At a lookSkilled’s Score
Execs
- Larger display choice a lot appreciated
- Feels decidedly ‘Professional’ in some ways
- Robust efficiency
cons
- 60Hz show is getting tiresome
- Complicated accent compatibility
- Not an enormous improve on the M1 mannequin
Our Verdict
The iPad Air vary simply acquired an entire lot greater, with a 13-inch mannequin providing an inexpensive different to the full-sized iPad Professional. There are nonetheless just a few annoying omissions, and the bigger iPad Air can now get stupidly costly in order for you plenty of storage and mobile knowledge, however the vary now gives an excellent premium pill expertise for an excellent wider variety of folks.
Value When Reviewed
This worth will present the geolocated pricing textual content for product undefined
Finest Pricing At present
The sixth-generation iPad Air doesn’t appear like a lot of an development at first look, and apart from one fairly sizeable addition (in additional methods than one), it actually isn’t.
That is the primary instance of Apple’s mid-range pill vary to characteristic a bigger dimension choice, nonetheless, which may make it the best Goldilocks selection for a sure sort of pill consumer.
It won’t be the most effective or the most affordable iPad in the marketplace, however it borrows quite a lot of key attributes from the good iPad Professional with out commanding MacBook cash. Because it seems, there’s appreciable worth in that.
I’m reviewing the bigger 13-inch mannequin right here, however a lot of the feedback will apply simply as properly to the ‘common’ 11-inch mannequin too. Dimension apart, the 2 tablets are broadly equivalent, however I’ll level out the place there are variations as we go.
Design & Construct
- It’s very a lot an iPad
- Thicker and heavier than equal Professional fashions
- Help for choose Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard equipment
Apple ought to most likely rethink its pill naming scheme, as a result of there’s nothing ethereal in regards to the new iPad Air. True, I’m overlaying the bigger 13-inch mannequin, which was all the time going to be greater and heavier than its 11-inch predecessor, the iPad Air 5 (2022).
However at 280.6 x 214.9 x 6.1mm and 617g, it’s an actual handful. Extra to the purpose, it’s each significantly thicker (by 1mm) and heavier (by 38g) than the equal iPad Professional 13 (2024).
The 11in mannequin is equally chunky in comparison with the smaller Professional, although it nonetheless is available in thinner and lighter than the iPad tenth gen (2022) not less than.
Apple just about set the phrases for up to date pill design (with just a few notable exceptions), so complaining about this appears a bit foolish, like griping in regards to the design of a pencil
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
In any other case, all you possibly can actually say in regards to the iPad Air 13in (2024) design is that it’s an iPad. It seems to be rather a lot like these flanking fashions, with a thick however uniform display bezel round entrance, an all-metal physique, and a flat rim. Apple just about set the phrases for up to date pill design (with just a few notable exceptions), so complaining about this appears a bit foolish, like griping in regards to the design of a pencil.
It’s a fantastically constructed piece of package, as we’ve come to count on. There’s somewhat flex to the physique, however then it’s an enormous expanse of aluminium. I didn’t really feel like I’d be damaging it in a rush, however then it is a mortgage unit from Apple and I wasn’t going to push my luck.
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
My evaluation mannequin got here within the tried and true Starlight color, which is principally mild gray, whereas Area Gray supplies the usual darker choice. Blue and Purple present the extra attention-grabbing choices, although they’re each pretty pale metallic shades.
The {hardware} buttons are all located shut to at least one one other, with the quantity rocker to the left of the highest edge, and the facility button-cum-Contact ID sensor to the highest of the left edge. Apple seems to have nearly absolutely dedicated to contemplating panorama orientation the default now – although the rear iPad textual content suggests not fairly – with the front-facing digital camera switching to the highest panorama edge. This makes for far more pure video calls.
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Accent assist is somewhat complicated right here however may end up in a reasonably complete – if dear – setup. The iPad Air 13in (2024) is suitable with the Apple Pencil (USB-C) and the Apple Pencil Professional, however not the second-gen Apple Pencil. In the meantime, it really works with the identical authentic Magic Keyboard case because the earlier mannequin, and never the newest revision so watch out when shopping for these items.
Each stylus and keyboard case are wonderful equipment, and the latter particularly turns the iPad Air into an nearly MacBook-like typing and navigation expertise. I nonetheless wouldn’t take it over a MacBook Air for truly getting issues accomplished – the general steadiness doesn’t make it as snug for actually working in your lap, whereas iPadOS nonetheless can’t match MacOS for productiveness. However for phrase processing and different associated mild productiveness duties, it will possibly stand in very properly.
