Following reports that Apple had updated the M2 iPad Air’s spec listing to reflect a nine-core, rather than a 10-core GPU, the company has confirmed the original 10-core listing was an error and that the device only contains a nine-core GPU.
The initial changes were spotted over the weekend, leading to speculation that Apple might have made quite a significant marketing guff with the release of its new iPad Air. Apple’s press release originally stated, “The M2 chip brings another big boost in performance to iPad Air, featuring a faster 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU.” This spec was also reflected on the iPad’s main Apple store web page and support pages.
Now, Apple has confirmed that this was a typographical error and that the M2 iPad Air only contains a nine-core GPU.
Apple admits iPad fault
“We are updating Apple.com to correct the core count for the M2 iPad Air,” the company said in a statement to 9to5Mac. “All performance claims for the M2 iPad Air are accurate and based on a 9-core GPU.” Apple’s spec page now reflects this change, and Apple has also updated the text of the initial iPad press release, which now states “The M2 chip brings another big boost in performance to iPad Air, featuring a faster 8-core CPU and 9-core GPU.”
According to Apple, all of the performance claims about the M2 iPad Air’s performance versus the M1 model, which boasted increases of up to 50%, are correct. As we noted in our initial report, the M2 iPad Air’s lack of a tenth GPU core is reflected in the device’s GPU benchmark scores, which fall roughly 10% below those of Apple’s M2 MacBook Air and M2 iPad Pro.
The device hasn’t been out for too long, and the lack of a tenth GPU core isn’t hugely troublesome for prospective buyers. However, you have to imagine that any early adopters of the new iPad might be left feeling pretty miffed that their device is entirely lacking one of its advertised GPU cores. While the M2 iPad Air is an excellent device, Apple’s best iPad is the new M4 iPad Pro, which boasts a significantly more potent OLED display as well as the new M4 chip.
