iPad Pro (M4) vs iPad Pro (M5)

Apple announced iPad Pro (M4) on 7 May 2024 (in stores 15 May 2024) and iPad Pro (M5) on 15 October 2025 (in stores 22 October 2025). From the outside, nothing changed: both generations are 5.3 mm thick at 11 inches and 5.1 mm at 13, weigh 444 and 579 grams with Wi-Fi, and come in silver or space black. If an 11-inch M4 never fit your bag, an 11-inch M5 won’t either.

So should an M4 owner upgrade? Mostly not. A 1TB or 2TB M4 already has 16GB, the same as a 1TB M5, along with the same screen, cameras, speakers and Thunderbolt port; you’d be paying for Wi-Fi 7, the C1X modem, fast charging and a 120 Hz external display mode. The clearest case is a 256GB or 512GB M4 whose 8GB keeps running out, because the same storage on an M5 comes with 12GB.

What changed

Spec	iPad Pro (M4)	iPad Pro (M5)
Announced	7 May 2024; in stores 15 May 2024	15 October 2025; in stores 22 October 2025
Memory	8GB (256GB, 512GB); 16GB (1TB, 2TB)	12GB (256GB, 512GB); 16GB (1TB, 2TB)
CPU	9-core (3 performance, 6 efficiency) on 256GB and 512GB; 10-core (4 performance, 6 efficiency) on 1TB and 2TB	Same split, with super cores in place of performance cores
Memory bandwidth	120GB/s	153GB/s
Neural Accelerators	Not published	Yes
Wireless	Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.3	Apple N1: Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be), Bluetooth 6, Thread
Cellular	5G, eSIM	C1X modem, 5G, eSIM
External display	One, up to 6K at 60 Hz	One, up to 6K at 60 Hz or 5K at 120 Hz
Fast charge	Not published; 20W adapter in the box	About 50% in 30 minutes with a 60W-class adapter, sold separately
Minimum brightness	Not published	1 nit
Screen	Tandem OLED Ultra Retina XDR; ProMotion 10–120 Hz; 1000 nits full screen, 1600 nits peak HDR	Same
Size and weight	11-inch: 5.3 mm, 444 g Wi-Fi; 13-inch: 5.1 mm, 579 g	Same
Shared hardware	Four speakers, Face ID, LiDAR, Thunderbolt up to 40Gb/s, Apple Pencil Pro with hover	Same
Battery	31.29 Wh (11-inch), 38.99 Wh (13-inch); up to 10 hours	Same
US launch price	Wi-Fi $999 (11-inch), $1,299 (13-inch); cellular +$200	Same

8GB to 12GB, on two storage sizes

The memory change is the main one, and it applies to the two cheaper storage sizes only. The 256GB and 512GB M4 models have 8GB and a 9-core CPU with three performance and six efficiency cores; the same sizes of M5 have 12GB and a 9-core CPU with three super cores. The 1TB and 2TB models have 16GB and a 10-core CPU on both. There’s no 12GB M4 and no 8GB M5, so check the storage tier on any used M4 listing: a 256GB M4 is an 8GB tablet.

Both chips have a 10-core GPU, a 16-core Neural Engine and a media engine with ProRes and AV1 decode. M5 adds Neural Accelerators and raises memory bandwidth from 120GB/s to 153GB/s, and Apple says it has faster storage and about 3.5 times the AI performance of M4. Those are Apple’s claims, and it gives no storage speed. M5 is a different chip, not something an M4 can get in an update.

Wi-Fi 7, the C1X modem and fast charging

The M4 tops out at Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. M5 moves to Apple’s N1 wireless chip: Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) on networks that support it, plus Bluetooth 6 and Thread. If your router is still Wi-Fi 6, N1 is for the next one; you won’t see Wi-Fi 7 speeds on the old one.

Cellular is optional on both, eSIM only, and cost $200 over Wi-Fi at both launches. The M5’s modem is C1X, which Apple says is up to 50 percent faster than the previous Pro’s; the M4’s is 5G with 4x4 MIMO and Gigabit LTE. The Wi-Fi-only versions have no cellular radio at all.

Both come with a 20-watt adapter and a 1-meter cable, and the batteries didn’t change: 31.29 watt-hours in the 11-inch and 38.99 in the 13-inch, rated for up to 10 hours of Wi-Fi web or video and 9 hours of web use on cellular. What’s new is a fast-charge rating on the M5, about 50 percent in 30 minutes with a 60-watt-class adapter that’s sold separately. Apple gives no such figure for the M4.

The same screen and cameras

Both use the tandem OLED Ultra Retina XDR screen, with ProMotion from 10 Hz to 120 Hz, 1000 nits full screen and 1600 nits peak for HDR. The 11-inch is 2420 × 1668 and the 13-inch 2752 × 2064, both at 264 pixels per inch, and nano-texture glass is an option on the 1TB and 2TB models of both. The M5 adds a 1-nit minimum to its list; the 1600-nit peak didn’t move.

The cameras match too. The rear camera is a 12-megapixel Wide at f/1.8 next to LiDAR and an Adaptive True Tone flash. It records 4K at up to 60 frames per second, and ProRes video tops out at 4K and 30 frames per second (1080p at 30 on the 256GB model). On the front, a landscape 12-megapixel TrueDepth camera with Center Stage at f/2.0 also handles Face ID. Both have four speakers.

Thunderbolt was already there

Both have a Thunderbolt and USB 4 port at up to 40Gb/s, plus a magnetic Pencil connector and a Smart Connector, so Thunderbolt is no reason to leave an M4. External display support did change. The M4 drives one display at up to 6K and 60 Hz, and the M5 adds a 5K mode at 120 Hz. If you work from a high-refresh monitor, that’s an M5 feature; if you only charge through the port, it isn’t a reason to switch.

The pencil story hasn’t changed: Apple Pencil Pro or Apple Pencil (USB-C), with hover, bought separately. For the M5, Apple priced Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro at $299 for the 11-inch and $349 for the 13-inch, with a floating design, a function row and an aluminum palm rest, in black or white. For the M4, Apple sold Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro and a Smart Folio separately, without giving prices.

Both run iPadOS, and Apple Intelligence is on both, with region limits; Apple’s M5 launch put iPadOS 26 and Apple Intelligence up front. Storage runs 256GB, 512GB, 1TB or 2TB on both. Apple says the M5’s enclosure is 100 percent recycled aluminum and the tablet as a whole is 30 percent recycled content.

What they cost

Apple charged the same for both at launch: $999 for the 11-inch and $1,299 for the 13-inch with Wi-Fi, with cellular $200 more. The M5 didn’t cost more to get into; it raised the memory on the two cheaper storage sizes for the same money.

A refurbished M4 can still be the right buy if it’s clearly cheaper and its storage tier has the memory you need, since an 8GB 256GB model isn’t a 16GB 1TB one. The pencil and keyboard sit outside the $999 start on both, so check current prices with Apple or the seller before you buy.

Skip both if a $599 Liquid Retina iPad with Touch ID will do: iPad Air (M4) has 12GB without the tandem OLED screen, as iPad Air (M4) vs iPad Pro (M5) explains. Skip both if you want a tablet under 300 grams, since the 11-inch Pro is already 444 grams before a keyboard; for that, look at the 8.3-inch iPad mini (A17 Pro). And skip both if you need a pencil in the box, a microSD slot or an IP68 rating.