Apple Downgrades New iPad Air M2, Now Says It Has a 9-Core GPU Instead of 10-Core

Apple has made a quiet update to the technical specifications of the iPad Air M2, which was first launched last month. Although it initially touted the iPad Air’s M2 chip as having a 10-core GPU, the company now claims it has a 9-core GPU.

Apple has not detailed this change at all. Instead, it simply updated the tech specs page for the new iPad Air M2 to reflect the missing GPU core. Based on archive data, the edit appears to have been made within the last 10 days.

The original press release for the M2 iPad Air launch still states that it has a 10-core GPU, as does this support page which has not yet been updated. Apple has not yet updated its technical specifications pages in countries outside the United States.

This is a bizarre change for several reasons. This seems to imply that wires have been crossed within Apple, and some people have been led to believe that the new iPad Air M2 features a 10-core GPU when in reality it uses a 9-core GPU. It’s also curious that the change is not yet reflected everywhere on Apple’s website.

Notably, this is also the first time that Apple has sold an M2 chip in a machine with a 9-core GPU. The MacBook Air M2, for example, comes in 8- and 10-core GPU variants. This suggests that the M2 chip used inside the iPad Air is a bundled version of the 10-core version.

In reality, most iPad Air M2 users won’t notice a difference between a 9-core GPU and a 10-core GPU. It would still be nice to get an explanation from Apple on what exactly happened here.

Thank you Michael Burkhardt!

Buy the new iPad Air

11 inches:

13 inches: