Apple Quietly Downgrades M2 iPad Air From 10-Core GPU to 9-Core GPU

Apple appears to have quietly downgraded its M2 iPad Air specs from a 10-core GPU to a 9-core GPU.

First spotted by 9to5Mac, the tech specs webpage for the new M2 iPad Air was modified within the last ten days to indicate a 9-core GPU, rather than a 10-core GPU.

Apple's original press release still reads, "The M2 chip brings another big boost in performance to iPad Air, featuring a faster 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU. M2 is a powerful chip that offers a number of improvements over M1, delivering a huge leap in performance for those upgrading from previous-generation iPad Air models." Additionally, the tech specs on Apple's support site still list a 10-core GPU, as do product listings at other retailers like Amazon.


Looking at the Geekbench 6 scores for the iPad Air (M2) we see a Metal score of 41095. Compare that to a Metal score 45720 for the M2 15-inch MacBook Air which does have 10 GPU cores.

It's quite strange for Apple to get a key specification wrong when launching a device. The company has yet to put out a statement in regards to the change, but now that users have taken notice, we'll likely hear something soon.

If you really need that extra GPU core, the iPad Pro (M4) still lists a 10-core GPU.

You can get Apple's new iPads here:
● iPad Air (M2, 11-inch) - $569 ($30 off)
● iPad Air (M2, 13-inch) - $754 ($45 off)
● iPad Pro (M4, 11-inch) - $949.99 ($49.01 off)
● iPad Pro (M4, 13-inch) - $1250.11 ($48.89 off)


Update
Apple has confirmed that the M2 iPad Air has a 9-core GPU, NOT a 10-core GPU. However, the company says its M2 iPad Air benchmarks are accurate as released.

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