Apple announces new iPad Pro models with the M5 chip

Apple today announced updates to its iPad Pro series, which includes the 13-inch and the 11-inch models. Both models will now get all of Apple's latest chips, which include the new M5, the N1, as well as the C1X.

The M5 is a brand new chip being launched alongside today, and will also be making an appearance on the 14-inch MacBook Pro and the Apple Vision Pro. It has up to a 10-core CPU layout with up to 4 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores. Much like with the M4, Apple once again claims that the performance cores in the M5 are the world's fastest CPU cores. It's combined with a new 10-core GPU design that also features dedicated neural accelerators in each core. The memory bandwidth has been increased to 153GB/s and ray tracing performance has also increased.

Compared to the M4, the M5 is claimed to have up to 3.5x the AI performance thanks to the new neural accelerators. 3D rendering performance with ray tracing has improved by 1.5x. The M5 is also 1.2x faster in video transcoding in Final Cut Pro.

The new M5 chip also brings improved video out capabilities. The new iPad Pro models can now output at up to 120Hz to an external display. Moreover, there is now also support for Adaptive Sync (VRR) for those with compatible displays.

Along with the faster chips, the iPad Pro variants also see increase in memory capacity. The 256GB and 512GB models go from having 8GB to 12GB memory as standard while the 1TB and 2TB remain at 16GB.

Aside from the increase in CPU and GPU capabilities, the new iPad Pro models also get better connectivity thanks to the inclusion of the N1 wireless networking chip and the C1X modem, which first made appearance in this year's iPhone models.

The final bit of upgrade is to the charging. The iPad Pro models now support the same fast charging standard as the iPhone 17 models. If you have a compatible charger, such as Apple's oddly named 40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max, then you can get up to 50% charge in 30 minutes on the 11-inch model and 35 minutes on the 13-inch model.

Aside from these changes, the new iPad Pro models are identical to their predecessor running on the M4 chip. This means you are getting the same Tandem OLED Ultra Retina XDR displays, the same 12MP camera on the back and 12MP Centre Stage camera on the front, four speaker system, and Thunderbolt/USB4 connectivity.

Prices remain the same as before, and start at $999 for the 11-inch model and $1,299 for the 13-inch model. Meanwhile, the cellular models start at $1,199 and $1,499, respectively.

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