Left-field report claims Apple is working on a 90Hz display for iPad Air, iMac

Macworld

Apple’s mid-market iPad Air tablet will get an upgrade from 60Hz to 90Hz next year if a new report is accurate. The feature will then be rolled out to the iMac and Apple’s Studio Display, potentially later in 2025.

The tricky thing about the iPad Air, as far as Apple’s marketing department is concerned, is finding the sweet spot between the standard iPad and the iPad Pro. The company needs the Air to be significantly better specced than the budget model, or nobody will buy it, but it doesn’t want the Air to get too powerful, or it risks cannibalizing sales of the Pro. It’s a tightrope.

Based on the latest report, however, Apple has come up with an inventive way to walk this tightrope between the iPad Air’s cheaper and more expensive siblings. It’s going to give the Air a screen refresh rate that is literally halfway between those of the standard and Pro models.

Since its second generation back in 2017, the iPad Pro, alone among Apple’s products, has featured a dynamic refresh rate that can be raised as high as 120Hz when necessary. This enables it to deliver smoother animation, sharper responsiveness, and better performance when using the Apple Pencil. The other iPads (and all the iPhones), by contrast, have a refresh rate of 60Hz. But that’s set to change next year.

An anonymous source (via 9to5Mac) contacted the Upgrade podcast (which is co-hosted by longtime Macworld contributor Jason Snell) with a tip about the 7th-gen iPad Air, expected to launch in 2025.

“I have news on screen improvements for the next generation of the M3 iPad Air. Apple is working on a higher refresh rate LCD display with a new liquid motion panel fixed at around 90Hz. They’re also working on expanding it to other models or products like a 24-inch iMac and a next-gen studio display.”

Note the word “fixed.” It doesn’t sound like the Air is going to get the dynamic element of the iPad Pro’s ProMotion display, which is so important to preserving battery life; it only runs at 120Hz when required. This, by contrast, appears to be fixed at 90Hz all the time like the current 60Hz screen.

Still, it’s a welcome upgrade for the Air, and for the iMac and Studio Display afterward. For all the latest news and rumors, check out our guide to all the new Apple products launching in 2024 and 2025.