{"id":1238266,"date":"2025-03-10T09:00:45","date_gmt":"2025-03-10T13:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/?p=1238266"},"modified":"2025-03-10T09:00:45","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T13:00:45","slug":"ipad-air-m3-review-a-modest-update-thats-still-easy-to-recommend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/?p=1238266","title":{"rendered":"iPad Air M3 review: A modest update that’s still easy to recommend"},"content":{"rendered":"
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If you\u2019ve picked up an iPad in the last five years or so, the new iPad Air<\/a> will not surprise you. It is, in every way but 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 (extremely muted) colors appear identical this year. Besides the 13-inch screen option Apple added last spring, the iPad Air is barely different from the one that was released way back in 2020<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That makes this iPad exceedingly easy to review \u2014 everything I wrote last May when I reviewed the 13-inch iPad Air M2<\/a> applies here. I like that it has a long-lasting battery, plenty of power, a reasonable amount of base storage and a front-facing camera on the landscape edge. The 13-inch model is still fairly large, but it\u2019s thin and light enough to hold without issue \u2014 though if you prefer holding an iPad to using it with a keyboard, you\u2019re probably better off with the 11-inch model. The Apple Pencil Pro released last year is a nice upgrade for serious visual artists. I don\u2019t like that it still relies on Touch ID instead of Face ID, and I think it\u2019s time the iPad Air had a better display.<\/p>\n

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Given that the M3 chip is the main change here, it\u2019s worth giving it a little more attention. Geekbench 6 scores show that the iPad Air with the M3 is about 16 percent more powerful in both single- and multi-core scores. That\u2019s pretty impressive given that the M2 iPad Air is less than a year old, but it\u2019s not something that\u2019ll radically change how you use the device. It does mean it\u2019s a little more future-proof, though, and I\u2019m always happy about that. In real use, the iPad Air handled multitasking through my workday, playing games, transcoding video and trying out various Apple Intelligence features with absolutely no hiccups and slowdowns.<\/p>\n

Apple has been aggressive about putting extremely powerful chips in the iPad Air and Pro lineups for a few years now, and it\u2019s nice that you basically never have to worry about slowdowns. And the newer chip had no ill effects on battery life \u2014 I easily got eight hours during a workday with the Magic Keyboard connected the whole time, and close to the 10 hours Apple promises when doing more causal activities or watching video.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n \"Apple
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\n Nathan Ingraham for Engadget\n <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Apple also fixed one of my two major complaints about the last iPad Air. It has a new Magic Keyboard modeled after the much-improved one that was introduced alongside the iPad Pro M4<\/a>. It\u2019s thinner and lighter than the old iPad Air keyboard, has a row of useful function keys and the trackpad is a bit bigger. These aren\u2019t major changes, but they are enough to make me much happier with the keyboard experience this year. It doesn\u2019t have a few niceties you\u2019ll find on the iPad Pro Magic Keyboard, though: The top case is smooth plastic rather than aluminum, the keys aren\u2019t backlit and the trackpad has a physical click rather than haptic feedback. However, this keyboard is also $30 cheaper than the one it replaces. It\u2019s still wildly expensive \u2014 $269 for the 11-inch Air and $319 for the 13-inch model.<\/p>\n

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\n The iPad Pro M4 on the left and the iPad Air M3 on the right. The iPad Pro’s keyboard has a slightly bigger trackpad.
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\n Nathan Ingraham for Engadget\n <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

In fact, this whole package<\/em> I\u2019m trying is wildly expensive. The 13-inch iPad Air with 1TB of storage and 5G connectivity costs $1,449, and that\u2019s not including the keyboard. However, a comparably specced iPad Pro<\/a> costs, wait for it, $2,099 without its keyboard. The 13-inch Air starts at $799 with 128GB of storage, a price that seems fair to me. Similarly, the 11-inch Air at $599 feels like a great value and has numerous meaningful improvements over the basic iPad.<\/p>\n

With the new iPad Air so similar to last year\u2019s model, I started thinking about the compromises that Apple makes to keep the price of the Air at a more approachable level, and whether those are reasonable in 2025. The major advantages the iPad Pro M4 has over the iPad Air M3 are: a much 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 a few extra photo and video capture capabilities. The iPad Pro also offers a nano-texture front glass option (to reduce screen glare) on the 1TB and 2TB models, and those models with more storage also have 16GB of RAM instead of 8GB.<\/p>\n

\n \"Apple
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\n Nathan Ingraham for Engadget\n <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

In almost all cases, I don\u2019t have any issue with those features staying exclusive to the iPad Pro. But after using the iPad Air for a bit, I think it\u2019s time Apple finds a way to improve on the screen. In fact, I think there\u2019s a solid solution waiting in the wings: deploy the mini-LED display that Apple used in the iPad Pro<\/a> from 2021 and 2022. That screen refreshes at up to 120Hz, the same as others that Apple brands as ProMotion-capable, and max brightness when watching movies was 1,000 nits \u2014 and could jump up to 1,600 nits for HDR content. Brightness when not watching video maxed out at 600 nits, like the iPad Air, but given how popular iPads are for watching video, this would be a major improvement.<\/p>\n

