Apple Unveils the M5 and updates the iPad Pro, 14-inch MacBook Pro, and Vision Pro
Today Apple made four announcements. There is one announcement for each of the following: the M5, M5 Vision Pro, M5 iPad Pro, and the 14-inch MacBook Pro. Let us look at each of these, starting with the M5.
M5
The M5 is the latest Apple Silicon processor. According to Apple:
With the next-generation GPU architecture in M5, every compute block of the chip is optimized for AI. The 10-core GPU features a dedicated Neural Accelerator in each core, delivering over 4x peak GPU compute compared to M4, and over 6x peak GPU compute for AI performance compared to M1.
Apple also states:
The next-generation GPU and enhanced shader cores in M5 also deliver increased graphics performance, achieving up to 30 percent faster performance compared to M4 and up to 2.5x faster performance than M1.
The memory in the M5 has a higher bandwidth as compared to the M4. The maximum speed of the memory is 153GB/s, this is compared to the 120GB/s for the M4.
Vision Pro
The Apple Vision Pro has been refreshed with an M5. The M5 brings a few improvements to the Vision Pro. From the M5 newsroom post:
With M5, Apple Vision Pro renders 10 percent more pixels with the micro-OLED displays, and refresh rates increase up to 120Hz, resulting in crisper details, more fluid display performance, and reduced motion blur.
Along with the Vision Pro itself, Apple also introduced a new "Dual Knit" band. The Dual Knit band is designed to be more comfortable and provide an even better fit with the Apple Vision Pro. This will cost $99, and can be pre-ordered separately.
You can pre-order an M5 Vision Pro today and it will begin arriving in stores next week. Except for China and Singapore, where pre-orders will begin this Friday, October 17th.
iPad Pro
The iPad Pro has been updated to include the M5. It now includes a N1 chip, which was introduced with the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro/Max, and iPhone Air. The N1 is a custom-designed Apple chip used for handling wireless and Bluetooth. The iPad Pro includes Wi-Fi 7. For those who want a cellular iPad, you can buy an M5 iPad Pro with cellular and it will include the Apple-designed C1X modem.
The C1X modem comes to cellular models of iPad Pro, delivering up to 50 percent faster cellular data performance than its predecessor with even greater efficiency, allowing users to do more on the go.
According to Apple, the iPad Pro with M5 delivers:
- Up to 6.7x faster 3D rendering with ray tracing in Octane X when compared to iPad Pro with M1, and up to 1.5x faster than iPad Pro with M4.
- Up to 6x faster video transcode performance in Final Cut Pro for iPad when compared to iPad Pro with M1, and up to 1.2x faster than iPad Pro with M4.
- Up to 4x faster AI image generation performance in Draw Things for iPad when compared to iPad Pro with M1, and up to 2x faster than iPad Pro with M4.
- Up to 3.7x faster AI video upscaling performance in DaVinci Resolve for iPad when compared to iPad Pro with M1, and up to 2.3x faster than iPad Pro with M4.
Options
The iPad Pro comes in two sizes, 11-inch or 13-inch, two colors Silver and Space Black, and four storage sizes, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB. If you purchase a 256GB or 512GB model, you will get a 9-core CPU, and 10-core GPU, and 12GB of memory.
By contrast, the 1TB and 2TB models have a 10-core CPU, 10-Core GPU processor. These also come with 16GB of unified memory. Also for these models, you can opt for a nano-texture glass, which can reduce glare.
You can pre-order the iPad Pro today and it will be available starting Wednesday, October 22nd.
14-inch MacBook Pro
The last item announced today is the new 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5. According to Apple:
With the new GPU in M5, the 14-inch MacBook Pro delivers up to 1.6x faster graphics performance in pro apps and enables up to 1.6x higher frame rates in games compared to the M4 model.
Additionally, Apple states 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 delivers:
- Up to 7.7x faster AI video-enhancing performance in Topaz Video when compared to the 13‑inch MacBook Pro with M1, and up to 1.8x faster than the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M4.
- Up to 6.8x faster 3D rendering in Blender when compared to the 13‑inch MacBook Pro with M1, and up to 1.7x faster than the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M4.
- Up to 3.2x higher frame rates in games when compared to the 13-inch MacBook Pro with M1,3 and up to 1.6x faster than the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M4.
- Up to 2.1x faster build performance when compiling code in Xcode when compared to the 13‑inch MacBook Pro with M1, and up to 1.2x faster than the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M4.
Like the other products, The M5 14-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1599. It can be pre-ordered today and will be available starting Wednesday, October 22nd, 2025.
Closing Thoughts
All of the products announced today are just for the M5. The iPad Pro and MacBook Pro upgrades are incremental updates from the previous models, but the Apple Vision Pro update is a bigger upgrade, given the generational changes between the processors.
Source: Apple Newsroom
- M5 Processor
- M5 Vision Pro
- M5 iPad Pro
- 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5
