How good is the M4 iPad Pro for musicians? Can it be recommended for sheet music? If so, which configuration is best for reading music? This post will answer all of these questions and more.

This is an update to my overview of using an iPad for sheet music. In that video, we took a closer look at most recent designs, especially the 13-inch iPad Air and iPad Pro since this is the size by far best suited for reading sheet music. In that video, I shared my conclusion that musicians really only need a large, bright, ideally glare-free tablet with a stylus. While the 13-inch M4 iPad Pro is a genuine technological marvel, the need to upgrade to at least 1 terabyte of storage, along with that model’s upgrades to the processor and memory, just to get the option to configure it with Apple’s even more expensive glare-free Nano-texture display makes it far too expensive for most everyday musicians.

Well, in the meantime I bit the bullet and ended up getting one, and I’d like to share with you my experience thus far. Is it something I’d recommend? Let’s find out.

Now, there was no way I was going to spend over two and a half thousand euros on a tablet, let alone another 550 euros on a keyboard and stylus. Here in Europe, the minimum price for a 13-inch iPad Pro with cellular and a matte (Nano-texture) screen costs the equivalent of over three thousand U.S. dollars, and that’s without any accessories. For most everyday musicians, that’s simply too high an asking price, especially considering that the vast majority of the device’s power will just go unused.

So I started looking into second-hand devices and stumbled upon what looked like it might be a viable option. As far as I could tell, the site Back Market appeared to be reputable. They offer a 30-day return window, work exclusively with qualified refurbishing partners, and guarantee that any device they resell has been properly sourced and fully functioning.

There, I found exactly the configuration I was looking for, at a little over half the price compared to my local Apple Store, and presumably in outstanding condition. It seemed too good to be true. Surely there must be a catch. Nonetheless, after doing some research I decided to take a chance, so I placed the order.

Barely two days later, the package arrived. It came in a plain brown box; Apple’s original packaging was missing, as were the original charger, USB cable, and Apple’s polishing cloth to clean the Nano-texture screen. Instead, a generic charger and USB cable were supplied.

The hardware

How about the device itself? It was exactly the model I ordered: 13-inch iPad Pro in Space Black, with 1 terabyte of storage, cellular connectivity, and the coveted Nano-texture display. And its condition? Absolutely flawless. There wasn’t the slightest scratch anywhere on it, either on the case or the screen.

Back Market guarantees that all iPads it resells have a charging capacity of at least 85 percent of that of a brand new device. After setting up the iPad, I checked the battery in the Settings app. Its maximum charging capacity? A perfect 100 percent! Even better, it had a mere two charging cycles. The device is truly as good as new.

I assume someone likely ordered it and quickly decided that the matte screen wasn’t for them. Whatever happened, it turned out to be serendipitous for me.

The only catch when ordering Apple gear second-hand is that it’s ineligible for AppleCare+, so you’ll have to be extra careful if you go this route.

So how is the tablet itself, and do I recommend it to fellow musicians? In short, it’s absolutely perfect for musicians. In fact, it’s my favorite device and the single most impressive piece of hardware I’ve ever owned. And no, I would emphatically not recommend it to musicians!

Let me be clear though: The only reason I wouldn’t unconditionally recommend the 13-inch iPad Pro with the matte Nano-texture display is its extremely high price. If you can find one used in like-new condition at a greatly reduced price like I did, or if Apple ever makes the Nano-texture option available on lower-end models such as the base 256 GB model, then I’d enthusiastically recommend it to performing musicians as the top choice for those who use Apple’s ecosystem.

Of course, if the price isn’t an issue for you and you want the best screen and most impressive hardware available, then by all means get one and enjoy it. You’ll no doubt love it. In terms of hardware, Apple knocked it out of the park. Everything works instantaneously, it’s extremely thin and now light enough to use the 13-inch model for everyday tablet tasks, the screen is perfect… I could go on. It will almost certainly last you years before you’ll need to consider upgrading. For most musicians, though, there are far less expensive options out there that may not be quite as incredible, but they’re still pretty great.

