The updated iPad Air that Apple is expected to unveil at tomorrow's "Peek Performance" event could include the same M1 chip that's featured in the 2021 iPad Pro, according to information shared by 9to5Mac. Last year's iPad Pro was the first iPad to get Apple's M-series chip, and adding the M1 to the iPad Air would put iPad Air performance on par with the current iPad Pro models and the 2020 MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini.
All prior rumors about the iPad Air have suggested that it will be similar to the iPad mini, featuring the same A15 chip along with 5G connectivity. Adding the M1 to the iPad Air would make it very similar to the more expensive top-of-the-line iPad Pro, and if Apple does opt to do so, ProMotion display technology (with mini-LED in the 12.9-inch model) and the LiDAR camera would be the main differences between the iPad Air and the iPad Pro lines.
The M1 chip features a 8-core CPU and a 7 to 8-core GPU, and comparatively, the A15 chip has a 6-core CPU and 5-core GPU, so the M1 does offer some speed improvements over the A-series chips.
Apple's "Peek Performance" event will kick off at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time tomorrow, so we don't have much more time before we learn exactly what chip Apple is adding to the iPad Air. We'll have coverage here at MacRumors.com and on our MacRumorsLive Twitter account.
