Are you having trouble choosing between the deeply discounted iPad Air (2022) with Apple M1 power and one of the two hot new M2-based “mid-range” tablets? How about you snub all three of those devices and wait for the next iPad Air edition instead?
That’s… probably not a good idea, as this product family doesn’t appear to be on the same 12-month upgrade cycle as Apple’s iPhones. Instead, the iPad Air (2024) duo arrived more than two years after its solo 10.9-inch predecessor, which was in turn released around a year and a half on the back of a 10.9-inch iPad Air (2020).
As such, everyone expects the next-gen iPad Air to see daylight no earlier than 2026, and if a new rumor is to be trusted, the otherwise mysterious device(s) will pack Apple M3 power. Is that surprising? Not if you consider the M1 and M2 chipsets used by the last two iPad Air editions.
But with the iPad Pro series jumping from an Apple M2 processor straight to M4 silicon this year, some of you may have expected (or at least hoped) the iPad Air lineup would make a similar move. According to an unnamed X user with a private account and a “proven track record of sharing accurate information about Apple’s plans” cited by MacRumors, that’s not currently on the cards, although it’s clearly far too soon to have any guarantees here.
An iPad Air with M3 processing power should be impressive enough to fend off pretty much all the best Android tablets in the world in 2026, but if Apple decides to launch this further down the road (as some industry insiders believe), these current plans could well be revised.
The sequels to the freshly unveiled 11 and 13-inch iPad Airs are also rumored to switch from LCD to higher-quality OLED screen technology, which might explain a potential delay to 2027 or even 2028. But you probably shouldn’t get too excited about such upgrades or too concerned of a belated release… yet.