Apple downgraded the iPad Air M2 and didn’t tell buyers

Last month, Apple refreshed some of its tablets by introducing the iPad Pro M4 and iPad Air M2. Initially, the Cupertino firm stated that the latter model features a 10-core GPU. Weeks later, Apple quietly updated its website to reflect that the iPad Air M2’s GPU actually packs nine cores only. Since the iPad Air M2 debuted over 15 days ago, launch-day customers are now stuck with downgraded models.

Apple has quietly updated the iPad Air M2’s tech specs page and dropped the GPU’s cores by one (via 9to5Mac). At the time of writing, the original press release and other support documents still reference the 10-core GPU, which, for unknown reasons, slipped through.

A week ago, a Redditor ran benchmark tests and noticed that the iPad Air M2’s GPU is 10% slower than that of the iPad Pro M2. This confirms that this year’s iPad Air indeed packs an inferior chip. Given that Apple originally designed M2 chips with 8-core and 10-core GPUs, it’s possible that the iPad Air features a binned-down version of the 10-core variant.

Apple offers its customers a 15-day, no-questions-asked return window. Since the iPad Air debuted on May 15, those who bought it on launch day can no longer return it to the Apple Store. It’s yet to be seen whether Apple will exceptionally offer an extended return window for this model, as it falsely advertised a 10-core GPU when the early customers bought it.