Apple iPad Air With M3 Review: The Odd Man Out for iPads

AniPad Air refreshshouldn’t supply much room for thoughtfulness . Boiled down , the late version , even with anupgraded M3 processor , is still the same mid - range Apple pill . It comes in a host of pleasing colors , it ’s light , and it ’s powerful enough for most labor you would use your pad of paper for . And still , even when Ibring it out for all my common tasks , I ca n’t assist thinking the latest iPad Air is less the halfway child of Apple ’s tablet lineup but the odd duckling struggle to find a niche .

iPad Air 2025 with M3

It ’s a refresh to Apple ’s solid mid - range tablet , but it lacks the versatility , power , or Leontyne Price of the company ’s other iPads .

Ipad Air 11 M3 With Magic Keyboard Hero

© Kyle Barr / Gizmodo

Pros

Cons

The iPad Air 11 with M3 is hunky-dory for sure job , but it ca n’t be your garish MacBook with a touchscreen . It ’s well than last class ’s example , but beneficial enough may not be enough to vindicate the acclivity forlingering M1 iPad Air users . I opt the latestiPad minifor simpler job . The iPad Pro is the easy choice for anything that demands more processing power . Like last year , there is a 13 - inch reading of the Air available , but whereas I may want more silver screen on an iPad Pro , the iPad Air feel a advantageously fit on a smaller display .

Ipad Air M3 Back 1

Lavender is still my preferred iPad color. © Kyle Barr / Gizmodo

See Apple iPad Air ( M3 ) at Amazon

The iPad Air 11 with M3 starts at $ 600 . It has 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage at the low end . This version of the M3 comes with a 9 - core GPU , the same as last year ’s low - terminal MacBook Air fashion model . If you overleap the tidings last yr , Apple made a few improvements to its tablets , such as moving the 12 MP Center Stage television camera to the landscape edge . Just like last year ’s versions , it confirm Apple Pencil Pro and Apple Pencil USB - C ( though none of the previous - gen stylus ) . Otherwise , it contains the same IPS LCD Liquid Retina exhibit , which is unspoiled enough for blue suite or indirect light with relatively minimal spotlight .

I am writing this part of the review on the iPad Air with the new , improved , though still overly - expensive Magic Keyboard . It has a function row , which proves handy for changing the luminance on the fly sheet , but at the 11 - inch size of it , it costs an extra $ 270 . The 13 - inch interlingual rendition asks for $ 320 . That ’s far more expensive than other third - company keyboard options , but it is one of the best you’re able to get for the iPad . The new keyboard will also work on last year ’s models . The bombastic , 13 - in iPad Air be $ 800 . Along with the Magic Keyboard , more than the newfangled pedestal MacBook Air M4 that now starts at $ 1,000 .

Ipad Air 11 M3 With Ipad Pro And Ipad Mini

© Kyle Barr / Gizmodo

If you ’re already used to the MacBook ’s keyboard , the fresh interlingual rendition for Air is a amazingly easy and comfortable typing experience . Just live that even with iPadOS , the tablet can not possibly match the versatility of Apple ’s laptop computer suite . It leave me with this empty feeling , staring at a gadget I have it off I would n’t touch for first compared to either of its tablet sib . It may fit within your budget ; if that ’s the case , it ’s a self-coloured option . Then again , if you want a pill that excite the imagination , this certainly is n’t it .

iPad Air M3’s Performance is a Slight Jump From Last Year’s

There is a world of deviation in performance between an iPad with Apple ’s M - series atomic number 14 versus a role model with an A16 and A17 silicon chip , which makes a obtrusive difference of opinion in more - intensive apps . The M3 is more sinewy than the previous - gen iPad Air with M1 . As for how well itholds up against 2024 ’s M2 , the M3 is a minuscule upgrade ,

Apple was far more cracking to compare older - gen iPads to the new models . The iPad Air from 2022 may wait very , very standardised to the one from 2025 , but there is a prominent difference in speeds for both computation and graphic task . Just in 3D Mark Wild Life Unlimited and Wild Life Extreme straight-out tests , the M3 bring an middling 30 % boost over the tablet from three long time ago . Then , compare to the iPad Air M2 from 2024 , the CPU sees a nominal increment in Geekbench 6 test from 9,993 to 11,835 multi - core scores in 2025 . That ’s approximately a 15 % uptick .

