Apple Unveils New iPad Air With M1 Chip, Optional 5G, and Faster USB-C, Starting at $599

[sft109]

I have an M1 Pro MacBook Pro 14" but want to upgrade my old 5th Gen iPad. Given the laptop I will use an iPad more casually (maybe a little bit of photo/video editing while traveling only).

This looks great but the base storage of 64GB seems laughable for a device with an M1 Chip / 8GB RAM. Given Apple’s history and those specs this thing will get updates and likely perform well for 6-7 years at least. So I’m forced to go 256GB since 64GB will be a joke (already is really). Classic Apple.

But then at 256GB the Air is only $50 less than the 128GB Pro (which probably is enough for a tablet, especially with cloud storage which I have) so the question becomes 120hz vs 60hz screen or 256GB vs 128GB storage at that $50 difference. Rest of the iPad Pro features like quad speakers, FaceID, etc. I don’t care about. Tough call.

 

[Mr. Heckles]

I'm in the same boat, but mine's a 128 Gb. So trying to decide if ProMotion and a second rear camera are worth $50. Of course, we've waited six years, so what's another six months to see if the new Pro will have mini-LED...

Yup! Mine is still kicking and this has been my favorite iPad yet. The battery is horrible now, but it’s not like I go anywhere with it.

 

[abhibeckert]

Pretty decent refresh. 128GB base storage would be unrealistic.

And totally unnecessary. I can't imagine anything except a photo library needing that much storage space, and for plenty of people it wouldn't be enough space for that anyway - they'd have to enable optimise storage and then you'd be fine with a lot less space.

A lot of people don't need much storage on an iPad, and the base model should reflect that. High performance flash memory is expensive.

 

[Bubble99]

Not the same screen, one is 10.9, other 11.

What is point of 10.9 and other 11 size.

The 10.9 seems like a odd size just make it 11 size.

 

[JPack]

What is point of 10.9 and other 11 size.

The 10.9 seems like a odd size just make it 11 size.

So you have reason to fork out $200.

Same reason why iPhone 13 has 4-core GPU while 13 Pro has 5-core.

 

[Bubble99]

I have an M1 Pro MacBook Pro 14" but want to upgrade my old 5th Gen iPad. Given the laptop I will use an iPad more casually (maybe a little bit of photo/video editing while traveling only).

This looks great but the base storage of 64GB seems laughable for a device with an M1 Chip / 8GB RAM. Given Apple’s history and those specs this thing will get updates and likely perform well for 6-7 years at least. So I’m forced to go 256GB since 64GB will be a joke (already is really). Classic Apple.

But then at 256GB the Air is only $50 less than the 128GB Pro (which probably is enough for a tablet, especially with cloud storage which I have) so the question becomes 120hz vs 60hz screen or 256GB vs 128GB storage at that $50 difference. Rest of the iPad Pro features like quad speakers, FaceID, etc. I don’t care about. Tough call.

Apple is known to just update the CPU and GPU every year it has been doing that for years that no one is going to use that much power now unless you are strong power user. But Apple does not care about storage and RAM that everyone uses every day. It is only in the past two to three years Apple has started to care about RAM.

But it is pointless at this point for any iPad to have more than 4GB of RAM to the OS has a make over with RAM management. And it is pointless to have M1 chip with out AAA gaming or pro apps.

You have the hardware but not OS and software.

Well with more user base using M1 now going to iPad Air may be more game developers will see a market share and start working on AAA games.

 

[Bubble99]

So you have reason to fork out $200.

Same reason why iPhone 13 has 4-core GPU while 13 Pro has 5-core.

Is there some cost problems in the factory where if they made it 11 inch than 10.9?

What is 1 inch going to do with cost.

Just make screen size 10,11 and 12 not some odd number like 10.9 and 11.4 or some thing like that.

So unless it some cost factor in the factory why can’t Apple just make the screen size 11 than 10.9?

From user point view a user is not going to notice 1 inch different in size. But just seems a very odd number to work with.

Than you have base iPad gone from 9.7 to 10.2 than if Apple would have just made it simple 9,10,11,12 and 13 and allow the user to choose what they want than some odd number.

