Apple M2 iPad Air specs quietly downgraded a month after launch

At its May event, Apple announced the release of the new iPad Air equipped with an M2 chip. However, the specifications for the GPU have since been altered on Apple’s website.

Apple has discreetly reduced the M2 iPad Air’s specifications, replacing the 10-core GPU with a 9-core variant. The official technical specifications on Apple’s website now reflect this change, showing that both the 13-inch and 11-inch iPad Airs are equipped with a 9-core GPU.

Although Apple has not provided an explanation for the alteration, the initial announcement continues to mention, “The M2 chip provides a significant increase in performance for the iPad Air, with a faster 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU.”

According to Apple’s support page, the iPad Air is also advertised to have a 10-core GPU. However, the technical specifications have not been updated on Amazon listings.

The amendment, initially identified by 9to5mac, took place on May 22nd. One possible explanation for this alteration is that Apple mistakenly advertised the tablet as having a 10-core GPU during its release.

By examining the benchmark performance, this theory can be substantiated. According to the Geekbench’s Metal benchmark testing, the M2 iPad Pro’s 10-core GPU had a score of 45,195, while the iPad Air 11-inch M2 achieved a score of 41,095.

The 10% difference in scores indicates that the M2 iPad Air likely has a 9-core GPU, rather than the expected 10 cores. It appears that Apple has utilized the same SoC but has disabled one GPU core, for reasons that remain undisclosed.

Additionally, the current configuration marks the first instance of Apple offering a device with an M2 chipset. Furthermore, the MacBook Air, equipped with an M2 chipset, boasts a 10-core GPU.

Despite this, there has been no alteration in the retail price of the iPad Air. It remains available at a starting price of $599.