The iPad Air was final up to date in March 2022 and rumors counsel that the arrival of a brand new mannequin (or two!) could possibly be coming quickly. Right here’s all we all know thus far in regards to the sixth era iPad Air. The newest Apple occasion passed off on October 30, however there have been no new iPads at that occasion, however we anticipate one in early 2024. Right here’s all the pieces you have to know in regards to the new mannequin.
2024 iPad Air launch date: When will the brand new mannequin arrive?
Apple’s occasion on October 30 noticed the corporate solely launch new Macs, and 2023 handed and not using a single iPad replace for the primary time since Apple’s late CEO and founder Steve Jobs launched the class in 2010. The previous three generations of iPad Air arrived about 18 months aside, and for the reason that fifth era arrived in March 2022, we’re overdue for an replace.
However we’d not have for much longer to attend. In early December 2023, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that Apple is planning to launch new iPads and an M3 MacBook Air by the tip of March 2024. He repeated that declare in January 2024, reporting that new iPads had gone into manufacturing forward of a March launch.
The iPad Air is unlikely to be the one iPad getting an replace in 2024. In November 2023, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo wrote that Apple will refresh all 4 iPad strains—customary, mini, Air, and Professional—in 2024. Gurman believes {that a} new iPad Professional may even launch on the March occasion.
Ross Younger, an analyst who specializes within the shows business, tweeted that shipments of the show panels for a brand new 12.9-inch Air started in December, which signifies a spring launch.
2024 iPad Air sizes: Is Apple getting ready to launch a bigger mannequin?
- Rumored: The usual 10.9-inch mannequin and a brand new 12.9-inch choice.
An October 2023 9to5Mac report claimed, not solely that “there are a number of new iPads on observe for the approaching months,” however that this contains two new iPad Air fashions. The location signifies that Apple “could also be contemplating introducing a bigger model of the iPad Air, or a dearer mannequin with higher specs.” This idea appears to be based mostly on the truth that there are two codenames related to the brand new iPad Air: J507 and J508, with the one different iPad having two codenames being the iPad Professional, which additionally is available in two sizes.
In November Ming-Chi Kuo mentioned the extra iPad Air dimension, saying that the iPad Air line will probably be cut up into two sizes: 10.9-inch and a brand new 12.9-inch mannequin. And the tweet above from Younger additionally confirms the existence of a brand new iPad Air show dimension.
The iPad Air 6 will seemingly have an analogous design to the 2022 mannequin.
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2024 iPad Air worth: How a lot will the brand new mannequin value?
- Anticipated: Beginning at $599 for the ten.9-inch mannequin; $699 for the 12.9-inch mannequin.
- Worldwide worth drop? Outdoors the U.S. Apple buyers are hoping Apple will reverse the worth hikes of the previous few years, as they did with the iPhone.
Relating to the potential pricing of the iPad Air 6, we are able to have a look at the generations which have preceded it as a clue for what you’ll should pay when it lastly does arrive.
- 64GB, Wi-Fi – $599 / £669
- 256GB, Wi-Fi – $749 / £849
- 64GB, Mobile – $749 / £849
- 256GB, Mobile – $899 / £1,029
- 64GB, Wi-Fi – $599 / £579
- 256GB, Wi-Fi – $749 / £729
- 64GB, Mobile – $729 /£709
- 256GB, Mobile – $879 / £859
As you may see, Apple saved a lot of the pricing roughly the identical for its U.S. clients when transferring between the previous couple of generations, whereas exterior the U.S. consumers received hit with aggressive worth hikes (a development that occurred throughout all Apple merchandise). Nonetheless, Apple reversed these worth hikes in 2023 when it launched the iPhone 15, so we’re hopeful that exterior the U.S. Apple buyers might even see iPad costs lower.
If Apple does introduce the next spec or bigger iPad Air to accompany the present dimension, we might see decrease costs for the entry-level mannequin and better costs on the top quality. However with the iPad mini costing $499, it’s extra seemingly that Apple provides $100 or $150 for the bigger mannequin. This may be related pricing because the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus and create a long way between the Air and Professional strains.
