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Should You Buy an iPad Air?

The iPad Air is Apple’s mid-range tablet, offering many key iPad features such as a USB-C port and Touch ID for prices starting at $599. The current model includes the M1 chip from the previous-generation MacBook Pro, an upgraded front-facing camera with Center Stage, and a range of color options.

Announced in March 2022, the iPad Air is now among the older iPads in Apple’s lineup and it is likely midway through its product cycle. Apple does not seem to update the iPad Air regularly, leaving up to two and a half years between upgrades, and there are no immediate signs of a new model. This means that now is still a good time to buy the iPad Air and most customers should not wait for a new model to launch. We are not expecting a new iPad Air until 2024.

The iPad Air is Apple’s middle option in the iPad lineup, but for those who want a smaller tablet, there is the iPad mini, which still offers almost all of the iPad Air’s features, but in a much more portable form factor. Users who are looking for a more affordable option should consider the tenth-generation iPad. Starting at $449, the iPad offers many iPad Air features, such as Touch ID and a Retina display, but at a lower price that balances functionality and affordability.

On the other hand, for iPad models with a larger, more advanced display and high-end features, there is the iPad Pro. The iPad Pro takes the iPad Air’s features to the next level, adding up to 16GB of memory, an Ultra Wide camera and a LiDAR scanner, Face ID, ProMotion, a mini-LED display panel on the 12.9-inch model, and more.

• iPad 10 vs. iPad Air Buyer’s Guide: Is the $150 Difference Worth It?
• M1 iPad Air vs. M2 iPad Pro Buyer’s Guide

If you’re planning to get an iPad Air or another iPad, make sure to check out our iPad deals guide, where we aggregate the best prices of the month.

2022 iPad Air

Contents

1. Should You Buy an iPad Air?
2. 2022 iPad Air
3. How to Buy
4. Reviews
5. Design

• Colors

• Smart Connector

• USB-C

Display

M1 Chip

Camera

Battery Life

Other Features

• Microphones and Speakers

• Sensors

• WiFi 6 and Bluetooth Support

• 5G Connectivity

• Storage Space

Accessories

• Magic Keyboard and Trackpad Support

• Apple Pencil

What’s Next for the MacBook Air

iPad Air Timeline

Apple in March 2022 updated the iPad Air with a fifth-generation model that features an M1 chip that brings it closer in design to the iPad Pro. Priced at $599, the iPad Air is a middle-tier option between the low-cost $329 ninth-generation iPad, the $499 iPad mini, and the more expensive iPad Pro, priced starting at $799.

The iPad Air features a 10.9-inch edge-to-edge display with a 2360×1640 resolution, 3.8 million pixels, and a design that’s similar to the iPad Pro with an aluminum chassis that has flat, rounded edges that wrap around the fully laminated display. True Tone support is included for adjusting the display to match the ambient lighting, as is P3 wide color, 500 nits brightness, and 1.8 percent reflectivity. It does not feature mini-LED technology or ProMotion support.

Apple’s iPad Air was the first iPad to offer unique color options similar to iPhone colors, and the 2022 iPad Air comes in space gray, pink, purple, blue, and starlight. The iPad Air features a Touch ID sensor integrated into the top button rather than Face ID like the iPad Pro. Other than being built into the top button instead of a Home button, the Touch ID functionality is the same as other devices that feature Touch ID.

Apple’s iPad Air includes the same M1 chip that’s in the 2021 iPad Pro models. The M1 chip features an 8-core CPU and an 8-core GPU, along with 8GB RAM and a 16-core Neural Engine. The M1 chip’s CPU is up to 60 percent faster than the A14 chip in the prior-generation iPad Air, and it provides up to 2x faster graphics.

Cellular iPad Air models are now compatible with 5G networks, but Apple did not add support for the fastest mmWave 5G networks. Instead, the iPad Air is limited to the slower but more widespread Sub-6GHz 5G networks.

Though there’s no Face ID, the iPad Air includes a 12-megapixel front-facing FaceTime camera with Center Stage support along with a 12-megapixel f/1. 8 rear camera which is the same wide-angle camera used in the iPad Pro. The iPad Air includes stereo speakers in landscape mode for wider stereo sound when watching video.

Instead of a Lightning port, the iPad Air has a USB-C port for up to 10Gbps data transfer along with support for connecting cameras for downloading images, hard drives, and 4K external monitors. The iPad Air ships with a 20W USB-C adapter for charging purposes.

Like the iPad Pro, the iPad Air supports the $129 second-generation Apple Pencil and it works with the $299 Magic Keyboard with trackpad that Apple offers. It is also compatible with the Smart Keyboard Folio and Smart Folio covers.

The iPad Air became available for pre-order on Friday, March 11, with a launch following on March 18. Pricing starts at $599 for 64 GB of storage. 256GB of storage is available for $749. Base prices are for WiFi models, with Cellular models available for an additional cost.

