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iPad Air : Updated in 2022, Order Now
The iPad Air features a 10.9-inch edge-to-edge display with a 2360×1640 resolution, 3.8 million pixels, and a design that’s similar to the iPad Pro with an aluminum chassis that has flat, rounded edges that wrap around the fully laminated display. True Tone support is included for adjusting the display to match the ambient lighting, as is P3 wide color, 500 nits brightness, and 1.8 percent reflectivity.
The M1 chip features an 8-core CPU and an 8-core GPU, along with 8GB RAM and a 16-core Neural Engine. The iPad Air ships with a 20W USB-C adapter for charging purposes.
We put the latest iPad Pro and iPad Air head to head, and it’s clear the cheaper iPad Air is the better tablet for most people
Apple’s iPad Pros differentiate with ProMotion screen tech, better cameras, and a 12.9-inch option. Get honest reviews on top products & services — delivered weekly to your inbox. But if you value a bigger screen, the 12.9-inch iPad Pro is essentially one of this line’s primary differentiators. If you’re using an iPad for simpler tasks like browsing the web, running standard apps like email, social media, or shopping apps and playing casual games, you’d likely be fine with 64GB iPad Air.
Just keep in mind that the iPad Air doesn’t come with Apple’s ProMotion screen tech, if that sounds tempting to you, as well. The iPad Pros also have a LiDar scanner that helps with better focus when taking photos in low light.
I’d also consider this a niche feature that should only really speak to professionals who are often transferring big projects to and from the iPad and external storage devices. It basically means that big files or projects will transfer faster on the iPad Pros. After considering the storage options and their prices, knowing that they possess the same processing power, the iPad Air 2022 poses the best value at the time of writing. While ProMotion on the iPad Pro is great, it’s still a cosmetic feature that adds to the experience rather than the utility of the tablet.
But if 128GB of storage is enough for you, and you value a more premium experience from Apple’s ProMotion screen tech, the iPad Pro is for you. If you want the best cameras possible on a tablet, or super fast data transfer speeds, the iPad Pros are again your best bet.
iPad Air (2022) vs iPad Pro (2021): What’s the difference?
So good, in fact, it’s giving me a hint of buyers remorse for paying $2,000 for my 2021 iPad Pro. iPad Pro VS. iPad Air Specifications iPad Pro iPad Air Processor Apple M1 Apple M1 Display 11-inch/12.9-inch 10.9-inch Memory Up to 16GB 8GB Storage Up to 2TB Up to 256GB Front Camera True Depth 12MP Ultra Wide 12MP Ultra Wide Rear Cameras 12MP Wide, 10MP Ultra Wide 12MP Wide Battery 10 hours 10 hours Biometrics Face ID Touch ID Connectivity Thunderbolt 4, 5G, Wi-Fi USB-C, 5G, Wi-Fi Colors Space gray, silver Space gray, starlight, pink, purple, blue Starting price $799/$1,099 $599
You can pick between an iPad Pro with 8GB or 16GB of memory, but that decision is also based on the amount of storage you buy.
The iPad Pro line has a faster refresh rate of up to 120Hz (called ProMotion), a higher max brightness level, and the larger iPad Pro uses mini-LED technology for a better picture.
The iPad Air’s Liquid Retina display measures 10.9-inches and is an LED panel. The smaller iPad Pro has an 11-inch Liquid Retina Display that’s resolution is 2388×1668, with True Tone, ProMotion, and a max brightness of 600 nits. For the iPad Air, Apple added USB 3.1 Gen 2 to the USB-C port. That means you’ll see speeds of up to 10Gbps when transferring files, or you can connect the iPad Air to an external monitor with support for resolution of up to 6K.
The iPad Pro offering has a USB-C port, as well, but with support for Thunderbolt and USB 4. That means you get up to 40Gbps during file transfers (thanks to USB 4), and support for the same 6K resolution when connected to an external monitor. If you do a lot of file transfers between your iPad Pro and external storage or a camera, then you’ll benefit from the newer USB connection technology. For the average person, the lack of mmWave on the iPad Air is a non-issue.
