Apple’s spanking new iPad Pro powered by the M5 chip drops like a gauntlet. The silicon leap, combined with significant connectivity and workflow advances, propels the tablet so far ahead that it’s hard to imagine even the best Android slates keeping it in sight.
Crucially, Apple kept the pricing flat while cranking up the ceiling for pro users. For anyone who had been considering a top-of-the-line tablet as a legitimate work machine, the conversation just shifted even more in the iPad’s favor.
M5 Silicon Raises The Bar On Performance
The M5 has been in development for more than a year and is manufactured on a 3nm process, scaling to a 10-core CPU (4 performance and 6 efficiency cores), a 10-core GPU, and an overhauled 16‑core Neural Engine. Apple’s own numbers suggest up to 15% faster multi‑threaded CPU performance, four times the peak GPU compute (30% more unified memory bandwidth at 153GB/s), and 3.5x the AI throughput compared with the previous generation.
These aren’t abstract gains. Faster GPU compute counts where markers like DaVinci Resolve and Affinity Photo’s denoise, color transforms, and canvas operations pound on the graphics pipeline. The faster Neural Engine speeds up background tasks in pro note-taking and transcription, while on-device image generation and object selection are immediate.
Memory configurations also get smarter. The 256GB and 512GB models now have 12GB of RAM (previously, it was 8GB), while the 1TB and 2TB keep that at a high-water mark with the previous generation’s RAM: 16GB. Those mid-tier options will employ a nine-core CPU variant with one fewer performance core, but for most creators the bump in memory headroom will be an even bigger win.
External workflows get a generous bump: the M5 iPad Pro can output to monitors at up to 120Hz with Adaptive Sync for more fluid motion and reduced perceived latency. That’s a quality-of-life enhancement for gaming, timeline scrubbing, and live drawing on a secondary display.
Android hardware can’t keep up with the iPad Pro
It’s this theoretical and actual gap that stings. High-end Android tablets — I’m talking about the beefy ones from Samsung, Lenovo, and Xiaomi with a Snapdragon 8‑series or best-of-breed MediaTek chip inside — have moved forward in bursty CPU tasks and ray-traced graphics. For sustained work dispatches, GPU compute and memory bandwidth is where the M‑class advantage starts to snowball.
Because until now, independent benchmarks from the Geekbench Browser and 3DMark (as well as AnandTech’s developer analysis) have consistently shown Apple’s laptop-grade SoCs outpacing mobile-first chips, often by a lot in multi-core and GPU performance that matches up with real creative work. With a 4x GPU compute claim, as well as 153GB/s of unified memory, that advantage does not look likely to diminish.
Thermals matter too. Enabled by the larger Pro chassis and a closer integration of CPU, GPU, and NPU, the system can keep those clocks higher without throttling immediately. Many Android tablets are still optimized for battery life and comfort, which is appropriate for watching movies but stifling in long renders or 3D modeling sessions.
Connectivity and efficiency upgrades for iPad Pro
Apple’s new N1 wireless chip adds Wi‑Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread support. But beyond raw throughput, Apple says better 5GHz performance and reliability for features like Personal Hotspot and AirDrop could actually be noticeable when you’re tethered in a conference hall or sending large files between devices.
On cellular, it’s still no Qualcomm, but Apple’s C1X modem takes over from the previous Pro. Apple claims up to 50% faster data performance and up to 30% lower power usage from the previous model, full support for both 5G and eSIM included. For remote pros, that combination of speed and convenience can mean an extra hour on a long shoot or edit day.
And charging sees a practical bump, we’re told, with a 40W Dynamic Power Adapter with up to 60W max, potentially handy for around a 50% top-up in roughly half an hour. It’s not glamorous, but it’ll go some way to bridging the chasm between mobile and laptop recharging times.
Cameras and pro accessories showcase potential
This may be a carry-over — or not; that part eventually could go either way! — but the 11‑inch and 13‑inch double-OLED panels are still there, at 1,000 nits full screen with 1,600 HDR peaks. And back for the 1TB and 2TB tiers, a nano‑texture glass option keeps reflections at bay for studio lighting.
Cameras remain practical: a 12MP front camera on the landscape edge for video calls and a 12MP rear camera. Nothing flashy, but reliably dialed in for conferencing, scanning, and speedy snaps.
Now factor in the extensive accessory ecosystem (trackpad-equipped keyboards, advanced styli with haptic feedback, and color-accurate external displays) around it and the Pro becomes a modular workstation that scales from sketching to multi-cam editing.
Software and ecosystem edge drives pro workflows
Hardware is just half the tale. Now iPadOS delivers for pro users: Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo, and others are all here. These apps are increasingly making use of the GPU and Neural Engine for actual acceleration, not just feature parity. External monitor modes, Stage Manager, and low‑latency Pencil workflows complete a professional stack in waiting.
Android has its high notes — windowed multitasking (Samsung DeX), LumaFusion, Clip Studio Paint, and powerful cloud suites — but the depth of professional-grade software isn’t ubiquitous across devices. Analyst firms like Data.ai, Sensor Tower, and others have often spotlighted how wide the spending gap remains between tablet app ecosystems, continuing to make iPad‑first a lucrative draw for pro developers.
Market impact and buyer’s takeaways for tablets
According to recent IDC data, Apple lands somewhere in the high‑30s for global tablet share and Samsung around 20%. Momentum counts: For a generational performance lead, that typically translates to stickier mindshare among creatives, students, and enterprise deployments.
For buyers, the math is simple. If this list of priorities is led by peak performance, pro apps, and external monitor workflows, the iPad Pro with M5 sets the category benchmark. Android slates can still be wonderful for entertainment, note‑taking, and light productivity – often at lower prices – but they’re simply not going to unseat this Pro. Not without both a big silicon rethink and tighter execution on creator‑grade software.
The new iPad Pro is available for pre‑order today in silver and space black at the same starting prices as previously, with the 11‑inch model kicking off at $999 and the 13‑inch at $1,299. Add‑ons like cellular and nano‑texture are up to you, but it’s the core package that really shifted things for me — the M5 makes this tablet seem less like a tab, and more like a space‑efficient studio.
