“The iPad Air 4 is the iPad Pro for the masses. It's perfectly located to deliver an exceptional tablet experience without stepping into the territory of high-end laptop prices. "
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Excellent hardware design
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Strong battery life and USB-C
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Wonderful display
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Pro-level performance
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Magic keyboard support
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Fast fingerprint sensor
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Base 64 GB memory
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Expensive upsell to 256 GB
At first glance, the new iPad Air (4th generation) looks like a perfect Goldilocks iPad. Compared to the basic iPad, it offers dramatically better specifications, a completely new design, a much better display and twice as much basic memory. At the same time, it's $ 200 cheaper than the 11-inch iPad Pro, but it looks and feels almost identical. For all practical purposes, it delivers the same core experience, including support for Apple Pencil 2 and Magic Keyboard.
Is the new $ 599 iPad Air the tablet? In fact, it is perhaps the best value you can get in an iPad today.
Hardware, design and display
Apple has done an exceptional job with the design of the latest iPad pros, so I'm not the least bit annoyed that the iPad Air is a copy. The metal case is perfectly flat on the back – apart from the unevenness of the camera – and bumps up against flat sides. It just feels fresh and modern compared to the old curvy style – especially now that it matches the design of the iPhone 12. It's also available in a wider range of colors that are far more playful than any previous iPad. While most people prefer a dull color like my Space Gray model, you can go bright if you want to express your personality a little. (The iPad Pro is initially in gray and silver.)
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It is reasonable to think that design is difficult for you, but it is not. The transitions from back to side are nice and smooth, and the corners have a large radius. So it's very convenient whether you support it with just one hand or hold it in landscape orientation with two. And with its extremely light 1 pound weight evenly distributed, it definitely deserves its nickname "Air".
Since face recognition is missing in the Pro, a Touch ID fingerprint sensor is integrated in the power switch. It's well positioned to use with your right index finger when holding it vertically and your left index finger when holding it horizontally. And the initial setup process makes it clear that you need to teach it both ways. After this quick tutorial, the sensor was quick and accurate. While it might not be as seamless as Face ID, it is a perfectly usable method of authentication – and it no longer requires a large screen bezel embedded in the home button.
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The 10.9 inch display is just wonderful. There's just enough bezel for easy thumb grabbing when needed, but it's not so big that it feels chunky. It's not the same display as the iPad Pro, but to most people it looks like it could be. It has the same pixel density, extremely low reflectivity, wide color gamut, and True Tone color matching. It's not that bright technically, but I've never had any problems seeing the screen indoors or outdoors. The fact that it is a laminated display and has incredibly low reflectivity means that you can easily use it even in direct sunlight.
The hardware is perfect and the display is just wonderful.
The only flaw, if you could call it that, that I found is a bit of a white-pink color shift when viewing the screen a little off-axis, which really only comes into play when someone sitting next to you does too tablet looks at the screen. You can also point out that this display only has a refresh rate of 60Hz, not the dynamic 120Hz pro motion of the iPad Pro. If you're used to an iPad Pro, you'll find that if you're used to a different iPad, you'll never complain because iPadOS is so fluid that it really helps make up the difference.
Another pro-level feature of the Air is its speakers. You get an equal-sized pair of speakers that are split on the sides (in landscape mode) for balanced sound that can get incredibly loud. The placement makes it nearly impossible to block out all of the sound, and the 50/50 split makes it much more immersive for video watching.
Whether it was just an easy way out or a stroke of genius, making the iPad Air compatible with existing iPad Pro keyboard accessories is a huge benefit. That means the existing $ 179 keyboard folio (which, by the way, is nicer than the one for the basic iPad) and the absurdly expensive, but absolutely amazing $ 299 Magic Keyboard work with the air. If the Air had a specific design, it would likely just get stuck with a folio and not get its own version of the Magic keyboard.
The iPad Air almost requires a keyboard – and that will get you at least $ 170.
I picked a regular folio with my Air because I think it's absurd to spend $ 300 on a keyboard for a $ 600 iPad. But I can easily make the argument that you can justify this high price tag by saving $ 200 if you can't get the iPad Pro. And if you want to use iPad Air for a semblance of work or computer-like tasks, you absolutely need a keyboard. The keyboard folio definitely does the job and I can type on it very quickly, but I wish one of the two angles was shallower. It also has the same problem as all keyboard iPads (without the Magic Keyboard) in that it can be a bit shaky when you actually use it on your lap. This is just part of trying to turn an iPad into a laptop-level productivity machine.
Another slightly cumbersome part of this horizontal first-time use is the front-facing camera, which is on the left side when docked to the keyboard. The 7 mega-pixel sensor is fine and does the job for video calling at 1080p resolution. However, if you put it on the left so it looks like you're not paying attention, it always feels weird compared to a laptop.
Software, features and battery life
We all know the details of iPadOS 14 at this point. Coming from another iPad will make you feel at home in the air. With that big screen and added power, you'll want to refresh your knowledge of the myriad of multitasking gestures on iPadOS. Without knowing how to open split view and pan around to manage multiple windows, or use the gestures to quickly switch apps and pull up the dock without going home, you're missing out on the power of this computer. While iPadOS continues to struggle with convergence, there is no real benefit to learning all of its features. Once you do, you'll be amazed at how much you can do.
