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M5 iPad Pro to Enter Mass Production in Late 2025

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An iPad Pro equipped with Apple's next-generation M5 processor is expected to enter mass production in the second half of next year, according to Apple industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

m4-ipad-pro-blue.jpg

Writing in a Medium post, Kuo said the primary assembler of the M5 iPad Pro will be China's BYD Electronics, which will also be the exclusive assembler of Apple's upcoming display-equipped HomePod, set to be released in late 2025. Apple released the current iPad Pro with OLED display in May 2024, marking the debut of its M4 chip.

Apple has already ordered M5 chips from TSMC as the company begins production development of its next-generation processor, according to one report. The M5 series is expected to feature an enhanced ARM architecture and will reportedly be manufactured using TSMC's advanced 3-nanometer process technology.

Apple's decision to forgo TSMC's more advanced 2nm process for the M5 chip is believed to be due to cost considerations. However, the M5 will still feature significant advancements over the M4, notably through the adoption of TSMC's System on Integrated Chip (SoIC) technology.

Beyond the processor upgrade, there are currently no other rumors about new features in the M5 iPad Pro, though Apple has said it is considering changing the rear Apple logo orientation to landscape on future iPads.

Article Link: M5 iPad Pro to Enter Mass Production in Late 2025
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/12/04/m5-ipad-pro-mass-production-late-2025/
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I would really love thunderbolt 5 support so you can plug an iPad into two external displays via one cable/dock and then give iPad the ability to output to multiple monitors (with something better than stage manager).

As we all know it's mostly not hardware at this point it's mostly software upgrades.

Also, it's ridiculous that Google websites (namely docs and sheets) work so poorly on iPad OS in Safari (especially trackpad support). Not fully desktop class as advertised. And the native google apps just suck.

If they do this I can probably replace my Mac setup at work with just an iPad Pro for everything except Final Cut at this point.
 
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Dawn of Individual Merit said:
Looking forward to all this processing power rendered made useless by software decisions because Cook doesn't want to cannibalise Mac sales.
Click to expand...
Apple sells many more iPads than Macs. If there was any cannibalization, it has already happened. And just because you can’t make use of it, I wouldn’t say that power is “useless”.
 
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Honestly, all I would upgrade my M2 iPad Pro for is OLED. I’m debating taking advantage of sales now, but if the M5 is coming next year, I may wait to get the M4 at a discount when the M5 drops. Upgrades are so marginal at best now.
 
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MacRumors said:


An iPad Pro equipped with Apple's next-generation M5 processor is expected to enter mass production in the second half of next year, according to Apple industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

m4-ipad-pro-blue.jpg

Writing in a Medium post, Kuo said the primary assembler of the M5 iPad Pro will be China's BYD Electronics, which will also be the exclusive assembler of Apple's upcoming display-equipped HomePod, set to be released in late 2025. Apple released the current iPad Pro with OLED display in May 2024, marking the debut of its M4 chip.

Apple has already ordered M5 chips from TSMC as the company begins production development of its next-generation processor, according to one report. The M5 series is expected to feature an enhanced ARM architecture and will reportedly be manufactured using TSMC's advanced 3-nanometer process technology.

Apple's decision to forgo TSMC's more advanced 2nm process for the M5 chip is believed to be due to cost considerations. However, the M5 will still feature significant advancements over the M4, notably through the adoption of TSMC's System on Integrated Chip (SoIC) technology.

Beyond the processor upgrade, there are currently no other rumors about new features in the M5 iPad Pro, though Apple has said it is considering changing the rear Apple logo orientation to landscape on future iPads.

Article Link: M5 iPad Pro to Enter Mass Production in Late 2025
Click to expand...
Unless an iPad comes with a 16 inch display there is zero point in swapping out the m1 iPhone tablet
 
Will be interesting to see if the M5 brings Thunderbolt 5 support. The current split with processors is interesting, and is really just down to how many native displays the port allows — TB4 had to require dual displays off one port which is why the M2 and M3 MacBook Airs have ‘only’ TB3/USB 4 ports, but at the higher 40GBps speed
  • M4 in the iPad Pro - TB3 at 40GBps since only one display out
  • M4 in the MBP 14 - TB4 at 40GBps since dual display outs via a single port
  • M4 Pro in the MBP and Mac mini - TB5 at 120GBps
I actually think they have marked up the iMacs incorrectly. The base model should be labelled with two TB3 ports since it only supports a single external display. The higher model should be labelled with TB4 ports.

As a side note, I’d really like some waterproofing on my iPad, it’s probably the only thing I think I am still missing. It’s not that I want to go scuba diving with it, but feeling safer if I’m caught in the rain, or if I want to watch something in the bath, would just be nicer.
 
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zedsdead said:
I would really love thunderbolt 5 support so you can plug an iPad into two external displays via one cable/dock and then give iPad the ability to output to multiple monitors (with something better than stage manager).

As we all know it's mostly not hardware at this point it's mostly software upgrades.

Also, it's ridiculous that Google websites (namely docs and sheets) work so poorly on iPad OS in Safari (especially trackpad support). Not fully desktop class as advertised. And the native google apps just suck.

If they do this I can probably replace my Mac setup at work with just an iPad Pro for everything except Final Cut at this point.
Click to expand...
you can't do any significant work with iPad anyway, so why care?
 
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They’ll be able to reintroduce mmWave, since the X75 modem converges the mmWave and sub-6 GHz architecture.

They only removed it because the X70’s diverged architecture meant mmWave would have taken up too much internal space in the new thin design.
 
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suchnerve said:
They’ll be able to reintroduce mmWave, since the X75 modem converges the mmWave and sub-6 GHz architecture.

They only removed it because the X70’s diverged architecture meant mmWave would have taken up too much internal space in the new thin design.
Click to expand...

Cell providers are already pushing towards 3gbit on aggregated midband. I think mmWave is too limited and becoming irrelevant.

It still looks (somewhat) interesting for fixed home internet.
 
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amazingpupil said:
Honestly, all I would upgrade my M2 iPad Pro for is OLED. I’m debating taking advantage of sales now, but if the M5 is coming next year, I may wait to get the M4 at a discount when the M5 drops. Upgrades are so marginal at best now.
Click to expand...
since all their macs are now 16gb base, they'll probably do the same with ipads and make sure every previous device runs terribly doing even basic tasks to *ahem* 'motivate' more sales.
 
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It does no good if Apple doesn’t make some serious changes with iPad OS. When I upgraded my 2018 iPad Pro to the M4, the M4 chip had absolutely nothing to do with my desire to purchase (mostly my battery health and getting the OLED display).

For starters, we need options outside the app store. This would open the door to certain open source apps getting iPad support. Just yesterday I saw a build of Blender running on android. On a touch screen it would be a horrible experience (unless someone developed a native version) but with any of the keyboard / touchpad cases, it would make the iPad a nice mini workstation to rough out some ideas. That kind of stuff would make the iPad 100% more useful beyond Netflix and web.
 
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