Retail is all over the place and needs to get its act together

The iPad Air currently being sold by Apple as new (and not as a refurb) is the 5th generation.

The internal model numbers for this are iPad13,16 and iPad13,17 for the Wi-Fi model and the Wi-Fi & Cellular model, respectively.

AFAIK, Apple retail and Apple store online will always be selling the newest-generation models, unless the product is being sold as a refurb.

Tom Wolsky wrote:

All true, but the average user shouldn’t have to go through this.

If an application says it requires say iPad Air 5th generation or later what’s the user to think. I’d like to get a 5th generation. Is what Apple’s selling 5th generation or 8th generation? The customer shouldn’t have to go fishing around for answer. It’s really on retail to make it clear. Apple’s advantage is that it has control of the whole chain and it should be able to make everything line up simply.

What Apple sells at any given time is always the newest.

Always.

Buy that.

You’re making this way more complicated with your approach.

For somebody that really needs to know—a developer or such—the model information is available.

But in Apple retail, for retail customers, none of it is relevant. There isn’t an older version around. Simple.

(This all except for products sold as refurb. And Apple lists model info with refurbs.)

Tom Wolsky wrote:

Thank you. Wouldn’t it be simpler if we could all agree on the designations to use? Perhaps the device in the bag could at least include all its variety of names.

Apple tries to make this simpler by always selling the current model, absent refurbs.

This only-the-latest approach is a little jarring for those of us used to having to be careful about which generation we buy from a vendor, yes. Apple authorized resellers can sell both newer and older models of Apple gear, though. And the used-equipment channels are particularly hazardous around devices with Activation Lock set, and such. But buying directly from Apple, you’ll get the latest.

Apple has multiple internal designations, as there are differing capacities, and there are differing models for differing countries and regions around the cellular hardware and the power cord and the languages used in the provided materials.

The MacTracker app is a good resource in this area, for those that can encounter the full gamut of Apple products.