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How to Buy

Reviews

Initial reviews of the iPad Air concluded that it remains great value for money, with performance now on par with the previous iPad Pro thanks to the M1 chip and other Pro-like features.

M1 Chip

Geekbench 5 benchmark results that surfaced earlier this week confirmed that the M1 chip is not downclocked in the new iPad Air, resulting in the device having virtually identical performance as the iPad Pro.

Nevertheless, several reviewers pointed out that iPadOS makes it challenging to take advantage of the performance capabilities.

The Verge‘s Dan Seifert:

If you’re using the iPad for things like browsing the web, reading books, watching movies or TV shows, or even light productivity, you won’t likely notice the extra performance headroom the M1 chip provides. It mostly shines when doing especially demanding tasks, like editing and exporting 4K video or managing large file transfers. The Air is capable of doing those jobs, but there are better tools available if that’s what you intend to do that don’t have the limitations of iPadOS and a relatively small screen.

5G

The iPad Air now supports 5G networks on Wi-Fi + Cellular models, but not faster mmWave 5G like the iPad Pro does.

CNET‘s Scott Stein tested 5G on the new iPad Air:

This iPad doesn’t support mmWave, just sub-6 5G. Effectively, at many times, it feels similar to LTE: Speeds at my home were around 290 megabits per second on Verizon, while in Washington Square Park in New York speeds were only around 60Mbps to 80Mbps.

Center Stage Camera

With an upgraded 12-megapixel front camera, the new iPad Air is the last iPad to gain support for Center Stage, a feature that helps keep you and anyone else with you in the frame as you move around during video calls. Center Stage is available for FaceTime calls and in supported third-party video calling apps, such as Zoom.

TechCrunch‘s Matthew Panzarino:

The front camera has gotten a 12MP upgrade too – and is definitely improved from the previous Air. Facetime gets that nice Center Stage enhancement we saw come through on the iPad Pros last year too. As I said in my review of those this is a pretty huge quality of life improvement for those who video chat a lot as the auto-crop and tracking feature mitigates the odd left hand side placement of the camera when the iPad Air is in landscape mode. The angles feel more natural and less awkward overall. The color and contrast of the video call quality is improved as well.

The 2022 iPad Air is identical to the prior-generation model, measuring in at 10.9 inches. It features an iPad Pro-like edge-to-edge display with slim bezels and an aluminum chassis with flat, rounded edges that wrap around the Retina display. Compared to the 11-inch iPad Pro, it has a slightly thicker body and thick bezels around the display.

iPad Pro left, iPad Air middle, iPad right

The iPad Air measures in at 9.74 inches long and 7 inches wide, and it is 6.1mm thick. It weighs in at one pound, and it is similar in both size and weight to the 11-inch iPad Pro.

With the all-display design, there is no Touch ID Home button, but the iPad Air also hasn’t adopted Face ID. Instead, Apple has put a Touch ID fingerprint sensor into the top power button. The fingerprint sensor in the top button scans a fingerprint like the Touch ID Home button, but it is smaller and more compact.

The Touch ID top button works just like the Touch ID Home button and it can be used to unlock the iPad, access apps, and make purchases with Apple Pay, and more. Touch ID on the iPad Air is functional in both portrait and landscape orientations.

Speakers and a microphone are located at the top of the iPad Air adjacent to the Touch ID button, while the right side features features volume up/down buttons, a nano-SIM tray on cellular models, and a magnetic space for charging the Apple Pencil.

At the back, there’s a single-lens rear camera with a microphone, and a single lens camera. Stereo speakers and a USB-C port are located at the bottom of the iPad Air.

Colors

The aluminum shell of the iPad Air is available in five colors, including space gray, pink, purple, blue, and starlight, which is a light silver/gold shade.

Smart Connector

The Smart Connector at the back of the iPad Air allows it to communicate with and power accessories like the Magic Keyboard. The Smart Connector interface is able to transfer both power and data, so accessories that connect to the iPad Air using the Smart Connector do not need to have batteries.

USB-C

Like the prior-generation iPad Air, the 2022 model continues to include a USB-C port instead of a Lightning port. With the USB-C port, the iPad Air can be connected to 4K or 5K displays, cameras (downloading images only), and other USB-C devices. The USB-C port supports 10Gbps data transfer and is able to charge an iPhone or Apple Watch with the right cable.

Display

The iPad Air is equipped with a 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display that is identical to the iPad Pro display but without 120Hz ProMotion technology for a smoother scrolling experience.

It has a resolution of 2360 by 1640 at 264 pixels per inch and 3.8 million pixels total. It has P3 wide color support for rich, true-to-life colors, an anti-reflective coating with 1.8 percent reflectivity, 500 nits maximum brightness, and True Tone support.

