With Apple M5: MacBook Pro and iPad Pro 2025 say hello
The M5 makes its debut in Macs, iPads, and the Vision Pro. Apple promises more performance, primarily for AI tasks. However, M5 Pro and M5 Max are missing.
(Image: Apple)
Last year, the iPad was allowed to take the lead; this time, the iPad and Mac are on the move simultaneously – along with the Vision Pro: Apple's new, faster M5 chip makes its debut in both the MacBook Pro as well as the iPad Pro and the Vision Pro as the manufacturer announced on Wednesday. In terms of design, nothing has changed for the professional variants of Apple's laptop and tablet series and the VR headset; they are all still housed in their familiar casings.
M5 with accelerated GPU
The M5 is now manufactured using the third generation of 3-nanometer technology, as Apple notes. This likely refers to the N3P variant of TSMC's 3-nanometer process, which is already used in the A19 Pro chip found in the iPhone 17 Pro. The performance increase of the CPU with up to 10 cores remains manageable compared to the already fast M4, with Apple stating 15 percent. Early Geekbench benchmarks from a Russian YouTuber, who got his hands on an iPad Pro with M5 in advance, came to a similar conclusion.
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Similar to the A19 Pro, the focus with the M5 is clearly on GPU improvements: a new graphics architecture with a "Neural Accelerator" in each core is intended primarily to accelerate AI calculations. For the MacBook Pro M5, the manufacturer notes "1.6 times faster graphics performance." Furthermore, according to the information, Apple has increased the memory bandwidth again to a good 150 GByte/s and also speaks of "twice as fast SSD performance" compared to the MacBook Pro M4. This would resolve one of the few remaining drawbacks of the base MacBook Pro models.
MacBook Pro 2025 with M5 slightly cheaper
Currently, the M5 is only available in the base version of the aforementioned device series. An M5 Pro, M5 Max, and possibly even an M5 Ultra are not yet available; they could follow in early 2026. This also means that only the base model of the MacBook Pro with a 14-inch display is available in the new M5 version, while the higher-priced variants with the M4 Pro and M4 Max remain on offer.
Nothing has changed with the three USB-C ports on the MacBook Pro; Thunderbolt 4 is still supported with the M5, not Thunderbolt 5. The 120 Hz capable display of the MacBook Pro 2025 is expected to offer a brightness of up to 1000 nits (Candela/m²) for non-HDR content – just like its predecessor with the M4. Apple's new N1 Wi-Fi chip is not used in this product line; support remains for Wi-Fi up to 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.
However, the MacBook Pro 2025 with M5 will be slightly cheaper again. In Germany, Apple will offer it with 16 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD starting at 1800 Euros. That's 100 Euros less than its predecessor with M4, but there is no longer an Apple power adapter included in the package. It is still available in silver or "Space Black."
iPad Pro M5 gets Apple wireless chips
With the iPad Pro M5, Apple has increased the RAM in the lower configurations with 256 and 512 GB of storage from 8 to now 12 GB. Additionally, the company is bringing its in-house C1X cellular modem and the N1 wireless chip to the tablet; the latter supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread. Support for an external monitor with up to 120 Hz refresh rate is also new.
The 11-inch display model with 256 GB of storage costs 1100 Euros for the iPad Pro M5, and the entry-level price for the 13-inch model is 1450 Euros at Apple. These are each 100 Euros less than the manufacturer prices for the previous models. However, the cellular model still costs an additional 250 Euros, and the fully equipped version with 2 TB of storage, 16 GB of RAM, and nano-texture glass will cost 2790 Euros for the 13" iPad Pro – essential accessories like the Magic Keyboard and Pencil are not yet included.
Vision Pro M5: Price drops below the 4000 euros mark
With the Vision Pro, the M5 chip is expected to improve display rendering and render "10 percent more pixels," as Apple anticipates.
(Image:Â Apple)
Additionally, a new dual-band knit fabric is now included, which is intended to increase wearing comfort. The manufacturer also speaks of a slightly extended battery life and a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz for displaying the physical environment transmitted via the camera system.
In terms of price, the Vision Pro M5 in Europe is going down; it is now available with 256 GB of storage starting at 3700 Euros. The entry-level price was previously 4000 euros. Apple is also now introducing the "Logitech Muse" pen announced in the summer, which is intended for spatial drawing. It costs 140 euros. However, Apple currently only sells the Playstation's VR2 Sense controllers, which support visionOS 26, in the USA for 250 US dollars.
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