 

[JPack]

Is there some cost problems in the factory where if they made it 11 inch than 10.9?

What is 1 inch going to do with cost.

Just make screen size 10,11 and 12 not some odd number like 10.9 and 11.4 or some thing like that.

So unless it some cost factor in the factory why can’t Apple just make the screen size 11 than 10.9?

From user point view a user is not going to notice 1 inch different in size. But just seems a very odd number to work with.

Than you have base iPad gone from 9.7 to 10.2 than if Apple would have just made it simple 9,10,11,12 and 13 and allow the user to choose what they want than some odd number.

There's no cost "problem." It's a psychological motivator. Same reason why people think $9.99 is significantly less than $10. The 0.1" display, quad-speakers, and camera don't cost Apple much, but it costs consumers an extra $200.

 

[zapmymac]

I just physically give my 3rd gen (2018) ipad Pro a proper cleaning and wipe and set up as new once a year, it keeps the itchy trigger finger from buying the newest Apple device at these keynotes ?, you’ll be amazed at all the apps that fell out of use in a year! [business users not this target group]

 

[Haziza]

Still LCD and still 60Hz is this a joke?

 

[Bubble99]

Still LCD and still 60Hz is this a joke?

The 11 inch iPad Pro is going to get Mini LCD than give it year or two after than iPad Air will get it.

 

[upup]

Guys on Presentation was app that you can draw on video what's it's name?
Thx in advance

 

[svish]

Good iterative update. M1 on iPad Air is great. Colours are still muted. Wanted to see brighter colours on the Air lineup.

 

[MacBH928]

Call me an old cynic, but that's exactly what I was thinking when they announced the storage sizes. 64GB in 2022 feels like a way to try and upsell, nothing more.

On Amazon you can find 512GB flash drive for as low as $50 and thats retail price. Apple is asking for $150 for an extra 200GB.

I mean maybe the SSDs in ipads are higher quality but look at that price difference. In Apple prices , a 512GB would be an extra $300!

 

[ColdShadow]

Same price, M1 chip, I’m in!

of course it's same price,it's just a refresh and as predicted they upgrade the old chip with M1..

 

[ColdShadow]

Pretty decent refresh. 128GB base storage would be unrealistic.

why it's unreleastic? it's not the base low cost iPad..the price hike from 64GB to next option 256GB is incredible..
the 256GB should have been much cheaper.there's no justification why 256GB storage should cost so much more in 2022.

 

[ColdShadow]

I'm thinking I'd rather have the 128gb 11 M1 iPad Pro over the 256gb M1 Air..

exactly..the 128GB M1 Pro is easily the better choice vs 256Gb Air prices are nearly the same..in fact the 256GB Air is vastly overpriced,why such a high premium for just 256GB vs 64GB in 2022?

 

[BugeyeSTI]

exactly..the 128GB M1 Pro is easily the better choice vs 256Gb Air prices are nearly the same..in fact the 256GB Air is vastly overpriced,why such a high premium for just 256GB vs 64GB in 2022?

Agreed, if they would of made the base storage 128gb and offered it for the same price as the 64gb (possibly $50 more at the most) I would be way more interested.

 

[gadgetgirl85]

Now that I’ve done a side by side comparison, isn’t the only difference between the 11 inch air and pro is the colour options?

 

[rui no onna]

But it is pointless at this point for any iPad to have more than 4GB of RAM to the OS has a make over with RAM management.

Disagree. I've had issues with 4GB RAM ever since I updated to iPadOS 13. On iPadOS 15, my mini 6 pretty much reloads every single time I switch tabs.

At least MacOS has swap so the OS doesn't randomly kill apps when it starts running out of physical RAM.

 

[UltimateSyn]

I'm confused. The new Air has USB-C, the M1, Center Stage, Apple Pencil compatibility ... it's basically a lower priced iPad Pro, minus the fancier camera. It's as if Apple wants to cannibalize their own devices.

Not really… the Pro still has:

• Thunderbolt
• ProMotion
• quad-speakers
• a significantly improved rear camera system with LiDAR
• an ever-so-slightly larger screen with 0.1” on the diagonal
• 100 nits brighter screen
• 2TB max storage vs. 256GB on the Air
• Option for 16GB RAM

There are a ton of distinguishing factors, and the Pro will likely get updated later this year to pull even further ahead with mini-LED and a faster processor.

