Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
So I have done the first tests comparing the base M4 and base M5.
7 tabs open, 3 gmail desktop pages, 2 youtube videos, 1 reddit page, 1 macrumors, same on both.
I have also used a remote desktop app, a couple of second screen apps (duet and spacedesk), an e-commerce app, the gmail app, the instagram app and a pdf app.
As long as I kept using them, no reloads, then I went and took a shower, taking the new iPad with me to listen to stuff, after the shower I checked the M4 and it started reloading, I lost 1 of the 2 youtube videos, several tabs reloaded.
So yeah, 12GB works better than 8GB, no big surprise. Now I'll be doing the harder test, 12 vs 16, in order to see how much I can do without reloads on each (the 16 has been excellent so far). This test could take days, not hours, at least I hope. I won't be multitasking like crazy, that's not my point, I want to do a realist scenario of what I use.
Also I tested speakers but things are more complicated than I expected. I'll probably make a separate comment or event post about that (I compared M1, M2, M4 and M5).
And about charging, the high wattage charging only kicks in below 50%, otherwise it's around 35 like the M4 and M1/2. It flutuctues between 50w and 60w.
Don't expect fast charing above 50%.
 
As I mentioned elsewhere mine are destktop versions of sites, which take more RAM, several GMAIL desktop pages, several youtube desktop pages, etc. I tested the same tabs on a Mac and they can take a couple of GB by themselves. Add to that a couple of GB for the OS and the browser itself. They don't reload when I swich between them but if I open other apps (Word, Outlook, Em client, dropbox, jump desktop, files, some ecommerce apps, onenote, my newspaper etc.) and come back to safari, often some of my tabs are reloaded.
What is very strange to me is, I’m using a 10th Gen iPad also, with my iPad Pro M1 and my new iPad Pro M4, and as far as browsing is involved I can’t see a big difference keeping 4/5 tabs opened (which is the number I’m usually up to), even when I switch among other apps like Outlook, Files and OneDrive , my typical user case scenario. If I open up 8/10 or more, and maybe use other intensive apps like Notability (with some big pdf and note) then I can see the difference, but the 8 Gb models are just a fine.
 
  • Like
Reactions: StoneJack
So I have done the first tests comparing the base M4 and base M5.
7 tabs open, 3 gmail desktop pages, 2 youtube videos, 1 reddit page, 1 macrumors, same on both.
I have also used a remote desktop app, a couple of second screen apps (duet and spacedesk), an e-commerce app, the gmail app, the instagram app and a pdf app.
As long as I kept using them, no reloads, then I went and took a shower, taking the new iPad with me to listen to stuff, after the shower I checked the M4 and it started reloading, I lost 1 of the 2 youtube videos, several tabs reloaded.
So yeah, 12GB works better than 8GB, no big surprise. Now I'll be doing the harder test, 12 vs 16, in order to see how much I can do without reloads on each (the 16 has been excellent so far). This test could take days, not hours, at least I hope. I won't be multitasking like crazy, that's not my point, I want to do a realist scenario of what I use.
Also I tested speakers but things are more complicated than I expected. I'll probably make a separate comment or event post about that (I compared M1, M2, M4 and M5).
And about charging, the high wattage charging only kicks in below 50%, otherwise it's around 35 like the M4 and M1/2. It flutuctues between 50w and 60w.
Don't expect fast charing above 50%.
So maybe it is just an aggressive memory purging process by iOS the culprit …
 
  • Like
Reactions: viking_01
13in M4 WiFi 256 ➡️ 13in M5 1TB with cellular and nano-texture.

I think this is going to be the ultimate machine.
My god I love this thing. The nanotexture screen is phenomenal. Suspect I’ll be going nanotexture for all my displays now.
You can definitely feel that extra ram.
 
So I have done the first tests comparing the base M4 and base M5.
7 tabs open, 3 gmail desktop pages, 2 youtube videos, 1 reddit page, 1 macrumors, same on both.
I have also used a remote desktop app, a couple of second screen apps (duet and spacedesk), an e-commerce app, the gmail app, the instagram app and a pdf app.
As long as I kept using them, no reloads, then I went and took a shower, taking the new iPad with me to listen to stuff, after the shower I checked the M4 and it started reloading, I lost 1 of the 2 youtube videos, several tabs reloaded.
So yeah, 12GB works better than 8GB, no big surprise. Now I'll be doing the harder test, 12 vs 16, in order to see how much I can do without reloads on each (the 16 has been excellent so far). This test could take days, not hours, at least I hope. I won't be multitasking like crazy, that's not my point, I want to do a realist scenario of what I use.
Also I tested speakers but things are more complicated than I expected. I'll probably make a separate comment or event post about that (I compared M1, M2, M4 and M5).
And about charging, the high wattage charging only kicks in below 50%, otherwise it's around 35 like the M4 and M1/2. It flutuctues between 50w and 60w.
Don't expect fast charing above 50%.
I’ve done a similar thing with my ipad A16, I currently have one macrumours tab, 3 seperate desktop gmail tabs all on the brave browser, one locally AI app (intensive AI application), Apple notes page, one open PDF in preview, X app, setting,maps,whatsapp. Maps crashed when reopening locally AI and X reload and recovered. All in all I lost 5% battery from 88 to 83 with my current battery health being 92%. I’m doing all this on iPadOS 26.1 beta 4.
 
