M5 Chip Rumored to Debut in These Five Apple Products Later This Year

[MacRumors]

Apple's next-generation M5 chip is expected to debut in five new products later this year, including the iPad Pro, Vision Pro, MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac.

M5 chips will reportedly be manufactured with TSMC's latest third-generation 3nm process, which should result in slight performance and power efficiency improvements over M4 chips fabricated with its second-generation 3nm process.

Below, we outline what to expect from these upcoming devices.

iPad Pro

After being updated with an OLED display and a much thinner design last year, the iPad Pro will likely receive relatively smaller upgrades this year.

Last year, Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said iPad Pro models with an M5 chip would enter mass production in the second half of 2025. The current iPad Pro models with the M4 chip launched in May 2024, and Apple typically updates the iPad Pro on a roughly 18-month cycle, so the next models could be released in September or October.

Beyond the M5 chip, it has been rumored that the iPad Pro will eventually gain ultra-thin bezels, but it is unclear if that will happen this year or later.

Vision Pro

In a recent post outlining Apple's future head-mounted devices, Kuo said the Vision Pro will be updated with the M5 chip later this year.

Kuo expects the Vision Pro with the M5 chip to enter mass production in the third quarter of 2025, which began this week. He said the Vision Pro's other specs will remain the same, so it sounds like the newer chip will be the only change.

The current Vision Pro with the M2 chip was released in February 2024.

Kuo does not expect a true Vision Pro 2 to launch until 2028.

MacBook Pro

Apple is expected to release updated 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5, M5 Pro, and M5 Max chips in October this year.

If you are considering purchasing a new MacBook Pro, it might be best to hold off until next year, if you are able to wait. According to rumors, the MacBook Pro will be receiving its first major redesign since 2021 next year, with upgrades to include an OLED display and a thinner design. Of course, Apple will also be on to M6 chips by then.

Mac mini

Last year, Apple updated the MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac simultaneously, and there is a decent chance it will do so again this year.

Earlier this week, AppleInsider shared a list of alleged identifiers for future Mac models, and the publication believes that one of those identifiers is likely for a Mac mini with an M5 Pro chip. There should be a model with a regular M5 chip as well.

Given the Mac mini received its first redesign since 2010 last year, the small desktop computer is unlikely to receive any design changes this year.

iMac

AppleInsider also shared an identifier for a potential new iMac with an M5 chip, which could arrive alongside the next MacBook Pro and Mac mini models later this year.

Article Link: M5 Chip Rumored to Debut in These Five Apple Products Later This Year

 

[turbineseaplane]

Kuo expects the Vision Pro with the M5 chip to enter mass production in the third quarter of 2025, which began this week. He said the Vision Pro's other specs will remain the same, so it sounds like the newer chip will be the only change.

That should go .... very very poorly, as it addresses not a single one of the many issues the AVP has.

Kuo does not expect a true Vision Pro 2 to launch until 2028.

Wow. That's a long ways away.

 

[okkibs]

To sum this up, anyone who has a M4 device right now can ignore the small M5 update, and anyone who doesn't have a M4 yet can grab one now and make use of sales and doesn't need to wait for M5 either. And whoever wants a Macbook with Tandem OLED can expect it in the M6 models next year at the earliest.

 

[G5isAlive]

That should go .... very very poorly, as it addresses not a single one of the many issues the AVP has.

You could expand your comment to actually say what issues it wont address.

Previously you complained they didnt allow other input devices. Apple addressed that. You complained about the online personas. Apple addressed that. You complained it didnt have the games Quest does... but not everyone complains about games.

There is one thing this wont address that you routinely criticize, price. Yep. Won't address that. So? Perhaps some day an Apple Vision will, but probably not the Pro.

I am not sure I will upgrade, my current AVP does fine for what I use it for, but I will make the decision when it's actually released and we can see the actual performance enhancements.

 

[turbineseaplane]

the publication believes that one of those identifiers is likely for a Mac mini with an M5 Pro chip.

