Apple iPad Pro Apple 13" iPad Pro M5 Chip (Standard Glass, 2TB, Review

So, you're looking at the top of the tablet food chain. This 13-inch iPad Pro with the M5 chip isn't just an iPad. It's a statement piece, a creative powerhouse that's trying to replace your laptop. With 2TB of storage and that stunning OLED screen, it's built for the person who wants the absolute best, no compromises. And honestly, for a certain kind of user, it might just be perfect.

Who is that user? Think of the pro artist sketching in Procreate, the video editor cutting a project on the go, or the student who wants a single device for notes, research, and media. It scores a perfect 100 for reading and student use, which tells you everything about its polish and versatility. It's the tablet that can genuinely do it all, as long as 'all' fits within iPadOS.

What makes it interesting is the sheer overkill. 2TB of storage is in the 99th percentile. That's more than most laptops. The M5 chip and its GPU are both in the 94th percentile, making this arguably the fastest tablet you can buy. It's not just powerful. It's powerful in a package that weighs less than two cans of soda. That's the magic trick.

Let's talk about what those percentiles mean in real life. The M5 chip sits in the 94th percentile for CPU performance. In practice, that means you can have a dozen Safari tabs open, a 4K video rendering in LumaFusion, and Procreate running in the background, and this thing won't even stutter. It's desktop-class speed in your hands. The 10-core GPU matches that ranking, so complex 3D modeling or playing games like Resident Evil Village is smooth and detailed.

The screen is its other superpower, landing in the 98th percentile. That 13-inch OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate and 1000 nits of brightness is breathtaking. Blacks are truly black, colors pop with insane accuracy, and scrolling feels like glass. It makes everything you do look better, from reading a PDF to watching a movie. Just know that all this performance comes with a trade-off. The battery life is right at the 50th percentile. It's fine, not amazing. When you're pushing the M5 and that bright OLED, you'll be reaching for the charger by the end of a heavy workday.

Here's the blunt truth: the iPad Pro is not a value purchase. You are paying for the pinnacle of Apple's tablet design and performance. Prices range from about $2,299 to $2,499 depending on the vendor, but you won't find dramatic discounts. For that money, you get the best tablet screen, one of the fastest chips, and an unmatched app ecosystem for creative work.

Is it worth it? If your workflow lives entirely within iPadOS and you need the absolute best portable canvas for drawing or editing, then maybe. But if you need a full desktop OS or are just looking for a media consumption device, this is massive overkill. You're spending laptop money on a tablet. That's the trade.

The most direct competitor is the Microsoft Surface Pro 11. It runs full Windows 11, so you get proper desktop software like full Adobe Creative Suite or Visual Studio. Its OLED screen is also excellent. The trade-off? Its ARM-based Snapdragon X Elite chip, while efficient, likely won't match the raw performance of the M5 in pro apps, and Windows on ARM still has some app compatibility quirks. It's a better choice if you need Windows, but the iPad Pro is likely faster for native iPadOS tasks.

Then there's the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra. It has a bigger 14.6-inch screen, includes the S Pen, and often costs less. It's a fantastic Android tablet for media and light work. But its processor and app ecosystem for professional creative work aren't as robust as Apple's. It's the better entertainment device, while the iPad Pro is the better creation device. The Lenovo Legion Go and others aren't really in the same category. They're gaming handhelds or rugged devices, serving completely different purposes.

So, who should buy this? If you're a digital artist, a mobile video editor, or a power user who lives in iPad-only apps like Procreate, GoodNotes, or Lumafusion, and money is no object, this 13-inch iPad Pro is the ultimate tool. It's the best tablet for creation, full stop.

But for everyone else, it's a harder sell. If you mainly watch movies, browse the web, and take notes, the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra offers a similar premium experience for less. If you need to run specific desktop software, the Surface Pro 11 is the way to go. The iPad Pro is a masterpiece of focused engineering, but its sky-high price and platform limits mean it's only the right choice for a specific, pro-level crowd.