IPAD Pro M5: Not just a new chip, but another change

The next iPad Pro is apparently received more hardware changes than previously assumed. Instead of only being equipped with the new M5 SoC that Apple has not yet used by Apple, there is also a renovation with regard to the camera equipment. The Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman reports in his Newsletter from Sunday (Paywall). It currently looks that the device will be released in autumn, possibly in October.

Technically similar to the M4

The iPad Pro M5 follows the iPad Pro M4 presented in May 2024. Already last year Apple had installed a brand new chip in the tablet series. This also seems to be the case with the M5, because Macs with the SoC are now expected in the coming spring (which would mean a delay). First of all, the iPad Pro M5 is probably delivered in two variants, one with 11 and one with 13 inches.

The M5 should (somewhat) accelerate the tablet – how much exactly remains to be seen. According to Gurman, the camera change is about the front or selfie image sensor. At the iPad Pro M4, which used a large OLED display for the first time, Apple had moved this to another place. Instead of using the device at video chat, users have received a better picture in landscape since then.

Two cameras for both formats

The problem: unlocking in portrait format sometimes caused problems, and selfies and video chats were also able to suffer in this format. According to Gurman, Apple is now circumventing the difficulties by simply installing two cameras. One remains on the area introduced with the iPad Pro M4 (for landscape users), another comes into the area that is suitable for portrait format. It remains unclear whether Apple actually installs two facial recognition modules (TrueDeth unit for Face ID) or leaves it with a second normal camera sensor.

One of the problems was also that users partially covered the sensor when they kept the device “false”, even if the iPad then spit out an error message. What is new is not to install iPad areas twice: Incidentally, on the first iPad, Apple had to install two dock connections in the meantime so that the device can be loaded in both formats.