Display
- New 13-inch choice an enormous boon
- 600 nits and 2048 x 2732 on the 13in
- Nonetheless no 120Hz, which is a bit foolish
The large information with the iPad Air (2024) is the supply of a brand new 13-inch show choice, and the influence of that shouldn’t be downplayed.
That is by far the most affordable 13-inch gadget on Apple’s prolonged roster – £$500 cheaper than the iPad Professional 13 (2024), £$400 cheaper than the MacBook Air 13in (M3), and £$200 cheaper than the ageing MacBook Air 13in (M2).
It’s nonetheless not low cost at a beginning value of £799/$799, however the 13-inch expertise has main advantages for media consumption, sketching utilizing the Apple Pencil, and extra superior productiveness duties that contain multi-tasking.
It lacks the excellent pop of the newest iPad Professional and its two-layer AMOLED panel, with this as soon as once more being an IPS LCD. Nonetheless, it stays a superb display, with a pointy 2048 x 2732 decision and wonderful color accuracy.
By far my greatest difficulty with the iPad Air 13-inch display is the continued lack of assist for Apple’s 120Hz ProMotion commonplace
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
In the meantime Apple’s acknowledged typical brightness of 600 nits tallies with my very own measurements. That’s sturdy for a non-Professional pill, and works out to about 100 nits brighter than final 12 months’s mannequin. It ought to be famous that that is one space the place the 13-inch mannequin is clearly superior, because the 11-inch display solely hits 500 nits.
By far my greatest difficulty with the iPad Air 13-inch display is the continued lack of assist for Apple’s 120Hz ProMotion commonplace. It stays rooted to 60Hz, and as somebody who makes use of nothing however 120Hz shows of their daily life (telephone, laptop computer, and even TV), I can fairly clearly discover the distinction – particularly when the image is blown as much as full dimension proper in entrance of my face.
There’s a transparent lack of fluidity when flicking between dwelling screens or scrolling by net textual content, and it’s moderately jarring from a tool that in any other case seems to be and performs in to a ‘Professional’ stage.
Specs & Efficiency
- M2 processor
- 8GB RAM
- 128/256/512GB/1TB storage
There could be two years separating the iPad Air 6 and the iPad Air 5, however Apple has solely moved the efficiency on a single era, from the M1 chip to its M2 chip. That’s about it for any trace of disappointment although, as a result of Apple’s customized silicon flies.
We have been greatly surprised by the earlier Air’s efficiency, and the newest mannequin follows swimsuit. Apple reckons that the M2 chip featured right here, which packs an 8-core CPU and a 9-core GPU, is round 50% quicker than the earlier M1 mannequin.
Apple’s customized silicon flies
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
It’s tough to match like for like within the pill world, however I can say that the iPad Air 13in (2024) completely trounces the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Extremely and the OnePlus Pad 2 – two present premium Android tablets – in CPU phrases, and matches its predecessor’s maxed out on-screen GPU outcomes.
As earlier than, that 60Hz show is a limiting issue with regards to testing what this factor can do graphically. It’s purpose sufficient to go Professional if that’s actually what you’re after.
Even so, the iPad Air (2024) is a little bit of a beast, and it’ll be capable of deal with common pill duties like media consumption, multi-tasking and gaming with contemptuous ease. That is primarily laptop computer ranges of energy we’re speaking about right here, or certainly compact desktop energy – the present Mac Mini additionally runs on a variant of this exact same chip.
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
I nonetheless query whether or not that is overkill in a pill, however it can come in useful in the event you’re somebody who likes to edit photographs or movies on the go. It additionally implies that in the event you pair it with the aforementioned Magic Keyboard, the newest iPad Air feels much more like a 2-in-1 laptop computer. Along with 8GB of RAM (quite a bit for an iOS-based gadget), you’ll be capable of hop out and in of apps and not using a stutter, and run apps facet by facet fluidly.
It can additionally guarantee a good quantity of headroom, that means that it ought to stay feeling quick and fluid for years to return – particularly with Apple’s wonderful ongoing software program assist.
For storage you possibly can select from 128-, 256, 512GB and 1TB capacities so there’s one thing for everybody.
You too can rely on a speedy USB Kind-C 3.1 Gen 2 port with knowledge switch speeds of as much as 10Gbps, which is unchanged from the earlier mannequin. One other shared characteristic is the choice of 5G connectivity, although in fact you’ll must pay additional for this. Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 additionally come as a part of the bundle.
I’ve talked about it already, however you’ll should make do with Contact ID for biometric authentications. Face ID stays a Professional-only expertise in Apple’s iPad world.
