I am so hurt and confused because I’ve been using the M4 iPad Pro for more than a month. While there’s lots to love about it, I ran into two big issues that made me feel that I couldn’t replace it with my Mac.
So, I’ve got two people to help me figure out how to fix those problems, and I guarantee that they can also help you get the best out of this M4 iPad Pro, especially with the new iPadOS 18 beta that has just come out.
What I Love About It
Let’s start with what I really love about it. Yes, you guessed it—the screen. This tandem OLED tech makes watching content on this iPad Pro even better than my RM38,000 TV. Why? Because not only was the quality amazing, but because it’s extremely light, I felt like I was carrying around my TV wherever I went.
I’ve been binge-watching YouTube videos and the latest Star Wars Acolyte series only on this iPad Pro because of how amazing the quality is. The black levels were amazing, and the contrast ratio once again beats a typical TV because of its overall form factor and the screen.
Speaking of TV shows, on the Apple TV app, thanks to the new iPadOS 18 public beta update, there was the InSight feature, which was great to know who’s exactly on the screen. You know those moments where you’re wondering, “Hey, this person looks very familiar,” and then you go and Google on IMDb to find out who it is? Well, now you don’t have to because it’s all in there.
Going back to comparing this with my TV screen, screen glare was my biggest drawback, especially since my home blinds were not blackout blinds. Watching videos or anything on a TV during the day was really not a good experience. Then, the matte screen on the iPad Pro made it easier to watch anything during the day, so I could just sit in my favorite area on the sofa and not worry about any screen glare.
The new customizable home screen was really refreshing since this feature was out after I got this iPad Pro. After installing the public beta version, it really felt like I had a brand new iPad, especially with the new Control Center customization features, which are now available on this public beta version.
Next would be the speakers. Before this, I’ve always used the 13-inch M3 MacBook Air as my video consumption device on my dining table at home. While the speakers on the Mac were decent, when I compared them with the M4 iPad Pro, I just couldn’t go back to the M3 MacBook Air.
Besides watching videos and series as mentioned earlier, I even started listening to more music on this since it’s way better than typically using the iPhone speakers too. Again, thanks to the overall portability of this tablet.
What I also love is my overall typing experience, specifically on the new Magic Keyboard. It truly feels like I’m typing on a Mac. The aluminum build quality was amazing, and the function keys on top also made me feel like I was using the MacBook Pro all the way. So, I ended up using this to type my emails, especially my script, more on this iPad too.
I also found that writing scripts on the iPad was faster compared to typing on the Mac. This is because, on Google Docs, there’s a spell check assistant below, so at any point in time, if I want to use the right word or spelling, I can just reach out and touch the screen. This makes it way faster than using my trackpad and then selecting each sentence or word one by one.
However, one little drawback compared to the MacBook Pro is that I cannot sit on the sofa while typing on the Magic Keyboard. It is possible, but not as comfortable compared to the Mac, so this is something worth considering if you’re planning to use the iPad in a similar lap situation.
By now, you might know that the camera has been reduced to just one camera at the back. While that didn’t really affect me, what’s lovely is that this new flash makes scanning documents so much easier since the software will remove unwanted shadows. This makes doing my monthly claims super easy.
The split view has also helped a lot when it comes to doing research and scripting as well. The sidebar has also been refreshed to surface more sections of the same app.
Speaking of browsing, as a company owner, I use the Xero accounting software a lot on my Mac, and I noticed that it loads and responds way faster on the Safari browser than on Chrome too. Since you can continue browsing from where you left off from your iPhone to the iPad, it also came in very handy, more than I expected it to be. So yes, guys, just say no to Chrome.
Speaking of accounting, the math notes feature was also a huge welcome on the new public beta version of iPadOS 18. The fact that it also calculates in real time is just crazy. While I don’t use it a lot every single day, when I did, it came in handy. This math notes feature not only works in the calculator app but also in the Notes app as well. Yes, I will be talking more about this Apple Pencil Pro later in this video.
While I’m not a hardcore gamer, if I really wanted to game on the iPad Pro, it would transform the iPad into a gaming machine. Playing games like Genshin Impact together with a controller made me feel like I was playing on a high-quality console. The game was flawless at the highest settings with motion blur turned on.
Because macOS can’t officially play Genshin Impact, I cannot do that on the Mac. So, this has become my favorite place to play Genshin Impact, or shall I say the only place that I have been playing Genshin Impact on, even more than my iPhone.
Of course, there are also other high-quality games available like Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, which has performed amazingly well too. So yes, playing games on this M4 iPad Pro is truly effortless, not breaking a sweat at all.
Finally, the battery life on the iPad Pro has also been really amazing too. I’ve been getting more than a day’s use consistently if I use it more for work like writing scripts, checking emails, or doing some research-related browsing.
My Issues
Now let’s talk about my problem of trying to work with this iPad Pro, which I couldn’t replace my MacBook Pro with.
