An Apple insider just gave us a hint about the M5 iPad Pro release date

Apple’s line of iPad Pro tablets are almost powerful enough to work as complete laptop replacements, depending on your use case. When a new iPad is announced, it’s big news — almost as big as when Apple confirms a release date.

While that hasn’t happened just yet for the M5 iPad Pro, an analyst with a solid track record says to expect mass production in the second half of next year. Ming-Chi Kuo reported that time frame on Medium, and assuming this is accurate, it’s safe to assume we can expect the M5 iPad Pro to be released sometime in late 2025.

Furthermore, Kuo says that Apple expects an increase in sales in the second half of 2025. The analyst also revealed that BYD Electronic would be the exclusive assembler for the rumored display-equipped HomePod. Kuo’s work as a market analyst positions him to notice trends in the market and glean information before it’s official, and he’s been accurate more often than not. Still, take any early news like this with skepticism.

It’s still early in the development cycle for too many leaks regarding this iPad. Still, we have heard that Apple already ordered M5 chips that have improved architecture and will potentially be manufactured using the 3-nanometer process technology.

The M4 iPad Pro was released earlier this year to critical acclaim, and the M5 chip is set to be a dramatic upgrade over the previous generation — but that’s all we know. There haven’t been a lot of other rumors about what this next generation of iPad Pro will bring, but it will likely heavily focus on AI functionality.

Although Apple seems to have dropped the need to make all its products paper-thin, the next iPad Pro will hopefully retain its trademark portability and be lightweight even with its power increase.