It comes with so much the iPad Pro has to offer, including thin bezels thanks to the removal of the Home button. That’s something we can’t answer ourselves because nobody has one yet, but some people have already been able to at least handle one during a special media event – and that means there’s video up on YouTube.
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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. 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.
Our pick: The iPad Pro should bring superior sound playback and recording. 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).
iPad Air 2020 vs. iPad Pro 2021 Buyer’s Guide
In April 2021, Apple updated its popular iPad Pro lineup, introducing the M1 chip, a Liquid Retina XDR display, a Thunderbolt port, and more. Since the iPad Air saw a major update in September last year, both the iPad Air and the iPad Pro now share similar designs and an increasingly close feature set. The iPad Air and iPad Pro share a number of key features, such as design, rear Wide camera, and a USB-C port: Liquid Retina display with 264 ppi, full lamination, oleophobic and anti-reflective coating, P3 Wide Color, and True Tone
ƒ/1.8 12MP Wide rear camera, with digital zoom up to 5x and Smart HDR 3 for photos Apple’s specification breakdown shows that the two iPads share a number of important features.
Even so, there are an even larger number of meaningful differences between the iPad Air and iPad Pro that are worth highlighting, including their displays, authentication technologies, processors, and camera setups. Available in Silver, Space Gray, Rose Gold, Green, and Sky Blue Both the iPad Air and the iPad Pro use Apple’s most recent product design language, also seen on the iPhone 12 and the iMac, featuring industrial squared-off edges.
Unlocking is something that may be used dozens of times every day, so it is important to choose your preferred method of authentication if you feel particularly strongly about it. That being said, both Touch ID and Face ID are now extremely refined technologies that work well, and most users will likely be happy with whichever they have. These models are around half a pound lighter than the 12.9-inch iPad Pro and will be best for users focused on portability and easy handheld use.
Both the iPad Air and the 11-inch iPad Pro feature Liquid Retina LED displays with 264 ppi, full lamination, an oleophobic and anti-reflective coating, P3 Wide Color, and True Tone. Apple calls the 12.9-inch iPad Pro’s mini-LED screen a “Liquid Retina XDR display.”
The display can reflect what can be seen in the real world by capturing the brightest highlights and subtle details in even the darkest images, allowing users to view and edit true-to-life HDR and Dolby Vision content, which is especially important to creative professionals, including photographers, videographers, and filmmakers. The iPad Air’s Liquid Retina display will be sufficient for the vast majority of users, but some may prefer the responsiveness of ProMotion of the iPad Pro for tasks such as gaming.
Both chips are fabricated using a 5nm process and contain Apple’s most advanced 16-core Neural Engine for machine learning. Only users with an intensely demanding workflow will need the extra power the M1 in the iPad Pro offers over the A14 in the iPad Air.
For example, photographers working with large images, graphic designers, and video editors may be able to take advantage of the M1’s extra power. 4GB in the iPad Air will be adequate for casual users, but 8GB will be defter at handling multiple windows of the same application and a range of intense background tasks. The iPad Pro has extended dynamic range when recording video up to 30 fps, and also features a True Tone flash. LiDAR allows the iPad Pro to measure the distance to surrounding objects up to five meters away, operating at the photon level at nano-second speed. This makes the iPad Pro capable of a “new class” of improved AR experiences with better motion capture, understanding of the environment, and people occlusion. If you use your iPad for consuming lots of music and videos with the built-in speakers, the iPad Pro will deliver a slightly better experience.
As well as being considerably faster, Thunderbolt opens up the potential for compatibility with a much broader range of Thunderbolt-only accessories such as external hard drives and monitors. Since they both support the same accessories, there is no reason to buy one model over the other when it comes to the likes of keyboards or trackpads. Nevertheless, it should be considered that accessories such as the Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard have to be purchased separately from the iPad, so will push up the overall price. While it lacks the all-screen design of the iPad Air, USB-C, and 4K video recording, the eighth-generation iPad is an excellent low-cost alternative to the mid to high-end iPads. Moreover, if you are looking for the smallest, most portable iPad, you should consider the iPad mini, which features a smaller 7.9-inch display and the A12 chip, for $399. For most people, the additional $200+ needed to buy the iPad Pro will not be justified to get a better camera system, more memory, and a 120Hz display.
Some iPad Pro features, such as LiDAR, the Ultra-Wide camera, large storage configurations, and Thunderbolt, will only be practically useful to a small niche of iPad users. Professionals who have a clear use case for needing larger amounts of RAM and storage, Thunderbolt, mini-LED for HDR content, and the added performance of the M1 chip will benefit from buying the iPad Pro.
Prosumers will also enjoy features such as 120Hz ProMotion for smoother scrolling and gaming, deeper blacks and more vivid colors with the mini-LED display, Center Stage, and LiDAR for AR experiences, even if they are not necessary, and those who want a larger 12.9-inch display will need to go with the higher-end iPad Pro model.
Prosumers and professionals who want the iPad to replace their laptop or computer should likely choose the 12.9-inch iPad Pro if they are pairing it with the Magic Keyboard due to the added screen space for multiple applications.
iPad Air (2022) vs 11-inch iPad Pro (2021): Save your money
Familiar premium design The Bad iPadOS 14 doesn’t take advantage of all this power In my personal opinion, that doesn’t necessarily mean the iPad Pro sounds better, but it does get louder.
