Don't Buy the New iPad Air

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When Tim Cook posted "There's something in the AIR" on X this week, it seemed to imply the company was soon dropping the hotly anticipated M4 MacBook Air. After all, it's the only major Mac (aside from the Mac Studio) that Apple hasn't upgraded with the M4 chip, so it only makes sense the company would refresh the line. As it turns out, however, Apple had a different plan for consumers. If you want a new MacBook Air, you'll still need to settle for the M3 chip. If you want a new iPad Air, however, you're in luck.

On Tuesday, Apple announced two brand new iPads: an iPad Air, which now sports the M3 chip, and a base iPad, that now runs the A16 chip. As with any new devices, both of these new iPads come with perks previous models didn't, and, as such, it might seem like the logical choice for anyone looking for a new Apple tablet to pick up. If you had your eye on a new iPad Air, the M3 would be the best one, right? The thing is, I don't think so.

Not much new with the M3 iPad Air

Objectively, yes: This new iPad Air is the best one Apple has ever made. It has Apple's M3 chip, which Apple says is nearly two times faster than the M1 iPad Air (notice how they skip the M2 iPad Air here). That M3 chip enables hardware-accelerated ray tracing, a first for the iPad Air, so lighting effects in games and graphically intensive apps should look better.

The thing is, the M3 chip is the only thing that's new on this iPad Air. Everything else is exactly the same as it is with the M2 iPad Air: You have your choice between an 11-inch and 13-inch device, in the same four color options; the displays are identical whether you go M2 or M3; the front and rear cameras are exactly the same; both use USB-C and Touch ID in the top button (no Face ID on these iPads); both devices are compatible with Apple Intelligence (if you even care about that); both have the same battery life; and both support the same Apple Pencils. If someone placed both iPads side by side, you'd never know which was which.

In fact, if you used these iPads side by side for a week, you probably wouldn't be able to tell which was which. While the M3 chip is faster than the M2 chip, it likely won't feel that way in real-world use, considering the chips here have the same number of CPU and GPU cores. The M3 chip in the MacBook Air, on the other hand, has two extra GPU cores compared to the M2 MacBook Air. As such, the difference in performance between these two iPads is going to be less—which is to say, imperceptible to the vast majority of people who use an iPad.

So, yes, the M3 iPad Air is the best you can buy. But that's because it slightly improves on the already-great tablet Apple made in the last go-around, which really only slightly improved on the tablet that came before it. The only other new iPad Air announcement Apple made on Tuesday was a refreshed Magic Keyboard, but even it is compatible with older iPad Air models.

You should buy an old iPad

I love my iPad. I use it every day to catch up on the news, message friends, and browse the web. There was zero reason I needed an M1 chip to power those tasks back in 2021 when I bought the tablet, and, to be honest, virtually zero reason I need that M1 chip in 2025. Everything I do on an iPad, my iPad Air from 2014 could probably handle (albeit very slowly).

It's a problem plaguing the iPad line in general. Apple builds these tablets with incredible hardware, a fantastic combination of high quality screen and powerful processors—and yet, it all powers the same, souped-up version of iOS. iPadOS, for the most part, simply cannot push the M-series chips anywhere close to their limits. Sure, there are professional apps and demanding games available on the App Store to give your iPad something to work with. But really, iPadOS is nothing for even my M1 iPad Pro to handle—even when I have multiple windows open at once with Stage Manager.

The point is, you probably don't need the M3 chip in the latest iPad Air. Hell, you probably don't need the M2 chip. But if you're looking for a new iPad Air in March of 2025, I'd highly recommend looking for the latter.

Now that Apple has moved on to a new iPad Air model (at the same $599 price point, no less) the M2 version is likely to see some decent discounts across various stores. The new iPad Air isn't due out until March 12, so you might need to give it some time, but expect stores like Amazon and Best Buy to cut the price of the older model while selling the newer one at full price. Even today, you can get the 256GB M2 iPad Air for $649 on Amazon, which doubles the storage of the base model Air for an extra $50.

Consider an iPad

Let me rephrase: Consider the entry-level iPad, which Apple confusingly calls "iPad."

Alongside the M3 iPad Air, Apple also dropped the 11th-generation iPad. Like the Air, this new iPad doesn't change all that much from the 10th-generation iPad. There are really two big changes, and one small one: The screen is 0.1 inches larger on the new iPad (pretty small); the base model doubles the storage from a tricky 64GB to a useable 128GB (without changing the price tag); and the new one runs the A16 chip found in the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15, which should offer a decent performance bump over the A14 in the 10th-gen iPad.

The rest is about the same: a decent, bright display; a nine-to-10 hour battery life; USB-C charging; identical front and rear cameras; the same Apple Pencil support. The new iPad does leave a couple things behind: It ditches the nano-SIM slot in favor of relying entirely on eSIM, while also losing support for True Tone on the retina flash feature. But it does support Smart HDR 4 over the 10th-gen iPad's Smart HDR 3.

But that's getting into the nitty-gritty: The 11th-generation iPad represents the best iPad for most people, as long as you can live without some of the perks the iPad Air (or even iPad Pro) offers. You won't get the best quality display in Apple's lineup, or the fastest processor. But that A16 chip is going to be more than enough to run iPadOS for years to come.

The same purchase principle that I discussed with the iPad Air applies here as well: Stores are likely going to discount the 10th-gen iPad once Apple starts selling the 11th-gen. I'd encourage anyone who wants an iPad for basic iPad tasks to try that route, but I also think the 11th-gen iPad is a pretty good value as-is. Even in the face of tariffs, Apple didn't raise the price on the iPad, while at the same time doubling the storage to 128GB. That means you get an all-around great Apple tablet for $349, $250 less than an iPad Air. You could use those savings to buy a Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil, or just pocket the rest and enjoy the iPad itself.

At the end of the day, none of Apple's iPads are a bad buy—but while each tier offers additional perks and features you may or may not enjoy, the overall "iPad experience" is the same. The question is, how many perks and features can you cut, while still enjoying the overall experience as much as you would with the more expensive model? For the vast majority of people, I'd say that answer is the 11th-gen iPad. But, if possible, head to your local Apple Store or tech outlet to try them out for yourself.