Apple's next-gen M6-based iPad Pro could be its first tablet with vapor chamber cooling

Apple's next-gen M6 processor will be even more powerful, and an even bigger thermal problem for a new iPad, with rumors suggesting the company will deploy a vapor chamber cooler to stop thermal throttling.

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Apple recently unleashed its new M5 processor for its new MacBook Pro and iPad Pro products, but the new M5 MacBook Pro has been suffering from thermal throttling inside, with its M5 chip hitting 99C under load. To avoid any thermal throttling issues on the next-gen M6 iPad Pro, it looks like the company will be adopting the use of vapor chamber cooling, just like its recently-launched iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max smartphones.

In his latest "Power On" newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman writes that Apple will reportedly use a vapor chamber cooler inside of its next-gen M6 iPad Pro. The new M5 iPad Pro that Apple just launched features a graphene sheet to transfer heat, with the aluminum chassis acting as a heatsink.

However, the new M5 iPad Pro can't stay cool enough and sees the chip thermal throttling, which makes sense as to why Apple's new base M5 iPad Pro features a 9-core CPU and 10-core GPU, versus the base M5 MacBook Pro featuring a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU.

Deploying a vapor chamber on the M6 iPad Pro should not only keep the faster M6 processor cooler, but it should (hopefully) prevent any thermal throttling on the next-gen slate.