See: Apple iPad Pro (2021) review: Impressively powerful, but the hardware is only part of the story So, then you’re left asking yourself whether you want an iPad with a better display and a faster USB-C connection, with more base storage.
But for the majority of people, the display and USB-C differences are something that won’t make or break the experience, and thus, the iPad Air is the best pick.
The 4 best iPad models of 2022
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iPad Air 4
AppleInsider is supported by its audience and may earn commission as an Amazon Associate and affiliate partner on qualifying purchases. The case appears to be the same size as the 11-inch iPad Pro, but the bezels are slightly thicker due to display technology differences.
It is capped at 60Hz like previous generations, but most users may not notice unless they come from the iPad Pro or use the Apple Pencil extensively. It also has full lamination, p3 wide color, True Tone, and an anti-reflective coating. The laminated display means that content appears close to the screen, so it feels more natural when writing with the Pencil. With the move to a nearly edgeless display, it was inevitable the iPad Air would need to transition from the old home-button Touch ID sensor. The Touch ID sensor sits on the top-right edge of the device while in portrait mode. The smaller sensor is just as accurate and secure as the original Touch ID, and Apple claims it was a feat of engineering to get it to work within the top button.
The updated model moves to an A14 Bionic processor, the same chip that powers the iPhone 12.
USB-C support allows the new tablet to connect a wider variety of external desktop accessories, such as drives, displays, cameras, and multi-port adapters. The versatile USB-C allows users to carry fewer cables and easily move accessories between devices. Available in green, sky blue, rose gold, silver, and space gray color variants
The tablet has an edge-to-edge display but lacks ProMotion, which gives the iPad Pro a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. ProMotion allows for more responsive Apple Pencil drawing, low latency, and a variable refresh rate for smoother content viewing and lower power consumption. USB-C is a more versatile connection, opening the door to many desktop and power-user accessories.
The screen goes nearly edge-to-edge with a Liquid Retina display, complete with curved corners.
It feels much quicker than its previous generation, and we managed to zip around the UI and our favorite apps without issue. So the device has fewer functional cores than the 2018 iPad Pro, but it makes up for it with a faster clock speed.
It will suffer slightly on multi-core intensive tasks, such as editing massive 40MP RAW photos or exporting a Dolby Vision HDR movie in iMovie. It isn’t as expensive as the iPad Pro line, but it has a newer processor and supports the much-improved second-generation Apple Pencil.
If you’re looking to connect flash drives or other external storage, this is the cheapest iPad with that feature.
Its A12X Bionic processor still wins in multi-core performance and graphics power over this model.
Depending on your use-case, it may be more worth it to lose those features and a tiny bit of performance for those extra benefits.”
11-inch iPad Pro vs iPad Air: Which M1 tablet is right for you?
The standard 10.2-inch iPad is the budget option, with an aging design (big bezels, home button, Lightning port) and older processor, and the 12.9-inch iPad Pro starts at a whopping $1,099 and is geared toward only the most demanding of users. But a tablet is more than its processor, and the Pro model does offer a few improvements that might be worth your money. You’re also getting ever-so-slightly smaller bezels on the iPad Pro, which is why Apple says it has room for an 11-inch display instead of 10.9 inches. Both displays also have True Tone and a wide P3 color gamut and follow Apple’s “liquid” retina design, meaning the corners of the screen are rounded to match the device itself. But the big benefit is ProMotion, which lets the display run-up to 120Hz for smoother motion and lower latency, especially when using the Apple Pencil. Our pick: The extra brightness isn’t a huge deal, but ProMotion is really nice and helps justify the higher price of the iPad Pro.
Those storage options don’t come cheap, however, and the extra RAM probably isn’t going to make much of a difference with iPadOS. On the other hand, the iPad Pro’s brighter display will likely drain the battery a little faster if you crank up the brightness.
More important is that the starting storage is twice as big on the iPad Pro, and 64GB might be a little small for all of the apps and games you’re going to download.
Like the iPhone, the iPad Pro uses Face ID, which uses the TrueDepth sensors on the front to unlock the tablet and authenticate purchases and passwords. The iPad Air doesn’t have a TrueDepth module; it has Touch ID built into the side button. On the rear of the iPad Air, you’ll find a 12MP standard wide-angle camera.
