The iPad Pro M5 is real and promises to be the most powerful Apple tablet yet. The big draw here is the Apple M5 chip, with its faster performance, better battery life, and enhanced AI capabilities. Other than that, it features the same lightweight design and OLED panel of the iPad Pro M4. So even if this isn’t a major update, the new iPad Pro seems to have the goods to be included in our list of best iPads and best tablets.
With the new iPad Pro M5 arriving on November 22, you might be wondering if it’s worth upgrading from the iPad Pro M4. The latter is still a fantastic premium tablet thanks to its strong M4-driven performance, slim design, and gorgeous OLED panel. And while Apple is no longer selling the iPad Pro M4 on its online store, you can find it for a discount from other vendors.
Here are the main differences between the iPad Pro M5 and the iPad Pro M4 to help you decide which is the better Apple tablet to purchase.
iPad Pro M5 vs. iPad Pro M4: Specs
| Header Cell - Column 0 | iPad Pro (M5) | iPad Pro (M4) |
|---|---|---|
Price | from $999 | from $999 |
Display | 11-inch Tandem OLED (2420 x 1668 pixels) / 13-inch Tandem OLED (2752 x 2064 pixels) | 11-inch Tandem OLED (2420 x 1668 pixels) / 13-inch Tandem OLED (2752 x 2064 pixels) |
Colors | Silver, Space Black | Silver, Space Black |
Chip | M5 (9-10 CPU cores, 10 GPU cores) | M4 (9-10 CPU cores, 10 GPU cores) |
RAM | From 12GB | From 8GB |
Storage | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB |
Cameras | 12MP front landscape, 12MP rear | 12MP front landscape, 12MP rear |
Wireless | Wi-Fi 7, 5G | Wi-Fi 6E, 5G |
Size | 9.83 x 6.99 x 0.21 inches (11-inch) / 11.09 x 8.48 x 0.2 inches (13-inch) | 9.83 x 6.99 x 0.21 inches (11-inch) / 11.09 x 8.48 x 0.2 inches (13-inch) |
Weight | 0.98 pounds (11-inch) / 1.28 pounds (13-inch) | 0.98 pounds (11-inch) / 1.28 pounds (13-inch) |
iPad Pro M5 vs. iPad Pro M4: Price
One of the best things about the iPad Pro M5 is that it’s not going to cost more than the previous model.
The M5 iPad Pro will be available from $999 for the 11-inch tablet and $1,299 for the 13-inch model. You can pre-order the iPad Pro right now on Apple's website, with shipping starting on November 22.
If you head to Amazon or Best Buy, you can generally find the iPad Pro M4 selling for around $50 to $100 off. We may see bigger price drops during Black Friday, so keep that in mind if you’re considering this older model.
iPad Pro M5 vs. iPad Pro M4: Design and display
Both the 11-inch and 13-inch M5 iPad Pro models have the same design, including OLED Ultra Retina XDR displays, which feature ProMotion for an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate.
Given how it’s the same design, the M5 iPad Pro should be another sturdy piece of aluminum that’s comfortable to hold and great to look at. In fact, both the 11- and 13-inch iPad Pro are even thinner and lighter than the M3 iPad Air tablets.
The iPad Pro M5 also has a landscape-oriented front camera, which helps keep you centered when you’re in a video call or taking a selfie. Like the previous model, the new iPad Pro only has a single USB-C port.
The Tandem OLED panel on the iPad Pro M4 was arguably its biggest selling point, so it’s good to see the new tablet retain this feature. Images should look phenomenal, with deep contrast between dark and light elements, along with vivid colors at a sharp resolution.
We’ll have to put the new iPad Pro through our slew of display benchmark tests to see how its screen holds up, but we suspect similar results to the iPad Pro M4. Considering how that previous model has the most beautiful OLED screen I’ve seen, that’s absolutely a good thing.
iPad Pro M5 vs. iPad Pro M4: Performance
Since we’ve yet to test the Apple M5’s performance for ourselves, we can only go off Apple’s claims. That said, if the chip delivers similar performance gains to what we’ve seen between each M-series generation, we should see noticeable improvements.
Apple says devices with the M5 chip will have up to 30% faster performance compared to M4. The new chip will also allegedly provide up to 45% graphics uplift in games that use ray tracing, along with faster rendering times for video projects and games.
The 10-core GPU has a dedicated Neural Accelerator in each core, which can deliver over 4x peak GPU compute compared to M4. This, Apple claims, should deliver accelerated processing for on-device AI-driven workloads. Apple Intelligence should also see enhanced performance thanks to the enhanced Neural Engine.
Apple also claims the iPad Pro M5 will see faster read and write speeds for storage, with over 150GB/s of unified memory bandwidth. This is a 30% increase over the previous M4 model, and is expected to have 2x faster storage read and write speeds.
Configurations with 256GB and 512GB of storage now come with 12GB of Unified Memory (RAM), which is a nice boost from the 8GB starting memory of the previous model. With up to 32GB of RAM, the M5 iPad Pro should be able to handle demanding apps like Adobe Photoshop and Final Cut Pro simultaneously, while you’re uploading large files to the cloud in the background.
Again, we’ll have to put the iPad Pro M5 through its paces to see if Apple’s claims are true. Regardless, I’m excited to see the results, both in our lab and in real-world use.
iPad Pro M5 vs. iPad Pro M4: Connectivity
Another upgrade worth noting is that the iPad Pro M5 will now support Wi-Fi 7. With the previous model’s Wi-Fi 6E, you could only get 8 gigabits per second (Gbps) speeds. Now with Wi-Fi 7, you should see a maximum of 46 Gbps. Additionally, there will be compatibility with the new 6 GHz band that you might have seen in some of the best Wi-Fi 7 routers.
If you’re frequently downloading or uploading large files, Wi-Fi 7 support should make a huge difference.
iPad Pro M5 vs iPad Pro M4: Outlook
Based on what Apple has said, the iPad Pro M5 should be a solid update over the iPad Pro M4. It retains the same great design as its predecessor, only with a stronger processor and faster Wi-Fi. It doesn’t appear to be a revolutionary update over the iPad Pro M4, but if you own an older iPad Pro, it could be a worthwhile investment, especially if you’re a professional video editor who needs a thin device for work.
Conversely, the iPad Pro M4 is still a fantastic tablet for professionals and regular folks. As I said, you can currently purchase this tablet for less than the new tablet’s $999 starting price. So if you don’t need the latest and greatest, the iPad Pro M4 is still a slate I highly recommend.
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