This could be of interest to me, especially now that 3rd party internal storage upgrades are becoming fairly widely available across a competitive landscape of sellers. This is a little less true on the Pro chips, but it's getting better.

 

[Hewhowalksbehindtherows]

This is too soon to say, but I would like to know the trade-in value for upgrading the M2 Vision Pro to the M5 Vision Pro.

 

[turbineseaplane]

This is too soon to say, but I would like to know the trade-in value for upgrading the M2 Vision Pro to the M5 Vision Pro.

😬

I have a feeling this could be rough
Hopefully Apple does OG buyers a solid on the values, but I sort of doubt they will.

It will be fascinating to see, for sure.

 

[dumastudetto]

I'd like to see iPad Pros starting at 16GB RAM this year to mirror the Macs. I also hope us iPad Pro users get M5 first, like the M4 series.

 

[212rikanmofo]

So with all the recents new about the M5 Vision Pro, do you guys think it will be out this year?

 

[Ethosik]

I really hope iPadOS 26 makes these chips worth it. I still find the M1 iPad Pro overpowered for what it can do. Only reason I might upgrade is the screen. I have way too much bloom on my M1 model.

 

[UltimaKilo]

That should go .... very very poorly, as it addresses not a single one of the many issues the AVP has.



Wow. That's a long ways away.

The tech to improve the AVP is years away, possibly 2029 based on roadmaps for panels and pass through AR.

The fact is that the AVP was a product that was rushed to market way ahead of time.

——

The M5 is going to be a beast, if the reports are correct, particularly its GPU. If anyone has been holding out to upgrade, especially the Mac Mini, this would be the one to get.

 

[doelcm82]

The tech to improve the AVP is years away, possibly 2029 based on roadmaps for panels and pass through AR.

The fact is that the AVP was a product that was rushed to market way ahead of time.

——

The M5 is going to be a beast, if the reports are correct, particularly its GPU. If anyone has been holding out to upgrade, especially the Mac Mini, this would be the one to get.

I'm so glad they brought the AVP to market when they did, so I didn't have to wait five more years for it! Imagine if they had held back on television until HDTV and flat panels and stereo sound were ready. Apple brought out the iPhone without key features, but it was still useful.

My AVP is still useful to me, and gets more useful with each update of VisionOS

 

[doelcm82]

I am not sure I will upgrade, my current AVP does fine for what I use it for, but I will make the decision when it's actually released and we can see the actual performance enhancements.

I don't think performance would be a reason to upgrade for me. What will they do with that extra performance? Will Safari seem snappier? It's hard to imagine they would upgrade the chip and nothing else. I'd expect a few other tweaks. An Apple Vision Pro S. Maybe better cameras, so AVP could be better used for content creation.

 

[klasma]

Five! The Count rejoices.

 

[G5isAlive]

I don't think performance would be a reason to upgrade for me. What will they do with that extra performance? Will Safari seem snappier? It's hard to imagine they would upgrade the chip and nothing else. I'd expect a few other tweaks. An Apple Vision Pro S. Maybe better cameras, so AVP could be better used for content creation.

I get what you are saying but would you say the same thing to people with an M2 any other apple device (besides iPad) talking about upgrading to an M5? Because we saw a lot of threads saying the upgrade from an M2 to an M4 was good for an iPad Air for example. I know I saw a difference in mine. More and more productivity apps are coming out for the AVP that will benefit like the other M2 devices.

 

[EugW]

I get what you are saying but would you say the same thing to people with an M2 any other apple device (besides iPad) talking about upgrading to an M5? Because we saw a lot of threads saying the upgrade from an M2 to an M4 was good for an iPad Air for example. I know I saw a difference in mine. More and more productivity apps are coming out for the AVP that will benefit like the other M2 devices.

I have the M4 iPad Pro and M4 MacBook Air. They are both MASSIVELY overpowered for most mainstream usage, especially on the iPad Pro.

Actually, an A18 Pro MacBook at a lower price would likely suit our needs better than our M4 MacBook Air. Well, it would be preferable if such an A18 Pro MacBook had Thunderbolt/USB 4. Hopefully the rumoured Macs with A series chips will support that.