True Tone adjusts the white balance of the display to match the ambient lighting to make the screen easier on the eyes. If you’re in a room with yellower lighting, for example, the iPad’s display is warmer in color so there’s not a stark contrast between the color of the iPad and the lighting in the room.

M1 Chip

The 2022 iPad Air is equipped with the same M1 chip that’s in the 2020 MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac mini and iPad Pro models. The M1 features an 8-core CPU, an 8-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine, plus it supports 8GB RAM.

Apple says that the M1 chip in the iPad Air offers up to 60 percent faster CPU performance than the prior-generation iPad Air and 2x faster graphics.

Camera

Though there’s no TrueDepth camera system to support Face ID in the iPad Air, there is a 12-megapixel Ultra Wide front facing camera with a 122 degree field of view and an f/2.4 aperture. The camera supports Center Stage, designed to keep users perfectly framed on screen during video calls. With the wider field of view, the camera can zoom in as appropriate and follow people around the room as they move.

When other people join in on a call, the camera is able to detect them, and it will zoom out to fit everyone into the view. Center Stage is designed for FaceTime, but it also works with third-party video apps like Zoom and Skype.

At the rear of the iPad Air, there’s an updated single-lens f/1.8 12-megapixel Wide camera for taking photos.

The camera includes all improvements that Apple has added to its device cameras such as Live Photos with stabilization, autofocus with Focus Pixels, wide color capture, exposure control, Smart HDR, auto image stabilization, noise reduction, and more.

4K video recording is supported at 20, 30, or 60 frames per second, as is slo-mo video at 120 or 240 frames per second. The iPad Air can also record in 1080p at 30 or 60 frames per second, and it supports continuous autofocus, cinematic video stabilization, and the option to take 8-megapixel still photos when recording 4K video.

Battery Life

The iPad Air is equipped with a 28.6-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery that Apple says lasts for up to 10 hours when surfing the web on WiFi or watching video.

Cellular models last for up to nine hours when surfing the web over a cellular connection. The iPad Air can be charged using the included 20W USB-C power adapter and USB-C to USB-C cable.

Other Features

Microphones and Speakers

The iPad Air features two sets of speakers for stereo sound in landscape mode. Dual microphones are included for calls, video recording, and audio recording.

Sensors

Along with a Touch ID sensor, the iPad Air features a three-axis gyro, an accelerometer, a barometer, and an ambient light sensor for True Tone and other features.

WiFi 6 and Bluetooth Support

The 2020 iPad Air supports WiFi 6, otherwise known as 802.11ax. The updated standard offers faster speeds, improved network capacity, better power efficiency, lower latency, and upgraded connectivity when there are multiple WiFi devices in the same area.

WiFi 6 devices also support WPA3, which is a security protocol that offers improved cryptographic strength. It also supports Bluetooth 5.0.

5G Connectivity

The iPad Air includes a 5G chip that allows it to connect to 5G networks, but it does not support the fastest mmWave 5G networks and is limited to the slower but more widespread Sub-6GHz networks.

mmWave 5G networks are the fastest 5G networks, but mmWave is short-range and can be obscured by buildings, trees, and other obstacles, so its use is limited to major cities and urban areas along with venues like concerts, airports, and other places where a lot of people congregate.

Sub-6GHz 5G is much more widely available and available in urban, suburban, and rural areas across the United States and other countries.

Cellular iPad Air models are compatible with the following bands: n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n12, n20, n25, n28, n29, n30, n38, n40, n41, n48, n66, n71, n77, n78, n79.

LTE connectivity is also available and the iPad Air is compatible with FDD-LTE bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 32, 66, and 71 along with TD-LTE bands 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 46, and 48.

There are two SIM options in the iPad Air: a physical nano-SIM slot at the side of the device and an eSIM, or digital SIM, which is designed to work without the need for a physical SIM card.

The physical nano-SIM slot supports the Apple SIM that is designed to let users swap between carriers without a hassle. Many carriers in the U.S. and other countries support the Apple SIM, but for those that don’t, like Verizon, a physical SIM card is still required.

Storage Space

Apple sells the iPad Air with 64GB of storage or 256GB of storage, with no middle tier 128GB storage option available.

Accessories

Magic Keyboard and Trackpad Support

Like the iPad Pro, the iPad Air is designed to work with the Magic Keyboard that was introduced earlier in 2020. The Magic Keyboard is a folio-style case that features a full backlit keyboard and, for the first time, a trackpad.

The Magic Keyboard uses scissor mechanisms much like the keyboard of the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro. The scissor mechanism provides 1mm of travel, for what Apple says is the best typing experience ever on iPad.

The Magic Keyboard attaches to the iPad Air through a magnetic connection, and it features cantilevered hinges that allow it to work on a desk or on a lap. The hinges allow for adjustments of the viewing angle up to 130 degrees, so it can be tweaked for every usage situation. The design of the Magic Keyboard allows the iPad to “float” in the air, with the bottom part of the case tilting backward when used in keyboard mode.