  • Like
Reactions: viking_01
My god I love this thing. The nanotexture screen is phenomenal. Suspect I’ll be going nanotexture for all my displays now.
You can definitely feel that extra ram.
The nano texture is so great. I got it with the M4 and again with the M5. I absolutely love it
 
  • Like
Reactions: Norre8
I’ve done a similar thing with my ipad A16, I currently have one macrumours tab, 3 seperate desktop gmail tabs all on the brave browser, one locally AI app (intensive AI application), Apple notes page, one open PDF in preview, X app, setting,maps,whatsapp. Maps crashed when reopening locally AI and X reload and recovered. All in all I lost 5% battery from 88 to 83 with my current battery health being 92%. I’m doing all this on iPadOS 26.1 beta 4.
Seems reasonable, 6GB will probably have crashes or reloads a bit ealier than 8GB devices, as long as you don't use external monitors on 8GB which seems to also take RAM (and the A16 only mirrors so that has no impact on that iPad)
 
What is very strange to me is, I’m using a 10th Gen iPad also, with my iPad Pro M1 and my new iPad Pro M4, and as far as browsing is involved I can’t see a big difference keeping 4/5 tabs opened (which is the number I’m usually up to), even when I switch among other apps like Outlook, Files and OneDrive , my typical user case scenario. If I open up 8/10 or more, and maybe use other intensive apps like Notability (with some big pdf and note) then I can see the difference, but the 8 Gb models are just a fine.
Yep 4/5 tabs, especially if not intensive ones, won't reload if you don't do much else on the iPad. I estimate iPadOS to take between 2 and 2.5GB RAM so you still have 2 to 1.5GB left before tabs are ejected.
 
Anyone with the M5 try a 120hz external display yet? If success, what cable or dongle did you use?
 
I pushed the button on upgrading my 32GB first generation iPad Pro (2015). I got the M4 iPad Pro 13 inch 2Tb Cellular Standard glass display. Exchange shop place, as new condition, manufacturered in April 2025, first used October 2025, battery cycle count 0 and 100% capacity running the factory installed 18.4.1 - genuine bonus I can stay on iOS 18 and upgrade to 18.7.2 !

£1500 (about $1980), was this a good deal do you think?
 
  • Like
Reactions: hovscorpion12
My god I love this thing. The nanotexture screen is phenomenal. Suspect I’ll be going nanotexture for all my displays now.
You can definitely feel that extra ram.
So... I decided to go all out this year after my iPhone uncertainty... Got me an iPad Pro 11 M5 with the Nanotexture. Been using it for a week now and wow... absolutely amazing. M5 flies ... the screen is amazing - I always used iCarez matte screen protectors before so this is a huge upgrade.

Agreed about ram.

Using this with my Apple Studio Display is crazy fast/smooth despite having many apps opened at once. (Not that I will be doing this much).

Already finished a 400+ page book on the thing - and it was just so pleasant - the thinner / lighter feel is just about perfect for me.

Now to ... pay these devices down (Apple Card 0% interest) and keep them for 5+ years.
 
I pushed the button on upgrading my 32GB first generation iPad Pro (2015). I got the M4 iPad Pro 13 inch 2Tb Cellular Standard glass display. Exchange shop place, as new condition, manufacturered in April 2025, first used October 2025, battery cycle count 0 and 100% capacity running the factory installed 18.4.1 - genuine bonus I can stay on iOS 18 and upgrade to 18.7.2 !

£1500 (about $1980), was this a good deal do you think?
I got mine new one week ago, same model, for $1490, came with 17.5, but I upgraded to 18.7.2 instead of 26. I don't know about prices in the UK, so I cannot say, but for me this was a very good deal, before that the lowest I had seen the 2TB 5G 13" was 1899.... Only very minor regret is the color, only silver was available and I prefer space gray to have completely dark bezels
 
To give you some idea, an M5 iPad Pro with only 256Gb storage + cellular is also £1500 new from Apple, the same price.
So it was a calculated decision in terms of cost, the M4 2Tb has 16Gb ram verses 12Gb ram in the M5. It also has 4 P cores verses 3 P cores in the M5. Also the M4 has Qualcomm with mmWave capability.
I lose out in terms of the 30% graphics increase found in the M5, but I assume a 10 core M4 should be quicker otherwise than a 9 core M5 even taking into account a 15% increase in CPU performance. I don't know if an increased refresh rate for external displays or the improved ssd performance would have made the M5 worth it.
 
I already have the 1TB M4 so a 12GiB M5 version would be a downgrade. It’s the more expensive nano texture version too. Who here upgrades their iPad Pro every single year just to get the latest M chip? I don’t see any real life benefits from M5 over M4 and the big downside of having to spend more on yearly iPad Pro replacements than what my MacBook Pro costs me. And of course I don’t replace that every year either. Seems a silly idea to keep replacing your expensive Apple hardware after just 12 months.

improved ssd performance
The what now? I admit I know what you mean because I do follow new release reviews. But in all fairness that's not something that has ever come up. And I copy a lot of data onto my 1TB M4 iPad. I have various external SSDs and a SD card reader to transfer large files from the camera SD card to free up space on the card when I'm on the go. I also sometimes create editing copies of a project folder where I copy it from the iPad to another location on the iPad. All these things are extremely fast and not once in the past 12 months have I thought about what internal SSD speeds the iPad might have or wondered if this could go faster.
 
Last edited:
To give you some idea, an M5 iPad Pro with only 256Gb storage + cellular is also £1500 new from Apple, the same price.
So it was a calculated decision in terms of cost, the M4 2Tb has 16Gb ram verses 12Gb ram in the M5. It also has 4 P cores verses 3 P cores in the M5. Also the M4 has Qualcomm with mmWave capability.
I lose out in terms of the 30% graphics increase found in the M5, but I assume a 10 core M4 should be quicker otherwise than a 9 core M5 even taking into account a 15% increase in CPU performance. I don't know if an increased refresh rate for external displays or the improved ssd performance would have made the M5 worth it.
Only the M1 and M2 iPads had mmWave. Apple dropped support with the M4 (I’m assuming because there was no space for the antenna in the new design).
 
  • Like
Reactions: btrach144
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.