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M6 iPad Pro Likely to Feature Vapor Chamber Cooling

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Apple is planning to bring an iPhone 17 Pro-style vapor chamber to the iPad Pro, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

iPad-Pro-2024-Space-Black.jpg

In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman explained that with increasingly powerful chips, Apple is planning to bring vapor chamber cooling to the iPad Pro. The new feature could arrive as soon as with the next generation, which will likely feature the "M6" chip made with TSMC's 2-nanometer process. The liquid cooling system would help mitigate throttling, especially as the iPad Pro becomes more capable at handling intense workflows.

If the move to bring a vapor chamber to the iPhone and iPad Pro prove successful, Apple could turn its attention to bringing the technology to other passively cooled devices like the MacBook Air. Apple is now seemingly operating an approximate 18-month refresh cycle for the iPad Pro, so next-generation model should arrive in the spring of 2027, according to Gurman.

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Article Link: M6 iPad Pro Likely to Feature Vapor Chamber Cooling
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/10/26/m6-ipad-pro-likely-to-feature-vapor-chamber/
Awesome, I was hoping Apple would implement this on the iPad Pro. And hopefully more memory while we are at it.

With the iPad Pro getting more and more capable, my 11" with a Magic Keyboard is my go-to computer for everything when away from my desk. Rarely touch my MacBook.
 
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Haven’t we reached the point where we do not need more CPU or memory - just better code?
If just a few percent of the MASSIVE computepower (not to mention energy and costs) thrown into pointless “AI” chatbots were used to create AI’s that could massively optimize the code written these days, we could go back to anno 2018 hardware and still have much faster phones, pads, computers and what not.
 
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MayaUser said:
So if the iPad Pro cannot deal with the heat from M6...then also the macs needs a better cooling solution starting with the M6 MacBook air and so on since for the M5 MacBook air is too late
Click to expand...
Are you suggesting they should add a vapor chamber?

M chips peak at a similar wattage. The vapour chamber is for better sustained performance over prior models, not necessarily because M6 would run much hotter. If you need a fan or two go for MBP.
 
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Mac Fly (film) said:
Are you suggesting they should add a vapor chamber?

All M chips have run at a similar wattage. The vapour chamber is for more sustained performance over prior models, not necessarily because M6 would run much hotter.
Click to expand...
The 14" and 16" M6 Macs families will have to come up with better cooling solutions
The M5 is a step above in performance but its starts to struggles even with an active 1fan cooling solution from 14" Mbp
So, im afraid the 14" M5 Max will be even more limited then the previous generations
So if Apple in early test of the ipad pro with M6 feels the need of VC for a more sustained performance...that means is at least above M5
 
MayaUser said:
The 14" and 16" M6 Macs families will have to come up with better cooling solutions
The M5 is a step above in performance but its starts to struggles even with an active 1fan cooling solution from 14" Mbp
So, im afraid the 14" M5 Max will be even more limited then the previous generations
Click to expand...
You have it backwards. M5 can perform similar processes to M4 while generating less heat thanks to improved performance at similar wattages. M4 needs more push vs M5 for many tasks. See comparison videos on YouTube. This will likely remain true for M5 to M6 comparisons. It's what's making these fan-less machines possible. Early MBA's with a fan ran hotter than MBAs today without a fan for this reason—performance per watt improvements. The vapour chamber makes the machine better than it otherwise would. Think of it not as a comparison between an M6 iPad Pro and an M5 iPad Pro, but an M6 iPad Pro and an M6 iPad Pro with a vapor chamber.
 
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Keep dreaming with the vapor chamber on the air lol. There has to be some sort of difference in terms of speed to upsell you to the "PRO" line.
 
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Der Keyser said:
Haven’t we reached the point where we do not need more CPU or memory - just better code?
If just a few percent of the MASSIVE computepower (not to mention energy and costs) thrown into pointless “AI” chatbots were used to create AI’s that could massively optimize the code written these days, we could go back to anno 2018 hardware and still have much faster phones, pads, computers and what not.
Click to expand...
To process all of the code it still requires massive CPU, GPU, and Neural processing.
 
MayaUser said:
beacause of the poor SoC...Apple only copies if they have to....until M5 the SoC is way better than samsung tablets SoC
Click to expand...
So you're saying Apple's SoC is now becoming poor too? Still they will market the vapor chamber as the best thing since sliced bread.
 
AlexESP said:
That would make it thicker and heavier, defeating the purpose of the iPad. To me, it makes sense that the MBP is the thickest Mac, while the iPad Pro is the thinnest iPad, they’re maximizing different areas.
Click to expand...
Design is about trade-offs. An SD Card is 2.1 mm. I do wonder if Apple tried could they get one in there?

(13-inch iPad Pro is 5.1 mm; 11-inch is 5.9 mm)
 
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M5 was an SE update, it was only a matter of time for vapor chamber in iPads especially since the M5 understandably runs hotter than the M4.
 
Mac Fly (film) said:
Are you suggesting they should add a vapor chamber?

M chips peak at a similar wattage. The vapour chamber is for better sustained performance over prior models, not necessarily because M6 would run much hotter. If you need a fan or two go for MBP.
Click to expand...

You might be forgetting what CoWoS enables.

Heat flux (“density”) will be increasing from now on, which will soon require faster rate of heat transfer.
 
Along with the two cameras mark said we were getting on the m5 …… sure MacRumors and sponsor Bloomberg we all believe you 🙄
 
Ceecephous said:
Keep dreaming with the vapor chamber on the air lol. There has to be some sort of difference in terms of speed to upsell you to the "PRO" line.
Click to expand...
if this is for me...VC is cheaper than active cooling solution
So Air will still be inferior with a proper 2 fans heatsink solution from the "pro" line
 
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Der Keyser said:
Haven’t we reached the point where we do not need more CPU or memory - just better code?
If just a few percent of the MASSIVE computepower (not to mention energy and costs) thrown into pointless “AI” chatbots were used to create AI’s that could massively optimize the code written these days, we could go back to anno 2018 hardware and still have much faster phones, pads, computers and what not.
Click to expand...

In principle, yes. But unfortunately at least the most recent macOS seems to be an antithesis of better code. Can't believe they've made my M2 Air laggy in basic tasks that even Intel macbooks handled just fine.
 
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