iPad Pro Upgrading from m2 pro to m5, have you?

[bruinsrme]

I am in a predicament. Went to purchase a refurb M2 12.9 pro using a combination of a gift card and credit card.
Something went wrong with the transaction on Apple’s end.
The charge on my card has dropped but the gift card is showing pending transaction on Apple’s end. After nearly 6 hours on the phone, 11 attempts via chat, 7 phone calls and speaking to 29 people, I was told today to wait 48 hours and call back Saturday.
Meanwhile the gift card is still in limbo, I’ve purchased a different refurb and an M5 13” pro.
I have 1 day left on the return of the refurb.
Generally I use the iPad for basic photo editing of raw photos and general consumption.
Pictures are imported via a card reader.
The m2 is about a $500 savings, not the most important consideration.
With work and a couple of 3 day trips I’ve really haven’t had a lot of time to compare and hope some can share their experience of the M2 vs M5. And whether or not is a worthy real usage upgrade.
Thanks in advance

 

[Pezimak]

Nearly, last year I went from an M1 Pro an M4 Pro. The screen was what drove me to change it and the keyboard add on. Awesome machine, despite iPad OS lol. Although I watch videos of OS26 and to be fair, if you put the work in you can do a LOT with the iPad, it can be quite the capable device.

The screen upgrade is to be honest phenomenal, and yes it is more powerful, not sure if you’ll notice though coming from an M2. If you are happy with the size keep the M5 I would say. It will future proof you for a long time.

 

[JCCL]

You may be able to get a an m4 pro at a sale during Black Friday or similar at a retailer. I’d chase that if you want a good deal.

 

[zkap]

I went from M2 to M5 IPP, 11 inch.

The M2 was awesome, everything about it was perfect and I used it for a year and a half, but two things made me switch.
One was Tandem OLED, which many people said was their best display ever, so that piqued my interest. You can't compensate for lack of OLED by any means.
The second was the fact the M5 debuted at a lower price than the M4 (in my country in the EU, anyway), so this is a result of currency fluctuations and the euro being in a stronger position against the dollar as opposed to when M4 dropped. This meant a 160 euro price decrease.

So I traded in my M2. I can say that I am very happy with the move, because the display is incredible, but other than the display nothing warrants the move. I do not notice any other improvements because the M2 was flying on iPad OS 26, in fact it may be the smoothest software experience I've ever had on an Apple device. I guess a number of apps need to adjust to M5 because I'm seeing quite a lot of bugs, but this is temporary.

In terms of speed and fluidity, there's nothing between M2 and M5 that you can notice (in normal usage, dunno about computationally more demanding tasks). But the screen is.... ooooooohhhhhhh.

 

[bruinsrme]

I went from M2 to M5 IPP, 11 inch.

The M2 was awesome, everything about it was perfect and I used it for a year and a half, but two things made me switch.
One was Tandem OLED, which many people said was their best display ever, so that piqued my interest. You can't compensate for lack of OLED by any means.
The second was the fact the M5 debuted at a lower price than the M4 (in my country in the EU, anyway), so this is a result of currency fluctuations and the euro being in a stronger position against the dollar as opposed to when M4 dropped. This meant a 160 euro price decrease.

So I traded in my M2. I can say that I am very happy with the move, because the display is incredible, but other than the display nothing warrants the move. I do not notice any other improvements because the M2 was flying on iPad OS 26, in fact it may be the smoothest software experience I've ever had on an Apple device. I guess a number of apps need to adjust to M5 because I'm seeing quite a lot of bugs, but this is temporary.

In terms of speed and fluidity, there's nothing between M2 and M5 that you can notice (in normal usage, dunno about computationally more demanding tasks). But the screen is.... ooooooohhhhhhh.

Thank you. I have an M2 refurb, today is the last day of the return window. The $500 price difference is a factor as well. I appreciate your input. I have 3 hours to decide. thanks again

 

[zkap]

Thank you. I have an M2 refurb, today is the last day of the return window. The $500 price difference is a factor as well. I appreciate your input. I have 3 hours to decide. thanks again

So eliminate the 500 price difference and focus on the display. That is what I would do now.

Hindsight, I had the same dilemma when I purchased the M2 instead of the M4 and it ended up costing me more because I underestimated the quality of the Tandem OLED display. Should have just purchased the M4, but oh well.

The M2 is for you if you don't care about the display or you can't see the difference between LCD and OLED. Otherwise, no discussion.

 

[Digitalguy]

I don't "upgrade", but I have both. I actually have the M1, M2, M4 and M5.
For me the difference between Mini-led and tandem oled is over-hyped. Of course as you see some people think very differently. I have seen people become angry and aggressive if you disagree with them.
Anyway, for me the main difference between the 2 is that the anti-reflective coating on the tandem oled, which is better and makes it less reflective. But if put a screen protector or use them in total dark there is not much difference.

For me the main difference is, by far, the weight. Do you care about that?

 

[zkap]

For me the difference between Mini-led and tandem oled is over-hyped.

Indeed, I focused on the title of the thread (M2 to M5), but the OP is using the bigger version of M2 which has Mini-LED, whereas my 11 inch M2 was LCD, so I can't speak to the difference between Mini-LED and Tandem OLED.
What I can say though is that Tandem OLED vs "regular" OLED is to me what "regular" OLED vs LCD was, such a jump.
As for Mini-LED, I've seen some people prefer it over OLED, others don't, but yeah, far less of a jump (if any) when it comes to the larger iPad.

 

[Digitalguy]

Indeed, I focused on the title of the thread (M2 to M5), but the OP is using the bigger version of M2 which has Mini-LED, whereas my 11 inch M2 was LCD, so I can't speak to the difference between Mini-LED and Tandem OLED.
What I can say though is that Tandem OLED vs "regular" OLED is to me what "regular" OLED vs LCD was, such a jump.
As for Mini-LED, I've seen some people prefer it over OLED, others don't, but yeah, far less of a jump (if any) when it comes to the larger iPad.

thanks for pointing that out, that explains it. Indeed moving from regular lcd to oled is a much bigger jump. Tandem oled is the first display I am not putting a screen protector on, because it kind of ruins the experience and the tandem oled antireflective coating is good enough.

 

[Beanoir]

Comparing 11inch versions as that what I have - so screen types might be different between the two. I have an M2 pro and recently bought an M5 pro, the difference in the whole package is big enough and a few things that irked me on the M2 have been fixed on the M5 (e.g. front facing camera position, function keys added to new Magic Keyboard). The difference between the screens side by side is VERY noticeable, the M2 looks so dull in comparison.