First is video editing, specifically on Final Cut Pro. You see, I just love and cannot live without Final Cut Pro on my Mac. It is a software that the entire Adam Lobo TV team uses every single day.
The Final Cut Pro on the iPad is not exactly the same as the macOS version, so I reached out to get help from a fellow content creator, ZY from ZY Productions, to help me with that and give me some tips on how I can implement my video editing on the iPad Pro.
Check out the full interview on my YouTube video, here’s a transcript of the interview.
#1 – Interview with ZY
[Adam] Okay guys, so yes, I have ZY with me from ZY Productions, and I understand that you have been using the Final Cut Pro on the iPad. Tell me your experience about how you switched from the Mac version of Final Cut Pro to the iPad Pro version.
[ZY] Okay, I think we’re all caught by surprise a little when we fire up Final Cut Pro for the first time because the first impression is like, “This is a bit different from what I’ve seen on the Mac.” There definitely was a bit of a transitional period because, unlike something like DaVinci Resolve for iPad, which looks exactly like the desktop version, this is redeveloped from the ground up. The iPad is a touch-centric device, but they’ve made it in a way that even if you were to hold this in your hands and use only the touchscreen to do your editing, it works. This complements the Mac version very, very well, and I think we’ll dive a lot more into that throughout the session.
The iPad Pro version of Final Cut Pro has not just a few but many distinct advantages. Live Drawing is the biggest thing for me on Final Cut Pro for iPad. In fact, when I say that this complements my Mac version of Final Cut Pro, Live Drawing is what I lean to the most. If you look at a few of my latest videos or reels, there’s always some bit of live drawing in there. If a scene or a particular shot of B-roll could benefit from live drawing—I’m sure you’ve come across this more than once—you want an arrow pointing at this circle. You’re not going to do that on a Mac with the trackpad and all.
[Adam] Fantastic! I was just going to get into that because I wanted to know what are your three main things that you love about the iPad Pro’s version of Final Cut Pro, and what are your best practices and tips? So, we’re going to go into that. Just give us three. You have the recording already, right? This is recording?
[ZY] Okay, first thing is the first thing I lean towards, and that’s this jog wheel. It’s a very new way to use Final Cut Pro. We don’t have this on the Mac version; we always have scrubbing with cursors and all, but this really reminds me of the hardware transport wheels that professional editors use. That little wheel gives you so much precision with this, and I think for a touch-centric interface, like you could still jog with your Apple Pencil with hover, but going frame by frame with this is so intuitive.
And it’s not just limited to scrolling your playhead along. For example, if I tap on this clip here and I select this left handle and toggle to nudge, I can use this to really fine-tune and dial in my edits down to the exact frame. It is so much more precise and gives you so much more control.
[Adam] This is obviously something that you cannot do on the Mac version.
[ZY] Exactly! Without, say, resorting to a hardware transport. This is just right there, and you can move this anywhere you like. You’re not limited to using that in any corner. If you want to use your left thumb to roll it, go ahead; if you want to put it over here, wherever you want it to be.
[Adam] Nice!
[ZY] And just the overall attention to details they’ve done with this. For example, my program monitor is here. I can tap this and do picture-in-picture, and I can move this window around and have all this real estate, especially on an 11-inch iPad like this, real estate is pretty precious. I can have all the room I want for everything else while I have my picture-in-picture just sort of floating where it can be at the moment.
That’s two – and third is, of course, Live Drawing. For example, say I want a line pointing down at this—just tap on that drawing icon, circle this, point an arrow at it. And my favorite thing about this is, compared to recording this live, say I don’t like the way this arrow looks, I can undo and redraw it as many times as I want, and the final live drawing will only have that final best take. So, it just disappeared really quickly there because I can extend this clip.
And of course, I can control how quickly it draws on. So if I just tap this, go to the inspector on the left—that was one of the biggest things to get used to because we’re so used to the inspector being on the right—so note to self: the inspector’s on the left.
Live drawing and Draw On—I’ll just cut that down to, say, half a second, jog that back, could just use the jog wheel to do that, and there it is.
So, that’s three things!
[Adam] Fantastic! So I like how he broke down everything very clearly, especially using live drawing. And you know, the whole jog wheel thing is something which I never personally really tried in my workflow, so hopefully, we look into that.
Now, I understand, Z, that you also are planning to do a Today at Apple session.
[ZY] Yes, I am.
[Adam] Tell everybody who is watching this video, because hopefully, this video will be out before— which I’m sure it will be out before—tell everyone about your session and what they can expect from the session.
[ZY] Sure thing. This is a nice little primer for the session. I didn’t spoil too much for the session, so if you’ve seen this video, please still come for the session. It will be on the 17th of August at Apple The Exchange TRX. If you’ve not been, this is a really good excuse to finally go check it out. It is an absolutely gorgeous store, beautiful, beautiful. We were there multiple times, Adam, you had your session there, absolutely incredible. Final Cut Pro for iPad—this will be how to apply some video editing hacks.
