Next iPad Pro to Have Two Key Features, But One Rumor Still Uncertain

[Slo Pesci]

Make it bigger and make it water and dust resistant like the Samsung S8, S9, S10 & S11 Ultra.

 

[Shirasaki]

I sold my M4 and was hoping for more from the M5 in particular 16GB without opting for the TB models, or 32TB for those.

I know you are meant to say 32GB of RAM but man I am super curious to know how iOS runs on 32TB of RAM/Storage. Would it still be a slugfest or everything can be truly instantaneous now.

 

[Shirasaki]

It’s a

It’s a rumor site. So I’m speculating like everyone else. But Apple usually does double the ram in the 1TB iPad Pro models, so I tend to believe the rumor that the 1TB M5 iPad Pros will get 24gb of ram while the base models will get the bump to 12gb.

I plan to buy the 1TB wifi 13” M5 iPad Pro without nano texture. If prices remain consistent with the M4 iPad Pros, that’d be $1,899. My 2018 iPad Pro has lasted me 7 years. I expect the M5 iPad Pro to last me just as long if not longer. To break that down for you, over 7 years, that’s equal to about $22 a month, or $5 a week… or only .75 cents a day! So yeah, as an artist, that is totally worth it to me. For less than the price of a cup of coffee a day, I get the best digital sketchbook on the planet. Even if i didn’t make any money with it, it’d be worth it for me. But I will probably make more with it in the first year to pay for it easily. Plus I can write it off on my taxes as a business expense. So it’s a no brainer. I also don’t own a computer anymore. The iPad Pro has replaced my laptop since 2018. So yeah, at $1,899 for a product that will last me almost a decade, it’s a real bargain. I will create thousands of art pieces with it. It will give me countless hours of enjoyment. And I will make $ with it. Not to mention that besides art, It’ll also be my main content consumption device. Movies look incredible on that OLED display. I will also surf the web on it, play games on it & write emails on it. Besides my iPhone 16 Pro Max, it’ll be my most used device for all things creative & social. Have I convinced you yet that it’s worth every penny for me? 😂

I don’t use iPad as extensively as you do but I do use my iPad so much that I started forgetting to bring my iPhone while traveling outside. That’s how it goes, even though I also have a Mac and a PC to do whatever they are doing the best. I can’t afford absolutely top of the line iPad but I’ve used it well enough to make it worthwhile. My 2018 iPad Pro was plagued with problems that I opted for an upgrade to M1 iPad Pro, and man that was quite amazing. 5 years in, sure M1 is getting slow and 512GB of storage is nowhere near enough for me, but that’s roughly the cost of $1 per day too. It’s incredible. I’m seriously considering upgrading to M5 even if the change is minor compared to M4 because my keyboard case is breaking down by the day and I don’t want to buy another one that is not forward compatible, plus I need more storage.

 

[whitby]

As an example : on my M1 iPad pro, I had to deal with a mosaic of the moon that is approximately 100MP. The PNG is more than 350MB. And Photomator really struggled with the file.

And I have a computer to deal with this. I do not need to use the iPad to do this. I appreciate that you use the iPad to do this work, but for me I need fully functional OS on a machine with a mouse and 2 X 27” 5K displays. Each to his own and if you chose to use an iPad good luck. But for me it is a complete waste of time.

 

[bLackjackj]

Are these guys that stupid to think that Apple doesn't know the location and people that have activated 'unreleased' devices?

 

[whitby]

Maybe processor update is to make it more power efficient and faster comes as a bonus?

Maybe but why? I have a computer to do this work not a half baked OS on a small screen. Again this is my perspective and I really do not see the iPad as serious computing platform.

 

[Shirasaki]

Are these guys that stupid to think that Apple doesn't know the location and people that have activated 'unreleased' devices?

What can they do for users in Russia though? In US or other western countries maybe something can be done, but Russia? Nah. Besides, they might have the tech to activate an Apple device offline.

 

[whitby]

But it’s the same with Macs. There is a spectrum, and on one end, there will be people who take full advantage of powerful Macs, while on the other, it simply means a slightly faster and longer-lasting machine. Same with iPads.

