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iPad Anybody going from M4 to M5 iPad?

I'm upgrading M4 to M5.

I normally skip a few generations with iPads, but I've absolutely hammered my M4 over the last 16 months. Battery health is down to 90% and I've managed to pick up a few light scratches on the display and casing 😅

Opted to trade-in my M4 and start fresh with a new M5.

If not for the wear, I'd be happy to stick with my M4 for a couple more years. It's a great device 👍

Side note: I'm prone to migraines (the full works - nausea, auras, brain fog, intense pain etc.) and things like bright lights do a number on me. Sitting in front of any display (CRT, CCFL/LED backlit LCD, OLED etc.) with the brightness cranked too high will wipe me out. Strobing light (e.g. sunlight flickering through trees while driving) can get me, too.

I've never had issues with PWN, though 🤔

Not saying this to discredit people claiming issues with PWM, but it's worth considering all possibilities if you're experiencing issues 🙏
 
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The Game 161 said:
Do we know what charger is needed anything over 60w?
Click to expand...
Specs say:
Fast-charge capable
Up to 50% charge in 35 minutes with the 40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max or other USB-C power adapter capable of providing 60W or higher (adapters sold separately)9

Footnote reads:
Testing conducted by Apple in August and September 2025 using preproduction iPad Pro 11-inch (M5) and iPad Pro 13-inch (M5) units, and USB‑C Charge Cable with Apple 40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max (Model A3351) or Apple 70W USB-C Power Adapter (Model A2305). Fast-charge testing conducted with drained iPad Pro units. Times measured from the appearance of the Apple logo as the unit started up. Charge time varies with settings and environmental factors; actual results will vary.
 
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CSAppleFan said:
I always wonder the same thing. It seems like a bit much to update everything yearly other than the iPhone. I think the iPd Pro is an 18 month cycle though. Mac and iPad should be on a 24 month cycle
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But why though? Apple doesn't expect people to update every gen on the iPad. If the M5 is ready to ship, they should hold off for 6 more months? Why?

There are a few other small features in the M5. Not revolutionary. But something. The idea here is that small updates each gen will equal one big update after 3-4 gens. And then you will update.

Stopping innovation for the sake of time itself is not a good reason to delay everything 6 months.

We had slow hardware upgrades during the Intel era. That was painful. Let's not wish for that again. I am happy to see Apple is making 15%+ generational gains.
 
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I’ll throw my hat in the ring on this and vote that M4 to M5 is not nearly enough reason to upgrade for all but a small handful of people. If I had the M4 I wouldn’t worry at all about “missing out” in M5 for the money it would cost to upgrade. Will be great for people who didn’t have the M4 and purchase now with M5
 
gadget123 said:
Why update yearly?
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I don’t know why this ridiculous question is always asked.
Why update the devices yearly? So if someone coming from an older device, as most people are, go to purchase a new one, they are purchasing one made with the latest technology, not technology from last year or several years ago.
The iPad 11, for anyone coming from anything older than an iPad 10, is a massive upgrade.
The M5 iPad Pro, for people coming from M1 or A12 or even older iPads, is a massive upgrade.
If Apple, for example, didn’t update the iPad 11 this year, it would still be using a processor from the iPhone 12.

There is also manufacturing reasons for them to update them every year, for example 5NM chip production from TSMC is likely winding down, meaning that chips older than the M3/A17 will soon no longer be produced. Apple, starting next year will likely want to phase out all 5NM chips, which are still being used today in the iPad 11, the latest Apple TV and (until today) the Vision Pro.
 
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I use my ipad daily and have never encountered a situation where I said..if only I had 8 more gigs of ram. lol I am super cool with my m4 and happy I purchased it when I did.
 
I went from the original M9X iPad Pro to the M4. Eight years. (2016-2024). There's literally nothing conceivable they can add to this device that would convince me to upgrade. The only upgrade prompts will come from gradual OS bloat.

The only complaint I have about my M4 iPP is that it gets way too hot and the battery goes fast when using Lightroom on it with HDR. Some of that vapor chamber cooling will be nice... in seven years.
 
I’m in a weird situation where I have both M4 models. The 13 inch replaces my MacBook Air and is a main machine, and the 11 inch is something of an iPhone alternative/replacement .