Alternatives to Apple

Musicians are of course not limited to iPads. Android tablets have been getting better and better, and there are perfectly viable options among them. Some have special features that may make them especially suitable for music scores. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra, for instance, has a huge 14.6-inch screen in a thin chassis. Its aspect ratio is 16:10, compared to the 4:3 of the 13-inch iPad Pro, meaning that the Samsung tablet is optimized for watching movies, while the iPad’s size is closer to a sheet of letter paper. Their screens’ widths are nearly identical—the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra screen is just a couple millimeters wider than the 13-inch iPad Pro’s—so viewing, say a PDF document such as a music score in portrait orientation won’t make much difference since the top and bottom space of the Galaxy will basically be letterboxed. But some apps may be able to make use of that extra space. The Henle Library app, for instance, could potentially show you an extra system, in effect making a page of sheet music extra tall.

The Galaxy Tab also comes with an anti-reflective coating. It’s not an optional extra but rather a standard feature. Some reviewers like Apple’s Nano-texture better, while others prefer Samsung’s anti-reflective coating, but everyone seems to agree that both technologies reduce glare effectively. Overall, the iPad Pro’s screen gets much brighter, so if you’ll be using it outdoors or onstage under bright lights, that may be a deciding factor, but Samsung offers a viable yet still high-end option for performing musicians at a much cheaper (though still hardly cheap) price.

Nano-texture display

Apple’s Nano-texture, by contrast, isn’t a coating; it’s a special texture that’s etched directly into the glass itself at the nanometer level using a novel process. It scatters light and eliminates or greatly reduces any reflections, making the screen easily readable in any lighting conditions.

What are my impressions of the much-touted Nano-texture screen as a musician? For me, it’s a game changer. It makes sheet music, and everything else too, look similar to paper. Combined with the very bright dual-OLED technology used in the latest iPad Pros, this makes the screen readable even in direct sunlight or onstage under bright spotlights. In the past, I sometimes had to ask stagehands to reposition lights so that they don’t shine directly onto the screen while I’m playing. Now I just don’t have to worry about it anymore.

The Nano-texture glass also feels different to the touch. It’s much smoother when using the touchscreen. With standard glass, there can be noticeable friction if there’s any moisture on your fingers. With Nano-texture glass, the fingers glide smoothly over the screen, which I like much better. It also feels a bit more like paper when using the Apple Pencil compared to the standard glossy screen, although not as much as using a paper-like screen protector. Speaking of which, I personally wouldn’t use a screen protector with this screen since it would defeat the purpose of getting Nano-texture in the first place.

If you’re wondering whether a standard glossy display with one of the paper-like screen protectors is comparable in terms of glare reduction, the answer, I’m afraid, is no. The Nano-texture is likely to be much superior at reducing glare and reflections than any screen protector. That said, some users have reported success with products by a company called Mothca that specializes in matte screen protectors. (I haven’t tried them personally, so I can’t share any side by side comparisons.) Also, screen protectors of course protect your expensive screen from scratches, and when using one with the Pencil they also make it feel even more like paper.

There are some drawbacks to the Nano-texture. Since this texture scatters light, if you’re in a well-lit environment, blacks won’t be perfectly jet black like they are on a glossy OLED screen. The upside is that you won’t feel that you’re staring into a mirror. For musicians, this is easily worth the trade-off.

Some people may find text on a Nano-texture display to be marginally less sharp. I did compare it to my old M2 iPad Pro and found any difference to be very minor compared to all the dramatic gains it offers for my use cases. Basically, the Nano-texture allows me to work anywhere, in any lighting conditions, without distracting reflections. It also looks quite similar to paper, which is easier on my eyes.

