Everyone’s betting that the iPad Air is getting the older M2… but I’m that “some people” betting the almost year old M3 for the Air. M3 rn is acceptable, M2… not so much. After all, like the OP said, “The iPad Air getting an M2 now, while MacBooks are already on M3, the iPad Pro is on M4, and the remaining M2 machines such as the minis will be upgraded to M4 later this year, leaves the Air in a bad space if it gets an M2 in mid-2024.” All the “iPad Air is getting M2” rumors are old (like the chip lol) and fake (to me). It was possible for an M2 Air before. But if we’re gonna start skipping chips, I see M4 Pro and M3 Air tomorrow, I don’t care what anybody says! “Oh, but this unnamed leaker said it’s t8112, which is M2”… remember the rumors that the 24” iMac was gonna get M2? Well, that was fake rumors as it came with *drumroll* M3 instead. Also, remember when the M2 iPad Pro came out in October 2022? Honestly, it wasn’t worth the upgrade (M2 was 10-20% faster than M1, Apple Pencil Hover and WiFi 6E support) and most people preferred the M1 Pro (if any available). So, in conclusion, iPad Air going from M1 to M2… not worth the upgrade, no matter what people say. Going from M1 to M3… that’s very reasonable; M3 is 60% faster than M1.