Apple iPad M4

I just got the new M4 iPad like two months ago, and my YubiKeys absolutely did not work, no matter what I tried. There are articles on apple.com and yubikey.com that explain that USB-C YubiKeys will not work with USB-C iPads because Apple's USB-C implementation isn't sending the timing info (or something like that) that the YubiKey needs to function. People were buying Lightening YubiKey and connecting them to Apple's Lightening to USB-C "camera adapter" to work around this. I decided to double-check my YubiKeys before I responded to your post and (!!!) they work now! This is huge!

For Windows folks who want to use iPad as a second display, Luna Display is wonderful: https://astropad.com/product/lunadisplay/ I bought an iPad to use as a secondary portable Windows display and got a lot of mileage out of it. Though I honestly get even more mileage as a device for taking video calls. That being said I agree with claims that the M4 is overpowered for my use. I was sold on more on the ‘just works’ nature of it, lightness, and screen size/quality. I just upgraded to an M4 entirely for that beautiful OLED.

Thats all I need, I have my MacBook Pro for daily work with dual monitors and mouse keyboard etc. I think the iPad fills a somewhat small gap very well, I would like to see it do more, but am happy with it as is as well. I also like its longevity, this is my 3rd iPad, the original, the 2nd gen pro and now the M4, 6-7 years between each with OS support for the whole time and the massive batteries last as well, and transparent backup restore with each carrying forward my settings. Almost as good as a Subaru.

This obviously isn't a tablet meant for people who own M4/M2 iPads to upgrade. You wouldn't be getting your money's worth (although the tandem OLED on the M4 is stunning). This is just a minor update for anyone with an older iPad/iPad Pro in case they want to upgrade. Many of the people here complaining don't seem to understand they are not the target market. Also, I love using my iPad as a social media / YouTube content consumption device. It's a fantastic experience. I also use it for a lot of home control (mostly audio but also lighting). It sure is an expensive device but it lasts forever and I get my money's worth. Oh, and Lightroom on it is fantastic!

This seems mostly misinformed. 1) Apple Silicon outperforms all laptop CPUs in the same power envelope on 1T on industry-standard tests: it's not predominantly due to "optimizing their software stack". SPECint, SPECfp, Geekbench, Cinebench, etc. all show major improvements. 2) x86 also heavily relies on micro-ops to greatly improve performance. This is not a "penalty" in any sense. 3) x86 is now six-wide, eight-wide, or nine-wide (with asterisks) for decode width on all major Intel & AMD cores. The myth of x86 being stuck on four-wide has been long disproven. 4) Large buffers, L1, L2, L3, caches, etc. are not exclusive to any CPU microarchitecture. Anyone can increase them—the question is, how much does your core benefit from larger cache features? 5) Ryzen AI Max 300 (Strix Halo) gets nowhere near Apple on 1T perf / W and still loses on 1T perf. Strix Halo uses slower CPUs versus the beastly 9950X below: Fanless iPad M4 P-core SPEC2017 int, fp, geomean: 10.61, 15.58, 12.85 AMD 9950X (Zen5) SPEC2017 int, fp, geomean: 10.14, 15.18, 12.41 Intel 285K (Lion Cove) SPEC2017 int, fp, geomean: 9.81, 12.44, 11.05 Source: https://youtu.be/2jEdpCMD5E8?t=185 , https://youtu.be/ymoiWv9BF7Q?t=670 The 9950X & 285K eat 20W+ per core for that 1T perf; the M4 uses ~7W. Apple has a node advantage, but no node on Earth gives you 50% less power. There is no contest.