We don’t think you’ll be taking too many pictures with either of these somewhat awkward cameras, but if you want to, the iPad Pro has a clearly superior array. Apple upgraded the iPad Air to a 12MP Ultra-Wide camera on the front, with support for Center Stage, which pans and zooms to keep you the subject (you) in the frame. The iPad Pro has a TrueDepth sensor for Face ID, which means it also supports Apple’s Animoj/Memoji, but photo and video-taking should be about the same when using the front camera.
The iPad Pro has an edge with its 10MP Ultra Wide rear camera if that sort of thing matters to you.
The iPad Air has decent sound from its two-speaker stereo setup and a dual microphone array. We love the iPad Air’s USB-C port, and it’s event fast with the fifth-generation model, supporting data transfers up to 10Gbps. Both models support the new Magic Keyboard—though the camera cutouts fit a little nicer on the 11-inch Pro—as well as the 2nd-generation Apple Pencil. Both iPads have Wi-Fi 6 with MIMO, simultaneous dual-band, and speeds up to 1.6Gbps, so they’ll work great at home.
Our pick: You should consider carefully whether you really need cellular access on your iPad—using your iPhone as a wireless hotspot works extremely well. This year, thanks to the processor upgrade and improved front camera in the iPad Air, our opinion has reversed. The iPad Pro is essentially the same size and performance and supports the same peripherals, but it costs $200 more ($250 more if you want a cellular-equipped model).
Wikipedia
[6] iOS 7 introduced a major aesthetic redesign of the operating system, departing from skeuomorphic elements such as green felt in Game Center, wood in Newsstand, and leather in Calendar, in favor of flat, colorful design. Jonathan Ive, the designer of iOS 7’s new elements, described the update as “bringing order to complexity”, highlighting features such as refined typography, new icons, translucency, layering, physics, and gyroscope-driven parallaxing as some of the major changes.
It can act as a hotspot with some carriers, sharing its Internet connection over Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or USB, and also access the Apple App Store, a digital application distribution platform for iOS.
[8] The iPad Air can optionally sync content and other data with a Mac or Windows computer using iTunes.
[10] Apple also began giving away its iLife (iPhoto, iMovie, Garageband) and iWork (Pages, Keynote, Numbers) apps with the device. In June 2019, Apple announced that it would drop support for the iPad Air with the release of iPadOS 13 in September 2019.
[15] The new front-facing camera is capable of video in 720p HD, includes face detection, and backside illumination. The A7 present in the iPad Air is slightly different however, in that it does not use a PoP design which stacks the RAM on top of the SoC.
[18] It also features a metal heat spreader to compensate for the slightly faster clock speed and to provide better thermal management. Apple also sells a “camera connection kit” with an SD card reader, but it can only be used to transfer photos and videos.
Apple’s ability to handle many different bands in one device allowed it to offer, for the first time, a single iPad variant which supports all the cellular bands and technologies deployed by all the major North American wireless providers at the time of the device’s introduction. The audio playback of the iPad Air is in stereo with two speakers located on either side of the Lightning connector.
Shimpi further states that the Air “hits a balance of features, design and ergonomics that I don’t think we’ve ever seen in the iPad. “[22] UK Editor-in-Chief of TechRadar, Patrick Goss, gave the iPad Air a positive review, giving praise to the A7 chip and camera upgrades, as well as the crisp and colorful display. He concludes by stating: “It’s hard to put into words how much Apple has improved the iPad, offering a stunning level of detail and power with a build quality that’s unrivalled.
“[23] Christina Bonnington of Wired awarded the Air a rating of 8 out of 10, calling the performance “outstanding” and noting that high-definition video streams and gaming animations are “smooth and stutter free.”
[24] Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak criticized the focus on decreasing size and weight rather than increasing storage space and stated that he did not want an iPad Air as it did not fit his personal needs. [25][26] Dave Smith of the International Business Times wrote that while the device was nice, it did not bring anything new to the iPad. Smith strongly criticized the lack of a fingerprint reader, and noted that the updates, such as the increased speed and the decreased size and weight, were only slight improvements.
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