When not in use, the keyboard’s folio-style design keeps the iPad Air safe, covering the front and back of the device. A USB-C port is included on the Magic Keyboard for passthrough inductive USB-C charging capabilities, leaving the iPad Air’s built-in USB-C port free for accessories like external drives and displays.

Apple Pencil

2020 iPad Air models are compatible with the second-generation Apple Pencil. Priced at $129, the Apple Pencil connects to the iPad Air using magnets, and when attached magnetically, it charges inductively. Pairing is also done through the magnetic attachment.

Gesture support is included with the second-generation Apple Pencil, and with a tap, you can change brushes or quickly switch from a brush to an eraser without having to pick up the pencil and select a new tool.

The Apple Pencil works across the iPad Air, with first and third-party apps. It features advanced palm rejection, extreme precision, and imperceptible lag for a paper-like writing experience that’s unmatched by third-party styluses.

Pressure support allows thinner and thicker lines to be drawn by increasing the amount of pressure on the iPad’s screen, and side nib detection allows for shading when the Apple Pencil is tilted.

What’s Next for the MacBook Air

Apple is working on a new version of the iPad Air to replace the current M1 version, and the new model is set to come out in 2024.

Apple iPad Air (2022) review: it’s the nice one

Much of the new iPad Air from Apple is a known quantity. The design, screen, speakers, rear camera, and fingerprint scanner are all carried over from the 2020 model. The updated front-facing camera with Apple’s Center Stage feature can be found across the entire iPad line. It’s compatible with all the same cases, keyboard, and stylus accessories as before. And the M1 chip inside the new Air is lifted right from last year’s iPad Pro and the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, and iMac.

What’s new is that you can get that combination of features in a tablet that starts at $599. That’s now the lowest price you can get access to Apple’s impressive M1 processor, undercutting even the value-driven (and screenless) Mac Mini. You also have the option of 5G for slightly faster-than-LTE cellular speeds. Oh, and there are a couple of new colors this time around, including the fetching blue of my review unit.

New processor and 5G aside, the iPad Air remains the iPad for those looking for a nicer tablet than the base model, but don’t necessarily want to spend the cost or need all the bells and whistles of the iPad Pro. It’s got a modern design, more performance than most people will know what to do with in a tablet, and an excellent screen that works equally well in portrait or landscape orientation. 

It’s not the iPad I’d recommend wholly replacing a laptop with, though it can work for certain laptop-like tasks when paired with an optional keyboard case. It’s the nicer iPad for those looking to do iPad things, like reading, watching video, playing games, taking notes, and perhaps writing the occasional email but aren’t planning on making it their only computing device.

8Verge Score

Apple iPad Air (2022)

$599

The Good

• Fast performance
• Excellent display and speakers
• Comfortable to use in both portrait and landscape
• All-day battery life

The Bad

• Base model has only 64GB of storage, getting more is a steep upcharge
• Front-facing camera is awkward in landscape orientation
• Touch ID is not as convenient as Face ID

$599 at Apple$600 at Amazon

How we rate and review products

Like the last revision, the new Air is all aluminum with flat sides, similar to current iPhone designs.

There isn’t much to say about the design of the new iPad Air that wasn’t covered in our review of the 2020 model. It’s still an all-aluminum tablet with Apple’s current design ethos of uniform bezels and flat sides. From the front, you’d be hard-pressed to tell it apart from an 11-inch iPad Pro.

The size and weight are both comfortable for tablet tasks, including sitting on the couch and reading articles or books or taking notes with the Apple Pencil, as I like to do. It’s not quite as easy to one-hand as the 8.3-inch iPad Mini, but the tradeoff is you get considerably more screen real estate. 

The Air’s 10.9-inch screen is imperceptibly smaller than the 11-inch Pro’s display, but it’s still large enough for a great movie watching experience. It does start to feel cramped when you’re using it for laptop-like work, with split screen and multitasking modes. If you’re considering trading in your 13-inch laptop for an iPad, I’d strongly recommend going with the 12.9-inch Pro model.

What you don’t get on the Air is the Pro’s ProMotion variable refresh rate display, nor do you get the 12.9-inch model’s brighter Mini LED screen. Most people won’t miss ProMotion — it can make scrolling animations smoother, but if you’re reading static text or watching video, it won’t make a difference — and it’s not worth the $200 cost to upgrade to an iPad Pro for it alone. Similarly, while it would have been great to have the Mini LED display here, the current 500 nit screen is still plenty bright enough to use the iPad Air in bright rooms or even outdoors, although if you watch a lot of movies you might miss the inky blacks offered on the larger Pro.

The Air’s 10.9-inch screen and uniform bezels make it comfortable to use in either portrait or landscape orientations.