That ’s not too surprising , though , with the new 7th - gen iPad Air , the M3 also has financial backing for computer hardware - accelerated shaft of light trace . This might weigh in a game like War Thunder : Mobile , but there are a few situation where ray tracing may matter to your tablet experience .

Ipad Air 11 M3 Magic Keyboard

© Kyle Barr / Gizmodo

For the sake of art - intensive task , the M3 iPad Air ca n’t match anywhere close to the carrying out of the iPad Pro with the M4 . It should n’t , considering the Pro costs $ 400 at the same size . A M4 iPad Pro 13 can stumble 600 more points in Geekbench 6 individual - core and does 2,700 point better in multi - core . The difference is more double-dyed when essay the GPU capabilities . 3D Mark Steel Nomad Lite benchmarks show the M4 can do 1,150 more point than the M3 iPad Air . Do I even need to refer that the iPad Air is actually thicker and heavier than the later iPad Pro ? The iPad Air is .24 inches and 1.01 dog pound compared to the iPad Pro ’s .21 in and .98 Pound .

If you ’re take the Pro versus the Air for the sake of render tasks , the M3 pad is well slower . In my tests with the Screws scene in Octane X , the 11 - in air travel was about 16 minute slower on average . For AI performance , Geekbench AI shows the neural engine on the iPad Pro outgo the iPad Air by around 640 point in quantize score . The real doubtfulness is whether you will require to apply or abuse AI on the M3 iPad Air , but it seems either style , it may not matter soon .

AI on the iPad Air M3 Isn’t a Big Reason to Upgrade

We examine the iPad Air on iPadOS 18.3 . The Bob Hope was that iPadOS 18.4 or 18.5 would have brought even more AI capabilities , but the iPad Air waiver is sustain through some awkward timing . On Friday , Apple finally acknowledge it was delay some of the most - anticipated features of Apple Intelligence , namely an upgraded Siri with more conversational capabilities and the power to act upon across apps . Apple has n’t state how long these feature may be delayed , but Bloomberg said we could be sit down on our custody until 2026 . perchance by then , we ’ll have an iPad Air M4 .

So what about what ’s there already ? Siri still has admission to ChatGPT on more complicated interrogation , but these sum-up are often clipped and scant on details . Other features like Writing Tools allow you to proofread or summarise some of your written workplace or any other on - screen text . Some handy applications programme let in make a table out of your hummer points . That proved ready to hand for turn the benchmark numbers for this review into row and columns . It can also cut down a long public relations e-mail and make it passably more legible , though Apple ’s AI tends to cut out authoritative notes when sum up text edition . As with most AI writing capabilities , they seem built for middle managers who want to lessen the effort of worker who send their knob detailed emails .

Then there ’s Image Playground , an AI image source constrain by a selection of preset themes and mode . I added a picture of me into the generator , and it made me seem far more gaunt than I am and aged me by some 10 to 30 year . It also had an compulsion with placing object atop my head , as if a fowl were examine to build a nest on the peak of my noggin . When it ’s not uproariously bungling , the AI generator is implausibly dull .

Ipad Air M3 With Apple Intelligence

The iPad Air Feels Like the Bare-Minimum Refresh

I was once a notebook computer mainstay while GMing my in - someone tabletop roleplaying group , but latterly , I ’ve twist to the iPad mini and an Apple Pencil Pro . This , I found , is the double-dyed size for me . I do n’t need much else from my tablet that I ca n’t already get from a MacBook .

If I wanted to use Apple ’s table logical argument for material aesthetic or rendering tasks , the iPad Pro is easy your best choice . If you want the thinnest and lightest iPad , you used to touch for the Air . But , today , if you want the slender iPad , you also go for the iPad Pro . The iPad Air simply has a ripe silver screen and good operation for streaming your content or basic productivity than the base iPad , which now comes with an A16 CPU . The nucleotide , intimately 11 - inch Apple tablet that costs $ 350 is also the only one that does n’t come with Apple Intelligence . I ca n’t say that the framework is overleap much .

At a sure point , I have to wonder why Apple did n’t call the 2024 big tab launch the “ iPad Air Pro ” or “ iPad Pro Air . ” Perhaps that sounds more like if Apple strapped helicopter propellers to its pad , but at least it would be more interesting than the iPad Air M3 . I get it on some kinfolk want an iPad Air because it seems slightly more sinewy than a regular iPad , and they ’re right . But if you may find an iPad Air M2 slightly cheaper , you ’ll have the same experience with the M3 .

Ipad Air 11 M3 With Apple Pencil Pro