For years, the tablet has held a curious position in the tech landscape. Is it a glorified consumption device? A content creation tool? A laptop replacement? With each iteration of the iPad Pro, Apple has chipped away at these distinctions, pushing the boundaries of what a tablet can be. But with the Apple iPad Pro (M5, 2025), it feels less like chipping away and more like a seismic shift. This isn’t just a powerful tablet; it’s a statement, a testament to what happens when raw, unadulterated performance meets an operating system finally ready to unleash it.
I’ve spent the last few weeks with the M5 iPad Pro, pushing it through every workflow imaginable, from intense video editing sessions to managing multiple development environments. And while the M5 chip is undeniably the star of the show, delivering performance that would humble many a desktop, it’s the accompanying iPadOS 26 that truly elevates the experience. It’s the moment Apple’s flagship tablet homes in on power, but it’s the desktop-like iPadOS 26 experience that makes it shine.
The M5 Chip: Unleashing a Torrent of Power
Let’s not beat around the bush: the M5 chip inside this iPad Pro is an absolute beast. When Apple transitioned the iPad Pro to its M-series silicon, it signaled a clear intention. The M5 isn’t just an incremental bump; it’s a generational leap that redefines what’s possible on a device so thin and light. You feel it immediately, whether you’re scrubbing through 4K ProRes footage in LumaFusion or rendering complex 3D models in Nomad Sculpt.
I recall trying to edit a multi-track audio project on an older tablet a few years ago. It was a stuttering, frustrating mess. On the iPad Pro (M5, 2025), that same project flies. The neural engine improvements also make AI-driven tasks—like advanced photo enhancements or real-time transcription—feel instantaneous. It’s not just about opening apps faster; it’s about eliminating the friction from demanding creative and professional workflows.
This isn’t just about speed for speed’s sake. The efficiency gains of the M5 are remarkable. Despite its raw horsepower, the battery life is consistently impressive. I regularly get a full day of heavy use, sometimes even stretching into a second. This means less time tethered to a wall socket and more time actually doing work, whether I’m on a long-haul flight or hopping between client meetings.
iPadOS 26: The Desktop Dream, Realized
For years, the recurring critique of the iPad Pro has been a simple one: fantastic hardware, but software that holds it back. With iPadOS 26, that narrative finally changes. This update is nothing short of transformative, unlocking the M5’s potential in a way previous iterations only hinted at. It’s the “desktop-like experience” we’ve been clamoring for, and Apple has delivered.
Multitasking That Makes Sense
The improvements to multitasking are immediately apparent. Stage Manager, which felt a bit clunky in its earlier forms, has been completely overhauled in iPadOS 26. It’s now intuitive, responsive, and genuinely useful for managing multiple applications. Windows resize fluidly, app groupings are easier to create and navigate, and switching between complex workspaces feels seamless. I found myself effortlessly juggling research tabs in Safari, a Notion document for notes, and Slack for communication, all on the same screen.
External Display Support Goes Pro
Perhaps the most significant leap for professional users is the enhanced external display support. Gone are the days of frustrating aspect ratios and mirror-only modes. iPadOS 26 now offers a true second screen experience, with independent app windows on the external display and a fully functional desktop interface. Connecting to a larger monitor suddenly turns the iPad Pro into a legitimate workstation. I connected it to a 27-inch monitor, and the ability to drag and drop files between screens, have a full-screen video editor on one, and reference materials on the other was a revelation. It genuinely feels like having a portable M5-powered desktop at your fingertips.
File Management and Pro Apps Come of Age
The Files app has also received a significant upgrade, offering more robust features like direct network drive access and deeper integration with cloud services. This might sound minor, but for anyone dealing with large projects spread across various storage solutions, it’s a godsend. Couple this with the growing ecosystem of pro-level applications—Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, and a host of CAD and development tools—and the iPad Pro (M5, 2025) finally feels like it’s fulfilling its “Pro” moniker.
Beyond Raw Specs: The Ecosystem Advantage
While the M5 chip and iPadOS 26 are the headline acts, the entire Apple ecosystem and its suite of professional accessories play a crucial supporting role. The integration is what makes the iPad Pro (M5, 2025) so compelling, not just as a standalone device, but as a hub in a professional workflow.
The Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro
The Magic Keyboard continues to be an indispensable companion, transforming the tablet into a laptop-like experience with its excellent typing feel and integrated trackpad. It’s the closest you’ll get to a macOS interface on an iPad. And the latest Apple Pencil Pro, with its enhanced haptic feedback and new gestural controls, feels even more like a natural extension of your hand for drawing, notation, or precise selections. The synergy between hardware and software here is second to none, providing an intuitive, tactile experience that’s hard to replicate elsewhere.
A Display That Demands Attention
Of course, we can’t talk about a flagship iPad Pro without mentioning its display. The Liquid Retina XDR display (or whatever impressive name Apple has cooked up for it in 2025) is simply breathtaking. ProMotion technology delivers silky-smooth scrolling and responsiveness, while the extreme brightness and contrast make it ideal for HDR content creation or simply enjoying a movie. For photographers and video editors, the color accuracy and dynamic range are critical, making this display not just beautiful to look at, but essential for professional work.
The Apple iPad Pro (M5, 2025) isn’t just powerful for a tablet; it’s a genuinely powerful computer that happens to be in a tablet form factor. It offers a level of versatility that few other devices can match, blurring the lines between creation and consumption, professional and personal use. While it may not completely replace a traditional laptop for every single user, for a rapidly growing segment of creative professionals and power users, it absolutely can—and does.
Conclusion
The Apple iPad Pro (M5, 2025) represents a pivotal moment for Apple’s tablet line. The M5 chip provides the horsepower that professionals demand, but it’s the maturity of iPadOS 26 that finally allows that power to shine through. The combination of a truly desktop-like multitasking experience, robust external display support, and an ever-expanding ecosystem of pro applications and accessories makes this more than just a tablet. It’s a versatile, uncompromising computing device designed for a world where our workflows are increasingly mobile and fluid. If you’ve been waiting for the iPad Pro to truly live up to its name, your wait is officially over.
