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What to Expect From the iPad Air 6 in Early 2024

Umacga said:
I went 3-4 years, roughly, between iPads for a while (original, iPad 4, 2016 pro, now 2020 pro). Before, every time I updated they had some pretty impressive improvements. But 3.5 years into me 2020 pro, there’s absolutely nothing in the latest models that makes me the least bit interested in updating anytime soon. I mean, it’s plenty fast, what is the M2 going to do? Or M3 in the next one, inevitably. There are a handful of apps that can’t run at full capacity, I guess, but I don’t really care about rendering 4K footage in Resolve on an iPad since it’s much easier working with files on my MacBook anyway.

TL;DR - I foresee my current iPad lasting another 4-6 years.
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And yeah, you will probably only need a battery replacement. I plan this for my iPad Air 4 within two years. But it still runs as it did when new in terms of battery life. Apple make superb batteries.
 
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All I ask is for the date/time to be moved from the upper-left corner to the upper-right, as on Macbooks and desktops. A minor thing to be sure, but it bugs the hell out of me.
Curious as to why they'd keep the fingerprint ID instead of facial, since the iPhone is going that route....
 
My M1 iPad Air handles everything I throw at it.

I remember reading a news article on BBC News, forgetting about it, and two weeks later opening up the app… not only on the article I read, but the exact spot I left off.
 
Fuzzball84 said:
But what can M3 realistically do for you on iPad that A13 or so and M1 can't do... except for a very very specific processing operations...
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The correct question would be, what can an M2 iPad Air do, that the M1 Air can't do? M3 at least brings Raytracing and 50% more transistors after two process shrinks.
 
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russell_314 said:
I’m not so sure about that. I think there is a point where it’s too big. I don’t know if it’s true, but there are rumors of lukewarm sales with the 15” MacBook Air
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I have seen those same rumors in regards to lower sales than expected for 15" MBA. I do wonder how it would've performed if released alongside the 13" or if they waited roll it out with the M3 lineup.

I would have jumped all over a 15" model if it was available when I got my M2 MBA last year.
 
Fuzzball84 said:
Tablets in general have plateaued. The same could be said for phones except for their cameras and AI hardware.

The devices from 4 years back do almost everything that anyone needs them to do.
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Tablets and phones and laptops...

The main reasons people seem to upgrade are because:
  • Their battery is knackered
  • They ran out of storage (because Apple are so stingy with it.)
It's sad that the above reasons are such drivers for upgrades when both parts should be modular and easily swapped.

I personally upgrade when the new devices are substantially better in some key ways (and once recently because my RAM died, killing my MacBook- thanks for soldering that **** down, Apple.)
 
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Matt713 said:
I have seen those same rumors in regards to lower sales than expected for 15" MBA. I do wonder how it would've performed if released alongside the 13" or if they waited roll it out with the M3 lineup.

I would have jumped all over a 15" model if it was available when I got my M2 MBA last year.
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I would have been tempted to pass my M1 Air to a family member and get the 15", but aside from the bigger screen the upgrades I wanted were an extra USB port, support to drive two external monitors and increased base RAM and storage, but they skimped on all those features. I'd wanted a MacBook Air with a 15" screen for a decade, but when we finally got it it was very 'meh'.

Edit: Being subjected to a damn notch on a laptop that doesn't even provide FaceID is also annoying.
 
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Matt713 said:
I have seen those same rumors in regards to lower sales than expected for 15" MBA. I do wonder how it would've performed if released alongside the 13" or if they waited roll it out with the M3 lineup.

I would have jumped all over a 15" model if it was available when I got my M2 MBA last year.
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I think it’s because a large MBA is a niche product. It’s a 13“ with a larger screen and a bigger battery, that’s it. More ports, ability to drive two monitors, etc… that’s all “pro” to Apple. IMO it’s the same problem as the Plus model iPhone 14/15.
 
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Gudi said:
The correct question would be, what can an M2 iPad Air do, that the M1 Air can't do? M3 at least brings Raytracing and 50% more transistors after two process shrinks.
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Ray tracing is good and all… but would be far more useful on the Apple TV than iPad. How many people would truly benefit from this?

And 50 percent more transisters etc isn’t a feature I want. The fewer parts to go wrong the better. Only if that extra 50 percent of transistors does something useful such as what the neural processor can do, is when it is beneficial in any way.

:)
 
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Fuzzball84 said:
Only if that extra 50 percent of transistors does something useful such as what the neural processor can do, is when it is beneficial in any way.
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The Neural Engine is the most useless part of the silicon, if you’d ask me. But yes, it also got 60% faster when comparing M3 vs M1. And also more energy efficient thanks to 3nm.
 
Will be good to have iPad Air at 12.9". Waiting to see how much Apple will price the new iPad
 
I wonder if the A17 Pro is a better fit than M2? I think Apple should focus on making the Air reasonably priced consumption device. If it is consumption device, the ray trancing for gaming might be very useful.
 
aaah yes, iPad - The famous flawed Apple product, that they dont know what to do with it.

Basically has the same computing power as most notebooks on the market, yet it cant do even 1% of what notebooks can.
 
Smartass said:
aaah yes, iPad - The famous flawed Apple product, that they dont know what to do with it.

Basically has the same computing power as most notebooks on the market, yet it cant do even 1% of what notebooks can.
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That’s because they are a tablet… people have to understand the limitations. It serves a different purpose.. it’s more for consumption etc

The problem arises when Apple releases Pro iPads etc, and keyboard cover, and trackpad… and puts in M series processors… but what use is all this if the OS does not leverage and expand the abilities of such hardware. It’s then that you might as well get a MacBook, unless you really really need the touchscreen etc
 
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Fuzzball84 said:
That’s because they are a tablet… people have to understand the limitations. It serves a different purpose.. it’s more for consumption etc

The problem arises when Apple releases Pro iPads etc, and keyboard cover, and trackpad… and puts in M series processors… but what use is all this if the OS does not leverage and expand the abilities of such hardware. It’s then that you might as well get a MacBook, unless you really really need the touchscreen etc
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Exactly, Apple knows this too well and are intentionally throttling the iPad's capabilities because they know people would probably rather buy an ipad, that runs MacOS, than a notebook.
 
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