iPad Air 6 Rumored to Launch in October as Only iPad Refresh of 2023

The sixth-generation iPad Air should launch in October as the only iPad refresh of 2023, according to a plausible rumor shared on Chinese social media site Weibo.

ipad air 5 colors
"Only the ‌iPad Air‌ series should be updated this year," the post reads, with a subsequent clarification that the product refresh will take place in October, with "no mini and Pro this year." The information comes from an account with a proven track record for disclosing accurate information about Apple's plans.

On the latest episode of The MacRumors Show podcast, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that there is a new iPad Air with improved specifications in the works and the device is apparently "coming soonish," likely in October. The rumor was posted to Weibo prior to Gurman's most recent remarks.

Gurman believes that there will be a further Apple product launch in October, but expressed skepticism that an entire event will take place to introduce new devices. He said that it could be similar to the introduction of the M2 Pro and ‌M2‌ Max MacBook Pro models earlier this year, which were announced via press release and a short video. Gurman claimed that October could see something "along those lines." "I'm not sure they have enough to drag people down to Cupertino to watch the video like they do for this [iPhone 15] launch," he added.

Apple last updated the ‌iPad Air‌ in March 2022 with the M1 chip, an upgraded 12-megapixel front camera with Center Stage support, a faster USB-C port, 5G support on cellular models, and new color options. Pricing starts at $599 in the U.S. for 64GB of storage. It is unclear what new features the next-generation ‌iPad Air‌ will offer, but possibilities include the ‌M2‌ chip, a Thunderbolt port like the iPad Pro, Apple Pencil hover, and new color options.

Related Roundups: iPad Air , iPad Pro, iPad mini
Related Forum: iPad

Popular Stories

iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iOS 26 Screens

Here Are All the iOS 26 Features That Require iPhone 15 Pro or Newer

Thursday June 12, 2025 4:53 am PDT by
With iOS 26, Apple has introduced some major changes to the iPhone experience, headlined by the new Liquid Glass redesign that's available across all compatible devices. However, several of the update's features are exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models, since they rely on Apple Intelligence. The following features are powered by on-device large language models and machine...
CarPlay Liquid Glass Dark

Apple to Let iPhone Users Watch Videos on CarPlay Screen While Parked

Thursday June 12, 2025 6:16 am PDT by
Apple this week announced that iPhone users will soon be able to watch videos right on the CarPlay screen in supported vehicles. iPhone users will be able to wirelessly stream videos to the CarPlay screen using AirPlay, according to Apple. For safety reasons, video playback will only be available when the vehicle is parked, to prevent distracted driving. The connected iPhone will be able to...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

Hate iOS 26's Liquid Glass Design? Here's How to Tone It Down

Wednesday June 11, 2025 4:22 pm PDT by
iOS 26 features a whole new design material that Apple calls Liquid Glass, with a focus on transparency that lets the content on your display shine through the controls. If you're not a fan of the look, or are having trouble with readability, there is a step that you can take to make things more opaque without entirely losing out on the new look. Apple has multiple Accessibility options that ...
Mac Studio Feature

Apple Begins Selling Refurbished Mac Studio With M4 Max and M3 Ultra Chips at a Discount

Thursday June 12, 2025 10:14 am PDT by
Apple today added Mac Studio models with M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips to its online certified refurbished store in the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and many European countries, for the first time since they were released in March. As usual for refurbished Macs, prices are discounted by approximately 15% compared to the equivalent new models on Apple's online store. Note that Apple's ...
iOS 26 Feature

Apple Seeds Revised iOS 26 Developer Beta to Fix Battery Issue

Friday June 13, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with a revised version of the first iOS 26 beta for testing purposes. The update is only available for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, so if you're running iOS 26 on an iPhone 14 or earlier, you won't see the revised beta. Registered developers can download the new beta software through the Settings app on each device. The revised beta addresses an...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...

Top Rated Comments

klasma Avatar
23 months ago

With the standard iPad moving to iPad Air design (no bezels), what is now the point of iPad Air?
Significantly better screen (AR coating, P3 color, fully laminated), double the RAM, significantly higher CPU and GPU performance, Pencil 2 support.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
abatabia Avatar
23 months ago
The M1 is already overkill for the air. The M2 won’t add too much, and I can’t see them changing the design.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Force332 Avatar
23 months ago
My only question is will it move the FaceTime camera to the landscape orientation like the 10th generation iPad? My guess is no. I suspect that since the Air and Pro share the same design, that change will first happen on the Pro line before it trickles down to the Air. The iPad line as a whole I think will continue to be overly complex and confusing for at least the near future.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ItsASpider Avatar
23 months ago

Dynamic island and thunderbolt please
Why would you ever want anything that is a notch ore punchhole in a tablet?
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DFZD Avatar
23 months ago
I don't know if Air anymore serves a purpose other than as a price gap filler.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
contacos Avatar
23 months ago
this seems like an update for nothing more than principal like what could it possibly do better that the Air 5 with the limitation set my iPadOS itself can’t do
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)