Last week, apparent unboxing videos for the next-generation 13-inch iPad Pro were uploaded to YouTube by Russian channels Wylsacom and Romancev768.
The same YouTube channels leaked the 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M4 chip before it was announced by Apple last year, so these latest leaks are likely legitimate.
The unboxing videos showed the M5 chip, and an increased minimum of 12GB of RAM.
According to Geekbench 6 benchmark results shown in one of the videos, the M5 chip offers up to 12% faster multi-core CPU performance and up to 36% faster graphics performance compared to the M4 chip in the current iPad Pro models from May 2024.
The benchmark result also showed the iPad Pro with 256GB of storage will have 12GB of RAM, just like the iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. iPad Pro models with the M4 chip have only 8GB of RAM when equipped with 256GB or 512GB of storage, but models with 1TB or 2TB of storage are equipped with 16GB of RAM.
No major design changes are expected this year, after the iPad Pro received bigger changes last year, including an OLED display and a thinner design (as thin as 5.1mm for the 13-inch iPad Pro). However, the unboxing videos did reveal that “iPad Pro” will apparently no longer be inscribed on the back of the next models.
Beyond the M5 chip and a minimum of 12GB of RAM, a third rumor is in jeopardy.
It was previously rumored that the next iPad Pro models will have two front cameras, for usage in both portrait and landscape orientations. However, there is no evidence of a second front camera in the unboxing videos, with only an ambient light sensor visible in the top bezel.
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman said the following:
I can say with certainty that M5 iPad Pros within Apple have the second lens. There’s a history of Apple testing features at an advanced stage before pulling them (such as certain storage capacities or features like a second dock connector on the original iPad), but this would be a strange, last-minute cut.
We shall see. Apple will likely unveil the next iPad Pro models this month.
This article, “Next iPad Pro to Have Two Key Features, But One Rumor Still Uncertain” first appeared on MacRumors.com
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