 

[*~Kim~*]

Do find it odd iPad Mini has a camera flash but not iPad Air.

I suppose it is more likely that someone would carry around a Mini and thus take pictures with it. Something done in the hope of making Mini owners less salty perhaps. I have found the flash useful since I had it and always wished I had one on the Mini 5, but I’m still annoyed that the Air gets promoted to the M class and double the RAM when the Mini is less than 6 months old.

 

[kalsta]

On Amazon you can find 512GB flash drive for as low as $50 and thats retail price. Apple is asking for $150 for an extra 200GB.

I mean maybe the SSDs in ipads are higher quality but look at that price difference. In Apple prices , a 512GB would be an extra $300!

the price hike from 64GB to next option 256GB is incredible..
the 256GB should have been much cheaper.there's no justification why 256GB storage should cost so much more in 2022.

Right, the cost of parts alone doesn't justify it. However, I don't entirely begrudge Apple's pricing structure when it comes to things like storage. I do think it makes more sense for them to price model variations according to the perceived cost–benefit trade-off, rather than the cost of parts. So we can expect some models will have a larger markup than others, but when it's all averaged out, Apple makes its target profits, they sell a fairly even number of each model (ideally), and the consumer is happy with what they bought.

My objection to a 64GB base model, is that it probably isn't sufficient for most people. The knowledgeable buyers feel pressured to go up to 256GB (when many would have been happy with 128GB), while the unknowledgeable buyers end up running out of space and feeling frustrated with their purchase. That kind of pricing strategy just feels kind of mean-spirited to me. It certainly doesn't benefit consumers, and that doesn't really benefit Apple (or its shareholders) in the long run.

 

[rui no onna]

My objection to a 64GB base model, is that it probably isn't sufficient for most people. The knowledgeable buyers feel pressured to go up to 256GB (when many would have been happy with 128GB), while the unknowledgeable buyers end up running out of space and feeling frustrated with their purchase. That kind of pricing strategy just feels kind of mean-spirited to me. It certainly doesn't benefit consumers, and that doesn't really benefit Apple (or its shareholders) in the long run.

Paired with iCloud and using features such as app offloading, 64GB isn't actually too bad. Certainly way better than the 16GB base from OG iPad all the way to iPad Air 2.

I'm guessing most customers use iPads for streaming and web anyway, not so much for downloads. Estimate System+Other taking up around 14GB, that still leaves around 50GB available for the user. On the Disney+ app, that's enough for 100+ hours of Standard quality video. Those who download/keep lots of stuff offline know who they are and will buy accordingly (I've got 256GB-1TB).

It should be noted that MacRumors users aren't the norm. In our household, I'm the only one who uses tons of local storage. Everyone else uses just 20-30GB on their iPad (including System+Other). I'd prefer to get them 128GB for my peace of mind but reality is I doubt they'll even get close to using half of that.

 

[kalsta]

Paired with iCloud and using features such as app offloading, 64GB isn't actually too bad.

Have you actually tried using app offloading? Great idea in theory, but in practice it's a royal headache. I turned it on for my ageing iPhone (with 64 GB of storage). I wish I had a dollar for every time I'm out and about and just need to quickly go into an app to find it's gone and needs to be downloaded again. Oh, and if your app is no longer on the App Store, it won't even let you download the copy that used to be on your phone and worked just fine.

I'm guessing most customers use iPads for streaming and web anyway, not so much for downloads. Estimate System+Other taking up around 14GB, that still leaves around 50GB available for the user.

It should be noted that MacRumors users aren't the norm. In our household, I'm the only one who uses tons of local storage. Everyone else uses just 20-30GB on their iPad (including System+Other).

You might be right. I really don't know what is typical for most users. We are a creative household—lots of photography, art, music and video creation—and lots of apps too. Personally, I do most of my creative stuff on a Mac, but 64GB still fills up way too easily. 128GB would be perfect for someone like me, but yeah… I can't speak for everyone of course.