Is the M1 iPad Pro a Better Device than an M1 MacBook?

It has the same chip, a slightly smaller, but better display for lookingat the 12.9 inch model. It has touch functionality, face ID, a better camera for video calls. It's compatible with the2nd generation Apple pencil and the magic keyboard,but it's not a laptop.

Now whether you get theMacBook Air, or the MacBook Pro you're getting a really nice notebook. You have plenty of processing power, a desktop operating system,access to desktop apps, a nice display, excellentkeyboard, best in class trackpad and significantly betterexternal display functionality. A lot of people look at the wrong factors when they're trying to choosebetween these two options. I'm gonna talk about designaccessories, multitasking, versatility, and a lot more. And I'm curious to know what you think.

So let's break it down. I wanna start off bytalking about versatility, because this is one ofthe main differentiators between these two incredible options. This is definitely astrength for the iPad Pro and for that matter,essentially, any iPad. You have a great tablet thatyou can use to stream movies, watch YouTube, listen to music,read, take notes and draw. You can use it inlandscape or portrait mode, handheld, flat on your desk, or on a stand and with some accessories,you can add the functionality of an outstanding external keyboard, trackpad, and the Apple pencil. With the Sidecar feature,you can also use it as a wireless or wired external display for your Mac Mini,iMac, or even a MacBook, and then easily get a multidisplay setup. Now, as I mentioned, both theM1 notebooks are fantastic. They offer two similardisplays with the MacBook Pro being brighter at 500 nits versus 400 nits on the MacBook Air.

They have the same keyboard,same number of ports, and great battery life. So there isn't really much to talk about in terms of versatility. If what you're looking for is a versatile and portable device that can handle a lot of different typesof tasks extremely well and still provide somelaptop-like functionality, the iPad Pro is an excellent choice. I wanna reiterate thatit's still not a laptop and it can't replace everythingthat a laptop can do. So let's continue andsee where that leads us. Next, let's talk about the display.

The two MacBooks havevirtually identical displays. Their DCI-P3 Retina displays. They're the same size at 13.3 inches. They have the sameresolution at 2560 by 1600. And the only differenceis the brightness level that I mentioned. With the iPad Pro you have two options. The smaller 11-inch model hasa DCI-P3 liquid retina display with a maximum brightness of 600 nits. It's also a promotion display, meaning that it has a maximumrefresh rate of 120 Hertz, which is twice that of the MacBook. Promotion is Apple'sadaptive refresh rate, meaning that the iPad Procan lower the refresh rate when you're doing asimple task like reading, where there really wouldn't be a benefit for a higher refresh rate. And by doing that the iPadPro can save on battery life. Now, when you're watchingcontent or gaming, or even just navigating your iPad, then it's able to bump therefresh rate up to 120 Hertz and provide a much smootherand more fluid user experience. Now moving on to the 12.9 inch M1 iPad Pro we get a few additional benefits.

First, the resolution is nowhigher than that of the MacBook at 2732 by 2048 and more important. We now have a mini-LEDliquid retina XDR display. Now I covered that in my comparison between the two M1 iPads. So if you wanna learnmore, check out that video. In short, it's the bestdisplay of the bunch. For HDR content it's noticeably better and you'll easily be ableto tell the difference if you have them side by side, you'll also be getting 1000 nits of maximum full screen brightness and 1600 nits peak brightness. So if the best image qualityis a priority for you, the 12.9 inch iPad Pro is where it's at. I wanna quickly touch onbiometric authentication. Both MacBooks come withtouch ID, which is great. I love not having to type my passwords and to be able to complete other tasks like making a purchase withjust the press of a finger. 

But I still prefer theface ID on the iPad Pro. Once you get used to it, you almost forget that it's working. You just pick up the device, you swipe up or hit Space Bar on themagic keyboard and you're in. In practice, both work great. But I do wish that theMacBooks had face ID and would automatically unlock, especially since thereare no notifications or no other useful informationon the lock screen. Next, let's talk about thekeyboard and the trackpad now, of course the iPad, on itsown, doesn't come with either. So for the sake of thiscomparison, we're going to go ahead and add the new magic keyboard. Now, keep in mind that the 11inch version costs 300 bucks and the 12.9 inch version,which I have in white, costs 350 bucks. So in order to be fair, we'regoing to need to add that to the cost of the iPad Pro. And the magic keyboardis the best keyboard that I've tried on a keyboard case. And the trackpad is thebest of its kind as well. 

I have a comparison betweenthe new magic keyboard and the Logitech Combo Touch whichhas some outstanding features. So if you're interested inseeing more, check out that video when you're done with this one. Now side by side, I'm stillgoing to give the edge to the MacBooks because thekeys themselves are better, they're more responsive and they provide more tactile feedback. That trackpad is larger and even better than the one on the magic keyboard. And the device is better balanced for when you're not working at a desk. The magic keyboard is excellent when you're on a flat surface. But if you have it on yourlap or you're laying in bed, it's not as comfortableto use as the MacBook because the majority ofthe weight is at the top. 

This makes it less stableand more likely to wobble as you type. So if the best typingand trackpad experience is a priority for you, either MacBooks would be a better choicethan the iPad Pro. Now some users don't plan on typing a lot. And for them, the iPad Promight be the obvious choice unless they need this next feature. Now, one major differentiatorbetween two types of devices is the Operating System orOS, and with it come the apps. The MacBooks run on macOS, which is obviously designed for desktops. 

