Report claims forthcoming 2022 iPad Air will be powered by the M1 chip
With less than 24 hours to go before Apple kicks off its highly-anticipated “Peek performance” special event, a new report from 9to5Mac’s Filipe Espósito claims that Apple’s forthcoming 2022 iPad Air will be powered by the M1 chip – the same chip found in the iPad Pro, 24-inch iMac and 2020 MacBook Pro.
According to the report which cites information learned from sources, “it seems that Apple wants to close the gap between the iPad Air and iPad Pro even further,” claiming the new device expected to be announced tomorrow will feature the M1 chip rather than the A15 Bionic chip which had been previously rumored to be powering the forthcoming device.
Filipe writes that the new device, known internally by Apple as J408, will also support 5G which had been one of the main rumors after Apple included 5G support with the redesigned iPad mini late last year, noting that the addition of the M1 chip would see iPad Air performance grow 70% compared to the A14 Bionic chip found in the current-generation device.
The new device is rumored to retain the same design as the current-generation model introduced in September 2020, featuring an all-screen 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display with an integrated Touch ID sensor in the top button, USB-C, and more.
Asides from the upgraded internals, Apple’s rumored iPad Air upgrade is expected to be relatively minor. The company may introduce new finishes to differentiate the new and old devices but asides from that, the exterior of the device will likely remain the same.