No, I’m referring to the M3 chip.
It was first introduced on October 30, 2023.
That was not two years ago.
It *will be* two years ago eventually, but not for another seven months
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Announces New iPad Air With M3 Chip, Updated Magic Keyboard
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
It was first introduced on October 30, 2023.
That was not two years ago.
It *will be* two years ago eventually, but not for another seven months
What? Who in their right mind would buy a new iPad if they already own one anyway? iPads last forever, I am still using my iPad mini 2. Why should I upgrade? It does everything I need it to do.
No you are wrong because Apple abandoned this strategy after Steve Jobs died which was before the iPad Air and iPad Pro even existed. It was only ever applied to Macs.
What are you even talking about?
If anything at the time of his resignation, the Mac line was a complete mess.
I own a now two-generations old M1 iPad Air. That device already has 8GB of RAM and is already considered "ready" for "Apple Intelligence". And yes, I promptly disabled it once "Apple Intelligence" first showed up in a recent updated version of iPadOS 18.
The bezels on these iPads are so ugly already. They are huge.
Apple today introduced new 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Air models with the M3 chip, along with an updated Magic Keyboard for the device.
With the M3 chip, the new iPad Air should offer up to 20% faster performance compared to the previous-generation model with the M2 chip, which was released in May 2024. In addition, the M3 chip brings hardware-accelerated ray tracing to the iPad Air for the first time, providing improved graphics rendering in games.
The new Magic Keyboard for the iPad Air features a larger trackpad, and function keys for easy access to features like display brightness and volume controls. The new Magic Keyboard attaches to the iPad Air magnetically, and the Smart Connector immediately connects power and data without the need for Bluetooth. The keyboard is also equipped with a USB-C port in its hinge for pass-through charging of other accessories.
We have yet to discover any other changes for the new iPad Air beyond the M3 chip and the updated Magic Keyboard. The new 11-inch and 13-inch models continue to have a 12-megapixel Center Stage front camera, 12-megapixel Wide rear camera, Touch ID power button, USB-C port with up to 10 Gbps data transfer speeds, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.3.
Storage capacities continue to range between 128GB and 1TB, and battery life is unchanged compared to the previous model.
Apple Intelligence is available on any iPad Air model with the M1 chip or newer.
The new iPad Air can be pre-ordered starting today, and it will launch on March 12. In the U.S., the 11-inch model continues to start at $599, and the 13-inch model continues to start at $799. The device remains available in the same Space Gray, Starlight, Blue, and Purple color options that were offered for the previous model.
The new Magic Keyboard comes in white. In the U.S., it is priced at $269 for the 11-inch iPad Air, and at $319 for the 13-inch iPad Air.
Article Link: Apple Announces New iPad Air With M3 Chip, Updated Magic Keyboard
Can we just stop with this ignorance already. I use an app on both my Mac and iPad to design floor plans and the M2 iPad runs the app smoother than my M1 Mac mini and can handle more complicated plans.
So it really has nothing to do with the “iPad”, but the apps you need to use.
Sorry, my mistake. Nonetheless, the point remains, you can expect to get several years of support for any iPad, even pre M-series models, so I don’t think that an M4 being more future proof than an M3 is much to be worried about.
It’s definitely not, but good luck convincing some people here of that.
Even still, at this point if I were in the market to purchase a new iPad I wouldn’t really be looking at ones that are still on the M1 or anything before.
99% of people dont buy the iPad Air for that, every upgrade is just old chip upgrades, where's the real changes, apple has become boring, no update is good anymore
I have no interest in Apple Intelligence, and sadly that really seems to be the only thing that this new iPad Air can do that my current 4.5 year old Air from 3 generations ago can't.
Still no FaceID. I get that they want to make the pro stand out with cool features but FaceID is pretty much standard all most computers and tablets these days.
they wouldn’t make it an M4 chip because everyone would buy that over the Pros haha. Great marketing
will it work with an external monitor yet?
Apple today introduced new 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Air models with the M3 chip, along with an updated Magic Keyboard for the device.
With the M3 chip, the new iPad Air should offer up to 20% faster performance compared to the previous-generation model with the M2 chip, which was released in May 2024. In addition, the M3 chip brings hardware-accelerated ray tracing to the iPad Air for the first time, providing improved graphics rendering in games.
The new Magic Keyboard for the iPad Air features a larger trackpad, and function keys for easy access to features like display brightness and volume controls. The new Magic Keyboard attaches to the iPad Air magnetically, and the Smart Connector immediately connects power and data without the need for Bluetooth. The keyboard is also equipped with a USB-C port in its hinge for pass-through charging of other accessories.
We have yet to discover any other changes for the new iPad Air beyond the M3 chip and the updated Magic Keyboard. The new 11-inch and 13-inch models continue to have a 12-megapixel Center Stage front camera, 12-megapixel Wide rear camera, Touch ID power button, USB-C port with up to 10 Gbps data transfer speeds, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.3.
Storage capacities continue to range between 128GB and 1TB, and battery life is unchanged compared to the previous model.
Apple Intelligence is available on any iPad Air model with the M1 chip or newer.
The new iPad Air can be pre-ordered starting today, and it will launch on March 12. In the U.S., the 11-inch model continues to start at $599, and the 13-inch model continues to start at $799. The device remains available in the same Space Gray, Starlight, Blue, and Purple color options that were offered for the previous model.
The new Magic Keyboard comes in white. In the U.S., it is priced at $269 for the 11-inch iPad Air, and at $319 for the 13-inch iPad Air.
Article Link: Apple Announces New iPad Air With M3 Chip, Updated Magic Keyboard
Debating whether to keep my iPP 11-inch (cellular) from 2020, trade it in & go for the iPP M4, or trade & get this one and take a tiny step back but still get a solid device. My iPP is still humming along but is starting to show some signs of slowing down. I'm spoiled with FaceID and would love an OLED screen, but the iPP M4 cellular is a tad pricey.
I didn't see a video. Apple probably thinks it's a waste of time & money to make videos to introduce products that are just marginally better than its predecessors.
There should be some good deals on the ninth and 10th generation, I’m still rocking with my ninth generation, it’s plenty fast. 💰 
It really is an artificial gate to get people up the ladder to pay for the more expensive Pro - even though, given iPad OS being what it is, you'd never know the difference performance-wise. All the iPads are so great in terms of hardware, setting aside upcharge nonsense like this, but the story around iPad OS is really letting the hardware down.
I have an M1 iPad Air. Apart from the M3 it’s STILL basically the same iPad years later! Hilarious it doesn’t have any other upgrades, not even Face ID or ProMotion which you’d have thought would have trickled down by now.
Quite clear Apple doesn’t really want to sell the iPad Air or even the base iPad, it’s all about upselling you to the Pro which is the only one which gets meaningful innovation and improvement.
Quite clear Apple doesn’t really want to sell the iPad Air or even the base iPad, it’s all about upselling you to the Pro which is the only one which gets meaningful innovation and improvement.
It's a tacit admission they're stumped. Artificial gating of those features is all they have. It's not a margins thing. It's a lack of direction and vision thing. Same deal with gating iPhone apps and features from the iPad. Apple used to cannibalize their own products now they are so timid as to do the complete opposite
Rinse repeat is the new Apple. I don't think new-looking phones (the 17 line) will solve this existential crisis for them either. Question is: How long before the market notices and responds accordingly to force their hand