https://wccftech.com/m1-ipad-air-did-not-get-a16-bionic-due-to-supply-issues/

Apple made a sizable jump from using its A-series of chipsets on the iPad Air lineup to incorporating the M1 in the latest iteration, the same silicon that powers the iPad Pro, and a multitude of Mac products. Given the launch date of the newest tablet and the hardware it sports, one would contemplate why the company made the decision to switch. One reporter hints that it might be due to supply constraints.

Assuming Apple was not facing supposed supply issues with the A16 Bionic, the M1 iPad Air could have launched in September, which is the same announcement period as its predecessor, the iPad Air 4, and featured a completely different chipset. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman responded to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo’s tweet on Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max exclusively arriving with the A16 Bionic. In contrast, the lower-end models will get the current-generation A15 Bionic.