- Let Loose event LIVE — Everything announced at the Let Loose event, as it happens
- OLED iPad Pro — M3 and a major display upgrade expected!
- Apple Pencil 3 — Or should we say Apple Pencil Pro?
The iPad Air 6 was finally announced at Apple's Let Loose event, and since Apple hasn't launched an iPad in almost two years, it was a long time coming. The new tablet seems worth the wait; one of the best iPads has received a refresh with a huge spec bump, new screen sizes, and better speakers.
Not quite as powerful as the M4 iPad Pro and not quite as cheap as the standard iPad range, the iPad Air 6 is the ultimate mid-range machine, capable of running creative apps yet cheap enough to fit into a budget. Available to order right now, it is powered by the beefy Apple M2 chip and comes in a whole range of colors. And it works with a host of accessories — perfect for doing work on the go.
From specs to price, here's everything we know about the iPad Air 6.
Apple iPad Air 6: The headlines
- What is it? The sixth generation of the iconic iPad Air, Apple's portable, mid-range tablet.
- Release date: May 15
- Upgrades: M2 chip, new 13-inch size, landscape camera, improved audio, better storage
iPad Air 6: Release date
The iPad Air 6 is available to order right now and will be launching on May 15.
Database filings spotted in early April originally confirmed the existence of four iPads, originally suggesting a release date in May. This turned out to be true. The iPad Air 6 debuts alongside of the OLED iPad Pro, a new Magic Keyboard, and the Apple Pencil Pro, all of which come with their own unique features.
Some accessory makers were so confident in this release date that they published designs you could buy early. ESR listed cases for a 2024 iPad Air back in April, successfully pointing to the presence of a 13-inch model.
iPad Air 6: Features and specifications
iPad Air 6: M2 chip
The iPad Air 5 was powered by the M1 chip, which meant that it lagged behind the iPad Pro 2022 by a full generation. The new iPad Air 6 will have an M2 chip, keeping up with the previous iPad Pro, but making it two generations behind the new M4 iPad Pro. Don't let this disparity worry you though: The M4 chip is partially implemented to work with the brand-new Ultra Retina XDR display.
iPad Air 6: 13-inch model
After months of speculation, and plenty of rumors suggesting a new size iPad Air 6 model would be on the way, the Apple Let Loose event confirmed that a 13-inch iPad Air is available to order, offering 30% more screen real estate than the 11-inch model — perfect for Split View.
Both models have a Liquid Retina display with anti-reflective screen coating, True Tone technology, and support for P3 wide color.
iPad Air 6: Landscape selfie camera
Just like the OLED iPad Pro, Apple debuted its entry-level iPad's landscape camera on the new iPad Air. The same 12MP Ultra Wide front camera from the iPad Air 5 remains, but it's in a different place on the display now.
This landscape camera is intended to make FaceTiming much easier, as it lets you place your iPad at any angle and still chat comfortably.
New Storage options
The new starting storage for the iPad Air 6 is 128GB, which is double the starting storage of the iPad Air 5. Both sizes of iPad Air 6 can be configured with the following storage options:
- 128GB
- 256GB
- 512GB
- 1TB
Colors
Both versions of iPad Air 6 are available in the following colors:
- Space Gray
- Blue
- Purple
- Starlight
Landscape stereo speakers
The new landscape stereo speakers are capable of Spatial Audio, for much better playback, and the 13-inch model has double the bass in its speaker, thanks to that increased size.
iPad Air 6: Price
The 11-inch iPad Air 6 starts at $599 for 128GB of storage but gets more expensive from there when you add more. The 13-inch 128GB model starts at $799. The 11-inch iPad Air 6 starts at the same price as the 64GB iPad Air 5.
Going from 128GB to 256GB on either model adds $100 to the price, with the 512GB version adding $200 to that, and the 1TB model adding $200 to that. So a fully tricked out 13-inch iPad Air 6 with 1TB costs $1,300.
Which iPad Air 6 rumors didn't come true?
iPad Air 6: mini-LED?
The 12.9-inch iPad Air 6 was expected to get a display bump, swapping an LED screen for the M2 iPad Pro's Mini-LED. Apple was reportedly going to use up previous inventory from the iPad Pro models which wouldn't have needed them, thanks to the rumored upgrade to OLED.
The same source that started this rumor later squashed it, stating "We no longer believe the upcoming 12.9-inch iPad Air will get a Mini-LED display." Instead, DSCC's Ross Young says that a new 12.9-inch mini-LED iPad will be released in the final quarter of 2024. We don't know what this model might be, but it clearly won't be an iPad Air 6.
