M4 MacBook Air and iPad 11th Gen release date — we just got our biggest tip-off on when you’ll be able to buy them

We're expecting new M4 MacBook Pros, Mac Minis and iMacs this October , alongside a refreshed iPad Mini. But what about the most popular laptop in Apple's lineup? What about the MacBook Air?

Well, expert display analyst Ross Young has the lowdown — reporting that display panels for the Air and also the new low-cost 11th Gen iPad are expected to start shipping to manufacturers in October. And, as Mark Gurman corroborated, this would track with a Q1 launch for these two devices.

Translation: the screens are on their way to be put into these devices and we can expect a similar announcement time to when the M3 MacBook Air dropped this year — my prediction would be March 2025.

Why not sooner?

It's a fair question to ask. There is a slew of new MacBooks coming next month so what's the holdup on the Air joining the party? Well, it comes down to the timing of Cupertino's releases.

Namely, Apple likes to space things out, as to not give you the whole kit and kaboodle in one mega event (I would say "all the bits and bobs" but that would be very British of me). It's also a way to try to entice you to the more expensive MacBook Pro — pop the better chip in the more expensive machine for a few months, and see if you'll take the plunge.

Are we expecting any new display tech?

Honestly? No. The rumor mill has indeed been rife around these two devices, but mainly for the fact that they will be purely a spec bump — MacBook Air to M4 and iPad 11 to (reportedly) the A16 that was found in the iPhone 15.

With OLED being a huge selling point for the M4 iPad Pro , seeing it come down to the cheapest iPad or the MacBook Air is a long way away. Only thing I'm personally hoping for is that the iPad 11 gets a less reflective panel and a new display controller to stop the jelly scrolling issue.

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