iPad Air (M3) review: Only slightly better, but still the best

The iPad Air has consistently been the best choice for most users, and this remains true of the new version, which offers the best balance of price and features among Apple’s tablets. Thanks to its new M3 chip, it has become significantly more powerful than the previous M2 model. However, this is otherwise quite a minor update.

Surely you would expect a new iPad to boast the very latest chip (the M4 is currently available on the iPad Pro), a new design and some cool new features? Regardless of expectations, the iPad Air has remained visually unchanged for three years; this one looks exactly the same as the models from last year and 2022. Apple hasn’t even given the Air any new colors for 2025.

The iPad Pro, by contrast, was given a more innovative, thinner design last year, higher performance and an impressive OLED display. The Pro models bring in the most money, which might suggest deliberate neglect of the Air models. Still, the iPad Air could be back next year with a new design. For now, let’s see if the new M3 Air is the right tablet for you.

Design and build quality: Superb

The iPad Air is an elegant device with first-class workmanship. The tried-and-tested aluminum frame makes the tablet solid and attractive, and iPads can generally be relied upon to remain presentable even after several years of intensive use.

Externally, you won’t notice any difference from the previous model. Even the dimensions are exactly the same, down to a tenth of a millimeter; only the weight of the 11-inch model has fallen by 2g.

The color options are again Space Gray, Starlight, blue, and purple. The colors are significantly less gaudy than those of the 11th-gen iPad and struck us as very subtle: even blue and purple look “grown-up” and the Starlight finish is barely distinguishable from silver.

The 11-inch model in particular feels light and sturdy at the same time. With a weight of 460g, this can be used with one hand, while the 13-inch model is significantly heavier at 616g. However, even the large model is just half the weight of a MacBook Air.

Benefits of the M3 chip

The most important new feature of the iPad Air is the M3 chip, but you shouldn’t expect too much. On its website, Apple promises a significant increase in performance. The new Air, it says, is “nearly 2x faster than the iPad Air with M1 chip.” That’s not wrong, but it’s also a little misleading; the M1 model came out back in spring 2022. The comparison with the M2 model from last year, by contrast, is less flattering: in our tests the performance leap was rarely noticeable in everyday use. So we should think of this as a small refresh for the iPad Air, a kind of “speed bump.”

For a proper speed boost, Apple would have needed to install the M4, and it’s pretty obvious why the company didn’t. The performance gap between the Air and the expensive top model has to be maintained.

Still, while it doesn’t represent a startling improvement on the M2, don’t entirely write off the benefits of the new chip. Not only does it have a higher clock rate, it also offers new features such as support for hardware ray tracing–an important consideration for certain high-end games. The new media engine of the M3 supports higher resolutions and can now play HEVC videos up to 8K and H264 videos up to 4K, as well as using the ProRes and ProRES RAW formats. AV1 decoding is also supported, which could be very useful if you want to edit videos on the iPad.

Performance: Moderate improvements

The iPad doesn’t feature the same M3 chip that Apple used in the MacBook Air, and which was available in two versions (8-core CPU and 8-core GPU, and 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU). Instead, the iPad Air gets a third version of the M3 with an 8-core CPU and a 9-core GPU. Graphics performance therefore sits between the two earlier versions.

The M3 brings a solid performance leap in single-core performance, since the M3 chip is clocked significantly higher than the M2. In the Geekbench 6 benchmark the M3 iPad scored 3,019 points to the M2 iPad’s 2,584 points. That’s almost 15 per cent more performance, which is available for tasks such as web surfing or Apple Intelligence.

In the multi-core test, the M3 scored 11,749 points to the M2’s 10,074, an improvement of around 17 percent. This higher multiprocessor performance is helpful for more complex apps, such as image and video editing.

But when it comes to GPU performance the new chip offers far less improvement. In the 3D Mark Wildlife Extreme test, the M2 scored 6,443 points and the M3 managed just three points more at 6,446. In the Geekbench GPU test, things were a little better, at 46,007 points vs 41,902, but still below a 10 percent increase.

However, the performance remains excellent in comparison with other iPads. The iPad (A16), which was launched at the same time, is less than half as quick in terms of graphics performance and scored just 20,123 points in Geekbench’s graphics benchmark.

We also test how long a CPU can sustain top performance. (Performance levels often drop rapidly when the device heats up, as iPads have to cope without a fan.) According to our APSI test running 20 minutes of full load, the Air’s throttling remains within acceptable limits at 86.57 percent. Note that the new iPad Pro is better at 90.62 percent, and the 11th-gen iPad, with its far less powerful A16 CPU, heats up even less and performs even better with 93.94 percent.

The Air supports the fast new Wi-Fi 6E standard, whereas the iPad A16 still has to make do with Wi-Fi 6. If you pay extra for cellular connectivity, which adds $150 to the price, then you can enjoy 5G support via eSIM.

Storage performance: Nowhere near the iPad Pro

The M3 gets the headlines, but don’t underestimate the importance of the iPad’s internal SSD when it comes to performance. Our 1TB model in the test delivered what we’d regard as adequate performance, achieving 1,646 MB/s when reading and 1,380 MB/s when writing. But this doesn’t come close to the performance of an iPad Pro M4, where we measured 3,362 MB/s and 2,017 MB/s for reading and writing respectively.

