Apple iPad Pro to get a vapour chamber in its next update: All the details

iPad Pro

A future iPad Pro refresh is expected to adopt vapour chamber cooling, according to a new report citing Apple’s internal roadmap. The upgrade is not for the newly launched M5 iPad Pro but for the next major revision, which is likely to ship after Apple completes its current 18-month cycle for the flagship tablet.

What Apple is planning

Apple already reworked the cooling system with the M4 iPad Pro by using a copper-based heat spreader that transfers heat toward the back logo area. The company is now developing an even more robust cooling layer using a vapour chamber to better handle thermals under sustained workloads. The implementation is intended to retain the fanless design and thin form factor while keeping peak performance stable for longer bursts of work.

Expected window and technical context

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that the hardware is on track for the next full-cycle iPad Pro refresh, projected for early 2027 if Apple maintains its current cadence. The vapour chamber concept is already in commercial use across other Apple hardware — most recently on the iPhone 17 Pro series — where it helped reduce heat during gaming and heavy GPU workloads. Similar gains are expected on the iPad Pro, especially as Apple chips adopt denser, faster nodes such as the anticipated 2nm-class M6.

Why it matters

There have been early signs of thermal limits even on machines with active cooling, such as some M5 MacBook Pro workloads reaching throttle points. As performance headroom continues to rise, the iPad’s ability to hold top clocks without fans becomes dependent on more efficient heat transfer. The vapour chamber is positioned as that next step, giving Apple a way to push iPad Pro performance without altering its silence or thinness.