Chances are that between the higher refresh rate and improved brightness, Apple feels the mini-LED screen would still be too close to the iPad Pro\u2019s OLED panel (which remains shockingly nice, probably the best portable screen I\u2019ve ever seen). And Apple never made a mini-LED display for the 11-inch iPad Pro, so it would have to develop something new for the smaller iPad Air.<\/p>\n

There are plenty of reasons not<\/em> to do it, but I think the iPad Air deserves a better screen. In fact, I\u2019d be happy enough if Apple just gave me the same screen with a higher refresh rate. The company still reserves that feature for its most expensive \u201cPro\u201d devices, but the landscape is a lot different in 2025 than it was in 2020. Plenty of midrange phones have 90Hz or 120Hz screens. Of course, Apple has never really cared about what other manufacturers do; it has pretty consistent rules about what devices get what tech. The iPad Air\u2019s screen is essentially the same as the one on the MacBook Air, while the more expensive iPad Pro, MacBook Pro and iPhone Pro lines all get higher refresh rates. That\u2019s just where we\u2019re at, but I\u2019m ready for it to change.<\/p>\n

\n \"Apple
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\n Nathan Ingraham for Engadget\n <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Of course, I also need to admit that the iPad Air\u2019s screen remains quite lovely. Apple has fine-tuned its LCD tech to within an inch of its life, and it shows in the vibrant colors, overall sharpness and great viewing angles. Sure, I notice that blacks aren\u2019t as \u201ctruly black\u201d as they could be with an OLED or mini-LED, but I\u2019m not sitting around thinking about that when I watch movies or play games. I just enjoy what I\u2019m doing without fussing over screen specs.<\/p>\n

The lower refresh rate is more noticeable in day-to-day usage \u2014 you\u2019re constantly touching, swiping and scrolling through content on an iPad, and it just does not feel as fluid. My main devices are a MacBook Pro, iPhone 14 Pro and iPad Pro, all of which use ProMotion. Stepping down to the iPad Air is just a bit of a bummer. And while Apple clearly feels it doesn\u2019t always have to respond to larger industry trends, it\u2019s hard to imagine it sticking with 60Hz screens for most of their products much longer.<\/p>\n

\n \"Apple
<\/figcaption>
\n Nathan Ingraham for Engadget\n <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

My other major quibble with the iPad Air is Touch ID. At this point, Face ID really does not feel like a \u201cPro\u201d feature. Excluding the iPhone SE lineup, every new iPhone since 2018 has had Face ID, but you still need to spend $1,000 or more to get it on an iPad. That feels a little extreme! Touch ID is fine, but there are a lot of sites and services I often need to log in to for work and having to constantly reach up and touch the top button is a bit of a hassle. Especially compared with just making sure my face is in frame with the front camera. This probably felt like more of a pain during my review, since the iPad Air is brand new and setting up requires a ton of logging in to various apps. Still, Face ID definitely does not feel like a feature that needs to be locked to Pro devices at this point.<\/p>\n

\n \"Apple
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\n Nathan Ingraham for Engadget\n <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Everything else you need to know about the new iPad Air<\/a> is covered in my review from 10 months ago, but I\u2019ll sum it up. I think the Air remains a clear upgrade over the base iPad \u2014 I appreciate its improved display, stronger performance, more robust multitasking experience and better accessories. Not to mention the 13-inch Air is the only way to get a big-screen iPad without breaking the bank. I\u2019m glad Apple built a better keyboard too, and if you have an older iPad Air, the new keyboard will work with it.<\/p>\n

But the new iPad with the A16 chip<\/a> is also better than its predecessor because Apple has fixed a number of issue with it since 2022. The price is lower, storage is doubled and the dumb Lightning Pencil charging situation is now gone. If you don’t care about Apple Intelligence, more advanced multitasking and a better or bigger screen, a lot of people looking for “just a good iPad” won’t miss the Air’s upgrades, especially if they’re saving $250.<\/p>\n

However, for people who want more from their iPad, the Air is just as easy for me to recommend as it was last year. You can get 80 percent of the iPad Pro experience for a lot less money, and the vast majority of buyers aren\u2019t going to miss the Pro\u2019s extra features.\u00a0<\/p>\n

My main caveat is that this iPad Air feels like a slightly-upgraded stopgap ahead of a bigger redesign, much as the iPad Pro was in 2022<\/a>. That iPad went from an M1 to an M2 and got some nice software updates, but was largely the same as its predecessor \u2014 and then Apple gave it a massive update a year and a half later. The iPad Air M3 feels like it’s in a similar place, just waiting for a big refresh. I don’t think it’ll be too long before Apple has to update some of its older bits, particularly the display. If you\u2019re the kind of person who really loves a good screen, it might be worth waiting another year to see if Apple finally brings faster refresh rates to more iPads.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/mobile\/tablets\/ipad-air-m3-review-a-modest-update-thats-still-easy-to-recommend-130045196.html?src=rss<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve picked up an iPad in the last five years or so, the new iPad Air will not surprise you. It is, in every way but one, identical to the iPad Air that Apple released last spring. The only … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99,44,110],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1238266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-engadget","category-technology","category-unfiltered-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1238266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1238266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1238266\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1238266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1238266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1238266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}