Apple Just Made “Space Black” Cool Again: What’s Actually New With The M4 iPad Pro?

If you’ve seen the promo shots and thought, “Okay but… is this really that different from last year’s?” — you’re exactly who this breakdown is for. Let’s dig into what actually matters, what’s just marketing glitter, and why this thing is kind of a preview of the next few years in portable tech.

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1. That Tandem OLED Screen Is A Big Deal (Even If Apple’s Name For It Isn’t)

The headliner: this is the first iPad with an OLED display, and Apple’s calling it a “Tandem OLED” panel. Translation: instead of one OLED layer, there are two stacked together, giving you way more brightness without nuking the blacks or colors.

What you’ll actually notice in real life:

• HDR movies and games pop harder — highlights (like explosions, reflections, neon lights) look more “whoa” and less “washed out.”
• Blacks are really black. Not “dark gray if you tilt it” black, but “I can’t tell where the bezel ends” black.
• Drawing, photo editing, or color grading? It’s closer to what creators see on proper reference monitors that cost more than your rent.

The fun twist: this is also where the rest of the gadget world is heading. Phones, laptops, handheld consoles — everyone’s chasing better HDR and deeper blacks. Apple just fired a pretty loud “we’re all‑in on OLED” signal here.

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2. It’s Stupid Thin… To The Point You’ll Worry About Sitting On It

The new iPad Pro comes in two sizes (11 and 13 inches), and both are absurdly thin. The 13‑inch is just 5.1mm thick — thinner than many phones, and thinner than some USB‑C cables you’re going to plug into it.

Why this matters:

• It makes every other tablet instantly feel chunky. Even your laptop might start feeling like a brick.
• In a bag, it basically disappears. If you commute or travel, that’s a win.
• The flip side: people still remember the “Bendgate” era of iPhones and the first iPad Pros that warped. Apple claims this new design is stronger, but if you’re the “throw it on the couch and sit on it” type, maybe… don’t.

This ultra‑thin trend isn’t just Apple flexing. We’re hitting a phase where performance is so good that companies are racing to win on feel — how light, thin, and “invisible” a gadget can be in your daily life.

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3. The M4 Chip Isn’t Just About Speed — It’s About Quietly Future‑Proofing For AI Stuff

Apple skipped the M3 and went straight to an M4 chip in the new iPad Pro. That’s a weird move on paper, but it lines up with the bigger tech trend: every big company is rebuilding their gadgets around “AI workloads” (yes, even if you hate the term).

What that means for you:

• Everyday things like editing photos, scrubbing timelines in video apps, or using complex drawing tools should feel smoother.
• Battery life gets better because the chip is more efficient, not just more powerful.
• The neural engine (the part that does the “AI magic”) is way faster — which matters for on‑device features like object removal in photos, handwriting recognition, and whatever Apple’s rumored AI features are at WWDC.

Even if you don’t care about “AI,” this is the hardware groundwork for the next few years of apps. The M4 iPad Pro is basically overpowered for 2024, which is exactly why power users are eyeballing it so hard.

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4. The New Magic Keyboard Turns It Into A Near‑Laptop (Without Admitting It’s A Laptop)

Alongside the iPad Pro, Apple launched a redesigned Magic Keyboard. It now has:

• A proper aluminum palm rest (so it feels more MacBook and less “optional accessory”)
• A bigger glass trackpad with haptics (clicks feel real, but aren’t)
• Function keys (!), so you can finally adjust brightness and volume without swiping around like a confused raccoon.

What this does in practice:

• If you’re already living the “iPad as laptop” life, this is the first time it doesn’t feel like a compromise.
• If you’re not, this might be the combo that makes you consider ditching a traditional laptop — especially if you mostly do writing, browsing, content creation, and remote work.

The hilarious part is Apple still won’t just call it a laptop, even though half the promo shots look like someone forgot to attach the screen to a MacBook. And that’s very on‑brand for 2024: we’re blurring lines between phone, tablet, laptop, handheld console, and “AI device,” but the accessory ecosystem is where the real transformation happens.

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5. The New Apple Pencil Pro Quietly Fixes A Bunch Of Creator Annoyances

If you draw, annotate PDFs, edit photos, or just like pretending you’re productive with a stylus, the new Apple Pencil Pro is the sneaky star of this launch.

What’s new (in real human terms):

• **Squeeze gestures**: You can gently squeeze the Pencil to bring up tool palettes or switch brushes, instead of tapping tiny icons with your finger.
• **Gyro tricks**: The Pencil can detect rotation more precisely, so things like shading with a pencil brush or rotating calligraphy pens feel more natural.
• **Haptic feedback**: Tiny vibrations make it feel like you’re actually clicking or changing modes, instead of just hoping it worked.
• **Find My support**: The next time it disappears into the couch abyss, you actually have a shot at finding it.

This is part of a bigger gadget trend: accessories getting smarter without getting more complicated. The best tools in 2024 aren’t the ones with the most features — they’re the ones that remove the most little annoyances. The Pencil Pro is very much in that camp.

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Conclusion

The new M4 iPad Pro isn’t just “the best iPad yet” (because obviously Apple says that every year). It’s a snapshot of where gadgets are going right now: OLED everywhere, AI‑ready chips baked into everything, ultra‑thin designs you almost forget you’re carrying, and accessories doing the heavy lifting to change how we actually use these devices.

If you’re a creator, mobile worker, or just someone who babies their screens, this is one of the more interesting hardware launches of 2024. If you’re not upgrading, it’s still worth watching — because the tech inside this thing is about to filter into your next laptop, tablet, and maybe even your TV.

Thinking of going all‑in on the iPad Pro life? Or sticking with a “real” laptop? That’s the fight 2024 gadgets are quietly picking with all of us.