I don’t see enough here to replace my 13 inch (and that’s fine), but getting more RAM and faster/more efficient modem for the 11 inch is a good upgrade, so I will be upgrading that one.
 
I have an M2 and I'm still not upgrading. :) I probably will in another year or two if something happens (battery degrades, OS updates stop, maybe a compelling new feature -- not that this would have been one, but I see there's not a second camera as was rumored). Spec bumps are great, but I can't say there's ever been a time on my iPad where I thought, "Wow, I wish this thing had better performance," and I can't see that changing before then.
 
aevan said:
Can it though? I never felt I needed more on my 8Gb M4 iPad Pro. Maybe down the line, in a few years or so, but now?
Click to expand...

With Blender launching their iPad app soon, I imagine they wanted to showcase it on the M5. While M4 models did ship with 12GB of RAM, they were software locked to 8GB.
 
btrach144 said:
Yes I am upgrading from M4 to M5.

  • Apple is offering me 50% of what I paid for my launch day M4 via credit
  • I can reuse my keyboard and pencil
  • I am upgrading from 256GB model to 1TB model for more storage
  • I am getting slightly faster multicore experience vs if I had gone 256->256/512 with 1 more CPU core.
  • Double the RAM from 8GB to 16GB. M4 8GB refreshes Safari tabs way too often. Hoping for better performance in Lightroom.
  • I upgraded to dynamic chargers 40w/60w so I can take advantage of faster charging speeds already.
  • I use the cellar plan so I will benefit from the C1X
  • I have WiFi 7 mesh network so N1 will be nice
  • Presuming this has the enhanced security that the A19 Pro chips have as extra bonus.
This will likely become my iPad Pro for the next few years and I don't plan on upgrading to the M6. This will allow me maximum life out my keyboard and pencil as well since those accessories are unnecessarily expensive.
Click to expand...
Exactly the same. However I’m also doing the nano texture display.
 
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Woodstockie said:
I am on a M1 12.9 5th gen and thought about upgrading to M5, but realistically it still works fine for me.
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Agree 100% I’m still rocking the M1 Pro, the mini LED ticks all the boxes so not yearning for OLED. I’m getting to the stage where I think it would benefit from a battery change. Even after that it will still be plenty fast
 
No. But I have the 16GB model, which is both pointless and not bettered in the M5 generation. I still haven’t upgraded to iPadOS 26 but expect to when 26.1 releases… Without an improved form factor (whatever that might mean) I’m unlikely to upgrade my M4 iPP anytime soon.
 
I decided to do the upgrade. I want the WiFi 7 plus always regretted not getting the nano screen upgrade. Amazingly, my order has already moved to shipping phase.
 
Only logical reason to go from M4 to M5 is if you ended up learning you need cell or a different size than you got your M4 in. It's an iPad - the performance difference will ultimately be negligible.
 
hovscorpion12 said:
With Blender launching their iPad app soon, I imagine they wanted to showcase it on the M5. While M4 models did ship with 12GB of RAM, they were software locked to 8GB.
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Software locked? That's speculation, so based on this we could say that the disabled core on the base model is a software lock that can be enabled with some software update...
 
Digitalguy said:
Software locked? That's speculation, so based on this we could say that the disabled core on the base model is a software lock that can be enabled with some software update...
Click to expand...

The iPad Pro M4 did come with 12GB as shown in the teardown. 2x 6 GB LPDDR5X SDRAM memory [Artificiality] locked at 8GB.

The condensed FBGA codes for Micron's RAM modules are clearly seen on the teardowns. The 16GB iPad, sure enough, contains 16GB of Micron LPDDR5 RAM. But the 8GB model has two 48Gbit modules onboard. 48 gigabits converts to 6 gigabytes, meaning the lower-grade iPad Pro model has 12GB of RAM available from its RAM module. But in use, the iPad Pro has only its advertised 8GB RAM accessible.

www.ifixit.com

iPad Pro 13" Chip ID

This guide contains a selection of photos and chip identification summary for the iPad Pro 13. Check out our teardown here. Special thanks to...
www.ifixit.com www.ifixit.com

As far as disabled cores, no. That's why Apple went with a binned/unbinned chip.
 
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