The Air technically doesn’t have as advanced of a speaker system as the Pro, with just two speakers instead of four. But the two speakers it has are on opposite sides of the tablet (left and right in landscape, top and bottom in portrait) and are able to provide a stereo experience that is clear, loud, and great for anything I wanted to listen to on it. The Pro might win in a side-by-side comparison, but I don’t think anyone will complain about the Air’s speakers.

Like the prior model and the latest iPad Mini, the new Air doesn’t have the Pro’s Face ID facial recognition system for logins and authentication, instead using a fingerprint scanner built into the sleep / wake button. The scanner works well — it’s easy to set up and is quick to recognize my fingerprint — but it’s not nearly as convenient or seamless as just looking at the iPad and swiping on the screen, as you can do with the iPad Pro.

Touch ID is built into the Air’s sleep / wake button.

Apple didn’t bring down the Pro’s Thunderbolt 4 USB-C port to the Air this year, but it did upgrade the speed of the port to 10Gbps, or twice as fast as the 2020 models so you transfer files from external storage a bit faster or plug in to an up to 6K external display. Sadly, Apple also didn’t add back a 3.5mm headphone jack — the only iPad in the lineup with that port at this point is the base model.

The base model Air also still comes with 64GB of storage, which is starting to feel a bit stingy at its $600 price point. It doesn’t take much to fill up that amount of space, especially if you use the iPad for gaming (Genshin Impact consumes 14GB on its own, for example), and if you’re going to be keeping this iPad for multiple years as most people do, you’ll probably have to do a bit of storage management at some point. Upgrading to 256GB of storage is a steep $150, bringing the price up to $749, or dangerously close to the iPad Pro, which offers 128GB of storage at its $799 base price.

Center Stage often titled my camera, giving me a Dutch angle in video calls.

Though the rear camera remains the same single 12-megapixel unit as before (and it’s perfectly fine for scanning documents or taking quick snaps), the front camera has been upgraded to a 12-megapixel ultrawide unit with support for Apple’s self-centering Center Stage feature that is designed to keep you in frame during video calls.  

In my testing, Center Stage is hit or miss — when I have the iPad Air on my desk in a keyboard case, it would zoom in uncomfortably close to my face and tilt my camera at an angle. This happened in both FaceTime and Zoom calls in various rooms. When I picked up the iPad and walked around with it, Center Stage did a much better job keeping my face level. But since the majority of video calls I make are when I’m seated at a desk, I eventually had to turn it off. Center Stage is a neat trick, but it doesn’t make up for the placement of the front-facing camera on the side of the screen when you’re using the tablet in landscape mode, an ongoing annoyance across the iPad line.

Multitasking on an iPad is possible, but it’s not as flexible as on a Mac.

The main upgrade this year is the jump from the A14 chip in the 2020 model to the M1 chip. The M1 is Apple’s desktop-level ARM processor and offers an industry-leading blend of performance and battery efficiency when running macOS on laptops and desktops, which makes finding it in a $600 iPad pretty impressive.  

Though the A14 and M1 are very similar in terms of age and architecture, the M1 is an eight-core chip with four high-performance cores and four efficiency cores. The A14 meanwhile has two high-performance cores. Likewise, the M1’s GPU has eight total cores vs. the A14’s four. And lastly, the M1 has a slightly higher peak clock speed of 3.2GHz vs the A14’s 3.1GHz.

It’s interesting that Apple didn’t use the newer A15 chip here, as it has in the iPhone 13 line, the new iPhone SE, and last year’s iPad Mini. The A15 is built on a newer architecture and has roughly the same peak clock speed as the M1. But when you compare the M1 to the A15, the M1 still pulls ahead — it has two more high-performance cores and three more GPU cores.

The M1 chip offers more performance headroom than the newer A15, plus it’s paired with 8GB of RAM

In both the base 64GB model and the 256GB review unit I’ve got, the M1 is paired with 8GB of RAM, the same amount you’ll find in a base MacBook Air or iMac.

All of that adds up to more performance in both day-to-day work and GPU demanding tasks, such as games. It’s also the same level of performance you get in the more expensive iPad Pro line.

If you’re using the iPad for things like browsing the web, reading books, watching movies or TV shows, or even light productivity, you won’t likely notice the extra performance headroom the M1 chip provides. It mostly shines when doing especially demanding tasks, like editing and exporting 4K video or managing large file transfers. The Air is capable of doing those jobs, but there are better tools available if that’s what you intend to do that don’t have the limitations of iPadOS and a relatively small screen.

The new Air’s M1 processor gives it the same power as the iPad Pro and many current Macs.

To see if I could observe the performance gains of the M1 in tasks I like to use a tablet for, I loaded Genshin Impact, one of the most demanding mobile games, on the new Air, a 2021 iPad Mini with the A15, and an 11-inch 2020 iPad Pro with the older A12Z chip and spent a few hours playing it.

