Here's why Procreate on M1 iPad Pro models has fewer maximum layers than older iPads, fix in works

Apple unveiled the new M1 iPad Pro models on April 21 with specs that leave every Android tablet in the dust, to say the very least.

To put things into perspective, the M1 chip also powers the latest MacBook Pro 13, MacBook Air, and the iMac. And now, folks can get the same power in a lightweight and portable tablet.

As icing on the cake, Apple also offers a 2 TB storage option with 16 GB of RAM. Heck, that’s more RAM than what’s available on some mid-tier laptops.

The powerful specs open up a world of possibilities for the new iPad Pro models from Apple. Some artists who use Procreate have also been excited to try out the new iPads with all the CPU and GPU power they have to offer.

But Procreate users who’ve got their hands on the new iPad Pro models have noticed that these M1-powered devices aren’t even able to handle half as many layers as the older iPads such as the iPad Pro 2018 model.

An individual highlighted the problem on Twitter and shared screenshots from the M1-powered iPad Pro as well as an older 2018 iPad comparing the maximum number of layers available on a 2600×2600 450dpi canvas.

Click/tap to enlarge images:

As you can see from the screenshots shared above, the newer M1 iPad Pro only supports a maximum of 35 layers on a 2600×2600 450dpi canvas while the older iPad supports a maximum of 75 layers in Procreate.

One would expect the opposite given the fact that the new M1-powered iPad Pro models are supposedly 50% faster than last year’s models. So has Apple been lying about the performance of the new iPads?

Relax, there’s no funny business going on around here. The Procreate team has confirmed that the new iPads are not automatically recognized by Procreate.

Hence, for safety reasons, the app automatically caps the RAM usage for unknown devices at a mere 2 GB. This is why M1 iPad Pro users get to work with only a few layers.

That said, Procreate has also mentioned that their devs are working hard to ship a patch to resolve the issue with the M1 iPad Pro models.

Unfortunately, the team did not share an ETA for the patch. So we’ll keep track of the situation and will post an update if and when there are any further developments.

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