The iPad Air was final up to date in March 2022 and rumors counsel that the arrival of a brand new mannequin (or two!) may very well be coming quickly. Right here’s all we all know up to now concerning the sixth era iPad Air. The latest Apple occasion happened on October 30, however there have been no new iPads at that occasion, however we count on one in early 2024. Right here’s every thing you should know concerning 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 would 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 top 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—commonplace, mini, Air, and Professional—in 2024. Gurman believes {that a} new iPad Professional can even launch on the March occasion.
Ross Younger, an analyst who specializes within the shows trade, 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 making 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 monitor 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 principle appears to be primarily based 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 might be break 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 probably have an identical design to the 2022 mannequin.
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2024 iPad Air worth: How a lot will the brand new mannequin price?
- Anticipated: Beginning at $599 for the ten.9-inch mannequin; $699 for the 12.9-inch mannequin.
- Worldwide worth drop? Exterior 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 will take a look at the generations which have preceded it as a clue for what you’ll need to 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. prospects when shifting between the previous couple of generations, whereas exterior the U.S. patrons received hit with aggressive worth hikes (a pattern 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 may 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 prime quality. However with the iPad mini costing $499, it’s extra probably that Apple provides $100 or $150 for the bigger mannequin. This might 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 may very well be imminent, there are a ton of rumors concerning the iPad Air 6. This is perhaps a case of Apple tightening up any leaks that have been showing in its manufacturing chain, or that any updates to the iPad Air might be minimal. Right here’s what we do know:
A brand new M2 processor
The obvious space the place the iPad Air 6 might 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 more likely to get an replace to the new M3 chipset in 2024. So it’s probably that Apple will hold 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 realize an OLED show for the primary time, it’s probably that the iPad will get the identical therapy. Moderately, Apple is planning on introducing a bigger iPad Air on the identical 12.9 inches because the iPad Professional, however with out barely completely different tech, in line with 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 present 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 position of the entrance digicam on the brief edge. We had hoped Apple would possibly change the position to panorama after the Tenth-gen iPad modified the place. It seems to not be, nonetheless.
The one design change to talk of is a slight tweak to the rear digicam. Whereas we don’t count on it to realize a second digicam, Apple will apparently put the flash inside a brand new oval digicam properly. We additionally count on new colours, both brighter to match the Tenth-gen iPad or extra muted to match the iPhone 15.
Extra storage choices
Because the launch of the iPhone 13, Apple has provided a baseline storage capability of 128GB. Sadly, this hasn’t been the case with the iPad line, which at present begins at a reasonably paltry 64GB except you go for a Professional mannequin. Might the iPad Air 6 lastly see this modification? We hope reasonably than know that when the iPad Air 6 turns up, it is going to be endowed with a roomy 128GB so it could actually change into a laptop computer substitute with out paying further for the 256GB mannequin. With a bigger display, there have additionally been reviews of upper storage choices just like the iPad Professional.
We are going to proceed to observe the newest information and rumors surrounding the 2024 iPad Air, so you’ll want to verify again repeatedly to see what we will discover. Within the meantime, right here’s a collection of the very best 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 – Area Grey – (Wi-Fi)
$469
iPad Air (2022) 64GB – Area 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
