Apple just unveiled fresh iPhones, AirPods and Watches for the season, and updates for its other devices could follow soon.
Rumors are swirling of new MacBooks, a new iPad Pro and even an update to the nearly two-year-old Apple Vision Pro. All these upcoming products could share one thing that hasn’t yet been announced: an M5 chip. Mark Gurman, an accurate source of Apple’s future roadmap, has been reporting about these being in the works for months.
Apple tends to release its M-series processors on a yearly cadence. The M4 debuted along with the last version of the iPad Pro in May 2024. While products with new-generation chips tend to get staggered releases over time, including variations with extra processing cores or RAM, this year we may see a number of updates across the board with the M5 chip all at once.
Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.
I’m most interested in Apple’s “future computers,” the iPad Pro and Apple Vision Pro, which have both been crowned as the next wave beyond Mac at various points in the last five years.
While the Vision Pro is still an extremely niche device, iPads are steadily becoming more Mac-like with OS changes under the hood. There are an increasing number of hints and possible leaks, from an FCC filing for what looks like Vision Pro 2 to what looks like a full unboxing of the M5 iPad Pro in Russia.
If you’re considering buying either, wait. Here is a mix of what we expect and what I hope gets announced.
The iPad Pro got its redesign last year. This year, expect performance boosts and maybe a camera update.
iPad Pro M5: Focusing on pure power
A year ago, the iPad Pro M4 saw a big redesign: It got thinner, introduced a new Pencil Pro and added a tandem OLED display that still hasn’t appeared anywhere else in the line. This fall, I expect Apple to keep that design and swap in a better chip, with some possible camera boosts.
The biggest possible feature is dual front-facing cameras that allow for both landscape and portrait video chats, something I don’t need but some Pro users might.
Right now, and for the last few years, I haven’t found iPad hardware to be the limiting factor. It’s the software and OS that feel like they’re being held back, particularly since iPads now have the same processing power as Macs. Apple isn’t turning iPads into literal Macs yet, but iPadOS 26 now has an app windowing multitasking system that’s more Mac-like than ever. A larger display and a better processor could pay off in new ways.
I still would like a Magic Keyboard redesign that allows for truly flat convertible transformations like a folio case, but otherwise, the only thing I don’t like about the current iPad Pro line is its price. The M4 chip wasn’t a notable boost in performance over the M3, though, so maybe this year, the M5 could finally show a leap.
The Vision Pro could improve in a number of ways. How many will come this year?
Vision Pro 2: New color, new fit and hopefully new cameras and AI
While Apple is reportedly planning a lower-cost and smaller Vision Air headset in the next couple of years, the current Vision Pro offers still-impressive capabilities compared to the rest of the VR landscape, but it’s way too expensive. Its current M2 chip feels way behind the rest of Apple’s products. VisionOS, however, keeps getting more ambitious, with mixed-reality widgets, impressive virtual avatars and more.
It sounds very likely that we’ll be getting a Vision Pro 2 very soon, but the hardware’s design may not get any smaller or less expensive. Instead, new components could keep it ready for overdue upgrades, like onboard AI.
An M5 chip on a Vision Pro would give it the most powerful processor on a standalone mixed reality device, and one that will likely be far more tuned for handling the headset’s multiple cameras, sensors and graphics functions. It should also allow for higher-end games, something that may be on tap now that the Vision Pro supports PSVR 2 controllers.
Reports say the new Vision Pro 2 will be black instead of white, and will have a new head strap for a better-balanced fit. That’s good news, since I’ve had to shop for head straps to make mine fit well. But don’t expect it to be lighter. And odds are strong it’ll still have a tethered battery pack just like it does now.
I’d like to see improved onboard cameras for even better pass-through video quality. I’d also like an upgraded resolution display. (Even though the ones on the existing Vision Pro are great, there are higher-resolution options that could be adopted.)
Also, since the Vision Pro’s viewing area is more constrained than that of other VR headsets, an improved field of view would be welcome. Advances in hand-tracking lag and low-light sensor accuracy could (and should) be made.
I’d love to see Apple make its own spatial version of the Pencil for art and creative tools, but will that come now? Apple just announced support for third-party styluses like Logitech’s, but it might be too early for a true Vision Pencil. That might come with the Air in a couple of years.
The biggest advance the M5 could offer is onboard multimodal AI, pushing ways that the headset could more effortlessly recognize on-display and pass-through camera feeds and assist. Google is working on Gemini for Samsung’s upcoming Moohan mixed reality headset, but Apple Intelligence on Vision Pro still doesn’t have any visual awareness yet.
Keep an eye out in October for the updates and new Macs. I’m curious to see what the M5 could bring, and whether it’ll make as big a difference as I think it could.
Read the full article here