Andrew Martonik / Digital Trends Andrew Martonik / Digital Trends
You can certainly achieve a lot in the air thanks to the A14 Bionic chip shared with the iPhone 12. It is technically faster for single-core performance than the A12Z in the iPad Pro, but also technically a bit behind for multi-core performance. Regardless, you wouldn't know the difference – the iPad Air flies through any task. You really only run into a limitation when using an intense graphical app and scrolling through Slide Over apps – but that's just a subtle delay. This is likely because the Air only has 4GB of RAM (storage) and the 6GB of the iPad Pro.
Apple is playing a big game with the multi-camera array and LiDAR sensor on the iPad Pro, but for most people, the simple 12-megapixel single camera in the air is more than enough for the occasional snapshot. Despite the hope that the high-end cameras and depth sensing would make the iPad Pro a revolutionary AR device for gaming and interior design, it just isn't. The vast majority of people will be happy that the Air has a smaller camera curvature and the price is lower.
The only spec that actually holds the iPad Air back is its storage, which is a meager 64GB in the base model. And there's only one upgrade option: 256GB for an additional $ 150. An upsell to more storage that is 25% off the base price is really tough, especially when you look at the easy storage upgrade for something like the iPhone 12, which is only $ 50 from 64GB to 128GB.
That being said, after two weeks I'm only using 22GB of my 64GB model, but maybe I'm not the heaviest iPad user as it is a secondary device to my MacBook Pro. However, if you want to use an iPad Air like most professionals would, loading huge "Pro" apps and loads of media content, that storage can quickly go away. Alternatively, you could really lean into iCloud – that $ 150 upsell fee could cover a 200GB storage plan for more than four years.
There's more than enough power here, and battery life continues to be a strong part of the iPad.
The main advantage of using an iPad over a similarly priced laptop is the battery. IPad Air can easily handle the heaviest workday, with more than 6 hours of on time and no battery degradation measures, and there's still plenty of battery left over. Simple tasks like streaming videos or surfing barely touch the battery, and iPadOS continues to be fantastic at using very little power when not in active use. Given that very few users use the Air as their sole computing device, there is no doubt that it can be part of your device usage every day and is chargeable for several days.
And gosh – I'm way too excited about this, but I don't care – the iPad Air now charges via USB-C! Yes, now I can charge my Air with the exact same cable and charger that I use with my MacBook and Android phones. Yes, I have an iPhone, so there are Lightning cables, but my apartment is littered with USB-C cables of all lengths and types, and charging my iPad is a breeze. It also has the nudge effect of being able to charge phones from the iPad, which is really nice in a pinch.
For your high price of $ 599, you also get a 20-watt USB-C charging brick in the box, as well as a nice (albeit short) USB-C cable. But I doubt I'll ever touch her.
Our opinion
The basic iPad is a tablet that you buy as a device – something you need, but you're not excited about. The new iPad Air is a tablet that you buy as a desirable tool – you want it and will strive to get the most of its features when it arrives. And it has to chop to deal with a whole lot of what you're going to throw at it.
The hardware is superb, as is the display, and nothing about the design or the feel in your hands makes you think for a second that you saved $ 200 on an iPad Pro. Apple has perfectly tailored the parts of the iPad Pro that most people don't care about and kept everything else that makes it great, including support for Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard. Pair it with a keyboard and learn about the quirks of iPadOS, and you can even turn it into a pretty powerful laptop replacement – as long as you know the limitations in the software, well beyond the ultra-capacitive specs.
The only downside for the air is the pricing if you don't need a keyboard and want to push the limits of the A14 Bionic. If this is just a tablet for media consumption and the casual browsing, then $ 599 is a steep price and you will lose the extra features of this hardware for you. But just knowing that you can do a lot more could be enough to spend the money and get this best all-around iPad model.
Are there any better alternatives?
There are only two alternatives to the iPad Air, and only one is a reasonable comparison. You can spend $ 429 on an 8th generation iPad with 128GB of storage, but honestly it's not a real competitor. The base iPad is a fine tablet for a lot of uses, but it's not in the same league in terms of performance or display quality and by no means exudes the feeling of being high-end in the manner of the iPad Air and doing Pro. It's also not compatible with Apple Pencil 2 or Magic Keyboard.
The real decision here is between the iPad Air and 11-inch iPad Pro starting at $ 799. For this money you get 128 GB of storage space as well as Face ID, a 120 Hz ProMotion display and additional cameras. Otherwise, the experience isn't that much different at the core functions and basics of what most people use the iPad for. Just like buying an iPhone 12 Pro or MacBook Pro, you're spending quite a bit more to get that last bit of extra power, performance, and features over the base model.
How long it will take?
One of the great advantages of purchasing an iPad of any tier is the great long term software support it provides. Expect iPad Air to get five more versions of iPadOS if you want to hang on to it that long. And even better, the iPad Air's incredibly powerful A14 chipset will keep these future iPadOS versions running smoothly.
Should you buy it?
Yes. If you've got your eye on an iPad Pro but don't want to spend that much money, the iPad Air is a great place to land. You'll get the most of your experience with an 11-inch iPad Pro, but you'll save a considerable amount of money.
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