Hands-On With the New M1 iPad Air

[AppleTO]

I bought the iPad Air (blue)
I think (hope) we’re going to see a substantial update to iPadOS this next WWDC !! ???

I hope so too, but this has been what everyone has been saying/expecting since the first pro came out. I guess we all just figured a ‘pro’ version of iOS would have more functionality. Jokes on us; aside from hardware, it’s identical.

 

[alex2792]

No point in upgrading from my A14 air until it gets a real OS. Right now it’s only good for media consumption and occasional email.

 

[AmazingTechGeek]

I've ordered a 256 GB blue one. This will be the first iPad I own.

Great username. Amell would be proud.

 

[The Game 161]

No point in upgrading from my A14 air until it gets a real OS. Right now it’s only good for media consumption and occasional email.

Pretty much. iPads are amazing but not really worth upgrading at this stage from air to air.

 

[Isamilis]

Pricing is pretty weird if 64GB isn't enough though because then suddenly you can get a 128GB iPad Pro for around the same price as a 265GB iPad Air.


In Europe you can get a 128GB iPad Pro for even cheaper than the new 265GB iPad air. Which makes it even more awkward if you need more than 64GB.

In my country, you can even get Apple’s refurbished iPad Pro 2020 base version (128gb) with the same price as the base iPad Air 4 (64gb). This is my consideration when I finally pick up the refurbished one last Jan.

 

[asdfjkl;]

Seeing as the newer iPads now have Macbook level of CPU power and memory, has there been any change to how iPadOS handles background applications?

For example, I have an SSH app that allows you to do port-forwarding, but if I want it to work in the background I have to enable GPS location tracking in the app, which is the developer's workaround to making sure the app doesn't get suspended. Otherise the app only gets 30 seconds.

It's a total hack and shouldn't be necessary on an iPad with an M1 chip.

These restrictions and limitations make sense on a phone, and on iPads from five years ago, but it's absurd that we still have to deal with them today. I'm hoping Apple eventually eases up on this and stops making developers use stupid hacks like using GPS to keep apps running in the background. If they do, I might see it fit to finally buy a new iPad; I'm still using a 2016 era iPad Pro (and using it less and less lately).

I suspect the reasoning behind this limitation is battery life, not CPU power or memory.

 

[Daedalus65]

You're only going to be missing out on the faster 5G mmWave connectivity, the ProMotion display, and Face ID

And quad speakers. If you’re listening without headsets, that makes a significant difference also.

 

[darngooddesign]

And quad speakers. If you’re listening without headsets, that makes a significant difference also.

It might make a difference, but they're still iPad speakers which lack bass. You need a BT speaker for good sound.

 

[Silverado]

For $50 more you get Face ID, promotion, quad speakers and a better camera with flash going with the 128 GB Pro 11 inch over the 256 GB Air

That’s exactly what I did. And wondering if it isn’t exactly what Apple wants - driving us up the ladder but by bit. Next stop iPad Pro 11 inch with 256 GB, etc, etc.

 

[Silverado]

I saw the new Air in store today, side by side with an 11” Pro. I tried scrolling the same webpage on both at the same time, and the lack of ProMotion was clearly evident on the Air.

Considering the difference is only $50 after upgrading the Air to a reasonable amount of storage I opted to cancel my order and wait for the next generation Pro.

I did the same thing and noticed the same, but bought the pro because I needed an iPad now. Note that the next 11 inch pro will be at least $100 more expensive because it will have mini LED.

 

[Hastings101]

Honestly, I had ProMotion on my old iPad Pro. Went to something else that doesn't have it. Not jarring and not missed, really. It's a minor nice to have for me.

Glad to see someone else state that. I can no longer tell the different between the rest of my screens (60-75hz) and my 2017 iPad Pro 10.5 anymore. I used to feel it was smoother, but now I wonder if it doesn’t keep up after all the updates over the years or if I just had placebo effect for a few years after purchasing it.

Still a great device though, holding up well after almost five years and no painful slowdowns.

 

[sos47]

Seeing as the newer iPads now have Macbook level of CPU power and memory, has there been any change to how iPadOS handles background applications?

For example, I have an SSH app that allows you to do port-forwarding, but if I want it to work in the background I have to enable GPS location tracking in the app, which is the developer's workaround to making sure the app doesn't get suspended. Otherise the app only gets 30 seconds.

