You can now buy a massive iPad that isn’t a Pro, and that’s cause for celebration around these AV-obsessed parts. We’re all about movies on the move, and there’s no substitute for size where cinema is concerned – even portable cinema.
The 13-inch iPad Air should, therefore, be a winner. It equals the largest iPad Pro for screen real estate, but it does without the new M4 processor, which is undeniable overkill for our modest media-consumption needs.
There’s an elephant in the room, though, in the form of Tandem OLED. The new iPad Pro has it but this iPad Air does not. Is that a wise sacrifice in the name of cost-cutting, or a compromise not worth making? That’s a very tough question to answer.
Price
The 13-inch iPad Air costs £799 / $799 / AU$AU$1299 in 128GB form, with each step up the storage capacity ladder incurring a rather hefty increase in price. Opting for cellular support as well as the standard wi-fi is a £150 / $150 / AU$250 decision, too. Go for the top-of-the-range cellular option with 1TB of storage and you’re looking at a £1449 / $1449 / AU$2429 bill.
That’s a lot of money, for sure, but the 13-inch iPad Pro starts at £1299 / $1299 / AU$2199, so if it’s a super-sized Apple tablet you’re after, it’s the significantly more affordable option.
If screen size isn’t your priority but screen quality is, you must also consider the 11-inch iPad Pro, which starts at £999 / $999 / AU$1699. That’s still more expensive than the 13-inch iPad Air we have before us today, but that Tandem OLED display sure is fabulous.
Design
An iPad is an iPad is an iPad, right? In a way, yes, but that does rather underplay what a gorgeous object an iPad is. This 13-inch Air might lack the ‘thinnest Apple product ever’ tag of the 13-inch Pro, but it’s still a fabulously slim yet super-solid device in its own right. And, for the record, the difference in thickness is only 1mm.
It’s worth pointing out that the size of the 13-inch iPad Air makes it slightly unwieldy compared with its smaller siblings, but that’s really the price you pay to have such a large but portable screen. One day, perhaps, a bezel-less iPad will exist, but the Air’s 1cm-ish bezels aren’t a big deal for now, especially as you’ll inevitably be resting your thumbs upon them at various times.
The bezel along one of the longer edges houses the front-facing camera, which means it’s at the top of the display when making a typical video call. The last iPad Air had the camera along one of the shorter edges, which could leave the people you were talking to feeling as though you were avoiding their gaze.
Features
The big deal for those of us of an AV persuasion is the 13-inch screen, which is 2.1 inches larger than the previous largest display to grace an iPad Air. That’s an increase of 19 per cent, which is a pretty big deal. It’s like going from a 55-inch TV to a 65-inch model.
Screen size 13 inches
Resolution 2732x2048 (264ppi)
Storage 128GB / 256GB / 512GB / 1TB
Finishes x 4
Battery life 10 hours
Cameras 12MP on rear / 12MP ultra-wide on front
Dimensions (hwd) 28 x 21 x 0.6cm
Weight 617g
As mentioned, that screen does without the innovative Tandem OLED technology that Apple has introduced with the new iPad Pro models. Instead, the iPad Air features Apple’s tried-and-true Liquid Retina Display, which combines an LCD panel with LED backlighting and a pixel density of 264 pixels per inch. Every iPad in the current range has this pixel density with the exception of the iPad Mini, which has long been an outlier with 326 ppi.
Of course, every Apple device launch comes with bold claims about speed increases, and the new iPad Air features the company’s M2 chip, which first appeared in 2022 as the processor of that year’s MacBook Air and and 13-inch MacBook Pro. It is of course not up there in performance terms with the M4 chip inside the new iPad Pro, but it’s still a relative powerhouse in general tablet terms. In fact, it’s overkill for the sort of media consumption with which we’re most interested, and even those who use the iPad Air for general productivity will rarely encounter even a stutter.
On the subject of productivity, the iPad Air is compatible with the Apple Pencil and Apple Pencil Pro, plus the Magic Keyboard. No iPad is really a complete laptop replacement at this point, but for some specific tasks or occasional work as a substitute laptop (typing up a review on a plane, for instance), the iPad Air is more than capable.
The front-facing camera which, as we’ve mentioned, is now usefully located along one of the landscape edges, is a 12MP Ultra Wide affair that features Centre Stage, which does a really good job of tracking you and automatically zooming in and out when it’s helpful during video calls. The 12MP camera on the rear is leagues behind the sort of multi-lens arrangement you get on the latest iPhones, but it’s more than passable in a pinch.
