iPad Pro M1 voice control dictation lag vs. M5 performance

Hi zeppygoat,

Re: "iPad Pro M1 voice control dictation lag vs. M5 performance"

"I'm trying to understand how an iPad Pro M5 performs using voice control versus an iPad Pro M1."

Thank you for your post to the community. Sorry to say: Am no expert on Voice Control. or on iPads.

Yet your post to the community certainly deserves some response.

The lags you experience may or may not have a lot to do with Voice Control itself:

iPad models kept up-to-date with the latest iPadOS versions can often sidestep issues that may srise.

There can be hardware or software issues that influence the performance you get out of your iPad.

Updates to Voice Control can sometimes mean letting go old ways of working, and adopting new ways.

Fortunately Apple documents the steps to mastering the various different features in Voice Control.

Articles are generally updated when major upgrades like iPadOS 26 become available for installing.

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Firstly: We do not know which iPadOS 26 version is installed on either of your iPad Pro models.

Eg: If using different versions, any kind of comparison made between models may not be accurate.

iPadOS 26 was a major upgrade, and the 3 update versions since, often provided fixes for issues.

About iPadOS 26 Updates - Apple Support says iPadOS 26.2 is the latest version, and

"includes enhancements .... as well as other features, bug fixes, and security updates for your iPad".

You can check for possible updates in Settings > General > Softtware Updates

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Reminder: If you need / choose to update, it is always wise to back-up the iPad first

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Secondly: The technical specifications between two iPad Pro M1 / M5 models can be compared: in summary:

M5 example M1 Example

iPad Pro 11‑inch (M5) - Tech Specs iPad Pro, 11-inch (3rd generation) Tech Specs

Models with 256GB or 512GB storage Models with 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB storage

:

M5 chip M1 Chip

Up to 10-core CPU 8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores

10-core CPU 8-core GPU

16-core Neural Engine 16-core Neural Engine

12GB RAM 8GB RAM

Built for Apple Intelligence Apple Intelligence

Models with 1TB or 2TB storage Models with 1TB or 2TB storage

16GB RAM 16GB RAM

Central Processing Unit (CPU) : greater capacity in M5 model: faster processing than with M1 Chip

and Random-access memory (RAM) : greater GB in M5: more efficient performance than with M1 Chip

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Re: "I have found the M1 dictation lags and takes a while to catch up at times

while on other occasions it's very speedy and keeps up really nicely. "

" ... calling out numbers can be slightly delayed,

and often the refreshers change numbers while calling out the previous number ..."

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Storage space: How to check the storage on your iPhone and iPad - Apple Support

An iPad with a lot of the available memory / storage taken up by storage of Photos, Documents, Music and more,may not perform so well, if the memory / storage space required to operate smoothly is inadequate.

Else: If the iPad does have plenty of space free in which to operate smoothly:

Seems this situation may depend on how easy or hard the CPU has to work to do what you ask it to do.

Some tasks (Eg: video-editing or image / music creation / games etc) can use up more of the CPU resources, than the simpler tasks ... some third-party (non-Apple) apps can also be a big drain on CPU use.

Eg: some apps (eg: un-necessary virus-checkers, cleaners, ad-blockers etc, may be running in the backgroud a lot of the time. Some may even interfere with the performance of Apple apps, slowing down performance,.

So you may see, It is not easy to pinpoint the cause of the difference in performance that you experience.

There may be some clues for you in the above, or maybe not. You may be able to eliminate some possibilities.

At least we have got some discussion underway, and others with more expertise than either of us have another opportunity to share their experience.

All the best :-)

if you were running MacOS 26 on a device with only 8 GB standard RAM, that would explain your lagging.

Mac users are finding that MacOS itself takes almost all of 8GB RAM, leaving nothing more for Apps, which must page furiously to get anything done.

I realize that iOS does not have as much true multi-tasking capability, but that is not likely to make its demands for Real RAM memory very much smaller.

iPad does not have a built-in Activity Monitor, but there are several third-party Apps available that could provide some limited insights.

¿is your M1 iPad an 8GB RAM model?