Obvious spoiler alert: the iPad Air ran the game the best, with the graphics fully cranked and at 60FPS. It was able to maintain smooth gameplay even after extended play time, though the battery took a beating, and the back of the tablet was very warm to the touch.

But the other tablets weren’t far behind. In fact, the iPad Pro with the A12Z processor was able to play the game nearly as well, enough for me to say that upgrading from that two-year-old tablet to the new Air isn’t worth it. The iPad Mini was slightly held back by its fewer GPU cores, and it wasn’t able to push the graphics as hard as the other models. But the game still ran smoothly, and I can’t say the experience was worse off because of it.

Outside of intense gaming, the M1’s presence doesn’t hurt the Air’s battery life. It’s still an all-day tablet and can last multiple days if you’re just using it occasionally for light tasks. When I worked exclusively on it for a day, it was in need of a charge after about seven hours, which is typical for a tablet of this size.

Ultimately, the main advantage of the M1’s headroom is that the Air will be fast and capable for many years and will likely be supported by Apple for a long time. If you’re buying a tablet with the intention of keeping it for five years or more, then the Air should serve you well.

The Air can now be optioned with 5G, just like the iPad Mini.

The other upgrade this year is you can now get the Air with 5G, instead of just LTE. It has the same sub-6GHz 5G as the latest iPad Mini, but it’s not able to connect to super-high-speed millimeter-wave networks like the current iPad Pro. For most people, that won’t be much of a loss, since those mmWave networks are few and far between. The cellular upgrade is still a steep $150 though, which makes a fully loaded Air with 256GB of storage and 5G a cool $899 before you add any accessories.

Speaking of accessories, the new Air is fully compatible with the same ones as the 2020 model. It can work with Apple’s pricey $299 Magic Keyboard as a small, makeshift laptop, and you can draw or write on the screen with the $129 second-generation Apple Pencil (which magnetically snaps to the side for charging). Adding those accessories quickly pushes the Air into laptop price territory, however, and I don’t think most people need all of them. I spent a couple of days using the Air to work on documents (including writing this review), and while it works, I wouldn’t trade my laptop for it.

That’s partly because while the Air is a comfortably sized tablet, it’s a downright small laptop, and it quickly feels cramped. But a big part of it is that multitasking and file management are still a lot harder in iPadOS than in macOS. I won’t belabor it here because the Air really is going to be a tablet-first experience for a lot of people, and iPadOS is still great for that use case. There are many excellent apps, it’s easy to navigate with a finger, it’s smooth and fast, and it integrates extremely well with the rest of Apple’s ecosystem. There really isn’t another tablet from other companies that can compete, and certainly not at this price point.

But I’m hoping we see some new development on iPadOS soon — it really feels like it’s been stuck in place the past couple of years.

This year’s version of the Air is compatible with all of the same accessories as the last model, including Apple’s Magic Keyboard.

A lot of people will be wondering if they should get the Air instead of an 11-inch iPad Pro, and I think the choice is easy — buy the Air. You give up the ProMotion display, Face ID, a couple of speakers, an extra rear camera with LIDAR, and the option for mmWave 5G. Of those, Face ID is the one I’d miss the most, but I don’t think it’s worth spending $200 for.

The new Air makes the 11-inch Pro a tough sell

The whole time I was using the Air for this review, it was difficult to find something that stood out about it, partly because we’ve seen so much of this before. That’s not necessarily a problem, and the flip side of that is that I was able to just use the Air for a wide variety of things without finding much to complain about. Sure, I’d rather have Face ID, and the Mini LED screen of the big iPad Pro would be great, but the absence of those things doesn’t diminish the Air’s overall experience.

What you get with the Air is the same performance, capability, portability, and operating system, plus compatibility with the same accessories. It’s a nice upgrade for someone coming from an older iPad with a home button.

Really, that’s just it. The iPad Air is the nice one.

Agree to Continue: Apple iPad Air (2022)

Every smart device now requires you to agree to a series of terms and conditions before you can use it — contracts that no one actually reads. It’s impossible for us to read and analyze every single one of these agreements. But we’re going to start counting exactly how many times you have to hit “agree” to use devices when we review them since these are agreements most people don’t read and definitely can’t negotiate.

To use an iPad Air (2022), you have to agree to:

• The iOS terms of service agreement, which includes Apple’s warranty agreement and the Game Center terms and conditions. You can have it sent to you by email.  

This agreement is nonnegotiable, and you cannot use the tablet at all if you don’t agree to them.