On the sound front, the new iPad Air features landscape stereo speakers, just as its predecessor did, but Apple also claims that the 13-inch model specifically boasts ‘even better sound quality with double the bass’.
Finally, we can’t close this section without mentioning Apple Intelligence, the AI system that is being integrated into practically all modern Apple devices. This will help you compose messages, summarise text, search through your photos and much more, but it’s alas not yet available in the UK so couldn’t be tested for this review.
Picture
There has never been a poor iPad display, and the 13-inch iPad Air certainly doesn’t buck that trend. The impact of the additional screen real estate is felt immediately and is a joy from the home screen, to apps for gaming, drawing and making music, and, of course, when watching movies.
Interestingly though, while there’s a clear good (iPad), better (iPad Air), best (iPad Pro) brightness hierarchy when looking at the home screen and most apps, things are a little more nuanced when watching an HDR movie.
We play Alex Garland’s Civil War from the Apple TV app on all three devices simultaneously, and the iPad Pro is clearly the most dynamic of the trio, combining incredible peak brightness with perfect OLED blacks in scintillating fashion. It’s also richer and warmer than its siblings in a way that makes it more cinematic. It really is the best tablet for movies that there has ever been – and by quite some margin.
From that high, the iPad Air is a significant step down. It’s less punchy thanks to significantly lower peak brightness, and its relative lack of black depth is clear to see, particularly when watching in a dark room. Of course, the comparison isn’t particularly fair – the Pro is the first in a new generation of Tandem OLED iPads – but it’s a consideration you have to have in mind when deciding which iPad to buy.
What’s more interesting is the comparison between the iPad Air and the entry-level iPad, because the cheap model is in fact punchier with HDR movies. Contrary to expectations, it has a lot more pop, delivering the white of the ‘Press’ car and the blue of Sammy’s shirt with a lot more zing. That said, its blacks aren’t as black and it doesn’t have the subtlety in its delivery – the more measured approach to shading – of the more expensive models. And, of course, it can’t deliver the scale of the 13-inch models in the range.
So, while the iPad Air is surprisingly less instantly impactful than the entry-level iPad, it does deliver the more subtle and balanced picture performance. It’s awesomely sharp and detailed, too, as all current iPads are, and its motion is superb, with no judder or soap-opera effect. And, at the risk of hammering the point, a 13-inch display at handheld range is really something.
Sound
The stereo speakers being on the shorter edges of the tablet means you have to be a little careful not to block the sound output when holding the screen in landscape, but one of the benefits of having a very large tablet is that the gap between the speakers is larger, giving you a bigger space into which you can strategically place your hands.
There’s obviously not oodles of bass to the delivery, but this isn’t the super-thin, shrill sound that we have broadly come to expect from portable devices with tiny drivers. On the contrary, the sound from the speakers is fairly well balanced, controlled and spacious. Dynamics are better than expected, too, and there’s good clarity to vocals in music and dialogue in movies.
The delivery is similar to that of the iPad Pro, though the flagship model is just a smidge more crisp in its timing. We’re again talking small margins, though. Both are a significant improvement on the entry-level iPad which, while good for a tablet in its price range, sounds thin and a little uncouth next to its more expensive siblings.
A decent, cheap Bluetooth speaker will of course trounce any model in the iPad range, but the speakers of the iPad Air are more than passable when there is no other choice.
Of course, using headphones is a much more satisfying experience. Playing Invincible by Tool from Tidal in 24-bit 96kHz FLAC, the new iPad Air sounds lovely in isolation. It boasts excellent dynamics, both subtle and grand, fabulous detail and impeccable timing. Notes that should stop abruptly do, and those that should slowly decay gently drift away.
The upgrades over the previous iPad are minimal – tiny increases to timing precision and larger-scale dynamics – but upgrades weren’t needed as the previous model already sounded so good.
The comparison with the other current iPad models is a little more interesting. There’s excellent consistency across the range, with each model typifying the fairly neutral tonal balance and general precision favoured by Apple, but the entry-level iPad isn’t quite as crisp as the Air, nor as full-bodied when it comes to those larger dynamic shifts.
The upgrade to the iPad Pro is similarly minimal, with the flagship model adding just a smidge of additional warmth to proceedings but otherwise sounding very similar to its siblings.
Verdict
The 13-inch iPad Air is an excellent option for those who want a tablet with an extra-large screen but don’t need a bleeding-edge processor. The lack of Tandem OLED technology means the picture performance is quite a long way off that of the new iPad Pro, but the price gap is significant, too, and in its own right the iPad Air is a superbly cinematic tablet with great sound to boot.
SCORES
- Picture 5
- Sound 5
- Features 5
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