2025 iPad Pro Reviews: Here's What's New Beyond the M5 Chip

[MacRumors]

The first reviews of the iPad Pro with the M5 chip have been shared by selected publications and YouTube channels, ahead of the device launching this Wednesday.

The new iPad Pro has up to a 15% faster CPU, and up to a 35% faster GPU, compared to the previous generation. Models with 256GB and 512GB of storage have a 9-core CPU, while 1TB and 2TB configurations have a full 10-core CPU.

The Verge's David Pierce on the M5 chip's performance improvements:

If you're coming from, say, an M1-powered iPad Pro, you'll notice the performance improvement right away. Things that used to load and buffer now just render and save almost instantly. The leap from the M4, though, will only really appear if you're moving huge amounts of video or 3D renderings through the machine. For all but the most aggressive, creative-professional workflows, the M4 was and is more than enough processor.

Here are six other upgrades beyond a faster processor:

• An increased 12GB of RAM for models with 256GB or 512GB of storage. 1TB and 2TB configurations still have 16GB of RAM.
• Apple's custom N1 chip for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. However, the chip only supports up to 160 MHz channel bandwidth for Wi-Fi 7, short of the standard's 320 MHz maximum. Apple says the chip also improves the overall performance and reliability of features like AirDrop and Personal Hotspot.
• Apple's custom C1X chip for cellular configurations. With this modem, Apple says the new iPad Pro achieves up to 50% faster cellular data performance than its predecessor, and power efficiency is also improved.
• Apple says the new iPad Pro offers up to 2× faster SSD read and write speeds compared to the previous generation.
• The new iPad Pro can drive external displays at up to a 120Hz refresh rate, and Adaptive Sync is now supported, resulting in smoother scrolling and gameplay with lower latency on the external display.
• The new iPad Pro supports fast charging. Apple says up to a 50% charge can be reached in around 30 minutes for the 11-inch model, and in around 35 minutes for the 13-inch model. Apple has not shared similar figures for previous iPad Pro models, so it is unclear how much of an improvement this is.

Six Colors editor-in-chief Jason Snell said the N1 chip's Wi-Fi 7 support resulted in faster Wi-Fi speeds compared to the previous iPad Pro with Wi-Fi 6E support.

As for the C1X chip, Snell said he saw slightly slower 5G download speeds on the AT&T network in the U.S., but significantly faster upload speeds:

I did my testing across two days on AT&T's 5G network, and while speeds were all over the place, on average, the M5 iPad Pro was a little slower at download and a whole lot faster at upload. Obviously, your mileage will vary depending on your carrier and geography. It's certainly a viable chip, and that 6.8× improvement in upstream speed was especially surprising.

The results of his N1 and C1X chip tests:

Image Credit: Six Colors​

MacStories editor-in-chief Federico Viticci on support for 120Hz external displays:

I own a 27" 4K OLED monitor that refreshes at 240Hz and is G-Sync compatible, so I was keen to see if this change would be supported (a) on non-Apple displays and (b) with USB-C cables instead of Thunderbolt ones. […]

As soon as I connected the iPad Pro to my ASUS monitor, the resolution stayed at 4K, and the refresh rate was immediately bumped to 120Hz, resulting in faster and smoother animations out of the box with my existing USB4-certified cable. This is an excellent change; when I connect the M5 iPad Pro to my desk setup, I no longer have to sacrifice the quality of the iPad’s internal ProMotion display, and I can enjoy the same, smooth iPadOS animations on the ASUS monitor as well.

Viticci on fast charging:

I tested fast charging with this 160W UGreen power adapter and a 100W-certified USB4 cable, and I could indeed charge up to 50% in 30 minutes with the iPad’s display turned off on the Lock Screen.

While multiple reviews confirmed the new iPad Pro uses the latest PCIe 5.0 storage technology, we could not find any that tested SSD speeds.

Video Reviews

Article Link: 2025 iPad Pro Reviews: Here's What's New Beyond the M5 Chip

 

[vegetassj4]

drive external displays at up to a 120Hz refresh rate

Hellloooooo new Studio Display?!?

 

[MayaUser]

Hellloooooo new Studio Display?!?

Yes, probably early next year with the m5 macbook air

 

[jyw104]

I’ll be upgrading from a 64gb M1 iPad Air to a M5 cellular model soon. Can’t wait.

 

[phill85]

Starting to look actually tempting to upgrade from an M1 iPad Pro 2tb. Still, I will wait a few more generations. Probably the M7, or maybe the M8, will be the one...

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Regarding speed test results on M4 iPad Pro, my 11" on WIFI with Gigabit service does 760Mbps using Speedtest. Their result of 613 seems slow.

 

[NVDA]

Same speakers as the M4 Pro? Because they sounded pretty bad and tinny compared to the M2.

 

[mikethebigo]

Interesting that no one tested SSD speeds.

 

[fakestrawberryflavor]

I am anxious to hear if the grainy screen is fixed or not. I physically observed 3 iPP 11" M4s with the grainy screen and only 1 without. Not sure if this is panel lottery or from a specific supplier.

Hope the M5 versions have been sorted out.

 

[t0rqx]

Regarding speed test results on M4 iPad Pro, my 11" on WIFI with Gigabit service does 760Mbps using Speedtest. Their result of 613 seems slow.

Because of the BETA N1-chip.