There could also be a bigger iPad Air in 2024.
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2024 iPad Air options: How will the brand new mannequin be higher?
For a tool whose launch could possibly be imminent, there are a ton of rumors in regards to the iPad Air 6. This is perhaps a case of Apple tightening up any leaks that had been showing in its manufacturing chain, or that any updates to the iPad Air will probably be minimal. Right here’s what we do know:
A brand new M2 processor
The obvious space the place the iPad Air 6 will probably be superior to the iPad Air 5 is within the processor. The iPad Air 5 already boasts a fairly nifty M1 chip, however the iPad Professional has been sporting M2 silicon for over a yr, and it’s prone to get an replace to the new M3 chipset in 2024. So it’s seemingly that Apple will preserve the iPad Air on the older M2 era to make the iPad Professional extra engaging to high-end customers. Gurman and others have reported that Apple’s plan is certainly to place an M2 chip within the iPad Air.
A much bigger and higher show
Whereas the iPad Professional is rumored to achieve an OLED show for the primary time, it’s seemingly that the iPad will get the identical therapy. Reasonably, Apple is planning on introducing a bigger iPad Air on the identical 12.9 inches because the iPad Professional, however with out barely totally different tech, based on Ming-Chi Kuo: “The 12.9-inch iPad Air is an all-new mannequin, and whereas it lacks mini-LED, it advantages from an Oxide backplane (the identical spec as the prevailing mini-LED iPad Professionals), providing higher show efficiency than the ten.9-inch iPad Air with an a-Si backplane.”
Leaked renders present the 2024 iPad Air with a near-identical design as the present mannequin.
The identical design with new colours
Sadly, the iPad Air is unlikely to get a brand new design to with the brand new mannequin. Leaked renders of the brand new machine present a design that’s practically an identical to the present mannequin, together with the location of the entrance digicam on the brief edge. We had hoped Apple may change the location to panorama after the Tenth-gen iPad modified the place. It seems to not be, nevertheless.
The one design change to talk of is a slight tweak to the rear digicam. Whereas we don’t anticipate it to achieve a second digicam, Apple will apparently put the flash inside a brand new oval digicam effectively. We additionally anticipate new colours, both brighter to match the Tenth-gen iPad or extra muted to match the iPhone 15.
Extra storage choices
For the reason that launch of the iPhone 13, Apple has supplied a baseline storage capability of 128GB. Sadly, this hasn’t been the case with the iPad line, which presently begins at a quite paltry 64GB until you go for a Professional mannequin. Might the iPad Air 6 lastly see this variation? We hope quite than know that when the iPad Air 6 turns up, it is going to be endowed with a roomy 128GB so it will probably turn out to be a laptop computer substitute with out paying additional for the 256GB mannequin. With a bigger display, there have additionally been studies of upper storage choices just like the iPad Professional.
We are going to proceed to watch the newest information and rumors surrounding the 2024 iPad Air, so make sure you examine again repeatedly to see what we are able to discover. Within the meantime, right here’s a number of the most effective offers for the iPad Air 5.
$449.99
$559
$587.94
$599
$599
$599.99
iPad Air (2014) 64GB – Silver – (Wi-Fi)
$92
iPad Air (2014) 64GB – Silver – (Wi-Fi)
$92
$169.99
iPad Air (2022) 64GB – Blue – (Wi-Fi)
$449
iPad Air (2022) 64GB – Blue – (Wi-Fi)
$449
iPad Air (2022) 64GB – House Grey – (Wi-Fi)
$469
iPad Air (2022) 64GB – House Grey – (Wi-Fi)
$469
iPad Air (2022) 64GB – Pink – (Wi-Fi)
$470.99
iPad Air (2022) 64GB – Starlight – (Wi-Fi)
$495.09
iPad Air (2020) 256GB – Inexperienced – (Wi-Fi)
$529
iPad Air (2020) 256GB – Inexperienced – (Wi-Fi)
$529
$609.99