Looking at the battery life comparisons, the regular iPad trumps the Air when it comes to battery life, which is huge for me, that additional hour+ is great. This coupled with cost makes me wonder what's the point of getting another Air.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPad Does anyone else prefer a regular iPad over an Air?
- Thread starter ricketysquire
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I think this is because your air's battery has degraded and does not hold as much charge as it used to. Completely normal for a device as it ages.
When did you get your Air?
When did you get your Air?
According to the Apple website, all of the new iPads have the same battery life.
In most of these comparisons, the regular iPad comes on out near top. in this case the Pros with their bigger batteries, M4 chip and OLED screens were the top 2.
The iPad Air has a considerably more powerful desktop grade M chip compared to the regular iPad which has an efficient mobile iPhone chip, so naturally will have longer battery life. So you have to sort of balance your priorities.
I get the same issue, my iPad Air 3 (A12 chip) can last for months on standby, where as my iPad Air 4/iPP M4 last a couple of weeks at best.
I get the same issue, my iPad Air 3 (A12 chip) can last for months on standby, where as my iPad Air 4/iPP M4 last a couple of weeks at best.
I owned a regular iPad, but eventually returned it
1) I did not like the keyboard Apple sells with the regular iPad - it is very lacking compared to the Magic Keyboard for the Air and Pro
2) You notice the laminated screen on the Air
3) For stuff like Word, Mail, etc, Apple Intelligence / processing power / RAM is starting to matter - I do enough of that on an iPad to care about it
For a secondary, consumption only device that you don’t really use a keyboard for, the regular iPad is good - but I think the Air right now is the best combination of productivity, performance, and value in the lineup
1) I did not like the keyboard Apple sells with the regular iPad - it is very lacking compared to the Magic Keyboard for the Air and Pro
2) You notice the laminated screen on the Air
3) For stuff like Word, Mail, etc, Apple Intelligence / processing power / RAM is starting to matter - I do enough of that on an iPad to care about it
For a secondary, consumption only device that you don’t really use a keyboard for, the regular iPad is good - but I think the Air right now is the best combination of productivity, performance, and value in the lineup
9th gen here and for the same 2 reasons
My iPad is primarily a comic reader, so my priorities are:
Now there's a 13" Air and it's catching up in the storage department I'll be seriously considering it next time.
- Screen size
- Storage (Yes there's the cloud, but it's still relatively expensive)
- Weight
Now there's a 13" Air and it's catching up in the storage department I'll be seriously considering it next time.
The Apple website has always given the same 10 hours number. It isn’t true. There’s a difference, and I don’t know why they keep saying that.
But I have both iPads. And I have both in perfect software conditions. I have an iPad Air 5 running iPadOS 15 and I have am 11th-gen iPad running iPadOS 18. Both original versions.
After rather extensive testing with my usage pattern, which is very light (low brightness, efficient settings and content consumption apps), the base 11th-gen iPad’s battery life seems to be 15 to 20% better.
I do not know how you use it. But the heavier you go, the more battery life blends together. Batteries are easy to kill with ridiculously heavy usage, so even significant differences in battery size aren’t as important if you are that ridiculously heavy user. I can’t answer that for you.
With my usage, the Air 5 extrapolates to about 22 hours of screen-on time, and the 11th-gen iPad is almost at 27 hours.
After rather extensive testing with my usage pattern, which is very light (low brightness, efficient settings and content consumption apps), the base 11th-gen iPad’s battery life seems to be 15 to 20% better.
I do not know how you use it. But the heavier you go, the more battery life blends together. Batteries are easy to kill with ridiculously heavy usage, so even significant differences in battery size aren’t as important if you are that ridiculously heavy user. I can’t answer that for you.
With my usage, the Air 5 extrapolates to about 22 hours of screen-on time, and the 11th-gen iPad is almost at 27 hours.
Your iPad 11 has a down-clocked A16 chip so doesn't use as much power as the M1 Chip in your Air 5, so the better battery life is to be expected.
iPad Air because it has has a laminated screen and comes in a larger size.
In my case if mainly for content consumption, if I didn’t get the 11" iPad Pro that I have now, I’d probably get the base iPad... once it gets the Photos Clean Up tool - which may be fall 2026. (Yeah, Photos Clean Up is not just content consumption, but it's a basic enough feature that is desirable even for mainstream users who are not content creators.)
The M4 iPad Pro has a MUCH better screen than both the Air and the iPad. Way better contrast and brightness, with much better HDR highlights and blacks. It’s really quite noticeable in modern HDR video content. As for the laminated Air screen vs non-laminated iPad screen, for media consumption I don’t really care, so the Air doesn’t seem like much of an upgrade when it comes to the screen. The other problem is just like the base iPad, the Air doesn't have Face ID.
From this perspective overall, IMO the iPad Air really only makes more sense over the base iPad if you want the 13", or if you're getting the free AirPods from the edu promotion, or if you are using it for content creation like editing videos or drawing and stuff like that (where the speed of the SoC and the laminated screen may matter more), or if you're buying today and want Apple Intelligence and the Photos Clean Up tool. The iPad Air may have better speakers than the base iPad, but if you really want better sound, again the iPad Pro is better.
The M4 iPad Pro has a MUCH better screen than both the Air and the iPad. Way better contrast and brightness, with much better HDR highlights and blacks. It’s really quite noticeable in modern HDR video content. As for the laminated Air screen vs non-laminated iPad screen, for media consumption I don’t really care, so the Air doesn’t seem like much of an upgrade when it comes to the screen. The other problem is just like the base iPad, the Air doesn't have Face ID.
From this perspective overall, IMO the iPad Air really only makes more sense over the base iPad if you want the 13", or if you're getting the free AirPods from the edu promotion, or if you are using it for content creation like editing videos or drawing and stuff like that (where the speed of the SoC and the laminated screen may matter more), or if you're buying today and want Apple Intelligence and the Photos Clean Up tool. The iPad Air may have better speakers than the base iPad, but if you really want better sound, again the iPad Pro is better.
Last edited:
I have an IpadAir 5, 2 years old. I was told that I cannot buy a new battery nor add storage. And there is no slot to save files via an external drive. I bought a new Air and it had problems so they ordered me a new one. I was told it was new, but when you are ordering online, a different name and last 4 digits of a credit card come up. So..does this mean it is a refurbished machine and not a new one. And does anyone know how to backup files on an Air 5th generation model, or can that only be done on the Pro?
I use my base iPad 10 as a consumption tablet and occasionally as a secondary screen. With iPadOS 26, the base iPad will have multi-tasking like the Air, though I’m unsure how often I’ll use these features. Base iPads are often on sale for under $300, making them a good deal for average tablet users.
The main difference between the iPad and Air is the writing tools. I frequently use the “make more concise” feature on my iPhone and MBA, and it would be nice to have it on my iPad, even for informal communications.
The main difference between the iPad and Air is the writing tools. I frequently use the “make more concise” feature on my iPhone and MBA, and it would be nice to have it on my iPad, even for informal communications.
I wanted a "bigger" iPad than my iPad mini 7, so my decision was between the 11" Air and the 11" Pro. I already had a Pencil Pro so the regular iPad was off the list from the get-go.
I ended up with the Air... the Pro looks AMAZING, love the OLED display and the extra speakers and the thinner profile... but literally, 40% less money (128GB is plenty for my purposes) made the decision for me.
I ended up with the Air... the Pro looks AMAZING, love the OLED display and the extra speakers and the thinner profile... but literally, 40% less money (128GB is plenty for my purposes) made the decision for me.
My iPad is my most used Apple device. If something happened to it, I would replace the same day.