But objectively, both tablets produce fantastic sound, especially compared to the competition. Both have great stereo separation and can fill a room with clear sound, with rich highs and mids, and even a hint of bass that you’ll feel while holding them. But objectively, both tablets produce fantastic sound, especially compared to the competition.Both have great stereo separation and can fill a room with clear sound, with rich highs and mids, and even a hint of bass that you’ll feel while holding them.Whether you’re gaming or watching a movie in bed with a loved one, both the iPad Air 5 and the iPad Pro will likely provide a perfectly satisfactory sound for you to enjoy the experience. So in terms of accessories, you’re not sacrificing anything if you go with the iPad Air instead of the Pro; you’ll likely find plenty of
According to Apple, and we know this to be true from years of using its iPads, both of these will last you up to 10 hours of surfing the web or watching videos over Wi-Fi. The iPad Pro has two extra speakers, totaling four, slightly smaller screen bezels, and an additional main camera, plus a LiDAR sensor.
And if you buy a top-spec iPad Pro with 1TB or 2TB of storage, you’ll get twice as much RAM – 16 GB as opposed to 8. If you’re a content creator – you should probably invest in the Pro for the better cameras, more storage and smoother display, but if you’re just someone who wants an entertainment device – the iPad Air 5 will deliver everything you’ll ever need from it without breaking a sweat.
Check out our video samples above to see how both of these tablets sound in terms of audio recording.The iPad Air 5 and the 11-inch iPad Pro have exactly the same body dimensions, so the Air can use pretty much all the great Apple accessories the Pro has. And their standby time is excellent too.Change that 10 hours to 9 if you get one of the Wi-Fi + Cellular models, though.As for the charging situation, both tablets charge via the USB Type-C port they have on the bottom (or right side, when held in landscape orientation).
The iPad Pro has two extra speakers, totaling four, slightly smaller screen bezels, and an additional main camera, plus a LiDAR sensor. And if you buy a top-spec iPad Pro with 1TB or 2TB of storage, you’ll get twice as much RAM – 16 GB as opposed to 8.But as someone who’s used both tablets extensively, unless you want more storage – the rest is pretty much stuff most users don’t need, as they don’t make that huge of a difference, if any.
If you’re a content creator – you should probably invest in the Pro for the better cameras, more storage and smoother display, but if you’re just someone who wants an entertainment device – the iPad Air 5 will deliver everything you’ll ever need from it without breaking a sweat. While that one has a rainbow of color options to pick from, the iPad Pro only has silver and gray.Obviously the iPad Pro’s colors match its theme of being the “sleeker, professional” tablet, so we realistically can’t exactly expect it to come out in purple and what not, but still. If you’re a content creator or just expect to film a lot of videos, that likely won’t be enough at all.Of course, if you get those tablets with cellular connectivity, those prices will jump even more. But again – basically, if you plan on creating content like filming and editing videos, or you want to download lots of movies, shows, music and games directly on your tablet – the base iPad Air 5 won’t cut it.
While both displays are LCD (not AMOLED or Mini-LED), the iPad Pro’s screen has twice as smooth refresh rate – 120 Hz. It’s also a bit brighter, and at a slightly higher resolution.I personally don’t find the 120 Hz screen refresh rate on the iPad Pro a must-have, but it does indeed make scrolling through iPadOS 15 feel smoother.Some people can’t seem to live without it, so if you feel like you’re one of them, and you’ve already been spoiled by 120 Hz laptops and tablets – you’ll definitely want it. But click on “multi-core” and the difference is a bit more significant.Yet in some of the other benchmark tests, the Pro has the upper hand, so all of this gives us just a rough idea of the tablets’ performance. But bottom line – both are some of the best-performing tablets on the market right now.The thing is, though – iPadOS 15 doesn’t really take full advantage of all that M1 power right now, in my opinion, so rest assured that either tablet will crush any tasks you throw at it effortlessly.It’s also worth mentioning that both the iPad Air 5 and the iPad Pro (2021) have 8 GB of RAM, so again – the Pro doesn’t really have an edge. That is unless you buy the top-tier iPad Pro with one or two terabytes of storage – those exclusively have 16 GB of RAM.More RAM essentially means more apps can stay open in the background for longer, readily waiting for you, without needing to refresh once you get back to them.As mentioned before, the iPad Air 5 only has a single main camera on the back, plus a single front (FaceTime) camera. The iPad Pro, however, is equipped with two main cameras on the back, plus a LiDAR sensor.
FaceTime cameras) – both of these are pretty decent for things like video calls, and both support Center Stage.
iPad Pro 2021 vs iPad Air 4: How much of a difference?
Both feature a premium, thin metal and glass build, but the Pro has slightly smaller bezels and, of course – its 12.9 variant has a new mini-LED XDR display. Both the 12.9-inch and 11-inch iPad Pro models also have a super-smooth 120Hz screen refresh rate, making them feel faster and smoother.
The resolution of the 11-inch iPad Pro is 2388 x 1668, which is a very tiny bit higher than the Air 4, as is to be expected for the former’s slightly larger display.The iPad Air 4 packs an IPS LCD Liquid Retina display with 60Hz refresh rate and a resolution of 2360 x 1640 pixels.
The 2021 iPad Pro is notably powered by Apple’s M1 chip, which is also found in newer MacBooks and iMacs.
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