A new tablet, laptop, and a headset upgrade are all on the way to end the year for Apple, as upgrades to the iPad Pro, Vision Pro, and the standard 14 inch MacBook are announced.
Well that didn’t take long. Apple’s “coming soon” message from its Senior Vice President Greg Joswiak earlier this week already has a release date, and it’s basically next week, as new gear is slated to arrive.
It’s not quite the pro model, but Apple is doing that thing of releasing its new silicon to the iPad Pro first, with a couple of other gadgets thrown in for good measure.
There are actually four big announcements from this one, and they all start with the chip.
Apple’s M5 is here
If it seems like there’s a year or so between major chip releases now, you would be close. The Apple M4 was announced back in May 2024 with the M4 iPad Pro, and now there’s a new chip a little over a year later seemingly ready to go.
The latest processor is the M5, a generation on that boosts the hardware in different ways. The chip architecture is still 3 nanometre, something Apple has been using for a few generations, but Apple has managed to optimise the chip more for AI.
In graphics, there’s a 10-core GPU with a dedicated Neural Accelerator for each core, improving the performance over subsequent versions, now just for AI-driven workflows, but for graphics, as well. Shaders and speed are up, as is the ray-tracing, because Apple has built this chip to be great for graphics, games, and using the graphics for AI, as most graphics cards tend to be used.
There’s still a Neural Engine with 16 cores to work with seemingly distinct to the AI hardware in the graphics system, and there’s improved memory bandwidth, too.
If all of this seems just like jargon — and it mostly is — it’s essentially a way to describe the power of what the Apple M5 is designed to do.
Frankly, we’re just keen to give it a go, especially as we’re starting to use Apple’s AI instructions in MLX a little more in our own projects.
Fortunately, there are some gadgets that will use the hardware to try it out on.
M5 iPad Pro
One of these is a new iPad, or more specifically, an iPad Pro.
An upgrade to the M4 iPad Pro released back in May last year alongside the chip, Apple’s latest model keeps the same super slim style and lovely OLED screen, particularly the tandem twin-stacked OLED screen used in the 5.1mm 13 inch model, but upgrades the chip and wireless capabilities.
The 11 and 13 inch iPad Pro get that new aforementioned M5 chip, boasting more power for graphics and AI, and will even support 120Hz on external displays, something that’s an upgrade of sorts.
Also an upgrade is the wireless hardware, as Apple uses variations of the mobile chips found in its iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max. That means there’s a C1X in the cellular iPad Pro, supporting 5G with improved performance, while all models support the N1, a new chip that includes Bluetooth 6, WiFi 7, and support for smart home technology Thread.
Beyond the new chips, not much about the devices has changed, and from the sound of things, they’ll even support the previous accessories.
The 5.3mm 11 inch iPad Pro will start at $1699 in Australia for the WiFi model and $2049 for the WiFi/5G model, while the New Zealand pricing starts at $1999 NZD for the WiFi model and $2399 NZD for the WiFi/5G variant.
Meanwhile the thinner (but larger) 5.1mm 13 inch iPad Pro starts from $2199 for the WiFi model and $2549 for the WiFi/5G model, with our friends in New Zealand seeing $2599 NZD for their WiFi model and $2999 NZD for the WiFi/5G equivalent.
Both can expect the range in stores from October 22, available in sizes of 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB, the latter two supporting a nano-display textured glass option.
An M5 14 inch MacBook Pro (sans pro chips)
A high-speed iPad isn’t all Apple announced, either. There’s a new MacBook Pro on the way, as well.
Granted, it’s not going to replace the MacBook Pro models with the M4 Pro or M4 Max chips just yet, but it will offer the M5 chip in a laptop, and provide a point of difference between this year’s M4 MacBook Air and the 14 inch M4 MacBook standard model you’ve been able to find.
This update appears to be largely a chip change, with the 2025 14 inch MacBook getting the aforementioned M5 chip, which is now much faster than the first Apple Silicon computers launched with M1 around five years ago.
Before you say “has it really been that long?”, the answer is clearly “yes”, and Apple’s M5 MacBook Pro is talking up speed increases of nearly seven times the rendering performance in Blender Pro compared with the 13 inch MacBook Pro with M1, and almost twice the speed from the M4 edition it’s replacing.
Even Apple’s Xcode development software gets an increase, with up to twice the build performance when compiling code on the M1 MBP, and up to 1.2 the speed on the M4 14 inch from before it.
In short, the M5 14 inch appears to focus on upgrades for folks with the first generation of Apple Silicon, and possibly those before it. If you have an older MacBook Pro with Intel inside, this generation could be for you.
Or you could wait until a higher spec chip comes in the M5 Pro and M5 Max, likely later this year or early next.
Folks keen to see the M5 MacBook Pro 14 inch will find it in Australia from $2499 in Australia and $2999 NZD in New Zealand, with availability from October 22 alongside the M5 iPad Pro.
Even the Vision Pro gets an update
Oh, and Apple hasn’t forgotten about its high-priced computer-in-a-headset that is the Vision Pro, a gadget we’re still longing to review and asking the question of “how much a kidney is worth” and whether Apple has a kidney trade-in program (it doesn’t, we like our kidney, but we’d love to review the Vision Pro, too).
In Australia, the Vision Pro will still cost a staggering $5999, getting that new M5 hardware, as well as a more comfortable band to hold it to your head.
At least it’s not just a new head band, though it’s one that uses a structure designed to provide cushioning and help your skin breathe better, we’re told.
If you have a Vision Pro (you lucky individual you), the Dual Knit Band is an optional purchase at $169, while the Vision Pro with M5 comes with the Dual Knit Band for $5999 and will be available on October 22 in Australia, alongside everything else.
