The latest leak about Apple’s upcoming iPad Pro M5 has sparked conversation across the tech community, but not all of it is positive. The source this time is Russian YouTuber Williskum, a leaker with a track record of delivering early Apple hardware reveals. Last year, he uploaded a hands-on look at the M4 MacBook Pro before its official launch, and now he’s back again, this time with a supposed unboxing of the iPad Pro M5. This information is also featured on 9to9trends’ YouTube channel, so be sure to check it out.
His video not only showed the tablet itself but also included benchmark results that reveal significant performance upgrades under the hood. But despite the numbers, the device raises an uncomfortable question: is Apple still innovating with the iPad Pro, or is it simply recycling hardware with faster chips?
A Recycled Design With No Real Changes
One of the biggest disappointments from this leak is Apple’s unwillingness to push the iPad Pro’s physical design forward. According to the unboxing video, the M5 iPad Pro looks almost identical to its predecessor, the M4. The box design, packaging, and device dimensions are unchanged. Even the rear camera layout remains exactly the same. Earlier reports hinted at slimmer bezels and possibly dual FaceTime cameras positioned for both portrait and landscape modes, but the leak shows none of this. Only the landscape camera is present, which means Apple is once again ignoring years of user requests for improved front-facing camera versatility.
For a device marketed as Apple’s most premium tablet, this feels underwhelming. Competitors in the tablet space are experimenting with new form factors, foldable displays, and creative features designed to expand how tablets fit into daily use. Apple, meanwhile, appears to be recycling the same chassis year after year. The design stagnation not only makes the product feel less exciting but also undermines its position as the company’s innovation flagship.
The iPad Pro M5 Chip: Impressive but Predictable
If the design is a letdown, Apple hopes the performance gains will make up for it. According to Williskum’s Geekbench testing, the iPad Pro M5 in the leak comes with a 9-core CPU, including six efficiency cores and three performance cores. This appears to be a binned variant, likely for the 256GB and 512GB storage models, leaving the higher-end 1TB and 2TB configurations to potentially use a 10-core version.
The performance results are undeniably impressive. The single-core score of 4,133 surpasses the M4’s 3,748, while the multi-core score of 15,437 leaps far ahead of the M4’s 13,324. What makes this more striking is that these numbers also edge out Apple’s M3 Pro MacBook Pro, which scored around 15,258 despite using a 12-core CPU. The fact that a tablet chip with fewer cores can match or even beat a laptop-level processor highlights Apple’s ongoing efficiency gains with its silicon.
Yet, this raises a deeper issue. Apple continues to focus heavily on benchmark bragging rights, but these performance improvements rarely transform the user experience in ways that matter. Most iPad owners will never push their devices to the edge of such processing power. Without significant improvements to iPadOS to take advantage of this hardware, these performance milestones feel more like a numbers game than meaningful progress.
GPU Performance: A Giant Leap With Limited Impact
The leak also revealed benchmark results for the GPU, and here too the M5 shows impressive gains. On Geekbench Metal, the iPad Pro M5 achieved a score of 74,568, compared to just 53,000 on the M4. This is nearly a 50% improvement and even surpasses the M3 Pro MacBook Pro’s 14-core GPU, which managed 69,460. What makes this remarkable is that the leaked iPad Pro unit may have only been using a 10-core GPU, the same as the M4.
This suggests Apple’s GPU cores have been redesigned, possibly borrowing from the A19 Pro chip found in the iPhone 16 Pro series, with AI and neural enhancements baked in. On paper, this is a significant leap forward. But again, the question is whether users will notice. How many iPad owners are running GPU-intensive workflows that would reveal a 50% gain? For creative professionals, yes, it matters, but for the average consumer, this upgrade feels less impactful without a shift in what iPadOS can actually do. Apple may be over-engineering its silicon while leaving the software ecosystem behind.
RAM and Memory: A Step in the Right Direction
Another change revealed in the leak is an upgrade to baseline RAM. The entry-level iPad Pro M5 now comes with 12GB of RAM, up from 8GB in the M4. This puts it closer to the iPhone 16 Pro’s memory specs and ensures smoother multitasking in iPadOS 18. For high-storage configurations, RAM may jump even higher—possibly up to 24GB for the 1TB and 2TB models—though this remains speculative.
This is an overdue upgrade. Apple’s decision to keep 8GB on a premium device last year was widely criticized, especially as competitors offer higher memory configurations for less. Still, while 12GB is a step forward, it feels like Apple is simply correcting a weakness rather than offering something groundbreaking.
Benchmarks Confirm the Gains
Beyond Geekbench, the leak also included Antutu benchmark results, showing the iPad Pro M5 scoring 3.13 million, compared to the M4’s 2.89 million. This confirms improvements across CPU, GPU, memory, and storage performance. These are real, measurable gains that should make the device faster in every way. But again, without new capabilities in iPadOS, these improvements may feel incremental rather than revolutionary.
The Bigger Problem: Innovation Fatigue
What this leak makes clear is that Apple has fallen into a predictable pattern with the iPad Pro. Each generation brings faster silicon, bigger benchmark numbers, and modest spec increases, but little else. The design remains stagnant, long-requested hardware features are ignored, and iPadOS still limits the device’s ability to replace a traditional computer. Apple seems more interested in maintaining the iPad Pro as a halo product for its silicon than as a true creative and professional tool.
In the broader tech landscape, where competitors are experimenting with foldables and more versatile hybrids, Apple’s approach feels safe and uninspired. Performance numbers can only carry the narrative so far. Without fresh design or software breakthroughs, the iPad Pro risks becoming an annual exercise in silicon updates rather than a true innovation platform.
iPad Pro M5 Price and Release Date
Based on Apple’s release history and the timing of this leak, the iPad Pro M5 is expected to launch in late October or early November 2025. Pricing is likely to remain in line with current models, starting at $1,099 for the 11-inch version and $1,299 for the 13-inch version. While this pricing keeps the iPad Pro firmly in the laptop-class category, the lack of external innovation makes the value harder to justify for many users. Once again, Apple is asking consumers to pay premium prices for a device that offers blistering speed but little change in design or capability.