The difference with the iPad is that some people seem to be mad and want to publicly announce that they don’t have any skill/job/hobby that requires a powerful iPad. Which is okey. But I don’t see power iPad users saying that a maxed out MBP is useless because they don’t use Xcode or FCP.

Fair comment. But I don’t see iPads as a competitor to a machine using Mac OS. They are different machines for different purposes. And to make it clear an iPad to me is not a tool I would use for some of the tasks I see other people see as part or the iPad’s remit. Its OS is too clumsy and the interface is completely useless to me. Good luck to you but the majority of people I see using an iPad ae content consumers but I am also aware the some people use them for serious work. Good luck and my post reflects my view and mine alone. I suspect I am surprised that Apple have so many power users that they feel an M5 is a valid update given the reaction to the M4 release.

 

[whitby]

Just what we need, even faster and probably more expensive iPads. I am not sure what people are doing, in general, with their iPads, but making them faster is not even on my radar for my use. But, I suppose, there must be people that need it or Apple would not have seen reason to do it. Must be the desire to run everything on one type of processor only and eliminate the need to make two types of M chip is the only reason I can deduce. Meanwhile, for me, my M1 powered iPads are more than fast enough. But that is me.

An amazing number of people do not like my post here, which is interesting since I made the point that for me it was a personal view that I am not going to change. However I think the point being made here by the 'disagree' crowd is that these 'disagree' people think that there IS a good reasons to upgrade the processor and working RAM. Good luck to you and I am glad you have a use for it, I just made the point that I do not see the point and that Apple must have seen something I do not. For me the iPad is, and will remain for the forseeable future, a device for consumption. I can see that maybe Apple Intelligence may require more RAM and processor capability but at the moment that is a totally unrealized target.

To me the tablet format has still not realized it's potential and so long as it is portable (meaning, thin, light and long battery life), it can be a consumption device for email, internet browsing and messaging. After that the interface is, to me, completely, useless. I cannot get the degree of precision or target accuracy that a touch interface needs.

But if you see a value, good luck. I do not, and I wish Apple would focus on the primary, for me, requirements of llght, long battery life and robustness that would not make the device self destruct if dropped. Same as an iPhone in fact.

 

[yabeweb]

You’re really trying to spend like $3K on a iPad? I hope you sell your art cause dang.

3000 for 7 years is about 430 a year, not bad i would say, and I bet that iPad is still going strong and would may be passed down and live another 2-3 years so a good investment in the long run.

I also work 99 % of my stuff on iPad only and make money out of it, seemed the right approach when I started and my bet was right for my needs.

Ended up being cheaper in the long run and more practical for my needs.

 

[svish]

M5 chip is a given. The increase in RAM to 12GB is very good. Don't see the point in a second front facing camera. Love my M4 iPad Pro, just bought it 3 months back. Definitely not going to upgrade.

 

[con2apple]

A much more important question:
What new software features will be reserved for the M5?
Perhaps another small bonus that was already available twenty years ago (Stage Manager), an AI feature that Apple still can't deliver even after a year or will the M5 be necessary to switch between LG and an ergonomic GUI?

I don't know. But I do know that the fan bubble will come up with enough reasons why the features can't work with the M4 or M2. Until Apple releases them.

 

[con2apple]

M5 chip is a given. The increase in RAM to 12GB is very good. Don't see the point in a second front facing camera. Love my M4 iPad Pro, just bought it 3 months back. Definitely not going to upgrade.

You may have forgotten, but more RAM doesn't help at all if developers can't or aren't allowed to use it.
We already had that game.
Apple puts more RAM in its devices, but because Apple of course limits the maximum amount of RAM for the software, there are actually no apps that can take advantage of the extra RAM.
I think two or three have it now, including DaVinci.

So what do you want with even more RAM if Apple “forgets” to release this performance to the competition again?

 

[Kingcoherent]

They need 16GB RAM minimum. I bought the M4 hoping to do basic modeling and graphics tasks with the pencil, which was possible, but couldn't open or save or modify anything slightly complex, which was such a wasted opportunity. I don't expect extended performance, but at least enough RAM for basic pro tasks with the Apple Pencil. I sold my M4 and was hoping for more from the M5 in particular 16GB without opting for the TB models, or 32TB for those.

