iPad 11 (2025, A16 series) Vs iPad Pro (2024, M4 series)

The iPad 2025 A16 Series and the iPad Pro 2024 M4 Series represent distinct tiers within Apple's tablet lineup, released in 2025 and 2024, respectively. While both operate on iPadOS, the iPad Pro 2024 M4 is designed for demanding professional workflows, featuring a more advanced processor and display technology, whereas the iPad 2025 A16 Series focuses on delivering a capable and versatile experience for everyday use. These differences cater to varying user needs, from casual browsing and media consumption to intensive creative and productivity tasks.

When considering the practical lifespan of these devices, several factors come into play, including their release timelines, software support, and repairability.

• Release Timeline: The iPad Pro 2024 M4 Series, released in May 2024, benefits from being a year older than the iPad 2025 A16 Series, which launched in March 2025. This means the iPad 2025 A16 Series will likely receive major iPadOS updates for a slightly longer period.
• Software Longevity: Apple typically provides iPadOS updates for approximately 5-6 years from a device's release, with security updates often extending beyond that. Both models are expected to receive iPadOS 26 and future updates, but the iPad 2025 A16 Series will likely maintain compatibility with the latest software for an additional year due to its newer release.
• Repairability: iPads generally present challenges for repair due to their sealed designs and extensive use of adhesives. The iPad Pro M4 received a provisional repairability score of 5 out of 10 from iFixit, indicating some improvements over older Pro models, though complex repairs remain difficult. Information on the repairability of the iPad 2025 A16 Series is less detailed, but typical base iPad models have historically scored lower.

The performance capabilities of these two iPads differ significantly, primarily due to their underlying processing power, impacting how they handle various tasks.

• Processing Power: The iPad Pro 2024 M4 Series features a powerful M4 chip, which offers substantial performance gains over previous M-series chips and A-series chips. This translates to exceptionally smooth operation for demanding applications, complex multitasking, and high-fidelity gaming. The iPad 2025 A16 Series, equipped with an A16 Bionic chip, provides robust performance for everyday tasks, including web browsing, streaming, and most apps, but may show limitations with highly intensive professional software or advanced gaming.
• Multitasking and Responsiveness: The iPad Pro 2024 M4 Series, especially models with higher storage configurations, often includes more unified memory (RAM), which enhances its ability to manage numerous applications simultaneously without slowdowns. Users will experience instant app loading and seamless transitions. The iPad 2025 A16 Series, with 6GB of RAM, handles typical multitasking scenarios effectively, but power users might notice a difference when juggling many memory-intensive applications.
• Battery Behavior: Both iPads are designed to offer all-day battery life under typical usage conditions. The iPad Pro 2024 M4 Series, despite its powerful chip and advanced display, is optimized for efficiency, often achieving around 10 hours of web browsing or video playback. The iPad 2025 A16 Series also provides a full day of use for most users, with some reports indicating it lasts through a full day of heavy use.

The visual experience on these two tablets is a key differentiator, with distinct display technologies and features.

• Display Technology: The iPad Pro 2024 M4 Series features a Tandem OLED display, marketed as Ultra Retina XDR. This technology delivers deep blacks, exceptional contrast, and vibrant colors, making it ideal for professional content creation and media consumption. The iPad 2025 A16 Series uses a Liquid Retina IPS LCD display, which offers good clarity and color accuracy for general use, but does not achieve the same level of contrast or black levels as OLED.
• Brightness and Clarity: The iPad Pro 2024 M4 Series boasts higher peak brightness, especially for HDR content, and maintains excellent full-screen brightness, ensuring visibility even in bright environments. The iPad 2025 A16 Series provides sufficient brightness for indoor use and most outdoor conditions, though it may struggle with reflections in very bright sunlight. Both offer sharp detail for text and images.
• Refresh Rate: The iPad Pro 2024 M4 Series includes ProMotion technology, offering an adaptive refresh rate up to 120Hz. This results in smoother scrolling, more responsive interactions, and a fluid experience in supported applications and games. The iPad 2025 A16 Series has a standard 60Hz refresh rate, which is suitable for most tasks but will not offer the same level of visual fluidity as the ProMotion display.

While tablets are not typically primary photography devices, their camera systems are important for video calls, document scanning, and casual photography.

• Rear Camera System: The iPad Pro 2024 M4 Series features an advanced 12MP rear camera with a LiDAR scanner, enhancing augmented reality experiences and improving low-light performance and depth sensing. It supports high-quality video recording. The iPad 2025 A16 Series also includes a 12MP wide rear camera capable of 4K video recording, suitable for general photography and scanning documents.
• Front Camera and Video Calls: Both models feature a 12MP Ultra Wide front camera with Center Stage, which automatically keeps subjects in frame during video calls. The iPad Pro 2024 M4 Series' front camera is positioned in landscape orientation, which is more natural for video conferencing when the tablet is used with a keyboard. The iPad 2025 A16 Series also has a capable front camera for clear video calls and selfies.
• Audio Experience: The iPad Pro 2024 M4 Series is equipped with a four-speaker audio system and four studio-quality microphones, providing a rich audio output and clear voice capture for calls and recordings. The iPad 2025 A16 Series features stereo speakers and dual microphones, offering a good audio experience for media consumption and video calls.