Cameras
- Identical 12Mp f/1.8 fundamental digital camera
- Identical 12Mp f/2.4 entrance digital camera
- Entrance digital camera repositioned for panorama use
Apple hasn’t made any enhancements to the iPad Air 13in (2024)’s rear digital camera, that means its the very same 12Mp f/1.8 unit as earlier than. Given our dim view on anybody utilizing tablets to take something aside from illustrative or app-related snaps, this isn’t a lot of a criticism in any respect.
For what it’s value, the iPad Air’s fundamental digital camera takes completely serviceable snaps offered you feed it loads of mild. Apple’s picture processing chops, earned by years of smartphone iteration, guarantee as a lot even with such modest {hardware}.
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
There hasn’t been any probability to the standard of the entrance digital camera both, which implies that you get the identical 12Mp f/2.4 sensor with the identical ultra-wide 122-degree area of view. The latter permits the pill to utilize Apple’s Middle Stage characteristic, which retains you in focus while you transfer round in video calls.
The place Apple has made a change for the higher is by relocating this entrance digital camera to the longer fringe of the pill, making these video calls look rather more pure – assuming you do them in panorama view. Which, let’s face it, you actually ought to.
Battery Life & Charging
- 10340mAh battery
- 10 hours of sustained use
- 20W charging assist (not in field)
Battery life hasn’t shifted with the transfer to the brand new generations of iPad Air, regardless of the brand new bigger and brighter display choice, to not point out the swap to a brand new chip.
Apple continues to be claiming that you just’ll be capable of watch 10 hours of video on Wi-Fi out of a single cost, and as all the time that just about tallies with actuality. In my very own testing, an hour of watching a film on Disney Plus, with the show set to 50% brightness, sapped about 9% of a cost.
That is ostensibly one among Apple’s extra informal tablets, in fact, and the common use case situation can be a lot much less intensive. In additional common use, the newest iPad Air performs admirably, aided by some usually wonderful standby stamina.
I took the iPad Air 6 off cost on the Wednesday morning, and by the Saturday morning it nonetheless had 41% left within the tank
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Anecdotally, I took the iPad Air 6 off cost on the Wednesday morning, and by the Saturday morning it nonetheless had 41% left within the tank. It will definitely ran out at round lunch time on the Sunday. This was with a number of hours of informal recreation enjoying and round an hour of Netflix watching, interspersed by some mild net searching.
Charging speeds stay considerably underwhelming. You don’t get a charger within the field in fact, however it can go as much as 20W with an applicable USB-C energy adapter. With this new bigger mannequin, a 15 minute cost from empty solely acquired it to 16%, whereas a 30 minute cost acquired it to 31%. It took simply shy of two hours for a full cost.
That’s fairly gradual in smartphone phrases, however fairly typical for a pill. The OnePlus Pad 2 hits 19% in quarter-hour, whereas the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Extremely hits 13% in the identical time.
Software program & Apps
- Initially shipped with iPadOS 17
- Now updating to iPadOS 18
- Nonetheless the most effective pill OS round
The iPad Air (2024) initially shipped with iPadOS 17, however proper on the finish of our evaluation interval iPadOS 18 rolled out. It doesn’t deliver with it Apple’s hotly anticipated Apple Intelligence AI options (they’re set to begin showing in October within the USA), however there are a number of additions and enhancements that preserve this the most effective pill OS within the recreation.
In the end we get a local Calculator app (no actually), and in true Apple fashion, it has made up for arriving mystifyingly late by going the additional mile. Deliver an Apple Pencil into play and the Math Notes characteristic will allow you to sketch out advanced maths issues, with Apple’s software program magically fixing them.
an more and more enhanced and super-sized tackle iOS that’s basically splendid for consuming media, browsing the online, and operating apps in a extra data-rich and involving trend
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Handwritten notes within the Notes app have additionally been buffed with Good Script, which might tidy up your scruffy handwriting, add house, and merge in typed textual content, amongst different issues.
Extra usually, you’re now free to position app icons the place you want with out Apple routinely closing up any areas, and it’s also possible to customise the look of stated icons. Management Centre has gotten extra highly effective too, with a brand new tabbed format and deeper customisation potential.
These enhancements are good, however iPadOS stays the identical at coronary heart. That’s, an more and more enhanced and super-sized tackle iOS that’s basically splendid for consuming media, browsing the online, and operating apps in a extra data-rich and involving trend.
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Pretty much as good as iPadOS is as a pill OS, nonetheless, it nonetheless isn’t as much as the duty of changing a bathroom commonplace MacBook with MacOS for productiveness duties.
