The next Apple iPad Air may skip the M3 chip and go straight to M4. Photo: HWZ
Significant chip upgrades and more RAM could be coming to the next Apple iPad Air and entry-level iPad models.
iPad Air (2025)
Mark Gurman from Bloomberg shared in his latest Power On newsletter that the next Apple iPad Air might skip the M3 chip and come with the M4 chip. Aside from specs upgrades, Gurman says there should not be any major design changes for the iPad Air.
Gurman thinks Apple might deploy the same strategy for the iPad Air as it did for most Macs, which is using the same chip series for almost the entire lineup. However, this could be at the expense of making the iPad Pro (M4) less appealing as consumers can opt for the more affordable iPad Air and get similar, if not identical performance.
If you've been keeping tabs on the iPad Air releases since 2020, it seems that Apple is adopting a two-year refresh cycle for the product with the 2022 model (M1) and 2024 model (M2). So why is Apple breaking the trend by updating the iPad Air this year?
The likely explanation is that Apple wants to stop production of the M2 chip. Since the MacBook Air is almost certainly going to be to updated with the M4 chip sometime in Q1 this year, there's the possibility Apple will take the opportunity to discontinue the M2 MacBook Air when that happens. Ceasing production of the M2 chip will help Apple manage chip inventory and costs.
iPad (2025)
As for the entry-level iPad, Gurman believes Apple will equip it with the A17 Pro chip and 8GB RAM so that it fulfils the minimum requirements to support Apple Intelligence.
The A17 Pro chip and 8GB would also make the entry-level iPad on par with the 7th-generation iPad mini. The current 10th-gen iPad is powered by the A14 Bionic chip and 4GB RAM, which makes the upcoming specs upgrade a significant one.
Like the upcoming iPad Air, Gurman expects no major design changes for the entry-level iPad.
When will they be unveiled?
The next-generation iPad Air and iPad are expected to be unveiled in spring (March or April). Apple could also introduce a new Magic Keyboard for the new iPads.
Source: Bloomberg via MacRumors (1) (2)
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