Apple unveils M5-powered upgrades for the iPad Pro, MacBook Pro, and Vision Pro

The M5 iPad Pro is available in both 11-inch and 13-inch screen sizes, with the 11-inch model starting at $1,000 and the 13-inch model starting at $1,300, both with 256GB of storage. On the other hand, the 14-inch M5 MacBook Pro starts at $1,600 with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.

This is the first time Apple has refreshed the Vision Pro since it launched in early 2024, and for the M5 model, the company has kept the price the same at $3,500 for the 256GB model, while also including a new Dual Knit Band for added comfort.

Without further ado, let's take a deeper dive into each of the three new devices Apple has announced today.

M5 iPad Pro

Faster performance and more RAM

Starting with the iPad Pro, Apple is touting that its new M5 chipset delivers "the most advanced iPad experience ever," thanks to its performance enhancements, with a particular emphasis on a boost in AI workloads and graphics. Apple claims the M5 iPad Pro delivers 3.5x faster AI performance compared to the M4 chipset, and 5.6x faster than the M1. The M5 chipset in the iPad Pro has 10 CPU cores, 10 GPU cores, and 16 Neural Engine Cores.

Aside from the M5 chip, Apple has upgraded the amount of RAM in the iPad Pro to 12GB of unified memory, a 50 percent increase from the M4 iPad Pro, which has 8GB. Apple is also touting that the M5 iPad Pro has twice as fast storage read and write speeds, and faster charging. When paired with Apple's new 40W Dynamic Adapter with 60W Max, it can charge up to 50 percent in approximately 30 minutes. Looking at the design of the M5 iPad Pro, it's identical to the M4 iPad Pro, and is available in the same colors: silver and space black. If you're interested in snagging Apple's new M5 iPad Pro, it's available for pre-order now and launches on October 22.

M5 MacBook Pro

The M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are notably absent

With the release of the M5 MacBook Pro, it seems Apple's release strategy for the MacBook Pro is changing. Last year, when Apple dropped the M4 MacBook Pro lineup, it also announced an M4 Pro and M4 Max variant of the MacBook Pro, alongside an entry-level M4 model. This time around, Apple has only announced an M5 variant coming out on October 22, with the M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro rumored to launch next year.

Looking at the new M5 MacBook Pro, it's a similar tale to the M5 iPad Pro. The design of the MacBook Pro is identical to its M4 predecessor, with the only big overarching change being that it's now powered by the M5 chipset.

"MacBook Pro continues to be the world's best pro laptop, and today, the 14-inch MacBook Pro gets even better with the arrival of the M5 chip," said John Ternus, Apple's senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, in a press release. "M5 marks the next big leap in AI for the Mac and delivers a huge boost in graphics performance, accelerating demanding workflows for everyone from students to creatives, developers to business professionals, and more."

For the M5 MacBook Pro, Apple is particularly targeting users who still have an Intel MacBook or M1 MacBook Pro, emphasizing that its latest refresh offers up to "5.5x faster CPU performance" when compared to "Intel-based systems," and "up to 6x faster performance" compared to the M1 MacBook Pro. Apple is also touting that its SSD performance is twice as fast as the previous generation MacBook Pro, which should make the device feel snappier overall. The M5 MacBook Pro is up for pre-order now and launches on October 22.

M5 Vision Pro

Increased battery life and a new Dual Kit Band

Apple first launched its Vision Pro headset back in February 2024. If you were hoping for a refresh with a newer, lighter design or a cheaper price, unfortunately, that's not the case with the new M5 Vision Pro. Like the iPad Pro and MacBook Pro, one of the biggest changes for the Vision Pro is the M5 chipset, which Apple claims will enhance the experience of using a Vision Pro, thanks to the faster performance and increased battery life it unlocks.

The M5 Vision Pro starts at $3,500, the same price as the first Vision Pro headset Apple released, which features the M2 chipset. While, thankfully, it hasn't gone up in price, it still burns quite a huge hole in your wallet. Apple also announced a new Dual Kit Band that comes with the M5 Vision Pro that it says makes it more comfortable to wear (which you can see in the image above). Additionally, Apple upgraded the display on the M5 Vision Pro, with it now offering up to a 120Hz refresh rate and the ability to render 10 percent more pixels on its Micro-OLED displays.