The mystery of the M2 chip in the iPad Air that Apple downgraded

Apple maintains that all performance claims for the iPad Air M2 are accurate and based on a 9-core GPU!

Apple has made a slight change to the specifications of the iPad Air M2, released last month. Initially, The M2 chip in this tablet was supposed to include a 10-core GPU. However, the device’s technical specifications page now states that it only has 9 cores.

This change initially generated uncertainty among users, although later Apple commented on it.

Apple says iPad Air has 9 cores, not 10 as advertised

According to experts, The performance difference between a 9- and 10-core GPU may be imperceptible for most everyday tasks.

Statements from Apple’s spokesperson explain:

We are updating Apple.com to correct the core count of the iPad Air M2. All performance claims for the iPad Air M2 are accurate and based on a 9-core GPU.

Enticing features like Apple’s claim that the iPad Air M2 is nearly 50% faster than the M1 model remain among the device’s specs:

Combined with faster memory bandwidth, the new iPad Air is nearly 50% faster than the previous iPad Air with M1 for a wide range of creative and productivity tasks. And compared to iPad Air with A14 Bionic, the new iPad Air delivers up to 3x faster performance.

Notably This change marks the first time Apple has sold a device with an M2 chip and a 9-core GPU.. The MacBook Air M2, for example, comes in 8- and 10-core GPU variants. This suggests that the iPad Air’s M2 chip could be a “scaled down” version of the 10-core variant, with one core disabled to optimize cost or power consumption.

Although the correction may be due to an error, which can happen even to a company like Apple, it still remains to be clarified where it came from. However, This update may also open the door to new reviews from users interested in verifying whatever Apple claims.more than usual.