M5 iPad Pro on schedule for release this year, claims expert

(Image credit: Future)

published 31 March 2025

Quick Summary

Apple's iPad Pro M4 is the best tablet for power users, and an even more powerful M5 version will reportedly enter production later this year.

Don't expect much of a design upgrade, though.

The iPad Pro M4 models are among the very best tablets for power users, and an even more powerful version is said to be in development for release later this year.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has written in his latest PowerOn newsletter that Apple has two M5 devices in development for late 2025: the iPad Pro M5 and the M5 MacBook Pro. The iPad Pro is in "late testing" and is expected to enter mass production in the second half of 2025.

What to expect from the 2025 M5 iPad Pro

Don't expect a dramatic redesign this time around, though. The big changes, including a thinner body and an OLED display, have already happened in the M4 model, which also repositioned the front-facing camera.

Also, don't expect Apple's new modem to make an appearance, because that isn't expected to arrive until the 2027 M6 models.

The iPad Pro M5 is instead expected to offer a considerable speed bump model, abd be largely identical to its predecessor..

As we said in our M4 iPad Pro review, the Pro is a genuine laptop replacement. Provided you like the way iPadOS and iPad apps do things, it's a spectacularly good all-rounder for everything from gaming to entertainment to video and audio production.

It's particularly good when you pair it up with a Magic Keyboard, which for me means the iPad Pro is my go-to device for any kind of travel or remote working.

As with most Apple devices, the sweet spot for upgrading will be for owners of iPad Pros that are several years old now – the difference between the M4 and M5 will be fractional for all but the most demanding users. However, if you're skipping a few generations the difference in performance and portability will be dramatic.

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Writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how tech can help us live our best lives. Her CV is a who’s who of magazines, newspapers, websites and radio programmes ranging from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to the BBC, Sunday Post and People’s Friend. Carrie has written more than a dozen books, ghost-wrote two more and co-wrote seven more books and a Radio 2 documentary series; her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was shortlisted for the British Book Awards. When she’s not scribbling, Carrie is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind (unquietmindmusic).