Apple further gives you the option to agree to:

• Sending data to Apple to improve Siri dictation
• Share app analytics with developers

The iPad also prompts you to set up Apple Cash and Apple Pay at setup, which further means you have to agree to:

• The Apple Cash agreement, which specifies that services are actually provided by Green Dot Bank and Apple Payments, Inc, and further consists of the following agreements:
• The Apple Cash terms and conditions
• The electronic communications agreement
• The Green Dot bank privacy policy
• Direct payments terms and conditions
• Direct payments privacy notice
• Apple Payments, Inc, license

If you add a credit card to Apple Pay, you have to agree to:

• The terms from your credit card provider, which do not have an option to be emailed

Final tally: one mandatory agreement, two optional data sharing agreements, six optional agreements for Apple Cash, one optional agreement for Apple Pay

Correction, March 16th, 9:25AM: An earlier version of this article stated the second-generation Apple Pencil is $99. It is in fact $129. We regret the error.

Related:

Repair of Apple iPad Air in Moscow! iPad Air tablet service repair at an affordable price from X-Repair!

No image	4500
iPad Air glass replacement (front glass broken, sensor not working)	3500
Frequent breakdowns of iPad Air
does not turn on (no response to pressing the Power key)	from 1200
runs out of power quickly (battery lasts less than 12 hours)	from 1200
iPad Air does not charge (when the charger is connected, there is no charge indication, or there is an indication, but the tablet does not charge)	from 1200
no network (no network indication)	from 1200
polyphonic speaker 9 not working0007 (can’t hear alarm, incoming call, music player)	from 1200
the sensor on the iPad Air does not work (partially or completely there is no reaction to touching the touch panel)	from 1300
the camera does not work (when the camera is turned on, the screen is dark, the camera is cloudy, when photographing a spot on the photo)	from 1200
forgot password on iPad Air (when entering the password, the tablet will not unlock)	800
iPad Air cable replacement
loop with power button (no reaction when pressing the power key, or it works, but not the first time. )	2500
Home button flex cable (Home key spontaneous operation, no response when pressing the Home key)	2500
iPad Air charging cable (no indication of charge when charger is connected)	3000
Replacement for other parts of iPad Air
battery	3000
iPad Air camera replacement	2800
polyphonic speaker (no alarm, incoming call, music player)	2500
iPad Air Case Replacement
back cover replacement for iPad Air (mechanical damage, chips, scratches on the back of the case)	5000
iPad Air Chip Replacement
iPad Air power controller replacement (incorrect charge indication, does not turn on, does not boot, heats up, discharges quickly)0008	5000
WiFi module (does not find or connect to wi-fi networks)	4000
iPad Air sound controller	4500

*Prices for all types of repairs are shown in the table above, excluding the cost of spare parts!

Send a request for repair

iPad Air repair in Moscow

Apple engineers upgraded iPad Air with iOS 7. 0. For computing processes, a dual-core A7 processor with a 64-bit architecture with a frequency of 1.4 GHz and an Imagination Technologies GPU are used. An accelerometer, an electronic compass and a gyroscope work on a separate M7 coprocessor. The iPad Air has a 9.7-inch high-resolution IPS Retina display that has become the benchmark for quality. iPad Air is packaged in a slim yet durable aluminum unibody with a Lightning port and added two speakers for stereo sound.

iPad Air malfunctions, the repair of which is best left to professionals

Users of even such reliable equipment as Apple’s sometimes encounter various device malfunctions. Typical for a tablet are: a broken screen, damaged contacts after moisture got inside, damage to the case. If there is a problem with the device, iPad Air repair should not be postponed. Also, try to repair the device yourself, it is better to entrust the iPad Air to X-Repair professionals, who can easily cope with the replacement of the Home button cable, quickly restore the firmware, replace the Wi-Fi antenna, repair the motherboard and carry out a number of other repairs at an affordable price. .

iPad Air Home button not working

Quite often it happens that the iPad Air Home button fails. This is mainly due to excessive mechanical stress on the button or due to wear of spare parts. Also, a non-working Home button may signal the incorrect functioning of the lower or upper loop. Specialists of the X-Repair service center will identify the cause of the breakdown and repair the iPad Air as soon as possible.

iPad Air screen damage

If the touchscreen is chipped or cracked, the iPad Air screen needs to be replaced. There are image distortions, stripes and spots on the display and the touchscreen no longer responds to touch – in such cases, device diagnostics are required, which the employees of the X-Repair service center will carry out for free.

Moisture intrusion

Water or other liquids entering the iPad Air can damage the system board components, resulting in oxidative processes in the device and causing irreparable damage to iPad Air. In this case, you must urgently contact the specialists of the X-Repair service center to diagnose and repair the iPad Air.

View repair prices

Where to order iPad Air repair

Services for prompt and high-quality repairs at an affordable price are provided by the X-Repair service center. The network of our branches is located throughout Moscow not far from metro stations. Our staff with more than 10 years of experience will quickly identify the causes of problems and make quality repairs to your device.