Any iPad Pro runs on iPadOSdesigned for tablets. From the perspective ofan actual operating system with functions, features, filemanagement and multitasking, iPadOS can't compete with macOS. On top of that, if you actually need full fledged desktop apps, that's simply not availableon an iPad only set up. The M1 chip is the sameso all of these devices are powerful enough, butthe desktop apps themselves are not designed for a touch interface and a significant amount ofwork would have to be done to reconfigure and port them over. 

Now, there are always rumorsabout what might happen, but as of now, if you need desktop apps on a portable device,one of these MacBooks would be the way to go. Now another advantage of the MacBooks is in connecting an external display. With the iPad Pro all you'regetting is a mirrored image of what's already on the iPad display. And depending on thedimension of your display, you're also gonna getblack bars on each side. You can use an app to get somewhat of an extended display functionality, but it's really clunky. If you really want dualdisplay for your workflow, then the MacBook is a much better option. If you've gotten value fromthis video, give it a thumbs up. It lets me know whatkind of content you like so that I can make more of it. And I still see that over90% of you are new viewers. 

So hit that Subscribe button. Moving onto the cameras. It's a little bit of a split decision, depending on how you use it. First, the iPad Pro has acomplete rear facing camera module with a 12 megapixel wide,10 megapixel ultrawide, a LiDAR scanner, and a flash. So in terms of actual content creation, it has much better capabilities. If we're looking at thecamera on the MacBooks then it's a not so great 720p Webcam. It does the job for video calls, which is what it's designed for. But again, it's definitely not great. And the front facingcamera on the iPad Pro is a 12-megapixel TrueDepthcamera with ultrawide. First it's responsible forthe face ID that we discussed, and next, it's just anoverall better camera with better image quality andit works better in low light. Finally, it has a newfeature called Center Stage where the ultrawide cameracan track the subject as they move around andthen zoom in and out to keep them framed properly. If you plan on using this camera for this type of video calls, that's a really cool feature. And I specifically say this type, because if you have the iPadPro on a stand or again, mounted like this on a magic keyboard, and you're sitting in frontof it, there is an issue. The camera on the iPad Pro is on the side. 

So if it's right in front of you and you were looking at the screen, the person that you're talkingto gets an odd perspective, and it appears like you'relooking off to the side. If you intentionally look at the camera, then you can't see theother person on the screen and you kinda have to go back and forth. Now on the MacBook, thecamera is positioned right in the center at the top. So it's actually higher andgives you a much better angle and it always looks likeyou're looking at the person you're talking to. Now, of course, if you havethe iPad Pro in vertical mode, that it's not a problem,but it is something that I think you should be aware of depending on your type of use. As far as speakers, the MacBook speakers are quite good for a laptop, but they're nowhere near as good as the quad speakersystem on the iPad Pro. If you're watching content,listening to music, or gaming, the iPad Pro hands down sounds better. As far as microphone, both areplenty good for video calls, and I'll give you two samples so that you can hear the difference. And here's a test of theMacBook Pro's camera. 

I have the MacBook Pro the same distance I'd have it from me ifI was just typing on it. And of course I canlook right at the screen because the camera is rightabove where I would be looking and the device is centeredright in front of me, because again, the camerais centered on the device. So hopefully this givesyou a pretty good idea of what the MacBook Promicrophone is going to sound like. Here's a test of what the M1 iPad Pro microphone sounds like. I'm sitting about a foot anda half away from the iPad. This is also going to showyou what it looks like when I'm not lookingdirectly into the camera. So right now I'm looking to the left so I'm staring right at the camera. But if I'm looking at the display itself, you can see that I'm bothframed off to the side and it doesn't looklike I'm looking at you. Now moving on to accessories, one of my favoritethings about the iPad Pro is compatibility with the2nd generation Apple pencil. 

This has become such avaluable tool for me. And I use it almosteveryday for note-taking, to sign documents, markupimages and wire frames, or sketch out shot lists and storyboards. So if that's somethingthat would be helpful for your workflow,definitely keep that in mind. Both the MacBook and the iPad Pro offer expanded functionalityvia USB-C or Thunderbolt Hub, but I'm gonna give the edge to the MacBook because of features like extended display and improved external SSD support. For example, with theMacBook apps like Lightroom can use files that are on an external SSD whereas with the iPad Pro youfirst have to copy those files onto the internal storage. As far as pricing, theMacBook Air starts at 999, the MacBook Pro at 1299, the 11 inch iPad Pro at 799 and the 12.9 inch iPad Pro at 1099. Now remember to factor in thecost of the magic keyboard or some other alternative ifyou need that functionality. 

Next let's discuss cellular service. And at this point onlythe iPads offer support for cellular data andboth models work with 5G. If you find yourself working in areas where you don't have wifiand tethering off your phone seems limiting for your workflow, then an iPad Pro witha dedicated data plan is a great option. Now, moving on tobattery life for tablets, I'm super happy with both the 11 and 12.9 inch models of the iPad Pro. Both offer 10 hours ofwifi surfing and nine hours if using cellular data. But in this case, both the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro just crushed the iPads with 18 and 20 hours ofbattery life respectively. 

If you need portablefunctionality with things like a desktop operating system, desktop apps and integrated typing,and trackpad experience, better external display functionality and better battery life, then a MacBook is still the way to go. If you want a powerful andversatile mobile device, that with the addition of a keyboard case can do a lot of thethings that a laptop do, but not everything. If you prioritize different modes of use, touch functionality, a better display, and Apple pencil compatibility, then the iPad Pro is a fantastic choice. Remember that I've links in description to all the products that I talked about. Hopefully this video was helpful, click on my face to subscribe, and then watch one of these videos. You know what I always say,buy at nice or buy twice. Good luck and see you soon.