It’s also possible to connect an external SSD via USB-C. As an experiment, we transferred some large video files between the iPad Air and a Lacie Thunderbolt SSD. We saw speeds of up to 700 MB/s via the Files app, which puts the Air somewhere in the iPad midfield: the 11th-gen iPad managed only 37 MB/s in the same test, but the iPad Pro M4 achieved 2,200 MB/s.

Display: Lacking some Pro features

As usual, the biggest difference between the iPad, iPad Air and iPad Pro product lines is the screen. With the iPad Air, you get a good 11- or 13-inch panel with IPS technology, which is still common among tablets and laptops. The resolution is 2360 x 1640 pixels (11 inches) or 2732 x 2048 (13 inches).

At 600 nits, the 13-inch model is brighter than the 11-inch model, which only reaches a maximum of 500 nits. However, both displays are bright enough to work with outdoors. Compared to the cheaper 11th-gen iPad, the display scores points with a useful anti-glare coating, which means it reflects significantly less than the basic iPad.

More advanced technologies such as OLED (and previously mini-LED) are unfortunately reserved for the Pro models, which support HDR content better as a result. An OLED display can also be considerably more frugal in terms of battery consumption. In addition to the sRGB color standard, the iPad Air supports the larger P3 color space, which is primarily used in the video sector.

A matte display is only available as an option for the iPad Pro, and ProMotion is a Pro exclusive too. Gamers would certainly appreciate a faster display, but will have to make do with 60Hz on the Air. For most users, however, the lack of ProMotion is not a big deal.

Size: Should you get the 11-inch or 13-inch model?

For a long time, if you wanted a big 13-inch screen, you had to go for the iPad Pro. But since last year, the Air has also been available with a 13-inch screen too, and buyers are spoilt for choice.

Ultimately, every buyer has to decide for themselves which form factor is better for them. Bigger doesn’t always mean better: the 11-inch model is easier to handle, especially if you’re using it on the move. It’s also significantly lighter.

In my opinion, there are two main arguments in favour of the 13-inch Air. If you often use the device with an external keyboard, you’ll probably be more productive with the larger model. Managing several apps with Split View or Stage Manager is also more practical at this size.

In my opinion, Stage Manager only really makes sense with these larger displays. On a 13-inch model, a single Safari window in full-screen mode is simply too large. With Stage Manager, you can have several apps open and work with Word, Mail, and Safari at the same time, just like on a Mac.

In addition, an iPad with a 13-inch display is ideal as an external Mac display. If you use a small iMac as your main device, you can integrate the iPad as an additional display if required. While an 11-inch iPad is a little too small for this role, a 13-incher is really useful. My take is that the 11-inch model is better for consumption, and the 13-inch model is better for work.

Battery life: Solid

Battery life has hardly changed compared to the previous model. According to Coconut Battery, the battery of our (13-inch) test unit had a capacity of 9782 mAh, and this offers enough power for a day of office work and web surfing. Apple promises up to 10 hours of web browsing over Wi-Fi or video playback, but bear in mind that the company bases that figure on testing with a screen brightness of just 50 percent. In our tests we use maximum brightness, which is a lot more demanding.

In our video test, where we let a current movie run in a continuous loop, the 13-inch Air lasted six and a half hours, which is a good result. In our second test, where a website is called up at rapid intervals, the Air lasted almost eight hours. This is all fine, but the unflattering comparison with the iPad Pro illustrates the drawbacks of an IPS screen: thanks to its efficient OLED display, the iPad Pro M4 lasted three hours longer in the surfing test and twice as long in the video test.

The M3 chip can consume a lot of battery power when it’s at maximum load, for example when gaming or using 3D apps. This is a clear difference from iPads with a slow CPU such as the 10th-gen iPad. Having a slow CPU has plenty of drawbacks, but it reduces battery consumption.

Keyboards, cases, and other accessories

Apple has introduced a new keyboard alongside the new iPad Air, and this has led to a somewhat confusing range of accessories to choose from.

Apple still sells a version of the Magic Keyboard for the iPad Air M2 (from $299 for the 11-inch version), in either black or white. But now there’s a new Magic Keyboard for the iPad Air M3, which is only available in white. The price for the 11-inch version is $269/£269, while the 13-inch version costs $319/£299.

Apple has improved the keyboard compared to the previous version in a number of ways. For example, there’s a set of function keys, while the trackpad is larger. And it’s important to note that, rather confusingly and contrary to what its branding might suggest, this new accessory is compatible with the iPad Air M2 (and indeed the 4th- and 5th-gen Airs) as well as the iPad Air M3.

However, there are a few compromises compared with the iPad Pro’s Magic Keyboard; only the Pro version offers a glass trackpad and backlit buttons. It’s rather annoying that if you ever switch from the iPad Air to the iPad Pro, you’ll also have to factor in the (not inconsiderable) cost of a new keyboard if you want to get the full benefit of the upgrade.

