The newest iPad Air may be an iterative upgrade on paper, but several new features make it still the tablet most people should buy.
With a portable feel and increased base storage, the versatile iPad Air (2024) balances performance and price. It’s powerful enough for most tablet-based use cases like multi-app browsing, watching movies and TV shows, and taking video calls while costing hundreds of dollars less than the Pro model and other flagship Android tablets.
That said, while this iPad Air certainly doesn’t outperform the iPad Pro — it shouldn’t — it doesn’t significantly outshine the previous Air model or other cheaper iPads. But if you want a lightweight, big-screen iPad with most of the Apple fix-ins, this year’s model may be the most reasonable option for consumers.
iPad Air 11-inch iPad Air 13-inch
Starting price $599 $799
Display Liquid retina display Liquid retina display
Weight 462 grams (16.3 oz) 617 grams (21.8 oz)
Processor Apple M2 chip Apple M2 chip
RAM 8GB 8GB
Storage 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB
Battery Up to 10 hrs, Li-Po 28.93Wh Up to 10 hrs, Li-Po 36.59Wh
Camera Main 12MP | Front 12MP Main 12MP | Front 12MP
I’ve been testing the iPad Air daily for the past week and a half, using various productivity apps to write and work, browsing, playing games, and more. Benchmark testing included performance comparisons with an older iPad (8th generation) and the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra. My review unit is the 11-inch model, though Apple also sells a larger 13-inch size this year. It helps that Apple kept the specifications across both configurations mostly the same, including the processor, RAM and storage, rated battery life, and cameras.
Doubling the storage for the base model is enough to make some buyers add the new iPad Air to their shopping carts.
