13-inch iPad Pro, running on the M4 chip
Apple’s next update to the iPad Pro line with an M5 chip is quite a way from release, an analyst claims, with mass production of the tablet expected to happen in late 2025.
The most recent iPad Pro release was in May 2024, ushering in the M4 generation of Apple Silicon by being the first device to use it. However, it could be quite some time before the next iteration becomes available.
According to a Medium post by TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo on Wednesday, Apple will be using BYD Electronic for assembling more iPads in future. The post also touches briefly on the iPad Pro’s next release.
The iPad Pro “equipped with the M5 processor” will enter mass production in the second half of 2025, Kuo writes. He adds that BYD is expected to “benefit significantly” from Apple’s product launches at around that time.
The timing of mass production makes some sense, at least when it comes to the M5 chip.
The M4 iPad Pro’s May launch was an oddity, as it was the first time the iPad Pro was the only product introducing a new Apple Silicon generation. The first Mac updates using it didn’t arrive until the fall.
If the mass production timing is true, this would put the launch of an M5 iPad Pro in the fall. While this would mean a year and a half gap between releases of iPad Pro, it could also equate to a year between Mac mini and MacBook Pro updates.
A year between Mac chip changes is plausible considering previous product line updates, as does a shift in iPad Pro release timings.
Ming-Chi Kuo is well known for having a high level of accuracy when it comes to Apple’s supply chain.
It is also unsurprising for Apple to be working on the M5 chip, as leakers back in August 2023 discovered references relating to it.