There are no new Smart Folios, but Apple has dropped their prices. Most third-party cases for the previous iPad Air models will also be suitable for the new model, such as the Logitech Combo Touch.

Finally, like its predecessor, the iPad supports both the USB-C Apple Pencil and the more advanced Pencil Pro. Older Pencils can no longer be used.

External display: A handy option

The M3 Air offers support for an external display with a resolution of up to 6K at 60Hz, compared to a maximum of 4K on the 11th-gen iPad.

Don’t underestimate the value of this option. If you connect your iPad to an external display via USB-C with a mouse and keyboard connected, the Stage Manager display option is automatically activated. You can then also use the mouse and keyboard and more efficiently edit long texts or videos.

Photo and video: Better at video chats than stills photography

The iPad isn’t an obvious choice as a photographic companion, but the new Air, as usual, is equipped with cameras on the front and back. These don’t compare with current iPhone cameras, especially when taking photos indoors: images quickly become noisy. And unfortunately you have to do without a flash, which would have been useful when taking photos of documents.

The front-facing camera is positioned on the long edge as has become standard practice for Apple, which is the ideal position for video conferencing. Plus the Center Stage feature allows you to choose between auto-zoom or a wide-angle image. The Air is well equipped for video chats.

Video recordings with the main camera are still possible at up to 4K and 60fps, and the Air gets video image stabilisation.

Finally, here’s one area where the Air outperforms the iPad Pro: its rear camera module barely protrudes, which is more practical in everyday use.

Audio setup: Impressive quality

I was impressed by the sound quality of the two speakers located on the sides, which remains strong even at higher volumes. This is not only useful for music and videos, but also for presentations and video calls. In most situations there’s no need to add external Bluetooth speakers.

Two integrated microphones ensure good recording quality during video conferences. The iPad Pro offers even better sound quality thanks to its four speakers and five microphones, but the Air is already at a high level in this area.

Summary: The sweet spot

Overall, the iPad Air is convincing. The iPad Pro is even better, but far too expensive. The iPad A16, on the other hand, is significantly slower and has a poorer display. This feels like a sweet spot.

For most users, in fact, the iPad Air is the ideal choice: fast, ergonomic, and equipped with a good display. Our only caveat is that there’s hardly any reason to buy this model rather than the cheaper previous model with an M2 chip, which is barely less powerful; what’s more, there are some excellent deals out there. The M2 Air is, therefore my personal recommendation. Whether you choose the 11- or 13-inch model is up to you.

Tech specs

iPad Air (M3, 2025)	11 inches	13 inches
Price (base model, Wi-Fi)	$599	$799
Price (base model, cellular)	$749	$949
Display	11-inch Liquid Retina	13-inch Liquid Retina
Resolution	2360 x 1640, 264ppi	2732 x 2048, 264ppi
Display technology	LED, fully laminated, anti-reflective coating	LED, fully laminated, anti-reflective coating
Color space	Wide color gamut (P3), True Tone	Wide color gamut (P3), True Tone
Brightness	500 nits	600 nits
Chip	Apple M3	Apple M3
CPU	8-core CPU: 4 performance and 4 efficiency	8-core CPU: 4 performance and 4 efficiency
Graphics	9-core GPU	9-core GPU
Neural Engine	16-core	16-core
Media Engine	Hardware accelerated H.264 and HEVC, AV1 decoding	Hardware accelerated H.264 and HEVC, AV1 decoding
Memory	8GB	8GB
Storage capacity	128GB/256GB/512GB/1TB	128GB/256GB/512GB/1TB
Cameras	12MP wide-angle, f/1.8	12MP wide angle, f/1.8
Front camera	12MP landscape format, Center Stage, f/2.0	12MP landscape format, Center Stage, f/2.0
Speaker, microphone	Stereo speakers in landscape format, 2 microphones	Stereo speakers in landscape format, 2 microphones
Sensors	Touch ID in the power button	Touch ID in the power button
Connections	USB 3 (up to 10 Gbit/s), Smart Connector	USB 3 (up to 10 Gbit/s), Smart Connector
Pencil (optional)	Apple Pencil Pro, Apple Pencil (USB-C)	Apple Pencil Pro, Apple Pencil (USB-C)
Wi-Fi	WLAN 6E (802.11ax) with 2×2 MIMO	Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) with 2×2 MIMO
Bluetooth	5.3	5.3
Mobile data	5G/LTE/UMTS/HSDPA	5G/LTE/UMTS/HSDPA
SIM card	eSIM	eSIM
Colors	Space Gray, Starlight, purple, blue	Space Gray, Starlight, purple, blue
Battery	Lithium polymer, 28.93 Wh	Lithium polymer, 36.59 Wh
Surfing Wi-Fi	10 hours	10 hours
Mobile surfing	9 hours	9 hours
Dimensions (W/H/D)	178.5 x 247.6 x 6.1mm	214.9 x 280.6 x 6.1mm
Weight	460g (Wi-Fi); 460g (cellular)	616g (Wi-Fi); 617g (cellular)

Author: Stephan Wiesend, Contributor, Macworld