps not supporting proper windowed mode, or the occasional confusion about where a file gets saved. If Apple ever brings full macOS apps to iPad, or even just a proper desktop-class file manager, the iPad Pro would really replace laptops for a huge number of users. We're not quite there yet, but we're closer than ever.
Now Let's Talk About This Deal — Is Rs 99,999 Actually Good?
The MRP for the iPad Pro M4 11-inch (256GB, Wi-Fi) is Rs 1,19,900. Amazon India currently has it at Rs 99,999. That's Rs 19,901 off — roughly a 17% discount. For an Apple product that's less than a year old, that's a very solid price drop. Apple products in India rarely get discounted this much outside of major sale events.
But it gets better when you stack the bank offers:
- HDFC Bank credit card: Additional Rs 2,500 instant discount on EMI transactions. This is probably the best bank offer right now. If you have an HDFC card — and honestly, half of urban India seems to — definitely use it for this purchase.
- SBI credit/debit card: 10% cashback up to Rs 1,750. Not as big as the HDFC offer but still worth claiming if SBI is your primary bank.
- Amazon Pay ICICI card: 5% unlimited cashback. If you do a lot of Amazon shopping, the cashback adds up over time. On a Rs 99,999 purchase, that's about Rs 5,000 back.
- No-cost EMI: Available for up to 12 months. So you're paying roughly Rs 8,333 per month with zero interest. That's very manageable for most working professionals.
If you combine the HDFC instant discount with the base price, you're looking at Rs 97,499 for the most powerful consumer tablet on the market. During Diwali sales, I've seen the price go as low as Rs 94,999 briefly, but that sold out in minutes. At Rs 97,499-99,999, you're getting close to the best price this tablet has ever been in India.
Who Should Buy This?
Let me be specific here because not everyone needs to spend a lakh on a tablet.
Yes, buy it if: You're a professional creative — photographer, video editor, digital artist, music producer. You need a portable powerhouse that can handle heavy workflows. You're replacing an older iPad Pro (2020 or earlier) and want a meaningful upgrade. You're a student in a design or media program and need a device that doubles as a portfolio tool. You want a tablet that will last you 5+ years without slowing down.
Skip it if: You mainly use tablets for Netflix, YouTube, and social media. You're on a budget (look at the iPad 10th Gen or Samsung Tab S9 FE instead). You need a laptop replacement with full desktop app support — get a MacBook Air instead.
A Quick Word About Buying in India
If you're in Delhi, Mumbai, or Bangalore, you might be tempted to check prices at local Apple resellers or the Apple Store in BKC Mumbai. In my experience, the Amazon deal with bank offers usually works out cheaper than offline retail, even with the trade-in offers that Apple stores provide. But if you value the in-store experience and want to try before you buy, nothing wrong with that. Just don't forget to compare final prices after all discounts.
Also — and this is worth mentioning — Amazon's return policy on electronics in India gives you 7 days to return the product no questions asked. Apple's own return window is 14 days. So if you're on the fence, buying from Amazon gives you a safety net to try it out and return it if it's not for you.
Final Thoughts — Not a Perfect Device, But the Best Tablet You Can Buy
The iPad Pro M4 11-inch isn't perfect. iPadOS still frustrates me sometimes. The accessories are expensive and sold separately. The base storage of 256GB feels tight if you're working with large video files. And Apple's pricing in India, even with discounts, is steep compared to what Americans pay.
But at Rs 99,999 with additional bank offers, this is the most powerful, best-built, most beautiful tablet available in the Indian market. The tandem OLED display is in a league of its own. The M4 chip is faster than some laptops. The build quality is exceptional. And with Apple's track record of software support — iPads from 2018 are still getting updates — this is a device that will serve you well for years to come.
If you've been waiting for a price drop to pull the trigger, this is it. I wouldn't wait for a better deal unless you're willing to hold out until the next Diwali sale, and even then, the difference might only be a few thousand rupees. At this price, I'm comfortable saying it's worth it.
