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M1 iPad Air vs. M2 iPad Pro Buyer's Guide

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Apr 12, 2001
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Apple's latest iPad Air and iPad Pro models feature similar designs, Liquid Retina displays, M-series chips, 5G connectivity, and much more in common – so which should you buy?

iPad-Pro-2022-vs-Air-Feature.jpg

The introduction of the previous, fourth-generation iPad Air in September 2020 brought the device much closer to the iPad Pro in terms of design, and with the most recent model, the iPad Air gained the same M1 chip as the previous iPad Pro, bringing them even closer together. The latest iPad Pro models introduced a relatively small number of new features, such as the M2 chip, Apple Pencil hover, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.3, but it means that the high-end iPad models are now differentiated a little more from the iPad Air model that Apple unveiled in March 2022.

Should you consider purchasing the iPad Air to save money, or do you need the high-end features of the iPad Pro? Our guide answers the question of how to decide which of these two iPads is best for you.

Comparing the iPad Air and iPad Pro

The iPad Air and iPad Pro share a large number of key features, such as an all-screen design with flat sides, a 12MP rear Wide camera, a 12MP front-facing Ultra Wide camera, and a USB-C port:

Similarities

  • Industrial design with flat edges
  • Liquid Retina display with 264 ppi, full lamination, oleophobic and anti-reflective coating, P3 Wide Color, and True Tone
  • M-series chip with next-generation Neural Engine
  • 5G connectivity
  • ƒ/1.8 12MP Wide rear camera, with digital zoom up to 5x for photos
  • ƒ/2.4 12MP front-facing Ultra Wide camera with 2x optical zoom out and Center Stage
  • 4K video recording at up to 60 fps, extended dynamic range for video up to 30 fps, 3x video zoom, slo-mo video support for 1080p at up to 240 fps, and time-lapse video with stabilization
  • "All-day" 10 hour battery life
  • USB‑C connector
  • Compatible with Magic Keyboard, Smart Keyboard Folio, and Apple Pencil (2nd generation)

Apple's specification breakdown shows that the two iPads share many of their most important features. Even so, there are an even larger number of meaningful differences between the iPad Air and iPad Pro that are worth highlighting, including their displays, authentication technologies, and rear camera setups.

Key Differences


[tr]
[th]iPad Air[/th]
[th]iPad Pro[/th]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Touch ID built into the top button[/td]
[td]Face ID enabled by TrueDepth camera[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]10.9-inch display[/td]
[td]11-inch or 12.9-inch display, with 120Hz ProMotion technology[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Liquid Retina LED display[/td]
[td]Liquid Retina LED display (11-inch) or Liquid Retina XDR mini-LED display (12.9-inch)[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]500 nits max brightness (typical)[/td]
[td]600 nits max brightness (11-inch) or 1,000 nits max brightness and 1,600 nits peak brightness (12.9-inch)[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]–[/td]
[td]Apple Pencil hover[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]M1 chip with 8-core, 3.2GHz CPU and 8-core GPU[/td]
[td]M2 chip with 8-core, 3.49GHz CPU and 10-core GPU[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Neural Engine[/td]
[td]40 percent faster Neural Engine[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Media engine for hardware-accelerated H.264 and HEVC[/td]
[td]Media engine for hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Video encode and decode engine[/td]
[td]Higher-bandwidth video decode engine[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]–[/td]
[td]ProRes encode and decode engine[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Image signal processor (ISP)[/td]
[td]"New" image signal processor (ISP)[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]8GB of memory[/td]
[td]8GB or 16GB of memory[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]68.25GB/s memory bandwidth[/td]
[td]100GB/s memory bandwidth[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Bluetooth 5.0[/td]
[td]Bluetooth 5.3[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Wi‑Fi 6[/td]
[td]Wi‑Fi 6E[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Sub-6GHz 5G connectivity[/td]
[td]Sub-6GHz and mmWave 5G connectivity[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]ƒ/1.8 12MP Wide rear camera[/td]
[td]ƒ/1.8 12MP Wide and ƒ/2.4 10MP Ultra Wide rear cameras[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Smart HDR 3[/td]
[td]Smart HDR 4[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]–[/td]
[td]True Tone flash[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]–[/td]
[td]ProRes video recording up to 4K at 30 fps[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Digital zoom up to 5x[/td]
[td]Digital zoom up to 5x and 2x optical zoom out[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]3x video zoom[/td]
[td]Video zoom up to 3x and 2x optical zoom out[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]–[/td]
[td]Audio zoom[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]–[/td]
[td]LiDAR scanner[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]ƒ/2.4 12MP Ultra Wide front-facing camera with 2x optical zoom out and Center Stage[/td]
[td]ƒ/2.4 12MP TrueDepth Ultra Wide front-facing camera with 2x optical zoom out, Center Stage, Portrait Mode, Portrait Lighting, Animoji, and Memoji[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]–[/td]
[td]Stereo recording[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Two speaker audio landscape mode[/td]
[td]Four-speaker audio[/td]
[/tr]

