iPad Pro 13" (8th Gen, 2025) vs iPad Pro 12.9” (3rd Gen, 2018)
93
out of 100
VS
67
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship tablets: the 13-inch Apple iPad Pro 13" (8th Gen, 2025) (with Apple M5 (iPad)) that was released on October 16, 2025, against the Apple iPad Pro 12.9” (3rd Gen, 2018), which is powered by Apple A12X Bionic and came out 7 years before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Apple iPad Pro 13" (8th Gen, 2025)
- Has 3x more RAM: 12GB versus 4GB
- Newer Bluetooth version (v6.0)
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
- OLED display (versus competitor's IPS LCD)
- 3.1x faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 4153 and 1358 points
- Reverse charging feature
- Weighs 52 grams less
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | OLED | IPS LCD |
| Size | 13 inches | 12.9 inches |
| Resolution | 2064 x 2752 pixels | 2048 x 2732 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 4:3 | 4:3 |
| PPI | 265 ppi | 265 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (10-120 Hz) | Yes (24-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 1000 nits | 600 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1600 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, Dolby Vision | Yes, HDR10 |
| Screen protection | Tempered glass | Tempered glass |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 86.2% | 85.5% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 | - DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | - | 99.7% |
| PWM | - | Not detected |
| Response time | - | 36 ms |
| Contrast | - | 1975:1 |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 281.6 mm (11.09 inches) | 280.6 mm (11.05 inches) |
| Width | 215.5 mm (8.48 inches) | 214.9 mm (8.46 inches) |
| Thickness | 5.1 mm (0.2 inches) | 5.9 mm (0.23 inches) |
| Weight | 579 g (20.42 oz) | 631 g (22.26 oz) |
| Waterproof | No | No |
| Rear material | Metal | Metal |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Silver | Silver, Gray |
| Fingerprint scanner | No | No |
| Area | 607 cm2 (94 inches2) | 603 cm2 (93.5 inches2) |
| Repairability | Average (2.7/5) | - |
Screen-to-body ratio
Tablet Ranking (2nd and 88th place)
iPad Ranking (1st and 20th place)
Performance
| Chipset | Apple M5 (iPad) | Apple A12X Bionic |
| Max clock | 4610 MHz | 2500 MHz |
| CPU cores | 10 (4 + 6) | - |
| Architecture | - 6 cores at 2.95 GHz: - 4 cores at 4.61 GHz: |
- |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | - |
| Lithography process | 3 nanometers | - |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Apple Neural Engine | - |
| Graphics | Apple GPU 10-core | Apple GPU 7-core |
| GPU shading units | 1280 | - |
| GPU clock | 1620 MHz | - |
| FLOPS | ~4147.2 GFLOPS | - |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 75273 | - |
| Single-core score | 4153 | 1358 |
| Multi-core score | 15895 | 4736 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 965229 | - |
| GPU | 1313129 | - |
| Memory | 458312 | - |
| UX | 660296 | - |
| Total score | 3396957 | - |
| Samples | [2 tests] | Less than 3 |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 79% | - |
| Graphics test | 29 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 3978 | - |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Graphics test | 66 FPS | - |
| Section 1 | 87 FPS | - |
| Section 2 | 60 FPS | - |
| Section 3 | 53 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 17246 | - |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | - | 72% |
| Graphics test | - | 19 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 3206 |
Recent User Tests
Apple iPad Pro 13" (8th Gen, 2025)
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-09-09 (patrick) | AnTuTu 11 | 3511739 |
| 📘 2026-08-12 (LBWNB) | AnTuTu 11 | 3396957 |
| 📘 2026-07-06 (Toxicaliv) | Geekbench 6 GPU | 76009 |
| 📘 2026-07-06 (Toxicaliv) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 4153 / 15895 |
| 📘 2026-07-06 (Toxicaliv) | AnTuTu 11 | 3159489 |
Apple iPad Pro 12.9” (3rd Gen, 2018)
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-09-16 -> op1 | Geekbench 6 CPU | 1344 / 4757 |
Memory
Configuration
| RAM size | 12 GB | 4 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | - | 2133 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 2 |
| Storage size | 256 GB | 64 GB |
| Storage type | NVMe | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | iPadOS 26 (Can be upgraded to iPadOS 27.2) | iPadOS 12 (Can be upgraded to iPadOS 26.5) |
| OS updates | 5 years | - |
Battery
| Capacity | 10340 mAh | 9720 mAh |
| Max charge power | 30 W | 30 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | No |
| Reverse charging | Yes | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (50% in 38 min) | Yes (50% in 60 min) |
| Full charging time | - | 2:45 hr |
| Battery cycles | 1000 cycles | - |
| Web browsing | - | 08:41 hr |
| Watching video | - | 12:15 hr |
| Gaming | - | 06:08 hr |
| Standby | - | 178 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | Quad LED | Quad LED |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (1080p) | 120 FPS (1080p) |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 12 MP 2) Depth |
1) Standard: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.8 |
| Focal length | - | 29 mm |
| Sensor size | - | 1/3.0" (≈ 0.33 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.22 micron | 1.4 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 12 megapixels | 7 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 3472 x 2063 |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | - | 32 mm |
| Autofocus | No | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 6.0 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 4.0 | 3.1 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | Yes | No |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS | GPS, GLONASS |
| NFC* | No | No |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 1 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | - | 18 |
| 5G support | Yes | No |
Sound
| Speakers | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | October 2025 | October 2018 |
| Release date | October 2025 | November 2018 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $1299 | $999 |
| Successor | - | - Apple iPad Pro 13" (8th Gen, 2025) |
| Sensors | - Barometer - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Face recognition sensor |
- Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
| Keyboard weight | 662 g | 710 g |
| Bundled charger | Not included | Yes, 18 W |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Apple iPad Pro 13" (8th Gen, 2025) is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 8