[Adam] Lovely, okay. So I’ll put the links down below for you guys to check out ZY, and thank you so much. I guess this would hopefully solve my issue of trying to convert totally from the MacBook Air to this iPad Pro. So, thank you, ZY, and make sure to check out his Today at Apple links down below. And back to the video.
– End of interview transcript with ZY –
ZY Cheng
His “Today at Apple” session: https://www.apple.com/my/today/event/workshop-zycheng-081724/7213676248751833600/?sn=R742
Alright, now that we have settled my video editing problems with ZY, let’s go into another area that I feel I’m not using enough, and that is the Apple Pencil Pro. Because the Apple Pencil Pro has amazing features like the barrel roll, double-tap to switch, squeeze for actions, and so much more.
And here is where I’ve reached out to another friend, Danny One, who is a pro at Freeform, to get his knowledge on fully taking advantage of this new Apple Pencil Pro and how to implement Freeform into the team’s workflow.
Check out the full interview on my YouTube video, here’s a transcript of the interview.
#2 – Interview with Danny
[Adam] Okay, so right now I have Danny right here. So Danny, thank you so much for coming and joining us in this particular video—a very tough video, I have to say—because I need some advice from someone who has been using the Apple Pencil Pro for the longest time, especially with apps like Freeform, right? So with that, can you please demonstrate for us all the different features that the new Apple Pencil Pro has?
[Danny] Alright, what I have here is this Apple Pencil Pro. So you can have very different kinds of choices or features. The first one you can use is the double-tap, which I often use. Just like when you’re writing something on the board and there’s a mistake, you can just double-tap to change the tool you’re using, like the previous one—let’s say, an eraser. Right? You can just double-tap it and erase everything.
And the final one is squeeze for action; all you do is squeeze, and the tools will just appear right over here, and you can pick whatever you want—a nice pen, or even if you’re too lazy to type, you can just write it down, and it will change into alphabet.
[Adam] Very nice! Okay, so I know that this was done on Apple Notes, right? But I understand that you are a person who uses Freeform a lot. I went online, did some research about Freeform, but I really did not implement that. So can you give us your implementation on how you use Freeform every day? That means, how does Danny use Freeform every day?
[Danny] Okay. So eventually, Freeform is one of the best apps for me in iPadOS, which I’ve been using for all my daily routines, even like storytelling, brainstorming, or eventually, if I’m having a conversation with my friends or with my team. I would use it to share with them, and they would give me some feedback. Let’s say when I’m brainstorming, I’ll be drawing all the things right over here. I can just write ideas or kind of things that I wanted to do—to-do lists—over here.
Because the best thing about Freeform is that there’s no limit. You can just go through other places; you can just write until the end of the edge, which is no problem at all. So, you can just continue the whole mind mapping right over Freeform. Let’s say when I’m doing something like a product I’ve been working on with my partners or with my team, I’ll be putting all the ideas into one place. On the other side, they’ll try to add feedback and ideas, and I’ll do all the storyboarding and everything over here. Like, say in the office, they will give me all the ideas, they’ll put all the notes over here, and you can just put all the notes, form things, and write everything over here.
[Adam] Good, very nice. So, you mentioned doing something with the team. Since you know we do not implement Freeform into our workflow for Adam Lobo TV, for a video production team, right? What is your advice on how we can implement Freeform into our Adam Lobo TV team workflow?
[Danny] The first thing is that you need to have the storyboard first, correct? You just draw it out here, just like what I’ve done. So I would do the storyboard, I’ll put all the sticky notes over here, and write down all the things that have been in my mind for my team to look at. This is not the first one; we should be doing this second one, moving up. Oh, there you go. Wow. So I’ll be moving it to another place, this one together.
[Adam] So, are sticky notes built within Freeform for you to add, or is that something where you have to download?
[Danny] Oh it’s already inside Freeform, so you can just use it anytime you want.
[Adam] How do you add a sticky note? Can you just show all of us?
[Danny] All you do is tap this. The first step is here—anytime, you can move it. Now, tap it, done, and then you can write anything you want.
[Adam] That’s fantastic, yeah. Okay, so I guess that would be it. Thank you so much, Danny. I think this has definitely given me more options to use this amazing Apple Pencil Pro a bit more because, instead of just using this for navigation and stuff, I think Freeform would be one of the best ways for us to really implement having storyboard ideas, rather than just typically using a non-sketchy kind of app as well.
Thank you so much, Danny, appreciate your time. And don’t forget to follow him—I’ll put all his social media pages over here—and make sure to follow him as well. Thank you.
– End of interview transcript with Danny –
DannyOne
Conclusion
Alright, so there you have it—my in-depth review of the M4 iPad Pro after using it for a month. I hope this video can help you make a purchase decision, whether or not you should totally switch to the iPad Pro, or if you should get the M3 MacBook Air instead. If you do, check out my review of that over here.
