If you have picked up an iPad in the past five years approximately, The new iPad Air will not surprise yourself. It is, in all respects, only one identical to the iPad Air that Apple released last spring. The only difference is that the latest iPad Air has the M3 chip inside, instead of the already capable M2. Even the colors (extremely deaf) seem identical this year. In addition to the 13 -inch screen option that Apple added last spring, the iPad Air is barely different from that which was Released in 2020.
It makes this iPad extremely easy to see again – everything I wrote last May When I reviewed the 13 -inch 13 -inch iPad Air M2 applies here. I like it to have a durable battery, a lot of energy, a reasonable amount of basic storage and a front camera on the edge of the landscape. The 13 -inch model is still large enough, but it is slim enough and light enough to keep it without problem – but if you prefer to hold an iPad to use it with a keyboard, you are probably better with the 11 -inch model. The Apple Crayer Pro published last year is a great upgrade for serious visual artists. I do not like it to always be based on Touch ID instead of Face ID, and I think it is time that the iPad Air had a better screen.
Since the M3 chip is the main change here, it is worth giving it a little more attention. Geekbench 6 scores show that the iPad Air with the M3 is about 16% more powerful in the scores in one and several cores. It is quite impressive since the iPad Air M2 within a year, but it is not something that will radically change the way you use the device. It means that it is a little more to the test of future, and I am always happy. In real use, the iPad Air managed the multitasking through my working day, playing games, transcoding videos and trying various Apple intelligence features without absolutely hiccups and slowdown.
Apple has been aggressive to put extremely powerful fleas in iPad Air and Pro alignments for a few years now, and it is good that you never have to worry about slowdowns. And the new chip had no sick effect on the battery life – I easily obtained eight hours for a day of work with the magic keyboard connected all the time, and almost 10 hours of Apple promises when they do more causal activities or watch the video.
Nathan Ingraham for Engadget
Apple also corrected one of my two major complaints concerning the latest iPad Air. He has a new magic keyboard modeled after the very improved which was Introduced alongside the iPad Pro M4. It is thinner and lighter than the old iPad Air keyboard, has a row of useful function keys and the trackpad is a little larger. These are not major changes, but they are sufficient to make me much happier with the keyboard experience this year. It does not have some subtleties that you will find on the magic keyboard of the iPad Pro, however: the upper case is in smooth plastic rather than aluminum, the keys are not backlit and the trackpad has a physical click rather than haptic comments. However, this keyboard is also $ 30 cheaper than the one it replaces. It is still very expensive – $ 269 for 11 -inch air and $ 319 for the 13 -inch model.
The iPad Pro M4 on the left and the iPad Air M3 on the right. The iPad Pro keyboard has a slightly larger trackpad.
Nathan Ingraham for Engadget
In fact, this whole package I try is very expensive. The 13 -inch iPad Air with 1 TB of storage and 5G connectivity costs $ 1,449, and that does not include the keyboard. However, A comparable iPad pro Costs, wait, $ 2,099 without its keyboard. The 13 -inch air starts at $ 799 with 128 GB of storage, a price that seems right to me. Likewise, 11 -inch air at $ 599 looks like great value and has many significant improvements compared to the basic iPad.
With the New Ipad Air So Similar To Last Year’s Model, I Started Thinking About the Compromises That Apple Makes To Keep the Price of The Air At a More Approachable Level, and Whose Those Are Reasonable in 2025. The Major Advantages The Ipad Pro M4 has over the iPad Air M3 Are: Better Oled Display With A Higher Refresh Rate, More Storage Space On The Base Model, A More Powerful Chip, Better Speakers and Microphones, Face Id Instead of Touch ID, A Thinner and Lighter Design, a Lidar sensor and some additional photo and video capture capacities. The iPad Pro also offers a nano-texture front glass option (to reduce the screen splendor) on the 1 TB and 2 TB models, and these models with more storage also have 16 GB of RAM instead of 8 GB.
Nathan Ingraham for Engadget
In almost all cases, I have no problem with these features remaining exclusive to the iPad Pro. But after using the iPad Air a little, I think it’s time that Apple finds a way to improve the screen. In fact, I think there is a solid solution pending in the wings: deploy the Mini-affiliation led by Apple in the iPad Pro From 2021 and 2022. This screen is refreshed up to 120 Hz, like other than Apple brand as capable of promotion, and maximum brightness when watching films was 1000 nits – and could jump up to 1,600 nits for HDR content. The brightness by not watching the video was maximum at 600 nits, like the iPad Air, but given the popularity of the iPads to watch the video, it would be a major improvement.
