Tablet
Apple iPad Pro (M5): Consensus
REVIEWER CONSENSUS
87/ 100
★★★★½
BUY · 4 of 5 recommend
Reviewers agree the iPad Pro M5 is a modest upgrade over the M4, offering faster performance and a stunning display, but the design and experience remain largely unchanged. It is best suited for creative professionals or users with older iPads, while M4 owners can skip it.
5 Trusted Reviewers
Engadget
85
Engadget says the iPad Pro M5 is a minor spec bump over the M4 model, offering significant GPU and AI performance gains but remaining prohibitively expensive, and recommends it only for those with older iPads.
PCMag
4/5
PCMag praises the 2025 iPad Pro for its fantastic display, M5 chip, and thin-and-light build, but notes the design and overall experience are essentially unchanged from the M4 model, making it best for creative professionals who need maximum performance.
The Verge
—
The Verge reports that the new iPad Pro with the M5 chip is a showcase for Apple's latest silicon and remains the company's best tablet, though it is positioned as an upgrade for users with older models rather than a must-have for M4 owners.
Tom's Guide
4.5/5
Tom's Guide finds the iPad Pro M5 is not a revolutionary upgrade from the M4 but remains one of the best tablets, praising its fast M5 performance, gorgeous OLED panel, lightweight design, and long battery life, while noting expensive peripherals and limited AI usefulness.
Amazon Buyers
4.7 / 5
The M5 iPad Pro is widely praised for its stunning tandem OLED display, blazing-fast performance, and sleek, lightweight design. Battery life is generally strong, though a few users find it merely okay. The main tension is that iPadOS still limits the device's laptop-grade power, leaving some feeling the software holds back the hardware.
Agree & Disagree
What reviewers agree on
- ✓
The M5 chip delivers significant GPU and AI performance gains over the M4.
- ✓
The tandem OLED display is stunning, with excellent brightness and color.
- ✓
The design is thin, light, and premium, maintaining the iPad Pro's build quality.
- ✓
The upgrade is incremental and not revolutionary, with the same overall experience as the M4.
- ✓
Battery life is generally strong, though not universally outstanding.
Where reviewers split
- !
Value for M4 owners — Engadget and The Verge explicitly say M4 owners should skip; Tom's Guide and PCMag imply it's not a must-have but don't rule it out.
- !
Software limitations — Amazon Buyers and Tom's Guide highlight that iPadOS limits the hardware's potential; PCMag and Engadget focus more on the hardware itself.
Subscores
Build
88
Value
60
Battery
80
Display
93
Software
85
Performance
90
The Verdict
87
CONSENSUS / 100
Apple iPad Pro (M5) — the reviewer consensus across 5 outlets.
The panel is confident that the iPad Pro M5 is one of the best tablets available, with unanimous praise for its display, performance, and build. However, the consensus is that it is a minor upgrade over the M4, leading to a cautious recommendation.
The main caveat is the value proposition: reviewers disagree on whether M4 owners should upgrade, with some explicitly advising against it. Additionally, the software limitations of iPadOS are a recurring concern, with some reviewers feeling the hardware outpaces the operating system's capabilities.
Where to Buy
Score is the weighted average of all reviewers’ normalized 0–100 ratings. Every reviewer takeaway links to the original review on the source publisher’s site.
