The M4 iPad Pro is Apple’s first tablet with an OLED panel, the thinnest iPad ever made, and a gorgeous piece of technology. But it’s not selling as well as Apple would have hoped, or at least that’s what reports say.
I’m not surprised that’s the case. I’d happily buy the tablet if iPadOS were closer to macOS than it currently is. Unfortunately, I can’t justify getting a flagship iPad and turning it into a content-consumption gadget. The cheaper iPads in Apple’s lineup are good enough for that.
Apple is expected to launch the iPad 11 and iPad Air 7 this year, making the more affordable tablets even better. Rumors say the iPad 11 will support Apple Intelligence, which implies hardware that’s at least on par with the iPad mini 7. As for the iPad Air 7, the next-gen Air should feature the same M4 chip as the OLED iPad Pro, giving the mid-range iPad the same performance bump as the 2024 Pro.
That’s not entirely surprising. After all, same-year MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops typically feature the same-gen M-series chip. The Pro laptops have other features that make them more suitable for sustained performance that certain professionals require. The same might apply to tablets.
But what if Apple is also going to deliver an M5 iPad Pro upgrade this year? We heard of the possibility a few weeks ago when Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple is readying the M5 iPad Pro refresh for the second half of 2025. A new report from Korea supports Kuo’s claim, indicating that a product refresh is indeed coming this year.
According to Korean-language news outlet TheElec, LX Semicon is developing a new DDI chip for the OLED iPad that Apple plans to release this year.
The only OLED iPad in Apple’s lineup is the iPad Pro. Therefore, the report must be referring to the successor of the M4 iPad Pro. TheElec makes that clear, saying that the 2025 OLED iPad Pro will deliver minor changes compared to last year’s model. However, Apple has given the 2025 product a new codename, which indicates it’s a new product.
The DDI chip sends information from the CPU and GPU to the display’s thin-film transistor (TFT) layer that turns on the OLED pixels to display images. All devices have DDIs, so it’s not a component unique to the OLED iPad Pro. The report focuses only on a change of suppliers for the DDI chip that concerns the 2025 iPad Pro.
If Apple approves LX Semicon’s DDI chip, the component might hit mass production in April or May. This aligns well with Kuo’s claims that an M5 iPad Pro is coming this year. Samsung will provide the chip if LX Semicon’s product is not approved.
TheElec makes no mention of the minor upgrades Apple will deliver with the M5 iPad Pro, nor does it single out the M5 chip. So, how do we know the 2025 iPad Pro will get the next-gen M-series chip?
Apple gave the iPad Pro a big design change this year when it introduced the ultra-slim design and the Tandem OLED panel. There’s no way Apple would change the design this year. The only thing Apple can refresh in 2025 is the internal hardware.
The M5 chip should be Apple’s main priority, especially considering the company’s obvious strategy of beefing up the hardware of its current products so they can support Apple Intelligence.
Upgrading the iPad Pro to the M5 chip makes perfect sense, considering the iPad Air 7 will pack the M4 chip. Also, Apple will start selling various M5 Macs this year, with the MacBook Pro likely to be among the first Macs to get the new chip.
That said, we don’t have a better release window for the M5 iPad Pro than what Kuo offered a few weeks ago. TheElec doesn’t say when Apple will launch the tablet, focusing only on the possible suppliers of DDI chips for Apple products.
