I own a 6th generation iPad which does an adequate job of letting me browse the web, check my email, and even edit the occasional Digital Camera World video review in iMovie. However, my iPad is now showing its age, as it doesn’t support the iOS Final Cut Pro app which was released in June 2024. I was therefore very happy when Apple loaned me an 11-inch iPad Pro (M4) so that I could test out iOS Final Cut Pro and its integration with the new iOS Final Cut Camera app (especially in relation to broadcasting live video from multiple iPhones to iOS Final Cut Pro on the iPad Pro - more on that workflow in the Performance section). Another exciting thing about testing the iPad Pro is that it is the first device to have an M4 chip powering it. I do my day-to-day video editing in macOS Final Cut Pro on a 15-inch MacBook Air which has an M2 chip. That’s still powerful enough to edit 4K movies in macOS Final Cut Pro, so I was therefore very keen to put the M4 chip through its paces in relation to video and photo editing.
I tested the Silver incarnation of the iPad Pro, but it’s also available in Space Black. If I could afford one I’d go for Space Black as that fits the look of my iPhone 15 Pro Max, though the Silver iPad Pro does look great on the silver Magic Keyboard that I was also loaned for this review. I reviewed the cellular model which is the first time I’ve used an iPad that can connect to the web from anywhere. This was handy when I tested the iPad in a studio environment that didn’t have Wifi, as I needed to connect to the web to subscribe to iOS Final Cut Pro. Oh - Apple also kindly popped an Apple Pencil Pro into my review kit, which I’ll cover in a separate review.
