M1 iPad Pros are almost shipping, but look out for discounts on the old one

Best iPad for artists (Image credit: iMore)

As some M1-powered iPad Pros begin to get ready to ship there is a lot of excitement about what the new tablets will bring to the table. We know the 12.9-inch model will come loaded with a brand new Mini-LED display and both will have the Apple M1 chip inside. And both things are cool. But are they cool enough?

In isolation, they most definitely are. Apple silicon is super speedy and the new display promises a lot. But the vast majority of people didn't have a problem with the display in last year's iPad Pro and I can't imagine one person having used any iPad Pro and having thought "you know what, this needs to be faster!"

This brings me to what most people should do now that the new iPad Pro is upon us – for my money, and yours, I reckon the outgoing iPad Pro is the one the vast, vast majority of people should buy. Not least because it'll surely see some decent discounts once the new hotness lands on store shelves in a couple of weeks.

If we're all being honest, few people need the iPad Pro anyway. Most would be over the moon with an iPad Air, especially since its semi-recent refresh. You really can't go wrong with that or an outgoing iPad Pro and I just struggle to see who needs an M1-powered iPad at all right now. In fact, the current iPad Air is the best iPad for most people right now.

Right now. Notice those two words?

With WWDC right around the corner – June 7 is when the fun begins – there's no telling what Apple will do. Could we see more melding of iPad and Mac? More cross-pollination of the two platforms? Perhaps, and if so it's the M1 chip that will make it possible. In which case, maybe that new iPad Pro isn't such a bad idea after all.

So, the upshot of all that? Buy an outgoing iPad Pro instead of the new one, but don't do it yet. Let's see what Apple has in store at WWDC first!

Whichever iPad you go for, be sure to get yourself over to our collection of the best iPad deals around before you do!

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.