It's a total hack and shouldn't be necessary on an iPad with an M1 chip.

These restrictions and limitations make sense on a phone, and on iPads from five years ago, but it's absurd that we still have to deal with them today. I'm hoping Apple eventually eases up on this and stops making developers use stupid hacks like using GPS to keep apps running in the background. If they do, I might see it fit to finally buy a new iPad; I'm still using a 2016 era iPad Pro (and using it less and less lately).

interesting!
i produce music with my ipads, i have a lot of apps which run in background for hours (like synthesizers, effects etc) usually there run 10 to 20 apps or more parallel with time sync.
its not necessary to use the gps tracking hack.

 

[teh_hunterer]

How does M1 compare to A14 since they are released in the same year? Or regarding the iPad Air 5, how does the M1 compare to A15?

The M1 is basically an A14 with two extra performance cores (4 performance 4 efficiency vs 2 performance 4 efficiency) and 4 extra GPU cores. It's the same cores, too, same architecture.

The M1 does come with more RAM, better memory bandwidth, faster storage, but the main thing is the extra GPU and CPU cores.

It also comes with the x86 translation layer stuff for Rosetta 2, as well as a thunderbolt controller - both things that remain unused in the iPad Air.

 

[kyjaotkb]

Totally opposite here.

ProMotion is one of those features that you don’t understand why you need it at first, but once you use it and you see the fluidity, you can’t go back to anything else with the choppiness and that ‘slow lag’.

If that doesn’t make sense to someone, compare both iPads with a model that has ProMotion and one that doesn’t extensively, and you’ll see exactly what I’m referring to.

Whoah. That is really interesting. Based just on my experience using the MacBook Pro, ProMotion is really not worth a single dollar. I get better movement and less trailing from my £300 60Hz LG monitor than from the built-in 120Hz XDR.

I believe you and I have yet to experience ProMotion on an iPad or iPhone. But it feels like ProMotion on the MacBook Pro is a flop and certainly won’t entice customers to choose the more expensive iPad when the time comes for them to replace their tablet. Or perhaps some people, like me, just can’t notice it (like high res audio vs CD quality - I certainly can’t).

 

[Isamilis]

Whoah. That is really interesting. Based just on my experience using the MacBook Pro, ProMotion is really not worth a single dollar. I get better movement and less trailing from my £300 60Hz LG monitor than from the built-in 120Hz XDR.

I believe you and I have yet to experience ProMotion on an iPad or iPhone. But it feels like ProMotion on the MacBook Pro is a flop and certainly won’t entice customers to choose the more expensive iPad when the time comes for them to replace their tablet. Or perhaps some people, like me, just can’t notice it (like high res audio vs CD quality - I certainly can’t).

I think, this because of some people‘s eyes are sensitive while others are not. I personally didn‘t notice this too, but drawing with Apple Pencil on proMotion is quite noticeably better (compared to iPad Air 3).

 

[jumpcutking]

Does continuity work on the iPad Air? Can I move my mouse to it from another mac device?

 

[Arctic Moose]

Does continuity work on the iPad Air? Can I move my mouse to it from another mac device?

Universal Control? Yes, it even works even the standard no-suffix iPad.

 

[jumpcutking]

Universal Control? Yes, it even works even the standard no-suffix iPad.

Really! Side car?

 

[teknikal90]

Pretty much. iPads are amazing but not really worth upgrading at this stage from air to air.

honestly unless you have an ipad from before 2018 (4 years ago!) is there any point at all in upgrading.

 

[Arctic Moose]

Really! Side car?

Yep, Sidecar too, using it now with the previous (8th) generation iPad.

 

[SurferPup]

I have ordered the purple MBA ? as keen to transition to the  Silicon chips. Changing from my Intel MBP to the Silicon MBA ? I am impressed with the performance. I am presuming I will be impressed with the performance of the iPad Air coming from a third generation iPad Pro. I will miss facial recognition a little however my Android phones utilise fingerprint sensors. I like the price, first iPad with a M1 chip and Smart Keyboard folio keyboard that is backlit and built in trackpad which the first generation iPad Pro Smart Keyboard lacked and I can use my second generation pencil. This will be my first mobile enabled iPad and it has 5G plus my carrier is deploying <6 GHz 5G transmitters at a rapid pace - no more tethering to my iPhone! Thank you  and Vodafone.