iPad M5 Pro... is it PRO enough?

This is the 13-inch iPad Pro M5. Now, just from looking at it, you probably wouldn't be able to tell it apart from the previous M4 chip version. But there are actually some significant upgrades inside. Now, if you're wondering whether it's worth the upgrade or in general how it performs, then stick around as I'm going to share my experience of using it over the last couple of weeks. So, I use my iPads more for casual kind of fun use, but where I do use them for work is more sort of as an accessory tool. For most of my work, like when I'm creating video content or doing visual effects, I prefer to use a beefy PC or maybe a really good laptop. Where I think that an iPad, especially an iPad Pro, is a huge advantage is when you're going to use it with the Apple Pencil Pro. When doing any kind of photo retouching, drawing, or for example when I do classical animation, I personally like to use Procreate Dreams, or for example even 3D animation, using ZBrush and stuff like that for sculpting and texturing. That's where I think you're going to be able to do all those things a lot better on an iPad Pro than on a traditional PC or a laptop. And that's mainly because of, again, the Apple Pencil Pro, because of just having that direct input versus using a mouse and a keyboard. Also, in my opinion, I think if you're going to get an iPad Pro, get the 13-inch version, because just having that extra bigger screen versus, for example, the 11-inch version just allows you to do a lot more detailed work when not having to zoom in or out as much. So let's start with the screen. I think this is one of the best screens on any device, period. The OLED touch screen up here with the resolution of 2752 pixels by 2064 is very sharp, and also the color reproduction is very accurate. Now, combine that with the 120Hz refresh frame rate, and it just means you're getting a sort of silky smooth motion always, whether you're using it for work or even, you know, gaming, or maybe you could say especially when gaming. Also, using it outside is never a problem, again, thanks to this screen, because of the 1600 nits of sort of peak HDR brightness, but the sustained brightness actually that it has is 1000 nits, which, again, is plenty enough. Now, if you want the Apple Pencil Pro to feel really natural on the screen, then I would definitely suggest you get a textured screen protector. Now, the ones that I like to use are the magnetic ones. If you want to know which one exactly, just check out the links in the description. But that's simply because any textured screen protector is going to sort of dull down the contrast and the colors of your display, which is okay when you're just drawing and you want that real kind of a paper-like feel. But, for example, when I'm just consuming regular content, then I'll prefer the magnetic one because I can just take out the screen protector, and then this way I have, again, a nice, glossy and a very sharp contrast in display, which is crucial when especially if I'm, for example, using this for video editing, and I also want to have a really accurate color grading experience. So let's talk about video editing. Can you actually do it on an iPad Pro? And yeah, you can. You'd be surprised. And it's partially thanks to the M5 chip, which comes with a 9-core CPU and 10-core GPU, plus the 12 gigs of RAM that you're going to get on the base model versus the 8 gigs that you would have gotten on the previous M4 version. Now, are you going to have the same experience video editing on an iPad Pro as, for example, you would get on a powerful laptop or PC? Well, no. Again, it's still a tablet. Now, obviously, if you're going to start doing really intensive visual effects, and if you're adding a lot of color grading nodes or layers, then again, that's when it's going to start slowing down. But for your kind of typical editing, yeah, you can edit on this. Now, for me personally, I still prefer doing video editing on a laptop or a PC simply because I just I'm more used to working with a keyboard and a mouse, which you can pair the iPad Pro with. But for me, it's still not quite the same simply because this is a tablet. It's not a computer. So you have that sort of a tablet experience. Now, I know that some people, like they'll compare an iPad Pro, for example, when it's paired with a keyboard and a mouse to like a laptop. But for me, in my opinion, it's still not the same as editing on, let's say, on a MacBook Pro, which is just, I think, a tool that's better suited for that kind of work. Now, if you're doing a lot of CPU or GPU heavy work on an iPad Pro, then you might want to consider upgrading if you have, let's say, a previous version because in comparisons, like on benchmarks, the CPU of the M5 is actually 10 to 15 percent better or faster than the M4 version. And then the GPU is actually between 30 and 35 percent improvement that you're going to see over the M4 version. However, if you're not like regularly pushing the hardware to its limits on your current iPad Pro, then you might want to hold off or rethink of upgrading to this version because, to be honest, like I myself, even I haven't really seen that much of a real world difference whether using like graphic software or especially even gaming. Like the gaming experience feels almost identical in this version. Now, that could actually be simply because the apps have not been updated yet to really take advantage of the extra power that you have in this version. Now, I did quickly want to mention the iPad OS 26. It is an improvement, especially if you're going to be using this as a laptop because they finally kind of gave you an experience that's a lot closer to a MacBook Pro, for example, with proper window management and even things like, for example, the cursor just feels a lot more natural. Now, battery life is actually advertised the same as the M4 iPad, but actually in my real world kind of scenario, I think I got a little bit of extra usage, like almost an hour extra. Again, I'm sure it's going to vary different with the different apps that you're using. So, should you be getting the new iPad Pro M5? Well, if you, for example, have the M4 version and you're not really pushing the GPU or CPU to its limits right now, then I don't really know if there's any advantage for you to upgrade. And also, even if you consider that, again, a lot of the apps right now, like I said, are not even optimized yet. So, you might want to hold off and maybe upgrade eventually, but maybe a little bit down the line, maybe when the price of this comes down. Now, if you're new to the whole iPad ecosystem and you're considering getting an iPad, maybe Pro or some of the smaller versions like the iPad Air, especially if you want a tool with a good pen experience, then again, like I said, the Apple Pencil Pro is I think one of the best out there. Then, yeah, you might want to consider this. Again, you want to save yourself money. There are other versions, like the M4 version or even the iPad Air, which I think is really good, that you might want to consider getting. Because again, unless you're really going to be pushing the apps to the maximum, then again, you're probably not going to be using all that extra hardware and extra power that's packed into this version. And for example, if you just simply care about having a really good drawing tablet or a drawing monitor, then there are a lot more affordable versions out there that will also give you a great drawing experience. And if you actually want to find out about one such device, then check out my previous video that I did here. But in the end, if you're just asking, from my opinion, about the iPad Pro M5, I think it's an amazing tool with a great display, beautiful colors. It's amazing for, again, doing creative work, or if you just want to watch content, play some games. And again, it's got everything. So if the price is not an issue, definitely get it. If you guys like this video and you'd like to see more, make sure you subscribe and click that like button. And I'll see you guys in the next one. Bye!