Apple’s M5 iPad Pro Officially Launches!

Apple’s M5 iPad Pro has officially launched worldwide, bringing the latest silicon to the top-tier tablet we’re already familiar with. And as with every new device, Apple is promising improved performance compared to last time, whether that’s with your usual productivity tasks or even the new AI processes every manufacturer’s focusing on.

But is there more to the tablet than just sticking the latest silicon into its metal unibody? Well, from the looks of things, yes. While initial leaks have mostly focused on GPU performance gains, there’s quite a bit that’s changed in this latest iteration that makes it worth the buy.

Even when you’re upgrading from the already stellar M4 iPad Pro.

Next-Generation Apple Silicon

Apple’s latest chip technically debuts on three of its big ticket products namely, the new MacBook Pro, this iPad Pro, and the Apple Vision Pro headset. Neural Accelerators have been introduced with each core on its 10-core GPU, boosting its AI performance up to 3.5x faster than the M4, according to Apple.

This is perfect for people working with things like AI video masking in DaVinci Resolve, helping cut down the processing time especially when paired with Apple’s 16-core Neural Engine. And it goes without saying that it boosts Apple Intelligence too, both when you’re just messing with Image Playground or utilizing its many convenience features.

CPU’s much faster as well, delivering up to 1.2x faster video transcoding in Final Cut Pro compared to the M4 and a whopping 6x faster performance compared to say, the M1 iPad Air. The bigger the generation gap between upgrades, the more significant it will feel.

It’s not just the chip either. The M5 is supported with over 150GB/s of unified memory bandwidth on both its 256GB and 512GB models. Everything feels significantly faster, whether you’re multitasking between different workflows, playing games, or generating images or text with AI.

Apple’s C1X cellular modem and N1 networking chip makes its way here too. As such, you’ve got faster cellular data performance with less battery usage as well as better performance when connecting to 5G. You’ve got Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 support here too.

Some things stay the same…

We’ve talked about the main difference with the M5. Now we'll take a look at things that stayed the same. For starters, the display is the same Tandem OLED Apple dubs Ultra Retina XDR. It comes with ProMotion technology that offers adaptive refresh rates between 10 - 120Hz so you should experience smooth operation and good efficiency. No complaints for the OLED display though. It’s very nice and vivid, perfect for watching movies or working with things like photo editing.

The thin metal body is also very similar to the M4 so there’s basically no visual difference between the two tablets. It does mean that all of your M4 accessories and cases should work without issue with the M5 iPad Pro.

Cameras are the same as well; a 12 MP wide camera with Auto Image Stabilization as well as 4K video recording capability at the rear and their TrueDepth 12 MP Center Stage Camera at the front, keeping you firmly in the center during video calls.

Same memory/storage combinations as well. The 256GB and 512GB comes with 12GB of RAM or unified memory while the 1TB and 2TB models come with 16GB. Price is roughly the same as the M4. It’s still quite pricey, yes, but this could mean a big discount on the capable M4 for those upgrading from older models.

…but there’s faster charging!

Compared to the M4 though, the M5 iPad Pro does support faster charging. Apple promises reaching 50% charge in just 30 minutes when using a compatible high-speed USB-C power adapter. Of course, said adapter doesn’t come included in the box so you’ll have to buy one separately.

Oddly enough, both the M4 and M5 iPad Pro are officially advertised with up to 10 hours of battery life when surfing the web via Wi-Fi or streaming videos. So a lot of the efficiency gains appear to be directed towards working tasks this time.

iPadOS 26 and Apple Intelligence

The M5 iPad Pro is shipped out with iPadOS 26, complete with its Liquid Glass design, giving your entire UI and icons this transparent, reflective look. The new OS also finally introduces a windowing system, finally allowing users to easily control, organize, and switch in-between apps.

Best of all, the new iPadOS finally makes it even easier to use your iPad Pro as a laptop replacement, especially when used with a Magic Keyboard and mouse attachment. From there, you can easily arrange how your apps are laid out like different windows and you do get a good amount of display size to work with, especially when choosing the 13-inch version.

It’s still not quite the same as working on a laptop like the M2 Macbook Air but very handy in case you need the portability and flexibility over pure power such as when travelling and needing to do some emergency work on the go.

Make sure to stay tuned for updates as to when we’ll get the M5 Apple iPad Pro in stock here at your most trusted gadget store!

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