Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
The iPad Air is a powerful and light - to - use tablet with a large and well - specced silver screen , recollective battery life and attractive design , all at a sensible price . There are some compromises here , but as an all - orotund package this is vastly likable .
Best Prices Today: Apple iPad Air (2019)
The Air is back ! Apple unexpectedly repair its old iPad Air branding ( formally stop in March 2017 ) in asurprise announcementin March 2019 , unveil a knock-down , mid - price , mid - sized tablet with an A12 central processor and support for the Apple Pencil .
But will the Air drift your boat ? In this reexamination we put it through our rigorous speed , graphics and bombardment tests , and evaluate design , feature , specs and pricing , to find out if Apple has hit the sweet daub .
If you ’d like more universal advice , take a aspect at ouriPad buying guideandHow to use an iPad .
Price & availability
The iPad 9.7 in ( 2018 ) isstill on sale , take off at £ 319/$329 – and that remains the benchmark for a budget iPad . The newfangled iPad Air is pitched a little higher , while remaining markedly more low-cost than the iPad Pro models further up the scale of measurement .
The iPad Air is useable to buy now , direct from Appleand from the usual resellers ( such asAmazonandBest Buy ) . For the low prices out there , see our roundup of thebest iPad mass .
Wondering when this gimmick will become obsolete ? Not for a good while yet . Our strong anticipation is that theiPad Air 4will come out in March 2020 , and even then the 2019 model will retain to meet free Io update and do sterling service for entertainment and light work on the go .
Design & build quality
go forward the inbetweener motif , the Air features an improved excogitation compare to the iPad 9.7 in , with among other improvements a big screen and thinner torso , but stops short of the radical changes in the Pro framework .
So the bezel around the edge have shrunk slightly , enabling a higher screen - to - physical structure proportion and set aside Apple to squeeze in a perceptibly larger exhibit without bulking out the soma too much . But the Home push stay – whereas the 2018 Pro models ditched the Home button ( and Touch ID , substitute by Face ID ) , which made potential an almost all - sieve design . In other password , this is a via media between the triple saint of scummy Mary Leontyne Price , familiarity , and optimum design .
A bezel tweak can only achieve so much , and to accommodate the big screen the Air has been made grandiloquent and a little broad than the 2018 iPad , although the far slimmer visibility ( 6.1 millimeter , down from 7.5 millimetre ) means it ’s in reality 13 - 14 one thousand lighter . Note that the 11 in iPad Pro is 5.9 mm , so this is n’t the slim mid - size tablet on Apple ’s books – although it is the lightest .
A less forthwith obvious modification from the 9.7 in iPad – but one we ’re very happy to report – is the regaining of the laminate screen . For price reasons the 2017 and 2018 iPad 9.7 in models both have unlaminated screens , which flex inwards very slightly when pressed and feel a moment cheap . That is n’t an proceeds here .
The antenna social unit on the cellular example now matches the colour of the rest of the back , rather than being a cheap - reckon matt black as on the 2018 iPad . And Apple has admit a Pro - style Smart Connector for theSmart Keyboard .
We find the Smart Keyboard quite hard to type on at this size ( the 12.9 in rendering is much more well-situated ) but it ’s still a quantum saltation forward from onscreen typewriting and a enceinte benefit for job types on the go – specially considering how much cheaper this gadget is than the Pro mannikin you antecedently had to buy to get a Smart Connector .
But other than the change outlined above , and a mates of seemingly inconsequential tweaks to the position of ports and button , the Air travel along the same design as the iPad 9.7 in . To be clear , that ’s not a sorry thing ! It ’s a beautiful and pragmatic intention that look brilliant and feels great in the deal ( and , because you get the curving under - edges rather than the newer square - off design , it ’s actually easy to plunk up than the Pro ) .
And you get a headphone porthole , which is something Pro proprietor have to superintend without .
Colour options
As is standard for iPads currently , the Air comes in silver , atomic number 79 and Space Grey . We prove a Space Grey social unit , but would always vote for Au throw the selection .
Specs & features
So much for the iPad Air ’s aesthetics . rent ’s take a look at how well it performs .
Speed & graphics testing
Apple has equipped the airwave with an A12 Bionic silicon chip – the latest generation of its mobile mainframe line . As before this is a compromise , since the soup - up A12X interlingual rendition in the Pro iPads is even quicker , but it ’s still an telling cellular inclusion at this Leontyne Price and a big tone up from the A10 Fusion in the iPad 9.7 in .
The A12 is complemented by 3 GB of RAM , an increase from 2 GB in 2018 . ( The Pros are available with either 4 GB or 6 sarin . )
The Air , which scored 11,369 in the multi - core incision of the Geekbench 4 CPU trial , was n’t far off doubling the operation of last year ’s 9.7 in model ( 6,056 ) . It was in turn fairly well beaten by the iPad Pro 11 in ( 18,381 ) , but was noticeably immobile than the Pro from one generation antecedently ( 9,300 ) .
To valuate in writing processing superpower we use the GFXBench Metal app , and here again we saw a huge step up in performance from the iPad 9.7 in and playable frame rates right up to the hard benchmarks . Performance was admittedly not like to the iPad Pro 11 in , which was street in the lead throughout , but in most of the tests the Air was capable to beat the 2017 Pro convincingly .
