Apple downgrades new M2 iPad Air, now says it features a 9-core GPU instead of 10-core

Apple has made a quiet update to the tech specs of the M2 iPad Air, which first launched last month. Despite originally touting the iPad Air’s M2 chip as featuring a 10-core GPU, the company now says it features a 9-core GPU.

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

The original press release for the M2 iPad Air launch still says it features a 10-core GPU, as does this yet-to-be-updated support page. Apple has also not yet updated its tech specs pages in countries outside of the United States.

This is a bizarre changes for a number of reasons. It seems to imply that the wires got crossed inside Apple, and some people were led to believe the new M2 iPad Air featured a 10-core GPU when in reality it uses a 9-core GPU. It’s also curious that the change isn’t yet reflected everywhere on Apple’s website.

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

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

Thanks, Michael Burkhardt!