Upcoming iPad Air Rumored to Feature M1 Chip

[DummyFool]

A15 or M1 there is very little difference. In practice no difference on an iPad.

Peoples are seing things that are not there. It was probably just that there had more M1 chips available at this time then A15 chips.

 

[Realityck]

A 1.5 year old chip being put in a mid-tier product? Makes perfect sense.

FYI its only 1 year 4 months. (May 18 be 1.5 years)

 

[subjonas]

Good point, its why we are very anxious about iPadOS 16 at WWDC.

And this will be the 16th year in a row people will be disappointed ?

 

[AlexESP]

The M1 is NOT an overkill for iPadOS. There are many apps intensive on CPU and GPU in AR, 3D modelling, graphic design… even for basic interaction, we have a lot of fields to improve, so more power is always welcome, the iPad is not a microwave. That doesn’t mean you cannot ask for more functionality in iPadOS, but it’s funny that so many people complain in forums about it lacking professional use cases, while people out there are really taking advantage of it.

 

[slippery-pete]

Don’t see this happening

 

[ThisBougieLife]

ProMotion and LiDAR the only difference? Doesn't seem like to enough to differentiate the products.

 

[JPack]

This could give Apple a reason to increase the price by $50 to $649.

 

[schneeland]

Seems unlikely to me, but let's see. At least the global rumor shortage has definitely ended.

 

[jz0309]

I guess we have every rumor possible now being thought of.

what about the Apple car? peek at it ... endless performance ...

 

[JPack]

ProMotion and LiDAR the only difference? Doesn't seem like to enough to differentiate the products.

Quad-speakers, camera lenses, display nits, stereo mics, base storage, RAM, etc.

 

[AlexESP]

And the real potential of the iPad as a pro device is using its differentiaton factors (touch screen, ergonomics, camera + LiDAR…) to create new use cases. That’s more profesional than being able to view Reddit in windowed mode or even a subpar video editing app in a small screen (the DeX mode some people want but never use).

 

[Boil]

iPad Air gets M1 SoC and is bundled with the new Apple Pencil 3, rebranded as iPad Studio...!

 

[Orange Bat]

The only reason I have doubts about this is that it would leave one less difference between the Air and Pro models. The only major differences at this point is the screen, the cameras, and the lidar sensor (and a $200 price point on the low end). However I have also wondered if Apple may eventually place some version of M chips in almost every device at some future point to simplify their supply chain. We’ll know soon.

 

[Premium1]

Seems even more reason to not get the pro model. Hope they really take advantage of the M1 chip in IpadOS 16 since the OS really holds the chip back in its current state.

 

[Seanm87]

If they do this they’ll definitely kill off the 11 inch pro model. Makes sense just to keep the 12.9 inch as the pro then give the air pro motion as an upgrade.

 

[MrENGLISH]

iPad Air: M1 Chip + Pro-Motion + Mini-LED display would be an instant buy for me.

The 11" iPad Pro doesn't even have the Mini-LED display yet.

 

[reallynotnick]

iPad Pro can game really well but it also consumes a lot of battery whenever M1 is pushed to its limits. This kind of power is never meant for such a puny battery.

They could downclock it, many cores at a low clock speed can more efficiently do work than a few cores at a high clock speed.

Not saying that's what they will do, but a decent way to bump up performance.

That said a 5 GPU core A15 like the mini still seems like a more logical fit, but it's also odd they didn't update the iPad Air at the same time as the mini if that's what they were going to do. So it almost seems like there has to be something more than a basic chip bump with this model.

 

[dogstar]

Buy two Apple Pencil 3s and stab them in your eyes and the iPad Air will give you AR functionality.

 

[dogstar]

They could downclock it, many cores at a low clock speed can more efficiently do work than a few cores at a high clock speed.

Not saying that's what they will do, but a decent way to bump up performance.

That said a 5 GPU core A15 like the mini still seems like a more logical fit, but it's also odd they didn't update the iPad Air at the same time as the mini if that's what they were going to do. So it almost seems like there has to be something more than a basic chip bump with this model.

You’re right. They’ll probably use the reject processors with at least one bad GPU and one bad CPU. Would be really smart.

 

[Kylo83]

It’s because it’s cheaper and they have loads of M1 chips

 

[oofio2461]

Yeah, No. I don't think the cost of the M1 chip is cheap enough for Apple to put it on a Mid-Range Ipad. The A15 is more likely due to being cheaper to make. Unless Apple gives the Ipad Air a Price Hike... (How much does the M1 cost to make over the A15? Is it more or the same cost to make than the A15?)

 

[CarlJ]

I guess we have every rumor possible now being thought of.

You got your rumor bingo card, right?

 

[Veeper]

iOS is a huge hamstring to M1 unfortunately.

 

[shr631]

I think I speak for everybody when I say MoAr LiDAr!!

 

[gnomeisland]

This . . . could make sense but an update to the Pros would be right around the corner. I would say ProMotion & HDR would make more sense but perhaps updating more iPads with M1 power means a bigger market for "pro" level apps. Interesting. I'm much more likely to watch the event to see how this pans out.