iPad Pro 2022 won't let you use its full power

iPad Pro 2021 won't let you use its full power — here's why

(Epitome credit: Apple)

Apple'southward new iPad Pro 2021 tablets have earned rave reviews and not one — but two — spots on our best tablets listing for (among other things) their powerful components. Virtually notable among them is Apple's speedy M1 chip, and the bulky 8 to 16 GB of congenital-in RAM.

Information technology's rare for Apple tree to spell out how much RAM is congenital into its iPads, but since the gigabytes of RAM driving the new iPad Pros are part of the marketing customers at present know how much raw power these tablets have. And we've just learned that not all of that power is not fully available, due to iPadOS limiting third-party apps to virtually 5 GB each.

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This is a big deal considering the pick to become sixteen GB of RAM is a large selling bespeak of the new iPad Pro, just how valuable is that upgrade when virtually apps can't make employ of all that power? The memory limitations iPadOS imposes on third-party apps accept come up to low-cal thanks to a contempo Procreate update aimed at making the painting app run better on M1-powered iPads.

Procreate at present runs faster and can handle more than layers on an iPad Pro 2021, just when a fan asked what the new RAM cap is on the iPad Pros with 16 GB built in, the folks at Procreate claimed information technology's the same on all M1 iPads -- well-nigh 5 GB, according to developers discussing the issue on the Procreate forum.

"Nosotros tested RAM limit on iOS 14.5.x, xiv.6 and fourteen.7beta, on both iPad M1 8GB and 16GB, and in all cases memory limit that app could allocate was exactly 5.1GB," reads one mail service from a developer. "We got these numbers by doing stress tests (allocating retentivity until app crashes), and by calling 'os_proc_available_memory()'."

We've reached out to Apple representatives to confirm this 5 GB limit on third-party apps'southward RAM usage and enquire subsequently whatsoever plans to alter it. For their office, the squad at Procreate have promised to update the app if Apple tree e'er gives them access to more of the iPad Pro's RAM.

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Read next: Check out our iPad Pro 2021 (11-inch) review

Alex Wawro is a lifelong tech and games enthusiast with more than a decade of experience covering both for outlets similar Game Developer, Blackness Chapeau, and PC World magazine. He currently serves every bit a senior editor at Tom's Guide covering all things computing, from laptops and desktops to keyboards and mice.