Apple's iPad Pro with M6 may feature vapour chamber cooling: Report

Apple may bring vapour chamber cooling technology to the M6 iPad Pro, following its debut on the iPhone 17 Pro series

Apple might switch things up in its heat dissipation for the next generation of iPad Pro which is likely to be powered by the M6 chip. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the iPad Pro M6 is likely to get vapour chamber cooling technology, which essentially is a system to dissipate the heat and cool down the device when it heats up. Notably, Apple first debuted its vapour chamber cooling system on the iPhone 17 Pro series.

 

According to a report by 9to5Mac, citing Mark Gurman, this upgrade in the next generation of iPad Pro will help it stay performant while still being fanless and noticeably thin.

 

The report quoted Gurman as saying, “Given all that, a vapor chamber in the iPad Pro — which is even thinner than the iPad Air — is on the company’s road map. Apple is now working on the feature, with plans to integrate it as soon as the next round of updates. The company is on an 18-month upgrade cycle for the iPad Pro, suggesting that the vapor chamber could be added around spring 2027.”

Apple’s thermal cooling system and heating issues

Apple redesigned the cooling system of the M4 iPad Pro last year with a copper heatsink that channels heat through the rear Apple logo. However, the company reportedly plans to enhance thermal performance even further on the upcoming M6 iPad Pro by introducing a vapor chamber.

 

According to the report, despite having an internal fan, some users of the base 14-inch MacBook Pro have observed that the M5 chip appears to throttle under load before reaching full performance. With the next generation of Silicon chip, the performance is expected to increase further, putting more pressure on the heat dissipation system.

Beyond the vapor chamber addition, not many details have surfaced about the next iPad Pro. However, Apple’s upcoming 2nm M6 chip might debut in Macs later next year.