The current iPad Air came out in March 2022 and Apple is already contemplating a new model for this year, per Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman.
In the latest edition of his weekly Power On newsletter, Gurman says that Apple could announce the first Mac computers with the rumored M3 chip in October. He thinks Apple could reveal a new iMac, 13-inch MacBook Air, and 13-inch MacBook Pro in October.
He also says that Apple is working on a new iPad Air model. He didn’t go into the specifics and only revealed that the model could feature boosted specs. He had previously said that the spec bump would be minor.
The iPad Air 2022 has a 10.9 inches LCD screen, the M1 chip, and single main and front-facing cameras.
If we were to speculate, we’d say that the new iPad Air will have the M2 chip that powers the iPad Pros and maybe a Thunderbolt port.
Gurman has also said that Apple is unlikely to reveal new iPad Pros this year. Instead, the next iteration will probably arrive next year. The 2024 iPad Pros are rumored to have OLED displays and will allegedly be powered by the M3 chip.
As for the M3 chip, it will be based on TSMC’s 3nm process, which would make it more powerful and power efficient than the M2, which is already insanely fast. The fabrication process allows for a higher-density chip, enabling manufacturers to fit more cores into a processor.
It’s not clear whether these October products will be announced through a press release or if Apple will hold a dedicated event for them.
Before that, in September, the company is expected to reveal the next crop of iPhones: iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro, and 15 Pro Max. Like the M3 chip, the Pro model’s A17 chip will also be manufactured on the 3nm node.