Apple iPad Pro 12.9" 5th Generation 2021, M1, 8GB, 128GB, Space Gray

The 12.9-inch Liquid Retina XDR display and 98th percentile battery life are the stars here. The M1 chip still handles creative work without breaking a sweat. But user sentiment sits in the 22nd percentile, and the refurbished buying experience is where this tablet's reputation takes a hit.

The M1 chip in this iPad is the same silicon Apple put in the MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro back in 2020. In a tablet, it's still overkill for most tasks. The 8-core CPU lands in the 57th percentile against newer tablets, but that's a ranking against 2024 and 2025 hardware. In real-world use, this thing chews through video editing, 3D modeling, and multitasking without breaking a sweat. The 8GB of RAM sits in the 66th percentile, which is solid but not spectacular. You'll hit limits if you're running heavy creative apps side by side, but for 90% of users it's plenty.

The GPU sits in the 67th percentile, which means it's above average but not leading the pack anymore. The 120Hz ProMotion display makes everything feel snappy, and the Thunderbolt port is a genuine differentiator. You can plug in external SSDs, 4K monitors, even docks. That's laptop-level I/O on a tablet. The 41Wh battery lands in the 98th percentile for battery life, which is wild. Apple's efficiency with the M1 means you're getting all-day use, often 10+ hours of mixed work, without hunting for a charger.

Against the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra, the iPad Pro wins on display quality and app ecosystem, but Samsung's newer silicon and OLED panel give it an edge in raw specs. The Microsoft Surface Pro 11 runs full Windows, which matters if you need desktop apps, but its battery life doesn't touch the iPad's 98th percentile showing. The Xiaomi Pad 7 and Lenovo Idea Tab Plus are cheaper, but they're not in the same league for display or performance. The UMIDIGI Active T1 isn't even worth mentioning in the same breath. If you want the best screen and battery in a tablet, the iPad Pro 5th Gen still holds its own. If you need the absolute fastest CPU or full desktop OS, look elsewhere.

Pricing is all over the place. In the US, you're looking at USD 479 to USD 600 across 9 listings, a spread of USD 121 depending on condition and seller. Best Buy's refurbished units sit at the lower end, but that's also where the customer service complaints are coming from. The CAD 990 listing in Canada and MXN 10,896 in Mexico are single listings, so you don't have much room to shop around there. For the hardware you're getting, a 12.9-inch XDR display, M1 chip, Thunderbolt, and 98th percentile battery life, even USD 600 is reasonable. But the refurb gamble means you might be paying with your time and patience if something goes wrong.

The 2021 iPad Pro 5th Gen still packs Apple's M1 chip, an 8-core beast that puts this tablet in the 57th percentile for CPU among current tablets. That sounds middling until you remember this thing launched in 2021 and still runs circles around most Android slates. The real story is the 12.9-inch Liquid Retina XDR display, which sits in the 92nd percentile for screens and remains one of the best panels you can get on any tablet, period. 2732x2048 resolution, 120Hz ProMotion, and mini-LED backlighting with HDR support. It's a screen that makes you want to watch movies, edit photos, and just stare at it.

But here's the rub. User sentiment lands in the 22nd percentile, which is rough for an Apple product. The hardware gets glowing praise, fast, smooth, like new, but the buying experience through refurbished channels is dragging the score down hard. We're seeing complaints about scratched units, refund delays stretching for weeks, and customer service that gives conflicting answers. The product itself is excellent. The process of getting one that isn't damaged is where things get dicey.

Skip this if you need the absolute fastest tablet CPU or plan to run heavy desktop-class workloads. The M1 sits in the 57th percentile for CPU and the 8GB RAM in the 66th percentile, so newer tablets from Samsung or the Surface Pro 11 will outpace it in raw benchmarks. Also skip it if you're not comfortable with refurbished hardware. The 22nd percentile user sentiment is driven almost entirely by scratched units and return headaches, not the product itself. If you want a hassle-free experience, buy new or from a vendor with a bulletproof return policy.

The iPad Pro 5th Gen is a fantastic tablet trapped in a frustrating buying experience. The hardware is genuinely excellent, 92nd percentile display, 98th percentile battery, Thunderbolt, M1 performance that still feels fast. But the 22nd percentile user sentiment is a red flag you can't ignore. The complaints aren't about the product. They're about scratched units, delayed refunds, and customer service runarounds. If you can find one in good condition from a seller with a solid return policy, buy it. If you're gambling on a refurb from a vendor with a shaky track record, you might be setting yourself up for weeks of headaches.