Jun 02, 2024 16:00:00

Apple quietly downgrades the GPU in the M2-equipped iPad Air from 10 cores to 9 cores

Apple announced a new

iPad Air equipped with the M2 chip at an event held in May 2024. The M2 chip installed in this new iPad Air was advertised as having a '10-core GPU,' but it has been revealed that this has been quietly downgraded to 9 cores.

Apple downgrades new M2 iPad Air, now says it features a 9-core GPU instead of 10-core - 9to5Mac
https://9to5mac.com/2024/06/01/m2-ipad-air-gpu-core-count/

Apple will announce a new iPad Air model for the first time in more than two years in May 2024. This new iPad Air is equipped with an M2 chip and has 10 GPU cores.

The first ever two-size 'iPad Air (6th generation)' has arrived, the first new model in over two years - GIGAZINE

However, it has now been revealed that Apple has quietly updated the specifications page on its official website , correcting the number of GPU cores to '9 cores.'

The specs page for the new iPad Air on Apple's official US website is as follows. The chip section lists the number of GPU cores as '9.'

The English version of

the new iPad Air press release and technical specifications page on the support page still state that the number of GPU cores is '10 cores.' Also, on the technical specifications page of Apple's official website for countries other than the United States, the number of GPU cores of the M2-equipped iPad Air is still listed as '10,' which is the same as the official Apple website in Japan.

If you check the technical specifications page from a few days ago using the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine , you can see that the number of GPU cores was listed as '10' on the Apple official website for the United States until a few days ago. Therefore, it seems that the number of GPUs in the M2-equipped iPad Air will indeed be changed to '9 cores.'

However, Apple's official website outside the United States has not updated the specifications page, which is strange for Apple, Apple-related media 9to5Mac pointed out.

According to 9to5Mac, this is the first time that Apple has sold a device equipped with the 9-core M2 chip. For example, the M2-equipped MacBook Air has 8-core and 10-core GPU options, but there is no 9-core GPU option. Therefore, 9to5Mac writes, 'This suggests that the M2 chip in the iPad Air is an improved version of the M2 chip with a 10-core GPU.'

However, 9to5Mac also pointed out that 'most M2-equipped iPad Air users will not notice the difference between a 9-core and a 10-core GPU.'