Cleaning the Nano-texture screen

If you opt for the Nano-texture version, you will have to be extra careful when it comes to cleaning it. My second-hand unit was missing Apple’s expensive polishing cloth. The Apple Store here in Vienna recommended an alternative that they use in-store, but it turns out that the one Apple sells (for an insane $20 and even more insane € 25!) really does have its advantages. It turns out there’s a scientist who analyzed it under an electron microscope and compared it to other microfiber cloths, and Apple’s cloth picks up debris much better than alternatives. Somewhat reluctantly I ended up getting one. What can I say? It works. It’s much thicker than the microfiber cloths you might use to clean your glasses. You’ll just have to remember to carry it around with your iPad since smudges will quickly accumulate. I try to remember to keep it in a briefcase with the device… and then always regret it whenever I forget it.

Stylus

For musicians, a stylus is a must-have. This is one area that separates Apple from some of its competitors. Samsung includes their stylus as part of the standard package, whereas with an iPad you’re forced to buy an Apple Pencil separately. The Apple Pencil Pro retails for $129 or € 149, so it’s quite an expensive add-on. Alternatively, for the M4 iPad Pro you can get the regular USB-C Apple Pencil, though it lacks useful features, most notably wireless pairing and charging. Personally, I’d recommend getting the Pencil Pro over the cheaper model if you’re getting an iPad Pro. There are also much cheaper and less fully featured third-party options that will work just fine. Either way, for musicians a stylus of one sort or another is really a must. It makes working on a tablet screen similar to using a paper score.

Usability

As a general-use tablet, what can I say? It’s fantastic. It’s noticeably lighter than the 12.9-inch M2 iPad Pro it replaces, and that does make a difference. With the new Magic Keyboard accessory, it’s a pretty effective laptop replacement, at least for most everyday tasks like email, writing documents, web browsing, and the like. It’s now light enough and thin enough that the tablet plus Magic Keyboard combination is identical to carrying around a 13-inch MacBook Air. The Nano-texture screen means you can easily use it outdoors or in a cafe with bright sunlight shining through the window. Basically, you can easily take it with you and have all your music scores and a mobile office available anytime and anywhere you might need them.

For sheet music apps like forScore and Henle Library, both of which I use and recommend, this tablet is perfect. However, it’s important to point out that literally any other big-screen iPad can handle these apps just as well, and that the only palpable difference is the brighter, glare-free screen and the slighter lighter weight of the 13-inch Pro.

Concluding thoughts

With the 13-inch M4 iPad Pro with Nano-texture display, Apple pretty much made the perfect tablet for musicians. It’s a thin sheet of glass that looks and feels quite similar to using paper scores. Apple’s engineers managed to pack an extremely powerful desktop-level computer into a wafer-thin body. Features like FaceID and optional cellular internet complete the package.

The only thing on my wish list for the hardware would be even longer battery life. Apple chose to make the device thinner and retain its standard of roughly ten hours of battery life. That’s plenty for most travel and performance situations, though it’d be nice to have even more.

My other wish is that the operating system will evolve to become similarly powerful to macOS. Then the device could evolve for me to be not just a replacement for a paper sheet music library and a general-purpose tablet, but a full laptop replacement.

All in all, the only major issue with this product isn’t the product. It isn’t the hardware, or even the software, but rather the very steep price of admission for the Nano-texture display. It’s not the extra $100 surcharge (or even € 130 for customers in Europe), but rather the fact that Apple makes this glare-free option available only on the highest-end, highest-capacity models. Musicians don’t need this much storage, the extra processor core, or even the extra RAM, not just for sheet music but really for any iPad music app. More system resources are always nice to have, but in this case they’ll just be idling, and musicians are forced to pay for power they’ll never actually use. Apple could easily rectify this situation by making the Nano-texture an option on the base model, which is already more than powerful enough for years of use. In the meantime, it’s worth looking into the second-hand market. You might luck out and find a 13-inch iPad Pro in mint condition for much less than retail. If you do, it’s well worth it.

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Happy practicing!