Apple iPad Air 2024 review: A very good tablet, but not the iPad to buy

The new iPad Air is very good. If you buy one, you’re almost guaranteed to like it. That’s it, that’s the review.

But is this the iPad you should buy? That’s a more interesting question. The iPad Air is a study in tradeoffs, even more so than before. Starting at $599, it’s not the cheapest iPad you can buy, nor the most impressive. Does not support all accessories, but supports some of the accessories. It’s fast but not the fastest, thin but not the thinnest, powerful but not the most powerful. It’s Apple’s attempt to find the Goldilocks middle ground – the features that matter most to most users and nothing else.

Outside of a few specific scenarios, I don’t think I’d tell you to buy this year’s iPad Air. Not because it’s not great – it’s great! It turns out that for $250 less, you can get the entry-level iPad, which is almost as good at all the common iPad activities. The 10th generation iPad is a few years old now, but it’s still an excellent device, especially after Apple dropped its price from $449 to $349. The iPad, not the iPad Air, is the right iPad for most of people.

The new Air is practically last year’s iPad Pro in last year’s iPad Air body. The two models are identical except for the screen size. The new 13-inch model is obviously larger in every dimension and about a third of a pound heavier than the 11-inch Air, which is exactly the same size and weight as the last-generation Air.

The two new Airs run the same M2 chip as the old Pro, and in my testing they run it virtually identically—it’s a fast, reliable chip, although the new M4 processor in this year’s iPad Pro beats it in benchmark tests. The screen is the same as last year’s Air, the battery life is the same, and the rear camera is the same – it’s just a spec increase on the same thing.

In my testing, I noticed just one change from the old Air: Apple moved the front camera to the middle of the landscape edge, which means I can use it for video calls without it feeling like I’m always looking up and away from the camera. screen. This is a big change and one that Apple should have made a long time ago. If you to do If you want to buy an Air, I recommend this one over the previous generation just to get the camera in the right place.

Next to this year’s Pro, on the other hand, the Air definitely feels like an inferior model. The Pro has a much better OLED screen, that ultra-powerful M4 chip, full Thunderbolt support on the USB-C connector, more speakers, more storage across all price points, and is lighter and smaller in both screen sizes. You pay a lot for these updates, but they are real updates.

But honestly? If you’re just looking for a way to send emails, browse the web, play games, and maybe make an iMovie or two, none of this will really change the way you use your iPad. An iPad is an iPad is an iPad, and until Apple fixes a bunch of things or opens up the operating system – and I wouldn’t hold my breath on either – you’re just not going to have fun with all that extra power to make it. it a mandatory update. You can do a lot of things on an iPad, which is great! But the list is pretty much the same no matter which tablet you’re holding. The iPad Pro is the best iPad, without a doubt, but it’s also a very expensive iPad. And it’s still an iPad.

There are only two Pro features that I really missed in everyday use after switching to the iPad Air. The first is Face ID: the Air uses Touch ID on the home button to log into your device, which works well, but the Face ID on Pro makes you feel like you never have to log in. The second is the row of function keys on the Magic Keyboard attachment. Especially on the 13-inch Air, the Magic Keyboard is big, roomy, and pleasant to type on—which means I missed quick access to playback, brightness, and more.

In real-world use, the Air is much closer to the base iPad than the Pro, which puts it in a strange interpolation position. You get the M2 chip instead of the A14 Bionic, and as Apple continues to invest in AI features on the device, it’s possible that having a crazy amount of processing power will become very useful. The M2 is certainly the more future-proof option, but the A14 Bionic is fully capable of handling a typical iPad workload.

Otherwise, the base iPad and Air have the same cameras and camera placement, the same Touch ID system, and the same battery life. The iPad is a little bigger than the Air, but we’re talking hundredths of inches and pounds. Neither has a headphone jack, which is still stupid and bad. The Air’s screen is definitely better – it’s probably the most important spec upgrade over the regular iPad. But the regular iPad is good enough – just don’t look at them side by side. Ignorance is a bliss; everything will be fine.

The Air gets points for supporting the Pencil Pro, which the regular iPad doesn’t. The iPad wins points for having a lineup of functions in its Magic Keyboard Folio, but it loses some because it doesn’t feel as sturdy as the larger accessory. (By the way, can I just say that it doesn’t make sense which keyboards have which features on which iPads? It doesn’t make any sense at all.) The iPad also comes in much nicer colors, although I love the look of the white Magic Keyboard, and this just comes with with Air.

Ultimately, I think I can answer the Air vs. Air debate. iPad in two questions. Do you want a big screen? Do you use all of your Apple Pencil? If so, buy the Air. The 13-inch model is the cheapest big screen in Apple’s lineup—$500 less than the comparable iPad Pro—and the 11-inch model is the cheapest way to get access to the Pencil Pro .Done and done.

Otherwise, buy the old iPad, which is already an excellent tablet at an excellent price. There’s an even better way to upgrade: I recommend you spend $150 upgrading your base iPad to the cellular model, rather than $250 upgrading to the Air. Having an iPad that’s always connected, without having to think about it, is a game changer in tablet life.

My standard purchasing advice is to buy the best product you can afford and keep it for as long as possible. But I’m confident that even a two-year-old 10th-gen iPad is capable enough to do most things very well for a long time. Air too, obviously! But the bad news for Apple, and the good news for you, is that every iPad is a great iPad – including the cheapest one.