iPad Pro M5 11-inch Is $1,139 — But Today's $559 iPad Air Is the Value Pick
The 11-inch M5 iPad Pro is a stunning OLED tablet at $1,139. The 11-inch M4 Air just dropped to $559 today. I break down who actually needs tandem OLED and who is paying for a brochure.
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Verdict: The 11-inch iPad Pro M5, 256GB Wi-Fi is the best tablet Apple sells. Most people should not buy it. The 11-inch M4 iPad Air 128GB just hit $559 today — $190 off $749 — and that is the honest value play.
Prices I verified: AppleInsider's tracker had the 11-inch M5 Pro 256GB Wi-Fi, standard glass, Space Black at $1,139 on August 21, 2026 (list $1,199). 9to5Toys flagged the 11-inch M4 Air 128GB at $559 on the morning of August 22. That $580 gap is the review.
I have used every iPad Pro since the first Face ID model. The M5 11-inch is a 5.1 mm slab with an Ultra Retina XDR tandem-OLED, 120 Hz, 256GB starting storage, Wi-Fi 7 with Apple's N1 radio, LiDAR, and a landscape 12MP Center Stage camera. ASIN B0FWCXJVHN is Space Black. B0FWD1K669 is Silver. Weight is 15.7 ounces. It will run Final Cut, Logic, and any iPadOS 26 app without begging.
Here is the unglamorous part. If your workload is Safari, Notes, GoodNotes, Netflix, and a bit of Lightroom, M4 Air at $559 is the same job. The Air still has a great Liquid Retina LCD, Touch ID, and the M4 chip that was "pro" two cycles ago. OLED, tandem brightness, and ProMotion are real. They are not $580 real unless you edit HDR video or draw for money.
What the M5 Pro actually adds
- Tandem OLED / Ultra Retina XDR, not LCD
- ProMotion 120 Hz and better outdoor contrast
- LiDAR and a more serious rear camera
- Thunderbolt-class I/O and the thinner chassis
- Face ID instead of Touch ID
- Nano-texture as a paid option I would skip unless you work under a window
I am not publishing fake Geekbench screenshots. Apple's M5 is faster than M4. You will feel it in 4K timelines and large Procreate canvases. You will not feel it in email.
The nits
The 256GB floor is correct; 128GB on a Pro in 2026 is a joke, and Apple finally stopped that. Accessories are the trap. Magic Keyboard plus Pencil Pro can add more than $400 before tax. Suddenly your $1,139 tablet is a $1,600 laptop that still is not a laptop. Trackpad on the Magic Keyboard is fine. The keyboard is better than older Folio keys and still worse than a MacBook Air. I have said that in every iPad-as-laptop review I have filed from this desk.
Storage jumps on the Pro get expensive fast. 1TB Wi-Fi was sitting around $1,650 on the same August 21 tracker. That is MacBook Air money. Buy the Air laptop if you need a keyboard all day.
How I would spend the money
- Notes, media, kid tablet, travel reader: M4 iPad Air 128GB at $559 if that deal is still live.
- Illustration, HDR video, OLED-or-nothing: M5 Pro 256GB at $1,139.
- Real computer: last year's M4 or this year's M5 MacBook Air. I already wrote about the M4 Air price mess on this site. Do not use an iPad to paper over a laptop need.
Stock on the $559 Air will not last. The Pro discount is only $60. That tells you which SKU Amazon is trying to move.
Compare
I put the 11-inch M5 Pro next to the 11-inch M4 Air so you can see live catalog cards and current prices, not a brochure: Compare iPad Pro M5 vs iPad Air M4.