I will say that the M4 does occasionally feel a tad snappier than the M1 with basic usage but it's not a big difference. (I had an M1 Mac mini, and now have the M4 Mac mini.) The bottleneck isn't usually the SoC anymore for say business type usage. However, that wouldn't even be a real concern anyway, since based on Geekbench benchmarks, A18 Pro would compete quite favourably, vastly faster than M1 for single-core (at close to M4 speeds), and very similar to M1 for multi-core. For general OS navigation and business app use, single-core is usually far more important than multi-core.

The more important factor here for me is the memory. The iPad Pro M4 came with 8 GB RAM base. Here's hoping that Apple specs a minimum of 16 GB RAM for the hypothetical A18 Pro MacBook.

 

[picpicmac]

So nothing is going to be said about TSMC's progress with what it calls 3D Fabric, and how it plans to offer such chips?

 

[svish]

The iPad Pro update will be a very minor one. Will be good if all the Macs are getting a chip upgrade yearly. Hopefully the iMac will continue to have bright colours. The M3 iMac had a slightly toned down colour than the M1.

 

[richinaus]

I don't think performance would be a reason to upgrade for me. What will they do with that extra performance? Will Safari seem snappier? It's hard to imagine they would upgrade the chip and nothing else. I'd expect a few other tweaks. An Apple Vision Pro S. Maybe better cameras, so AVP could be better used for content creation.

more spatial computing?

maybe a 5-10% price reduction if just updating the chip...... but I expect a few other tweaks and current price. Even better passthrough cameras would be awesome - boost the fidelity further.

 

[Achillias]

I'm particularly curious about how the new iPad will look with thinner bezels. There are always people who initially oppose such changes, but they tend to quiet down once the new design is actually released. For me, the appearance of my gadgets is just as important as their features. I really like the thin bezels on the iPhone, for example, so I'm all for it coming to the iPad. As long as the price point with the OLED screen is reasonable, I'm on board.

 

[EugW]

The iPad Pro update will be a very minor one.

It would be significant if the iPad Pro gets a memory bump up to 12 GB or 16 GB. The base M4 iPad Pro only comes with 8 GB RAM (or else 12 with 4 GB deactivated).

 

[star-affinity]

I do hope the M5 includes AV1 encoding support. It should have been there already on at least M4 I think.

 

[EugW]

I do hope the M5 includes AV1 encoding support. It should have been there already on at least M4 I think.

The new macOS 26 includes AV1 encoding support. That could just be for software encoding, but maybe you'll get your wish for hardware AV1 encoding support soon too.

Personally I don't care though. I just wanted hardware AV1 decoding support, which M3 and M4 have. That's one reason I skipped the Costco M2 MacBook Air blowout sale this spring. (The other reason is that the machine is all the way back from 2022, so halfway through its macOS support period.)

 

[inlvnv]

In the last 2 months of last year, I bought/upgraded to AVP Pro, AW10, M4 MacBook Pro 14”, M4 Mac Mini and iPhone 16 Pro Max, so I’m set for next 4 to 6 years unless there is a major tech breakthrough in one of the devices.

My M2 iPad Pro 11.9 should last that long also, and the only thing I would be remotely interested in upgrading sooner would be Apple Watch if it includes blood sugar monitoring.

 

[klasma]

I'm particularly curious about how the new iPad will look with thinner bezels. There are always people who initially oppose such changes, but they tend to quiet down once the new design is actually released. For me, the appearance of my gadgets is just as important as their features. I really like the thin bezels on the iPhone, for example, so I'm all for it coming to the iPad. As long as the price point with the OLED screen is reasonable, I'm on board.

From the actual rumor source, they bezels will be 20-25% thinner, from slightly under 8 down to around 6 mm. That would match the Dynamic Island height, which presumably is what the Face ID sensor requires. So, nothing like iPhone bezels, more like how the Dynamic Island is a bit narrower than the notch was.