First 13-inch iPad Air just tipped for 2024 — this is big

It’s no secret that Apple makes some of the best tablets, and with the latest iPads equipped with M1 and M2 chips, it’s evidently been hard for Apple to one-up the previous models. No new iPads were released in 2023, most likely contributing to Apple’s recent declining sales.

However, Apple’s luck may soon change with the recent news of a revamped iPad Pro and two iPad Air models. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman (via Tom’s Guide), sources close to the matter say Apple may be launching these new iPad models in March 2024 alongside iPadOS 17.4, and you can expect some pretty big changes.

Potential upgrades to the 2024 iPad Air and Pro models

Reportedly, the 2024 iPad Air will be available in two different sizes. If this is true, it’ll be the first time Apple has ever offered an iPad Air model in two different sizes within the same generation. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says Apple plans to add a 12.9-inch iPad Air in addition to the existing 10.9-inch size.

Of course, both the 10.9-inch and 12.9-inch 2024 iPad Air models will receive improvements over the 5th Gen iPad Air released in 2022. With the previous model receiving the M1 chip, it’s not crazy to think the 6th Gen iPad Air could feature an M2 chip, but no specs have officially been talked about yet.

With the previous setup of one 10.9-inch iPad Air, consumers would need to pay almost $1,000 more for the iPad Pro if they wanted a larger screen. Offering a 12.9-inch iPad Air lets people splurge on a larger screen but not on extra performance power they don’t need.

That said, people might be enticed by the 2024 iPad Pro’s major display upgrade and decide it’s worth the extra cash. Apple’s next-gen iPad Pro will reportedly feature an OLED screen, making it the first iPad with this display technology. With this OLED upgrade, the iPad Pro 2024 will probably cost a pretty penny, which is why Apple is balancing out this costly upgrade by offering a 12.9-inch iPad Air as an alternative.

Once the new iPad Air and iPad Pro models release in (hopefully) March 2024, we might start hearing more about Apple’s foldable iPad, rumored to release sometime in 2026.