If you ’re a originative professional looking to employ the most demanding video and image processing apps , or a gamer with an eye on the most graphically advanced rubric , then you might be advised to plump for an A12X gimmick ( or even waitress for the next daily round of iPad Pros , which will presumptively get A13X chips ) . But for almost all of us the iPad Air ’s excellent carrying out will be more than enough , and offers mickle of future - proofing .
Battery testing
The Air has a 30.2Wh rechargeable battery , and Apple figure this is unspoiled for around 10 minute of Wi - Fi browse . This was borne out in testing : it endure 9 hours 24 mins in Geekbench 4 ’s battery bench mark , which is substantially more demanding than real - public use of goods and services .
That ’s almost selfsame carrying into action to the iPad Pro 11 in ( 9 hours 32 mins ) , and much good than the iPad 9.7 in , which lasted 6 hours 1 min .
Our Air was bundled with a 10W courser , with which it decease from empty to 13 % power in 30 minutes – pretty slow going . We ’ve heard that in some areas the Air is supply with a12W courser , which will yield better speed .
Screen
Despite the continuing mien of evenhandedly large bezel around edge , the iPad Air ’s screen is a pleasure and a triumph , with numerous improvements from the iPad 9.7 in .
firmness is up , albeit only by enough to defend Retina - standard pixel denseness ( 264ppi ) across a larger area . It looks fantastic : sharp , vivid , colourful . Thanks to the new inclusion body ofTrue Toneit provides a consistent end product in wide-ranging conditions , and the antireflective coating means you have less to revere from undimmed overhead lighting .
interact with the screen feel great , thanks to the lamination already mentioned and the virtually instant response . It would be easy for Apple fans to take this for granted , but not all tablets give such a convincing illusion that you are physically moving around the onscreen element .
Cameras
The Air has an 8Mp rearward tv camera , same as on the iPad 9.7 in – a goodly inclusion that provide reliably seemly image rather than anything spectacular . ( We asked Apple if the A12 ’s nervous engine would provide any of the same algorithmic photographic benefit as on the iPhone XS , but the company play this down . )
The front camera , on the other manus , is vastly improved : 7Mp and 1080p video , up from 1.2Mp and 720p video recording in the iPad 9.7 in . Which makes sense ; few people use a mid - size tablet to take pictures of nice views , but most iPad possessor will relish the welfare of an improved front camera for FaceTime and selfies .
Apple Pencil support
Good news / bad tidings : the Air is Pencil - compatible , but only with the less goodfirst - gen model , which lodge awkwardly via the Lightning port . We opt theApple Pencil ( 2018 ) , which attaches magnetically and charges wirelessly , but that continue exclusive to the 2018 iPad Pro models .
For a full rundown of what ’s compatible with what , readWhich iPads work with which Apple Pencils ?
Other specs
That ’s most of the glasses & features deserving highlight , but we ’ll part with a few Book for the computer storage allocation , which has been doubled at each tier from last twelvemonth : 64 GB and 256 GB , up from 32 GB and 128 GB . That ’s perhaps more significant than it sounds , because it means the launching - level model has plenty of storage for the fair user , whereas last year we be given to advocate paying surplus for the upper tier .
Touch ID is now secondly - gen , which is degenerate and more authentic than the first - gen version used previously;eSIMis supported ; Bluetooth has been bumped from 4.2 to 5.0 , and you now get gigabit LTE . All of these changes are from the iPad 9.7 in ( 2018 ) , and are touch by the iPad Pro 11 in .
Software & apps
The iPad Air comes with the late version of Apple ’s iOS operating system of rules preinstalled : at fourth dimension of piece of writing , that means iOS 12.3.1 . iOS is satiny and fast – slicker and faster than ever , thanks to optimization in theversion 12 update – and known for its robust security . iOS is a little harder to customise than Android , but the default setup is wanton and in our opinion more pleasurable to use .
Unless you ’re willing tojailbreak your machine , you ’ll only be able to download software from the official App Store ; still , there ’s more than a million vetted , iPad - optimize apps on there . Premium and big - name apps are likely to arrive to Io before Android because iPad owners are more uncoerced to pass money .
As well as the speed boost ( of interest mainly to possessor of honest-to-god devices ) , iOS 12 addedScreen Time , a feature to facilitate you supervise and limit app and twist exercise . Andgroup FaceTime callswere added in iOS 12.1 .
It ’s been confirmed that the Air will be able-bodied to put in and runiOS 13when it ’s released to the general world in the fall of 2019 ( it ’s already availableas a beta ) . Indeed , we ’d anticipate this twist to get gratuitous iOS updates for 4 - 6 class from its launch .
Verdict
The iPad Air is a collection of compromise , and in almost every domain there ’s another tablet out there that ’s better : the iPad 9.7 in is cheaper , theiPad minimore portable , the iPad Pro 11 in more future - proofed for very demanding apps . But as an all - round package this is vastly likeable and quite possibly the best ( or at least best - economic value ) Apple has to offer .
It ’s a dissolute automobile with a large and well - specced blind , long battery life and attractive ( if old - fashioned ) design – the previous intimate home plate clit and particularly the headphone port will be seen as positive points by many . The front - facing photographic camera provides high - quality FaceTime television and selfies , and while the rear tv camera is less telling this is a reasonable area for a mid - size tablet to turn out costs .
Talking of which , £ 479/$499 ( for the utterly adequate base storage allocation ) is good value for all the kickshaw just observe . Those on a stringent budget should prefer the iPad 9.7 in , and a Pro modelling is in all likelihood better for a originative professional , but for most multitude this is now the iPad to clean .