There is a good chance that between the higher cooling rate and improved brightness, Apple believes that the mini-LED screen would always be too close to the OLED PRO panel (which remains incredibly pleasant, probably the best portable screen I have ever seen). And Apple has never made a mini LED screen for the 11-inch iPad Pro, so it should develop something new for the little iPad Air.
There are many reasons not To do it, but I think the iPad Air deserves a better screen. In fact, I would be quite happy if Apple gave me the same screen with a higher cooling rate. The company still reserves which is which appears for its most expensive “pro” devices, but the landscape is very different in 2025 that in 2020. Many median phones have 90 Hz or 120 Hz screens. Of course, Apple has never really cared about what other manufacturers do; He has fairly consistent rules on devices that get what technology. The iPad Air screen is essentially the same as that of MacBook Air, while the lines of iPad Pro, MacBook Pro and iPhone Pro Plus costly get higher refreshment rates. That’s right that we are, but I’m ready to change.
Nathan Ingraham for Engadget
Of course, I must also admit that the iPad Air screen remains very beautiful. Apple has refined its LCD technology to an inch of its life, and it manifests itself in vibrant colors, global sharpness and superb viewing angles. Of course, I notice that blacks are not as “really black” as they could be with an OLED or a mini-diriged, but I am not sitting thinking about this when I watch films or play games. I just appreciate what I do without competing on screen specifications.
The lower refreshment rate is more visible in daily use – you are constantly touching, slippery and scrolls in content on an iPad, and it simply does not feel so fluid. My main devices are a MacBook Pro, iPhone 14 Pro and iPad Pro, all of which use promotion. Looking at the iPad Air is just a little disappointing. And although Apple clearly believes that it does not always have to respond to the larger trends in industry, it is difficult to imagine it staying with 60 Hz screens for most of their products much longer.
Nathan Ingraham for Engadget
My other major problem with the iPad Air is Touch ID. At this point, Face ID really does not look like a “pro” feature. Excluding the iPhone SE range, each new iPhone since 2018 has an in front ID, but you must always spend $ 1,000 or more to obtain it on an iPad. It sounds a bit extreme! Touch ID is good, but there are a lot of sites and services to which I often have to connect for work and must constantly reach and touch the upper button is a bit of hassle. Especially in relation to what my face is in the context with the front camera. It probably seemed more painful during my exam, because the iPad Air is brand new and the implementation requires a ton of connection to various applications. However, Face ID certainly does not look like a feature that must be locked in Pro devices at this stage.
Nathan Ingraham for Engadget
Everything you need to know about the New iPad Air is covered in my examination 10 months ago, but I will summarize it. I think the air remains a clear upgrade on the basic iPad – I appreciate its improved display, its stronger performance, its more robust multitasking experience and better accessories. Without forgetting that 13 -inch air is the only way to get an iPad on the big screen without breaking the bank. I’m glad that Apple has also built a better keyboard, and if you have an older iPad Air, the new keyboard will work with it.
But the New iPad with the A16 chip is also better than its predecessor because Apple has solved a number of problems with it since 2022. The price is lower, the storage is doubled and the loading situation of stupid lightning pencil has now disappeared. If you don’t care about Apple Intelligence, a more advanced multitasking and a better or larger screen, many people looking for “just a good iPad” will not miss air upgrades, especially if they save $ 250.
However, for people who want more than their iPad, air is just as easy to recommend as last year. You can get 80% of the iPad Pro experience for much less money, and the vast majority of buyers will not miss the professional’s additional features.
My main warning is that this iPad Air looks like a slightly improved stop before a larger overhaul, Just like the iPad Pro was in 2022. This iPad went from an M1 to an M2 and obtained great software updates, but was largely the same as its predecessor – then Apple gave it a massive update a year and a half later. The iPad Air M3 seems in a similar place, just waiting for a big refreshment. I do not think it will be too long before Apple can update some of his old bits, especially the display. If you are the kind of person who really likes a good screen, it could be worth waiting for another year to see if Apple finally brings faster refreshing rates to more iPads.
This article originally appeared on Engadget on https://www.engadget.com/mobile/Tablets/ipad-air-m3-review-a-modes-modate-attil-easy-to-recommend-130045196.html?src=RSSSS
