The iPad Air is the device in Apple’s line-up that is likely to appeal to the most customers and the latest upgrade of the device with the powerful new M3 chip is likely to seal the deal for many users.
iPad Air, available in 11-inch and 13-inch models, is the iPad you buy if you want a little bit more grunt and capability than the entry level iPad but don’t want to spend more money on an iPad Pro.
The latest upgrade to M3 means it’s built for Apple Intelligence and includes Apple’s advanced graphics architecture with dynamic caching, hardware accelerated mesh shading and hardware accelerated ray tracing.
That all adds up to a fantastic gaming device with enough power to play the latest and most intense titles.
Under the hood with the iPad Air M3 is a 35 per cent faster CPU and a 40 per cent faster GPU.
The smoothness and crisp operation we noticed in the time we’ve been reviewing the iPad Air with M3 shows that there are noticeable improvements even from the model running the M1 chip.
In fact, iPad Air with M3 is up to 4x faster than iPad Air with M1 and you’re also getting a 60 per cent faster neural engine making this new device one of the most powerful pound for pound tablets you can buy.
On the design side there is nothing that’s changed with the 11-inch or 13-inch model.
All the changes are on the inside.
You also have four beautiful new finishes to choose from. These include Blue, Purple, Starlight and Space Grey.
The screen is still the gorgeous Liquid Retina display which has an anti-reflective coating.
The iPad Air is just 6.1mm thick and weighs as little as 460g for the 11-inch and 616g for the 13-inch model.
On the security side there is no Face ID but the top lock button has Touch ID which unlocks the iPad in a couple of seconds.
With such an improvement in the processor and performance we expected the unlock to be even faster but it still took two or three seconds before it reacted to our fingerprint.
The new iPad Air includes 12 MP Centre Stage front camera which is positioned down the longer landscape edge of the device.
This keeps everyone in the centre of the frame and it’s perfect for video calls.
On the back is another 12MP wide camera which can capture impressive images as well as being able to produce panorama, slow-motion videos, burst mode and even time lapse videos.
In terms of everyday performance the iPad Air can handle complex tasks like rendering 3D scenes in Octane X or designing a house from scratch in SketchUp or using AI enabled motion tracking in apps like on form which can be used to fine tune your golf swing.
And not only can the M3 chip offer speed and performance for the new iPad air, but it also offers remarkable power efficiency which helps maintain the iPads already reliably long all-day battery life.
iPad Air makes Apple Intelligence works seamlessly on device to help improve your writing, your creativity, efficiency and productivity.
Unfortunately, the iPad Air is only up to Wi-Fi 6E standard so users can’t enjoy the added speed of combining a Wi-Fi device with a Wi-Fi 7 router or mesh system.
The iPad Air can be used as the laptop replacement, a powerful drawing tool and a remarkable gaming device.
iPad Air with M3 also works with Apple Pencil Pro, and Apple Pencil which is a must have tool for artists to come up with incredible drawings and illustrations.
Apple Pencil also recognises handwritten notes and can be used to annotate photos PDF’s and screenshots.
We mainly used our iPad Air review to view content and to write, use apps, browse the web while my checking emails.
The iPad Air also comes with some impressive accessories including the Magic Keyboard case for iPad Air available in versions to suit both the 11-inch and 13 inch models.
The Magic Keyboard case is an ideal companion and offers easy typing and a trackpad for even more accuracy and productivity.
And for the first time the keyboard now includes a 14-key function row as well as the USB-C connector to enable pass through charging while the keyboard is attached.
At the very least it provides sturdy protection for the iPad Air.
Apple also has a range of Smart Folios which allows the user to position iPad Air at various viewing angles for reading, consuming content, typing and making video calls.
The new iPad Air with M3 goes on sale on March 12 and is priced from $999 for the 11-inch and $1,349 for the 13-inch.
The iPad Air Magic Keyboard is priced at $449 (11-inch) and $469 (13-inch).
VERDICT
The iPad Air with M3 Is a magical upgrade that makes an already impressive device even better and offers so many possibilities thanks to its stunning speed and performance that can easily handle even the most intense tasks.