BagrationovskayaArbatskayaSukharevskayaShosse EntuziastovTaganskayaProletarskaya

You can learn more about the main breakdowns of the iPad Air using the links below:

Replacement of glass (display) on the iPad Air
Replacement of the battery on the iPad Air

Apple iPad Air 5 (2022) price in Rostov-on-Don

Official warranty from Apple

Protective glass as a gift

We will help you activate and set up

We are located in the city center

Free delivery from 30 minutes

Fifth generation iPad Air kit.

We bring to your attention a brief review of the iPad Air 5 (2022) of more modern technology and on the new M1 technical processor.

Let’s start with the package.

It comes to us in a branded package, with the Apple logo and in the following configuration – the iPad Air 5 itself and a 20-watt charger with a USB-C cable.

The difference from the supply of tablets of previous models is the feature of the charger, it is designed for a foreign user as its plug has three elements for connecting to a socket, while these elements are collapsible.

But this issue is easily solved, for this you just need to purchase an adapter and that’s it – the problem is solved.

Also available to connect external devices and accessories, 4K monitor support.

iPad Air 5 (2022) design changes.

As for the design of the fifth generation tablet, there are no special changes, except for the color scheme – it is still available in 5 colors, while the previous, fourth iPad Air 2020 model had these:

• Sky Blue,
• Green,
• Rose Gold,
• Silver,
• Space Grey,

now iPad Air 5 (2022) has new body color options:

• Space Gray,
• Starlight,
• Pink,
• Blue,
• Purple.

The iPad Air 5 continues to be a recycled aluminum box with flattened sides.

It is practically not easily soiled.

Its thickness is 6.1 mm, and the horizontal and vertical sides have the corresponding dimensions of 247.6 mm by 178.5 mm.

The tablet is light in weight, only 460 grams.

Attaches a 2nd generation Apple Pencil via magnets on the right edge in the center of the tablet and a magnetic Smart Connector on the back to connect a Magic Keyboard or Smart Keyboard Folio – sold separately.

Available wireless interface for connecting to a WI-Fi network, support for 5G networks.

The home button has a built-in Touch ID scanner, with accurate fingerprint reading.

Two quality stereo speakers provide two-channel acoustic sound.

No audio jack or USB adapter.

Includes a USB Type-C port for those who prefer headphones.

Above the surface of the tablet, in the right corner, rises the main camera, without an additional flash.

The screen has thin bezels all around the iPad.

Camera specifications and design.

Only the front sensor of the iPad Air 5 (2022) has been changed. Now it’s a 12MP lens with f/2.4 aperture, 122-degree field of view, and feature support in the center
attention.

This technology – Center Stage, allows the camera to track your movement and keep you constantly in the center of the frame, which is very important when taking video calls and taking selfies.

The 12 MP main camera with f/1.8 aperture, located on the back of the iPad Air 5 (2022), has retained its previous characteristics and allows you to take high-quality pictures with an emphasis on the smallest details, regardless of the degree of illumination.

Macro and micro photography are excellent.

Guaranteed excellent results with 4K video at 60 frames per second.

Both cameras have Smart HDR 3. Full HD video recording is possible.

Display performance, sound and safety.

The display of the iPad Air 5 (2022) is IPS Liquid Retina, it is the same, without backlight and has a diagonal of 10.9 inches, with thin bezels around the display, with a brightness increased by 500 nits and support for the well-known Tru Tone technology – when in There is a direct relationship between the temperature of the display screen and its illumination, which affect the correction of the white balance and maximum comfort for the eyes.

The maximum screen refresh rate is 60 Hz.

Content is sounded by two speakers, creating the effect of high-quality stereo sound. Dual microphones are used to make calls.

The iPad Air 5 is secured using a fingerprint reader via the Touch ID sensor. It works quickly, but it is not convenient for everyone, many prefer the Face ID face scanning system.

Performance new M1 chip for iPad Air 5.

iPad Air 5 is powered by a new M1 processor that runs at maximum speed throughout the day.

It has 8 GB of RAM and 64 to 256 GB of RAM.

The increase in RAM made it possible to increase the speed of simultaneous downloading of several files, to reduce the process of slowing down the gadget.

iPad Air 5 (2022) new 8-core GPU and 16-core Neural Engine, running iPad OS 14.5.

Thanks to this configuration:

• tablet graphics are 2 times faster than iPad Air 4, performance is 60 percent higher,
• increased smoothness and speed of performing technical tasks,
• improved the quality of photo video images.

The bandwidth of the USB-C port has doubled, now data transfer is carried out at speeds up to 10 Gbps.

Silent, passive cooling system available.

iPad Air 5 is an average price segment of gadgets.

iPad air 5 is a high quality and productive gadget at the most affordable and reasonable prices.

You can personally buy it in our Apple-Rostov61 store in Rostov-on-Don.

We have any gadget configuration in the color you need.