iPad Pro M5 review: Closer than ever to the Mac of the future

I had a feeling of irony when Apple announced… iPad Pro with M5 chip. Here we go again with the same iPad, but faster. I have I felt this way for years About iPad Pro devices. It’s quick, great and definitely not necessary.

However, you live with a 13-inch iPad Pro iPad OS 26 In this review, something different happens. I’m connected to my office apps and use them like a work laptop with a Magic Keyboard. Is my iPad finally ready to replace my Mac and serve as my main computer?

There are things about the iPad Pro that I like more than my laptop. Sign-ins with FaceID are smooth and easy. The crisp OLED touchscreen is better for movies and better overall than any Mac for now. The M5 processor fires up.

Most of the changes are due to iPadOS 26, which you can run on other, slower iPads as well. However, thanks to the M5 chip, multitasking really shines on the 13-inch iPad Pro. A multi-window workflow feels more natural, and I’m actually working on it as I type these words.

The latest update to Apple’s M5 chip has had a clear trio of appearances across the MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro lines. Vision is the Apple computer of the future. The MacBook Pro is the Apple computer of yesteryear. And the iPad Pro is very close to being my favorite computer nowadays. Almost, but not quite. The browser still doesn’t look like a Mac. But my complaints diminish with each year.

Same design on the outside, new chip(s) on the inside

The M5 iPad Pro is essentially the same model as last year’s M4, but with a new M5 processor. Apple also claims faster 5G wireless and Wi-Fi 7/Bluetooth 6 via the new CX1 and N1 modems and wireless chipsets. (The M4 Pro has Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.) The size, thickness, and weight are the same, as are the Pencil Pro’s compatibility, cameras, and price.

My general recommendation also remains unchanged. Just like last year, you can Buying iPads is cheaper And get much of the same experience for casual use. The M5 is all about powerful processing, a better pencil, better graphics, and a nicer screen.

iPadOS opens the door (er, window)

I can’t justify the high price of the iPad Pro unless it’s my main computer, and iPadOS 26 helps make that possible. It has the Mac-like windowing system that Apple first previewed in June, and now that I live on it, I clearly see its advantages. I don’t feel like the flow is hindered too much, and the top menu bars in the apps are more helpful with navigating between functions than I expected. In fact, iPadOS 26 mostly does what Macs can already do, and that’s a good thing.

Apple still hasn’t specified how many iPadOS windows can be open at once, and it depends on the iPad hardware. However, I’ve never seen a functionality limit on this year’s other iPads.

What still feels weird on iPadOS is how the browser is handled. iOS and iPadOS rely on apps to pull off odd functions that I generally do in the browser on a Mac. This is still the case now, and makes some renditions of certain workflows (such as Google’s ecosystem of cloud tools) feel less organic on the iPad. I’d like a big browser update and overhaul for future pro iPads… Or on the other hand, if the rumored touchscreen Mac is actually coming next year, maybe it should have a lot of iPadOS in it.

Great screen, fast charging, fast M5

The Tandem OLED display that Apple calls Ultra Retina XDR, which Apple introduced on the M4 model last year, is vivid and great for movies. The thin body helps when used with a keyboard case, and yes, this M5 model works with M4 accessories and cases. The Pencil Pro has some new tricks including a rotating brush, but this year’s iPad Air and last year’s iPad Mini can use it, too.

This iPad can charge faster, but fast charger is not included. You need a separately sold adapter plug or your own charger with a larger capacity.

In my tests, the M5 processor seemed to represent a significant increase in graphics and speed over the M4 processor. In Geekbench 6 tests, the multi-core benchmark I got with the 10-core M5 is 16,116, versus 14,672 for last year’s top processor. M4 iPad Pro. This is about 10% faster. compared to M3 iPad Air Compared to the beginning of this year, which had a multi-core score of 11,643, it’s 38% faster.

Just like last year, Apple has a more powerful processor/RAM tier for the Pro models with more storage. The 256 and 512GB models have 12GB of RAM and a nine-core CPU/10-core GPU, while the 1 and 2TB models have 16GB of RAM and a 10-core CPU/10-core GPU. I tested the 13-inch 1TB iPad Pro model with higher specs.

The M5 iPad Pro is the same price as the M4 model, and is still pricey at $999 or $1,299 with 256GB of storage. The price goes up if you add more storage or accessories, and you can reach $2,000 without much effort.

I still say you don’t need Pro

iPads are excellent tablets, and most people would be better served by using a cheaper iPad. A lot of what I like about the iPad Pro can be done at lower price levels, too. Add a keyboard case to an iPad Air or even an entry-level iPad, and you can multitask in Windows and work with pencils, too.

The high speed, ultra-clear screen and thinner size of the Pro make the experience feel even more premium. But are these devices worth the high price in the professional category, and can they really become computers for everything else? The answer to that is increasingly yes, but not quite. The iPad is full of excellent creative apps, but it still feels like it’s missing some of the professional Mac tools for video editing and graphics that could easily be present now. Or make your Mac and iPadOS pro apps interchangeable now.

Do I want a MacBook that’s as good as the iPad Pro? Yes I do. Maybe we’re headed into that consolidation zone soon enough. Or, when I finish saving this story on a Mac written entirely on an iPad Pro M5, and I lose whatever computer I’m using, I might already be there.