The newiPad Air (M3)sits right in the middle of Apple’s tablet lineup. It’s sleeker and more feature-rich than the base-level 11th gen iPad, but it doesn’t offer all the same features as the priceyiPad Pro, mainly Face ID and a 120Hz ProMotion refresh rate.
In that same vein, it’s also still very similar to its M2 counterpart, with this year being mostly a chip refresh for Apple’s iPad Air line. The M3 iPad is a middle-ground tablet with a user in mind who wants a more premium iPad experience but doesn’t want to shell out the iPad Pro’s hefty price tag. It might not be for everyone, but it’s the perfect iPad for anyone that wants a little more out of their tablet.
With that said, here’s why you might want to upgrade to Apple’s M3 chip.
iPad Air (M3)
If you’re looking for a tablet that falls in between the base iPad and the iPad Pro, the new M3 iPad Air is a great option.
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1It’s not the M4, but the M3 is still a powerful chip
If you’re still using the M2 iPad Air, you likely won’t get much from the power boost the new M3 version offers. But if you’re coming from the M1 or the A14-equipped iPad Air, the M3 iPad Air will likely feel notably smoother, especially if you do a lot of photo or video editing on your tablet. For example, Apple says that the M3 iPad Air offers 35 percent faster CPU and 40 percent faster GPU performance compared to the M1 version of the tablet. During my brief time with the M3 iPad Air, I haven’t encountered a single instance of slow-down or lag, even when doing resource-intensive AI spot removal in Lightroom CC, a task that slowed down the M2 iPad Air sometimes. OnGeekbench 6, the 13-inch M3 MacBook Air I’ve been using hits 3,083 for single-core and 11,703 for multi-core performance.
Along with these gains, you also get access to Apple Intelligence features like Genmoji, Image Playground, AI-powered writing tools, and more (I don’t find Apple Intelligence that useful, but that will depend on how you use the tablet).
…the M4 is likely overkill for a lot of people and would push the new iPad Air’s cost up significantly.
On that note, if you’re looking to step up from your base-level iPad, the M3 iPad Air is a great option that will likely be more than powerful enough for most users for years to come. Should the new iPad Air feature the M4? Probably, but I also understand why Apple only offers the most powerful chip in its top-tier iPad Pro. Plus, the M4 is likely overkill for a lot of people and would push the new iPad Air’s cost up significantly.
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The M3 iPad Air looks significantly more modern than the base iPad and the iPad Air (3rd gen) and below. In fact, when I first picked up the M3 iPad Air, I thought it was just as thin as my M4 iPad Pro. It isn’t actually quite as thin, but it’s surprisingly close at 0.24-inches (6.1mm) vs 0.21-inches (5.3mm)
Other notable features include a built-in fingerprint scanner in its power button, minimized bezels, an impressive 12-megapixel camera with Center Stage, Magic Keyboard support, compatibility with the Apple Pencil (USB-C) and Apple Pencil Pro, and more. If you’re looking for a more feature-rich iPad experience, but don’t want to break the bank, the M3 iPad Air is what you’re after.
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It’s not be OLED, but it still looks stellar
One of my key issues with the base iPad is that its display just isn’t that great-looking, especially compared to Apple’s higher-end tablets. While the iPad Pro’s 120Hz OLED screen is undeniably stunning thanks to its 1,000 nit SDR and 1,600 nit HDR brightness levels, the iPad Air’s Liquid Retina screen remains impressive at 500 nits for the 11-inch model and 600 nits for the 13-inch version.
Everything looks vibrant on the tablet’s display, whether you’re browsing the internet or watching videos. Adding to this, even though the M3 iPad Air' screen doesn’t feature a ProMotion 120Hz refresh rate, it’s still very smooth and is more than good enough for those looking for an upgrade over their older iPad Air or base-tier iPad.
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The M4 iPad Pro is a great tablet, but it’s very pricey at $999 for the base 11-inch configuration. If you’re not going to use Apple’s highest-end tablet as a laptop replacement, that cost is difficult to justify, especially when it doesn’t offer that many upgrades over the M3 iPad Air.
The 11-inch M3 iPad Air’s $599 price sits perfectly between the more expensive 11-inch M4 iPad Pro and the base iPad’s $349 price – and arguably, the M3 iPad Air offers more than enough high-end features for the average iPad user.
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The new Magic Keyboard for the M3 iPad Air features a bigger trackpad, a 14-key function row, a more fluid hinge, and USB-C pass-through charging – it’s the complete keyboard package and offers a more laptop-like experience than its predecessor. It’s still pricey at $269, but it’s undeniably a better keyboard than the one released for its M2 counterpart, and if you’re planning to use the M3 iPad Air as a laptop replacement, you’ll appreciate the improvements here.
If you’re upgrading from the base iPad or an earlier iPad Air that doesn’t feature the magnetic Smart Connector, compatibility with the excellent but pricey new Magic Keyboard is a great bonus. That said, it’s not quite up to par with the M4 iPad Pro’s excellent Smart Keyboard, but it does come pretty close.
