According to a recent report from Bloomberg, Apple plans to release another iPad Air with “internal improvements” as early as spring 2025.
The iPad Air was just refreshed with the M2 earlier this year, so that means the iPad Air refresh interval is about 12 months instead of the usual 18-24 months. With delivery times so short, what will Apple actually update with these iPads?
new magic keyboard
At least Apple is reportedly designing an all-new Magic Keyboard specifically for the iPad Air. iPad Air now features the original Magic Keyboard design introduced with iPad Pro in 2020. Since then, base model iPads have received a new Magic Keyboard Folio, and iPad Pros have received a new aluminum Magic Keyboard.
Gurman says the new Magic Keyboard should add a new line of features similar to the aforementioned iPad Keyboard. However, unlike the new iPad Pro Magic Keyboard, this Magic Keyboard for iPad Air doesn’t have an aluminum top case.
If all goes well, the starting price for this new iPad Air Magic Keyboard could be lower. Now, the old Magic Keyboard and iPad Pro Magic Keyboard have the same starting price of $299 for the 11-inch and $349 for the 13-inch, even though the iPad Pro Magic Keyboard is much better.
New chip?
Garman’s initial report did not specify any details about the chip. However, it’s highly unlikely that Apple will update the iPad Air and leave it with the exact same chipset inside. This leaves several possibilities open.
- M2 chip with 10 core GPU
- M3 chip
- M4 chip (probably binned version)
Currently, the iPad Air has an M2 chip, but it’s a binned version with a 9-core GPU. Apple could update the iPad to include a full 10-core GPU version of the M2 chip. It’s a small update, but it has potential.
Apple may include the M3 chip in the next iPad Air, but it’s unlikely. Apple appears to be moving away from the first-generation 3nm process as soon as possible due to high costs and low yields. Perhaps producing an M3 chip specifically for one midrange iPad would be fine, but cost is still a concern.
Last but not least, Apple may implement a version of the M4 chip in the iPad Air. Currently, the base iPad Pro has an M4 chip with a 9-core CPU and 10-core GPU, while iPad Pros with at least 1TB of storage have a full 10-core GPU and a 10-core GPU. I am.
Mark Gurman previously reported that Apple is planning a binned version of the M4 chip with an 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU. Apple may choose to use this binned M4 chip in the upcoming iPad Air. Both the iPad Air and iPad Pro have never had the latest Apple Silicon, but fewer cores will probably be enough for Apple to ship M4 in the iPad Air soon.
Other potential improvements
This section is more speculative, but there are some improvements Apple is making to other products that we might see in the 2025 iPad Air.
- 600 nits brightness standard (currently exclusive to 13-inch M2 iPad Air; 11-inch model remains at 500 nits)
- Wi-Fi 7 support introduced with iPhone 16 lineup
- Rear LED flash (introduced on iPad mini in 2021, but not yet on iPad Air)
- Thunderbolt support (iPad Pro only at this time)
- better microphone array
Are you looking forward to the new iPad Air refresh in 2025? Do you think this refresh is worth it? Let us know in the comments.
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