Apple’s customisation enhancements in iPadOS 18 are neat, however they’re simply enjoying across the edges. Certain, you possibly can drag and drop information between a number of open apps, however doing such issues isn’t as basic or tightly built-in as on MacOS – or Home windows for that matter.
Stage Supervisor helps to shut that hole, producing a extra Mac-like interface with floating resizable app home windows. But it surely’s nonetheless removed from a seamless or intuitive expertise, and Apple nonetheless doesn’t make this the default UI commonplace, reflecting the unsure ‘tweener nature of contemporary iPadOS.
Personally, I by no means anticipated and even needed iPadOS to emulate MacOS on this means. I’m blissful to maintain the pill expertise as a extra informal interstitial one, someplace in between smartphones and laptops, however nearer to the previous. Those that dream of a correct Apple 2-in-1, nonetheless, will want just a few extra sleeps earlier than that turns into a actuality.
Value & Availability
The iPad Air 13in (2024) has the largest vary of pricing we’ve ever seen from the Air vary. It’s all due to this new greater dimension choice, along with a wholesome unfold of storage and mobile variants.
We’re speaking a couple of huge unfold from simply £599/$599 for the 128GB 11in Wi-Fi mannequin, proper as much as a whopping £1,449/$1,449 for the 1TB 13-inch Mobile mannequin. That’s from Apple’s web site, however each are going even cheaper on Amazon on the time of writing.
You’ll pay a £200/$200 premium to improve from 11- to 13-inch, with the bigger mannequin pricing ranging from £799/$799. The mannequin Apple despatched me to evaluation is the 13-inch 512GB Wi-Fi mannequin, which prices a nonetheless not inconsiderable £1,099/$1,099.
As such, it pays to interrupt down the brand new iPad Air’s worth proposition. General, proper now in late(ish) 2024, it appears fairly darned good.
That 11-inch beginning value sounds mighty tempting and might be the iPad most informal or mild customers ought to go for on the time of writing. Certain, the common iPad (2022) will be had for round £150/$150 much less, however it contains a pretty previous non-M-series chip and half the storage, and is due for a substitute.
That beginning value for the 13-incher additionally seems to be tempting when you think about it as a viable different to the 13-inch iPad Professional, which begins from an eye-watering £1,299/$12,99. The primary perceptible benefit in going Professional is its frankly attractive OLED show, however is that value £500/$500 to you? It could be.
I’d take the newest iPad Air, in no matter iteration, over any equally priced and even barely cheaper Android pill, no questions requested. Apple’s pill ecosystem is solely a lot better fleshed out and cohesive than Google’s, and its M-series chip efficiency slays the opposition.
You should purchase the iPad Air from Apple, Amazon, Currys, John Lewis, Argos and different retailers within the UK.
Within the US, look to Apple, Amazon and BestBuy.
Take a look at our rankings of the most effective tablets you should purchase for extra choices.
Do you have to purchase the iPad Air 13in (2024)?
The iPad Air 13in (2024) covers extra floor than any earlier Air pill, and might be the iPad household most individuals ought to be wanting to select from. It delivers a brand new Professional-like 13in show choice, near-Professional efficiency from Apple’s M2 chip, a timelessly stable design, and first rate accent compatibility.
Pricing varies vastly, that means you actually do want to think about what you need out of your pill when it comes to show dimension, storage capability, and connectivity. The place the Air begins overlapping with the Professional’s pricing, you need to contemplate whether or not the step up mannequin’s phenomenal show, superior energy, and superior accent choices make it a greater purchase.
On the entry level of the brand new iPad Air vary, nonetheless, it’s troublesome to argue with it being the most effective all-round super-sized pill for most individuals. It’s a slick, highly effective instrument for informal media consumption and light-weight productiveness duties, and very similar to the outgoing mannequin, nothing else actually comes shut until you’re keen to pay much more to go Professional.
Specs
- iPadOS 18
- 13in, 2048 x 2732, IPS LCD, 60Hz show
- Aspect-mounted fingerprint sensor
- Apple M2
- 8GB RAM
- 128GB/256GB/512GB/1TB storage
- 12Mp, f/1.8 fundamental digital camera
- As much as 4K @ 60fps rear video
- 12Mp front-facing digital camera
- Stereo audio system
- 5G (elective)
- Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6E
- Bluetooth 5.3
- 10340mAh battery
- 20W charging (not equipped)
- 280.6 x 214.9 x 6.1mm
- 617g
- Launch colors: Area Grey, Starlight, Purple, Blue
