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Design8.5
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Display9.5
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Processor9
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Cameras9
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Battery Life8.5
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Accessory compatibility8
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Value for money9
The iPad mini 6 remains my favourite iPad of all time. This is mainly because I find myself using it consistently, nearly three years later. I can’t say the same for my other iPads.
That sounds very lavish, doesn’t it? I’m a tech reviewer, though – owning multiple iPads isn’t normal behaviour.
However, I’ve always said that the iPad Air is one of Apple’s greatest triumphs. If you want a regular-sized iPad with as many bells and whistles as you can expect at a reasonable price point, you won’t be left feeling short-changed.
Now, we have a big iPad Air. It also features an M2 chip. And, as you might expect, it really is biting at the heels of the iPad Pro M4.
Pricing and options
The 13-inch M2 iPad Air comes in four colours – purple (the one I opted for), blue, Starlight, and Space Grey.
We have four storage options to choose from, too. They range from 128GB to 1TB with the 13-inch iPad Air starting at £799 and finishing at £1,299, respectively. If you opt for the 256GB version, you’ll save £400 on the equivalent iPad Pro. Go all-out on that 1TB edition, and your iPad Air will be £600 cheaper than the flagship iPad.
This is getting interesting, isn’t it?
Performance-wise, there are no options – you get the M2 chip with an 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16-core neural engine, and 8GB of RAM.
The rear camera system you won’t use is a 12MP wide.
13-inch iPad Air design, display, and performance
The 13-inch iPad Air looks and feels like a big iPad Air, because that’s exactly what it is. It also looks spookily like the iPad Pro. Place them side by side, and you do have to look very closely for the differences when it comes to the display; the main difference are, as you might expect, on the rear of the device – but that’s only due to the camera module design.
The purple colour I picked is very muted, but that’s what we get these days, and it does look sophisticated. I just wish there were some slightly more in-your-face options available for the iPad Air. Orange, anyone?
Regardless, you get what you get with an iPad, and one of those things is incredible build quality and a satisfyingly premium feel. The 13-inch iPad Air is no different. Obviously.
TouchID on the power button takes some getting used to, but only if you come from an iPad Pro with FaceID. Apple’s fingerprint sensor is as fast and reliable as it has always been, but the absence of facial recognition is one of the first signs of the iPad Air’s standing beneath the iPad Pro.
Just like the 10th-generation iPad (and, now, the iPad Pro), the big iPad Air has its FaceTime camera in the correct position within the landscape edge of the device. So, no more looking off to the left whenever you’re on a video call. Nice.
As for the display, it’s an LED unit that’s fully laminated (so, no noticeable gap between the display and the glass) and, yes, it is only 60Hz – there’s no ProMotion to be had on the new iPad Air, I’m afraid. That’s another concession you’ll have to make if you opt for this device over the iPad Pro, and while it’s a little jarring at first, you do get used to it. Should we have high refresh rate displays across the entire iPad lineup? Probably, but if the iPad Air had that it would feel identical to the iPad Pro, which I guess is why Apple is keen to add another layer of differentiation.
Oh, and at 600 nits, the 13-inch iPad Air display is bright enough for anyone – trust me.
Lack of ProMotion aside, this is peak iPad design. The compromises are largely acceptable, and one should always remember the vast price difference between the iPad Air and the iPad Pro.
As for performance, well, it’s an iPad. It’s fast, smooth, doesn’t lag, and never crashes. Keep in mind, too, that this is essentially last season’s iPad Pro, thanks to the presence of the incredibly capable M2 chip.
M2 iPad Air official accessory compatibility
Let’s start with the Magic Keyboard. If you want one of Apple’s official keyboard cases for your new 13-inch iPad Air, you’ll need to buy the £349 version which worked with the M2 iPad Pro. The fancy new one with the aluminium palm rest and function key row doesn’t work with this iPad.
The previous generation Magic Keyboard will add a lot to the price of your iPad Air – and make it considerably heavier. It’s still a very good keyboard, though, and I’ve personally spent a lot of time typing away on that version without issue. Regardless, it’s always worth having a sneaky look around the third-party market to see what else is available.
Need an Apple Pencil? You have two options for the 13-inch iPad Air. The first and most convenient is the new Apple Pencil Pro, which features magnetic charging, a gyroscope, squeezy haptic feedback, and Hover mode. That’ll set you back £129. If you fancy saving yourself £50, you can grab the USB-C version, but you’ll lose the aforementioned features and have to charge it via a USB cable.
The official accessory compatibility for the 13-inch iPad Air is slightly frustrating, but it’s due entirely to the design. The relocation of the FaceTime camera has rendered the second-generation Apple Pencil completely incompatible, and the iPad Air isn’t thin enough to take advantage of the new Magic Keyboard.
As always, you’ll need to factor this stuff into your overall budget. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
M2 iPad Air Vs M4 iPad Pro
We can cover this pretty quickly.
The M4 iPad Pro has the following over the iPad Air: the M4 chip, double the RAM (if you buy the 1TB or 2TB version), ProMotion, a brighter OLED panel (with a nano-texture display option), slightly better camera system, a 2TB storage option, and compatibility with the new Magic Keyboard.
Oh, the iPad Pro is also Apple’s thinnest device ever. The 13-inch iPad Air isn’t. Although the latter isn’t exactly bursting at the waistline.
Conclusion
The 13-inch iPad Air M2 is an insta-recommendation for anyone who wants a big iPad but who has zero interest in the fancy iPad Pro stuff.
If you want an iPad Pro that’s big enough to be your main device and which will last you for years, the 13-inch M2 iPad Air will be an utter delight. It’s for anyone who needs that screen estate but who doesn’t need ProMotion, the promise of the M4, 2TB of storage, or a nano-texture display. I think that’s a pretty large audience.
Is this Apple’s best-ever iPad? In terms of utility – yes. The mini remains the most lovable and portable, but it can’t match this one for sheer value for money.
