Why Is Everyone So Angry About the M3 iPad Air?

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Last week was a busy one for Apple. We received new iPads and new Macs. Lots of them, in fact.

Ooh, new chips, too! Well, one, in particular – the M3 Ultra (which, bizarrely, is a step up from the M4 Max in the Mac Studio configuration procedure – go figure).

It really was a veritable press release feast.

Despite this, it all felt a bit underwhelming for a lot of people. No innovation. Jobs wouldn’t have allowed this. Money-grabbing so-and-sos. Etc. We’ve heard it all before, haven’t we? But this is what Apple does – it’s what Apple has always done, and we’ll be arguing about it within YouTube comments sections until the end of time.

However, one release was singled out by a lot of people last week for being particularly subpar – the M3 iPad Air. I want to address that today, because it’s got me flummoxed, too (although, possibly, not for the same reason as everyone else).

A misstep by Tim Cook?

Tim Cook is a busy man on X these days – he has started to use Elon Musk’s platform to tease new Apple releases. That’s cool and all, but the problem last week was that his “There’s something in the air” post raised expectations for something semi-monumental on the horizon.

Ok, that’s pushing it. I think we all knew that the next iPad Air and next MacBook Air would be the most iterative of updates, but the fact that the big guy himself had brushed us so suggestively with the X Tickle Stick did raise expectations for what was to come.

As it turns out, Cook’s post and the accompanying gif of something – and, yes, it was indeed impossible to freeze frame – passing at lightning speed through the word ‘Air’ was nothing more than a precursor to the most minor of updates to the iPad lineup.

To compound matters, the M3 iPad Air was joined by a spec-bumped entry-level iPad which isn’t compatible with Apple Intelligence. Anyone care to explain that one?

In my opinion, Cook should only take to X to tease new products if something genuinely impressive is on the way. The replies to his follow-up post, where he announced the new iPad Air, made for fairly depressing reading if you’re a member of the Apple PR team; most people genuinely seemed to be asking if Tim had made an ill-timed joke.

What Apple did with the M3 iPad Air

The new iPad Air isn’t much of an upgrade over the device it replaces. The M2 chip has been swapped out for the M3 chip, which brings with it “Apple’s advanced graphics architecture to iPad Air for the first time” and two-times faster performance than the M1 iPad Air.

That’s it. The only other notable difference was the emergence of a new Magic Keyboard, although calling that “new” is pushing it – it’s just an iPad Air-compatible version of the one that was already available for the iPad Pro.

I’d love to fill this section with more details about the update to the iPad Air, but there aren’t any, I’m afraid.

What Apple COULD have done with the M3 iPad Air

This is where I run into a rather significant problem.

I started noting down the stuff Apple could have done with the new iPad Air. I got as far as ‘ProMotion’ and then ran out of ideas.

Imagine being in charge of the iPad’s development. This is why it’s a thankless – albeit undoubtedly well-paid – job. There just simply isn’t much more that can be done with these giant iPhones, bar the tepid steps forward iPadOS is taking towards becoming a proper desktop operating system.

There’s a problem with the suggested addition of ProMotion, too. Add a 120Hz variable refresh rate display to the iPad Air and the differences between that device and the iPad Pro become even less tempting. Apple has painted itself into such a frustrating corner with its display technology that it has become the most outdated of model differentiations.

I genuinely cannot think of anything else they could have done with the iPad Air. Improve the camera system? Yawn. Make it thinner? No point. Add another button? Come on, now.

It’s already brilliant. And that’s its Achilles heel.

Wrapping up: my M3 iPad Air conundrum

My biggest problem with the M3 iPad Air is entirely selfish.

I don’t know how to review it – or even if I should review it.

I didn’t have the same issue with the iPhone 16e. My one-week-later iPhone 16e review has gone down a storm on my YouTube channel. And by “storm”, I mean it has successfully triggered a boatload of Apple apologists, Apple haters, and people who, like me, can see merit in the simplicity offered by the iPhone 16e.

The M3 iPad Air is entirely different. It is such a marginal upgrade over its predecessor and will offer such imperceptible performance gains that a review would simply be a rehash of everything I’ve said about the iPad Air since the M1 version. Which is basically: the iPad Air remains one of Apple’s greatest hits.

That’s my problem to solve, but in the meantime, I’d love to hear from you. Will you be buying the M3 iPad and, if so, why?