The iPad Air was last updated back in March 2022, and it brought a significant amount of improvements such as optional 5G connectivity, Center Stage, and most notably, the M1 chip. Last year saw no updates to any of the iPad models at all. Now that it has been over two years since the last update, it’s time for Apple to give the iPad Air a significant overhaul, and there are several features we can expect.
- Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3Â – The current iPad Air has Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0. With Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6E becoming a standard across all of Apple’s current lineup of Macs and iPhones, the overall iPad lineup is starting to lag in those technologies. Only the current iPad Pro has both of those wireless standards, so having both of those standards in the next iPad Air is going to be a welcome change for future-proofing.
- Possibility of new colors – The older iPad Air (4th generation) introduced several new colors on any iPad, and when Apple introduced the 5th generation iPad Air, it also updated the colors to match those of the iPad mini (6th generation) that Apple introduced about five months ago. Therefore, we may see several different colors for the upcoming iPad Air.
- Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil – The current iPad Air is compatible with both the Magic Keyboard, Apple Pencil 2, and Apple Pencil (USB-C). As we expect the next iPad Air to feature the same design as the current one based on CAD renders, likely, the next iPad Air will likely still work with the aforementioned accessories.
- M2 chip – As mentioned before, the current iPad Air is powered by the M1 chip, and the current iPad Pro is powered by the M2 chip. We expect Apple to update the iPad Pro with the M3 chip soon, so it’s logical that the next iPad Air will borrow the M2 chip from the current iPad Pro for product differentiation.
- Larger screen size – As we’ve become accustomed to larger screens across all of our devices, it seems that the next iPad Air will offer an additional, larger screen size. Currently, to get the largest display on an iPad, you’d have to spend over a grand to get a 12.9-inch iPad Pro. We’ve seen Apple offering two screen sizes for its standard products such as the iPhone 15/15 Plus and the 13-inch/15-inch MacBook Air, so the additional 12.9-inch model in the iPad Air lineup will satisfy customers who want an affordable, larger iPad and don’t need all the extra features that the iPad Pro offers.
When can we expect Apple to announce the next generation of iPad Air? Since Apple announced the MacBook Air with the M3 chip early this week, several reports point to iPad announcements as early as next week. So stay tuned for Apple’s announcement on both the iPad Air and the highly anticipated iPad Pro.
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