Apple’s newest iPad Air, the iPad Air (2022) or iPad Air 5, is now over a yr outdated, so it is no shock that rumors are starting to emerge concerning the iPad Air 6.
The iPad Air 6 will not essentially be the following new iPad on the cabinets – successors to the iPad 10.9 (2022), iPad mini (2021) and iPad Professional 12.9 (2022) may all arrive first – however the Air line stays extraordinarily in style for many who need a highly effective iPad in an ultra-portable package deal.
Apple’s iPad Air tablets sit under the Professional line, bringing svelte designs however with not-quite-top-end shows and processing energy. They’re good choices, then, for anybody after a premium pill that does not demand the largest bucks (although, being Apple merchandise, iPad Airs do not precisely come low-cost, both).
To present you an early concept of what to anticipate from the iPad Air 6 – which we count on to launch within the subsequent 12 months – we have put collectively this one-stop-shop information to all the newest information, rumors and predictions, which we’ll be updating all year long.
Minimize to the chase
- What’s it? Apple’s subsequent mid-tier pill
- When is it out? Doubtless in early 2024
- How a lot will it value? Round $599 / £569 / AU$929
iPad Air 6: launch date and worth
We’ve not heard an excessive amount of rumored data surrounding the ETA of the following iPad Air, nor a lot surrounding its worth, however we are able to make some educated guesses primarily based on the discharge dates and costs of earlier iterations.
The fourth- and fifth-generation iPad Airs got here two years aside, so it stands to cause that the following one will arrive two years after March 2022. That’d make the discharge window for the iPad Air 6 the primary half of 2024.
Relating to the worth, it will seemingly value the identical quantity because the final one – that began at $599 / £569 / AU$929, however the fee went up for extra storage.
iPad Air 6: information and rumors
The primary rumors we have heard surrounding the iPad Air 6 thus far concern its processor, which we count on to be Apple’s just lately launched M2 chip.
Tipsters together with Revengus (under) have claimed that Apple’s next-gen iPad Air will swap the M1 chip boasted by its predecessor for the M2 chip presently present in the perfect MacBooks and the iPad Professional 12.9 (2022), which means it is secure to count on important efficiency enhancements from the iPad Air 6.
We’re not but positive whether or not Apple will ship the iPad Air 6 with an 8- or 10-core GPU (as within the newest iPad Professional), however provided that the iPad Air is positioned as Apple’s mid-range iPad choice, choosing the previous GPU measurement may maintain prices down.
As for the iPad Air 6’s design and show, we’re not anticipating an excessive amount of (if any) variation on the iPad Air 5. The addition of ProMotion panels with mini-LED know-how on the iPad Air 6 can be a pleasant contact, however these Professional-level options would inevitably trigger the mid-range iPad’s worth to skyrocket.
For our cash, the iPad Air 5 already boasts a adequate design and show for its mid-range worth level, anyway.
iPad Air 6: what we wish to see
1. A extra distinct identification
The most important downside with the 2022 iPad Air is that it is simply too near the iPad Professional. Most patrons will wrestle to know which to purchase, or which is finest for them – in reality, it makes the Professional a little bit redundant due to its lower cost.
Apple goes to need to work out a greater strategy to make the following iPad Air distinctive, in order that it is not too just like the Professional. Maybe we may see it get a extra mid-range specs sheet in addition to a lower cost, to make it extra accessible.
2. Extra storage
The present iPad Airs begin with 64GB storage, which, for a pill with a top-end chipset, merely is not sufficient.
That is not sufficient area to have many video games downloaded, or to have a great deal of information to work on or edit, and so it is not likely clear why this model even exists.
It makes the worth appear a little bit disingenuous, too – positive, the $599 / £569 / AU$929 entry worth appears low, however in case you’re solely getting a little bit space for storing for that cash, no-one will purchase one other iPad Air at that worth.
3. An even bigger battery
A problem we discovered within the final iPad Air – and most different iPads, if we’re being trustworthy – is that the battery life wasn’t superb. It wasn’t unhealthy, per say, however it definitely wasn’t good both.
Should you’re eager to wander round espresso retailers to do work, or take your iPad to your studio to make use of as a second display, you actually need a system that’ll final a very long time. Present iPads do not at all times do this.
We would just like the next-gen model of the iPad Air to make use of a much bigger battery – maybe alongside some optimizations to squeeze probably the most out of that energy – to make sure it has an opportunity of touchdown on our record of the perfect iPads.