USB‑C connec... Click here to read rest of article

Article Link: M1 iPad Air vs. M2 iPad Pro Buyer's Guide
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/guide/m1-ipad-air-vs-m2-ipad-pro/
Last edited:
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Reactions: true god and citysnaps
If you want the 11" iPad Pro buy the M1 iPad Air and save the $$$
If you wan the 10th Gen iPad buy a refurbished 4th Gen iPad Air (same chip, better display, 2nd gen Pencil, lower quality front facing camera).
 
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I honestly thought the iPad Air (5th gen.) was already older, but no it's from March of this year. So maybe it wasn't that bad of a year for iPads. 🤔
 
I would rather have a refurb or discounted new 2021 iPad Pro 11 if I were in the market for the iPad Air M1. The M1 11” Pro advantages would be better display with thinner bezels and ProMotion, quad speakers, FaceID (much more convenient on tablets since you usually have the device further away).
 
The quad speakers on the Pro are really amazing. I regularly forget how good they sound until I pick up my iPad and watch some sports or listen to music. They fill my kitchen while cooking...or cleaning up afterward! They're easily on par with our M1 MBA, probably a little better. Granted I don't have an Air to compare them to, and it might not be a huge diff (I don't know what "landscape mode" means), but it's certainly something to consider if this is a media consumption device for you.
 
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Reactions: coachingguy
I feel like these are the same as most other current apple products. If you have neither, buy the newest one. If you have the older model, there’s no real reason to buy the new one.
 
Spaceboi Scaphandre said:
tbh if I was drawing I wouldn't be bringing my work to a coffee shop
Click to expand...

My wife, an artist, does that all the time. She also makes art at parks, planes, trains, sitting on the porch, etc.

Also... have both a Wacom and an iPad Pro, she much prefers her iPad Pro.
 
Best Buy has the 11" M1 Pro for $699 (128g) or $799 (256g, only $50 more than the 256g M1 Air iPad!) with extended holiday return period (Jan 14, 2023). That's an INSANELY good deal, and you probably won't even get the refurb from Apple for that cheap. If you were even remotely considering one, I'd jump on this now for a free 2.5 month trial period.

Sources:

www.bestbuy.com

Best Buy: Apple 11-Inch iPad Pro with Wi-Fi 256GB Space Gray MHQU3LL/A

Shop Apple 11-Inch iPad Pro with Wi-Fi 256GB Space Gray at Best Buy. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or in-store pick-up. Price Match Guarantee.
www.bestbuy.com www.bestbuy.com

www.bestbuy.com

Best Buy: Apple 11-Inch iPad Pro with Wi-Fi 128GB Space Gray MHQR3LL/A

Shop Apple 11-Inch iPad Pro with Wi-Fi 128GB Space Gray at Best Buy. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or in-store pick-up. Price Match Guarantee.
www.bestbuy.com www.bestbuy.com
 
is it worth it to buy a 128GB ipad pro (2nd gen) wifi for 33.36% cheaper in price comparing to a 128gb ipad pro m2 (4th gen)?

i am referring to 11-inch.
 
kindaichi81 said:
is it worth it to buy a 128GB ipad pro (2nd gen) wifi for 33.36% cheaper in price comparing to a 128gb ipad pro m2 (4th gen)?

i am referring to 11-inch.
Click to expand...
If you're really comfortable with 128g (fine for a lot of people, so not questioning you!) then I'd look at the Best Buy deal I linked above. $699 is an amazing price. (Not an affiliate link or anything; I get nothing from it.) I'd try to get an M1 if you could, just for longevity's sake at this point. I'm sure Apple will play some shenanigans with iPadOS in the next couple years that will render those beautiful pre-M1 iPPs un-upgradeable.

(I guess if you're not in America that might not work for you.)
 
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