 

[cigz]

Interesting that no one tested SSD speeds. Is it possible Apple didn't want them to? I am keen to know if the iPads have the same "issue" as the iPhones that 256gb is one chip while 512gb is dual chip and faster speeds.

I put issue in quotes because of course it's not noticeable except in extreme circumstances, but I still find it interesting.

What are you even talking about? Some of y’all need to stop spreading misinformation about dual NAND chips in iPhones.
iPhones do NOT have dual NAND chips, they’re not MacBooks.
The 256gb storage in iPhone 17 Pro is slower compared to 512gb because they used „older” chips, the same they used in 16 Pro.
iPhone 17 Pro with 512gb and more has newer nand chips and that’s why they are faster.
Fun fact - iPhone Air with 256gb storage (which has SINGLE NAND chip) is also using this „new” technology and it’s faster than 256gb 17 Pro.

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

What do you guys do on your iPad that requires such power anyway?

All I do is draw and read comics haha. So far I've had enough layers .

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

Do these new iPads also have the option to disable PWM like the iPhone 17 series?

 

[EugW]

drive external displays at up to a 120Hz refresh rate

Hellloooooo new Studio Display?!?

The M5 iPad Pro supports up to 6K 60 Hz and 4K 120 Hz.

6K 60 Hz 10-bit - 38.2 Gbps <-- This was already supported on the M4 iPad Pro
4K 120 Hz 10-bit - 32.3 Gbps <-- This is new to the M5 iPad Pro
5K 120 Hz 10-bit - 57.1 Gbps <-- There is no mention of this for either the M4 or M5

I wonder if the M5 iPad Pro can support a Thunderbolt 5K 120 Hz monitor, although theoretically it should with compression.

 

[metalsiren]

Because of the BETA N1-chip.

Thats not true, there has to be other factors. I have iPhone 17 pro max (n1 chip) on 6E and I get 1GB speed test results form multiple sources.

 

[jeremz1ne]

Dumb question but hows the camera? sometimes i like to take photos and do little doodles on them or draw funny little objects

 

[erkanasu]

only thing that matters to me: DID THEY FIX PWM issue?!?!

 

[EugW]

Dumb question but hows the camera? sometimes i like to take photos and do little doodles on them or draw funny little objects

It appears to be the same f/1.8 12 MP camera as on the M4 iPad Pro, which is reviewed as mediocre. It has LiDAR though.

For me that's fine since I mostly just shoot occasional documents or rare snapshots with it, as I usually have my iPhone Pro with me anyway.

 

[DaniTheFox]

The M5 iPad Pro supports up to 6K 60 Hz and 4K 120 Hz.

6K 60 Hz 10-bit - 38.2 Gbps <-- This was already supported on the M4 iPad Pro
4K 120 Hz 10-bit - 32.3 Gbps <-- This is new to the M5 iPad Pro
5K 120 Hz 10-bit - 57.1 Gbps <-- There is no mention of this for either the M4 or M5

I wonder if the M5 iPad Pro can support a Thunderbolt 5K 120 Hz monitor, although theoretically it should with compression.

My gess is here comes the G-Sync in place. The Studio Monitor will Support it too. So something Like 96 Hz comes in place.

 

[kiranmk2]

Quite dispointed that the "bigger name" websites such as the Verge and Engadget didn't even bother benchmarking any games such as RE4 remake, Death Stranding and Asassin's Creed Mirage to see how the improved GPU fairs. Didn't bother testing the SSD speeds or 120 Hz external displays either. Given both reviews were quite open about how little has changed in the M5 iPad Pro, you would have thought they would actually test the things that have changed...

 

[hovscorpion12]

I can't wait to hook it up to my Samsung 59' Dual-UHD Ultra-wide!!!!

 

[hovscorpion12]

Quite dispointed that the "bigger name" websites such as the Verge and Engadget didn't even bother benchmarking any games such as RE4 remake, Death Stranding and Asassin's Creed Mirage to see how the improved GPU fairs. Didn't bother testing the SSD speeds or 120 Hz external displays either. Given both reviews were quite open about how little has changed in the M5 iPad Pro, you would have thought they would actually test the things that have changed...

They'll be plenty more videos.

MaxTech 100% will have their video tomorrow.

 

[DaniTheFox]

Thats not true, there has to be other factors. I have iPhone 17 pro max (n1 chip) on 6E and I get 1GB speed test results form multiple sources.

Does the 17 Pro realy has a N1?
I will get my M5 tomorrow and have a dual-band WiFi 7 with 320 MHz. I ordered the wrong Acess Point. It is only dual-band. The tri-band Version will be delivered in a few days if I am around.

 

[metalsiren]

Does the 17 Pro realy has a N1?
I will get my M5 tomorrow and have a dual-band WiFi 7 with 320 MHz. I ordered the wrong Acess Point. It is only dual-band. The tri-band Version will be delivered in a few days if I am around.

yes all the 17 have N1, but just be aware the wifi 7 on N1 only supports 160 MHz, 1k QAM and MLO in single mode. but you will still get gig speeds with that.

 

[justanotherdave]

The Apps people often use to test SSD speeds are, IMO, not very reliable. On some devices you get ridiculously high numbers and it’s clear their test data isn’t large enough to use up the cache so they’re really testing cache speeds, not storage speeds.

I hope David “DEVO” Harry tests the iPad Pro SSD. His previous tests of iPhones vs Samsung shows how the iPhone obliterates Galaxy devices when connected to external SSDs.