Apple’s new iPad Pro with M5 chip starts at $999, adds 50% more memory, faster charging, and in-house C1X modem
We recently reported on the entire M5 leak timeline — including how the M5 MacBook was expected to launch in October alongside the debut of the M5 chip — and now, it’s official. Apple has launched the new iPad Pro (2025), powered by the all-new M5 chip, marking the company’s most powerful and AI-focused iPad yet.
The announcement follows a wave of online buzz after two Russian YouTubers, Wylsacom and Romancev768, posted unboxing videos of the iPad Pro M5 days before the launch, showing what appeared to be an unreleased unit with the M5 chip inside.
The leaked videos revealed a design nearly identical to the current model, featuring a single rear camera and a thin, minimal chassis — but noticeably missing the “iPad Pro” text on the back. One of the units also appeared to include a second front-facing sensor positioned for portrait mode, though its purpose remains unclear. Meanwhile, Geekbench results from the leaked unit closely matched Apple’s own claims of major CPU and GPU gains over the M4 version.
iPad Pro M5: What Apple has officially announced
Apple’s new iPad Pro comes with the M5 chip. And each GPU core now includes its own Neural Accelerator, which Apple claims makes AI tasks up to 3.5 times faster than last year’s M4 model and about 5.6 times faster than the M1 version.
Models with 256 GB and 512 GB of storage continue to feature a 9-core CPU (three performance cores and six efficiency cores), a 10-core GPU, hardware-accelerated ray tracing, a 16-core Neural Engine, and 153 GB/s memory bandwidth, up from 120 GB/s on the M4 variant.
The 1 TB and 2 TB variants come with a 10-core CPU (four performance and six efficiency cores) and a 10-core GPU.
The M5 also features a new third-generation ray-tracing engine, which claims to improve 3D rendering speeds by up to 6.7 times compared to the M1 and 1.5 times compared to the M4.
Apple has also added two new chips. The N1 wireless chip brings Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread support, while the C1X modem in the cellular model is claimed to deliver up to 50% faster mobile data and 30% lower power consumption.
The M5 iPad Pro will come with iPadOS 26 out of the box, which introduces a new Liquid Glass interface, smarter multitasking, and improved file management. Apple’s new Apple Intelligence system adds features like text summarisation, live translation, and smart suggestions in apps.
iPad Pro M5: What’s actually new — and what isn’t
The new M5 version is more of a refinement over last year's M4 model. The design remains almost unchanged, featuring the same slim build — 5.3 mm for the 11-inch and 5.1 mm for the 13-inch model — along with an Ultra Retina XDR OLED display and two colour options: silver and space black. It continues to use a single rear camera, and while there have been rumours of a second front sensor, Apple has not confirmed any details.
Most of the upgrades are on the inside. Apple says the M5 delivers a noticeable boost in AI and graphics performance, while the new N1 and C1X chips debut on the M5 iPad Pro, aiming to improve wireless and cellular connectivity. The new iPad Pro offers up to 2× faster storage read and write speeds, and the 256 GB and 512 GB variants now start with 12 GB of unified memory, while the 1 TB and 2 TB models continue to come with 16 GB of memory.
The new iPad Pro can charge up to 50 percent in about 30 minutes when using a high-wattage USB-C power adapter, such as Apple’s 70 W model. For users who already own the M4 iPad Pro, however, this year’s update appears to be more of an incremental step than a full redesign.
Pricing and availability
The iPad Pro with M5 is available for pre-order starting today on Apple’s online store and through the Apple Store app in 31 countries, including the U.S. It will begin shipping and arrive in stores on Wednesday, October 22. The tablet comes in two colours — silver and space black.
- 11-inch iPad Pro (M5) — $999 (Wi-Fi) / $1,199 (Wi-Fi + Cellular)
- 13-inch iPad Pro (M5) — $1,299 (Wi-Fi) / $1,499 (Wi-Fi + Cellular)
- Education pricing: $899 (11-inch) / $1,199 (13-inch)
Both models are available in four storage configurations — 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB, and 2 TB.
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