Apple expected to launch its most powerful iPad this week: What we know

Apple iPad

Apple is preparing to roll out a wave of product updates this week — but don’t expect a flashy event. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the company will quietly introduce new M5-powered versions of the iPad Pro, Vision Pro, and possibly the entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro through a series of online announcements.

In his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman revealed that Apple plans to give its iPad Pro, Vision Pro, and “likely” the base 14-inch MacBook Pro a spec bump with the next-generation M5 chip. These updates will continue Apple’s ongoing transition to its newest silicon, promising faster performance and better power efficiency across the lineup.

Instead of hosting a dedicated launch event, Gurman expects Apple to make the announcements through a string of press releases on its Newsroom website, accompanied by short promotional videos on YouTube. This low-key approach mirrors Apple’s recent trend of unveiling iterative hardware upgrades without fanfare, focusing instead on year-end product availability ahead of the festive season.

If Gurman’s report holds true, Apple’s M5 rollout could mark the company’s final hardware refresh of 2025 — and set the stage for a busier early 2026, when new AI-powered macOS and iPadOS features are expected to debut.

M5 iPad Pro: What to expect

Apple’s next-generation iPad Pro has made an early appearance online — courtesy of a couple of unboxing videos from Russia — revealing key upgrades under the hood and confirming that the design will remain mostly unchanged.

The leaked videos confirmed that the upcoming iPad Pro will be powered by Apple’s new M5 chip and will now start with a minimum of 12GB of RAM, up from 8GB in the current model. The overall design looks identical to the existing iPad Pro, save for a subtle tweak — the “iPad Pro” branding is gone from the back of the device.

Interestingly, the rumoured dual front-camera setup seems to be missing. Earlier leaks suggested Apple would include two selfie cameras to improve FaceTime and video calls in both landscape and portrait orientations, but the Russian footage showed no such feature.

Performance, however, is where the M5 delivers. Geekbench 6 results from the same leak show a 9-core CPU with three performance cores and six efficiency cores. Compared to the M4, the M5 delivers up to 12% faster multi-core performance and an impressive 36% GPU boost.