Apple Unveils Updated iPad Pro Series Featuring Enhanced Performance and Connectivity
Apple has announced a refresh of its iPad Pro lineup, introducing 11-inch and 13-inch models with significant performance upgrades. These new models incorporate Apple’s latest silicon advancements, including the M5 chip, the N1 wireless networking chip, and the C1X modem.
[Image: Apple announces new iPad Pro models with the M5 chip]
The M5 chip, a newly launched system-on-a-chip (SoC), will also be integrated into the forthcoming 14-inch MacBook Pro and the Apple Vision Pro. The M5 features a CPU configuration of up to 10 cores, comprising up to four high-performance cores and six efficiency cores. Apple asserts that the performance cores in the M5 represent the industry’s fastest CPU cores. The chip is further complemented by a 10-core GPU design, incorporating dedicated neural accelerators within each core. Memory bandwidth has been increased to 153GB/s, and ray tracing performance has also been enhanced.
Compared to its predecessor, the M4, the M5 is reported to offer up to 3.5 times the AI performance, attributed to the new neural accelerators. Furthermore, 3D rendering performance with ray tracing has been improved by 1.5x, and video transcoding performance in Final Cut Pro is 1.2x faster.
[Image: Apple announces new iPad Pro models with the M5 chip]
The new iPad Pro models also introduce enhanced video output capabilities. The devices can now output at up to 120Hz to external displays and support Adaptive Sync (VRR) for compatible displays.
In addition to the upgraded processing capabilities, the new iPad Pro models feature increased memory capacity. The 256GB and 512GB models now come standard with 12GB of RAM, while the 1TB and 2TB configurations retain 16GB of RAM.
[Image: Apple announces new iPad Pro models with the M5 chip]
Beyond the advancements in CPU and GPU performance, the new iPad Pro models benefit from improved connectivity, incorporating the N1 wireless networking chip and the C1X modem, technologies first introduced in this year’s iPhone models.
The charging capabilities have also been enhanced. The iPad Pro models now support the same fast-charging standard as the iPhone 17 models. When using a compatible charger, such as Apple’s 40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max, the 11-inch model can achieve a 50% charge in 30 minutes, while the 13-inch model achieves the same in 35 minutes.
[Image: Apple announces new iPad Pro models with the M5 chip]
Apart from these updates, the new iPad Pro models retain the design and features of their predecessors, including the Tandem OLED Ultra Retina XDR displays, a 12MP rear camera, a 12MP Center Stage front camera, a four-speaker audio system, and Thunderbolt/USB4 connectivity.
Pricing for the new iPad Pro models remains consistent with the previous generation, with the 11-inch model starting at $999 and the 13-inch model starting at $1,299. Cellular models are priced from $1,199 and $1,499, respectively.