I still have an M1 iPad Pro which can do the same work as the M4 with the limited RAM. I'm still getting the new M5, but I learned my lesson and will have to opt for the TB storage option which wouldn't be too bad if it offers 32GB RAM, but I am expecting it to top off at 24.

I use my iPad for most of my daily tasks (combined with the magic keyboard). This is mostly down to the built in 5G which means I don’t have to faff around connecting to client’s wifi networks. Reading papers, reports is great in tablet mode and the keyboard is (just about) big enough to touch type for extended periods.

However, it cannot replace my laptop (macbook). It would be very close if I could run VMs on it. Apple don’t allow JiT which makes a VM uselessly slow for anything more than DOS (which isn’t useful). This used to annoy me but I do understand why. Unless there is a serious amount of RAM, VMs are likely to perform poorly anyway. And an M5 with 32gb is likely to cost so much as to not make any sense: with the built in cellular, combined with the magic keyboard the cost would likely be 2030% higher than the top end Macbook Air is now. I just don’t think there’s a market big enough to justify the confusion.

That said, I fully expect to have an iPad in a few years that is capable of running VMs (or, our currently large, local vision models).

 

[svish]

You may have forgotten, but more RAM doesn't help at all if developers can't or aren't allowed to use it.
We already had that game.
Apple puts more RAM in its devices, but because Apple of course limits the maximum amount of RAM for the software, there are actually no apps that can take advantage of the extra RAM.
I think two or three have it now, including DaVinci.

So what do you want with even more RAM if Apple “forgets” to release this performance to the competition again?

The only thing I am concerned is with Safari tabs reloading. Have not experienced it yet on my 256GB M4 iPad Pro with its 8GB RAM. That being said, I don't think there will be anything noticeable immediately with the increase in RAM.

 

[Chancha]

The only thing I am concerned is with Safari tabs reloading. Have not experienced it yet on my 256GB M4 iPad Pro with its 8GB RAM. That being said, I don't think there will be anything noticeable immediately with the increase in RAM.

I have heard that iPadOS26 / iOS26 have started to unlock memory usage for paging / swap, not sure how accessible this is for 3rd party devs, but for Safari wouldn't it be the first to take advantage of this?

If so having extra RAM will have meaningful advantages.

 

[noiceT]

Just grab the m4 ipad pro at Costco on sale. Great deal. 90 day return policy.

12GB up from 8GB is great, but realistically what apps on ipad will actually utilize this?

 

[EugW]

You may have forgotten, but more RAM doesn't help at all if developers can't or aren't allowed to use it.
We already had that game.
Apple puts more RAM in its devices, but because Apple of course limits the maximum amount of RAM for the software, there are actually no apps that can take advantage of the extra RAM.
I think two or three have it now, including DaVinci.

So what do you want with even more RAM if Apple “forgets” to release this performance to the competition again?

12GB up from 8GB is great, but realistically what apps on ipad will actually utilize this?

Historically, Apple has increased per app RAM availabilty over time with major OS updates.

Also, multitasking support is important.

 

[noiceT]

Historically, Apple has increased per app RAM availabilty over time with major OS updates.

Also, multitasking support is important.

I guess all I'm saying is $1049 for m4 ipad pro 13" is a good deal considering (based on the early Russian guy leaks) there doesn't seem to be that much difference besides cpu and ram. If that's worth $250 more for the retail, than I guess that's good.

Also I get iOS 26 has more options for multitasking support. But to be honest it's pretty cumbersome to use the different window sizes together. I actually find the full screen to be much more easier to navigate unfortunately.

 

[snipr125]

Just grab the m4 ipad pro at Costco on sale. Great deal. 90 day return policy.

12GB up from 8GB is great, but realistically what apps on ipad will actually utilize this?

More RAM will allow more windows open without refreshing, content creation software will allow more layers, apple intelligence, games etc. There is use for it but iPad OS is very efficient with RAM, so 8 GB can still go a long way.

 

[Dolmio]

Whilst 12gb is welcome it would have been nice if they increased it to 16gb to have parity with base macs rather than the pro phones. I think 12gb is more than required currently but if they were ever thinking of allowing mac apps to port across to ipad 16gb would have been sweet and coukd be positioned more as a mac alternative depending what they do with ipad os 27