Apple iPad Air M3 review: The smallest of upgrades

Apple’s new iPad Air is here, but you wouldn’t know it just by looking at it.

For this version, Apple decided to leave the tablet unchanged on the outside, save for the new (optional) Magic Keyboard. Inside, however, the Air has Apple’s M3 chip, which means it supports Apple Intelligence, the company’s AI assistant.

Once again, the iPad Air comes in two sizes, one with an 11-inch display, and the other with a 13-inch display. For my Apple iPad Air (M3) review, I tested the 13-inch version.

Apple iPad Air price and specs

The price and the vast majority of the specifications haven’t changed from last year’s model. The 11-inch variant of the new iPad Air starts at $599, while the 13-inch version starts at $799. As with other Apple products, you can often find them on sale at retailers like Amazon and Best Buy.

By far the biggest improvement is the new Apple M3 chip, which has an 8-core CPU, a 9-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine. The new chip unlocks Apple Intelligence features, which won’t work on some older models but are supported on the 2024 iPad Air.

It’s supposedly purple.
Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

As for the other (unchanged) specs, here’s a quick rundown:

• Memory: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of storage

• Cameras: 12-megapixel rear camera/12-megapixel selfie camera

• Audio: Stereo speakers, dual mics

• Ports: 1 USB-C port

• Display: Liquid Retina

The 11-inch version has a 2,360×1,640 pixel resolution and a 28.93 watt-hour battery, while the 13-inch version has a 2,732×2,048 pixel resolution and a 36.59 watt-hour battery.

Old design, new (Magic) Keyboard

While this is as minor an upgrade as they come, it’s worth noting that the iPad Air got a bigger redesign last year, when the 13-inch version was introduced for the first time. For 2025, it makes sense for Apple to bring the Air up to speed with newer silicon and better support for AI while keeping the design and feature set largely the same.

Since the iPad Air is an uninterrupted slab of a screen with a uniform black border, it’s hard to imagine a radical redesign. Apple could make the whole device a little thinner, lighter, and reduce the borders a little, but frankly, the Air looks pretty sweet as it is.

The Magic Keyboard has been improved in several ways, but it’s still too expensive.
Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

The display is still beautiful and pretty bright, but the refresh rate only goes to 60Hz. Displays that can do 120Hz — such as the one on the M4 iPad Pro — are just so much smoother and nicer to look at. Had Apple upgraded the display on the iPad Air to support 120Hz, the iPad Pro would become a very tough sell for most shoppers, which is probably why it didn’t happen. Bummer.

As for the colors, they haven’t changed either: You still get a choice between Blue, Purple, Starlight, and Space Gray. I’ve tested the Purple version, and like most Apple colors, it’s very subtly purple.

Apple’s optional Magic Keyboard, which is likely the first accessory most buyers consider, has received a more thorough upgrade. It’s a lot better than the previous version, with a larger trackpad, a full row of function keys, and pass-through charging (meaning you can now charge your iPad Air by plugging the cable into the keyboard, while using its own port for something else, such as connecting an external display).

I have just one minor qualm about the new Magic Keyboard; it works great on hard, even surfaces, but place it (with the iPad Air inside) on something soft, like a couch, and it tends to lean back.

Actually, make that two qualms: The Magic Keyboard still costs $269 for the 11-inch iPad, and a whopping $319 for the 13-inch version, which is nearly half the price of the iPad itself.

A chip that does AI…just like the last one

Apple is positioning the new iPad Air with the M3 chip as the one that’s built for Apple Intelligence, and yes, the new chip’s Neural Engine does make AI tasks faster. But all iPads with an M1 chip or later support Apple Intelligence, meaning that last year’s iPad Air will do AI tasks pretty well, too.

Current starting price of $599 for the 11-inch model and $799 for the 13-inch model. It could feel like a bargain if Trump’s tariffs make future iPads more expensive.
Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

As for Apple’s take on AI, it’s going to be very different depending on how much you need these features, and how much you use other AI models that are out there. For example, I use Cursor for coding, and Apple’s AI prowess is no help here. Likewise, some of Apple’s AI tools, like image generation, lag far behind more advanced models such as Midjourney or ChatGPT.

But if you need to quickly erase an unwanted object from a photo, Apple’s Clean Up tool will suit you well. Or if you need to create an image of yourself in an astronaut’s helmet while wearing a scarf, Apple’s Image Playground will do a decent job (and it will be snappier than on an iPhone).

Image Playground isn’t perfect, but it’s usable in a lot of situations.
Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

In terms of everyday performance, I have zero complaints. My daily driver is a MacBook with an M1 chip — meaning it lags two generations behind this iPad Air — and it’s still plenty fast for me. The iPad Air, which I typically use for reading and gaming, feels overpowered.

For a slightly harder task, I played a variety of games including Hearthstone and PUBG Mobile (yes, on an iPad — sue me), but everything was snappy on the iPad Air.

Geekbench test results confirm this: With a 2,229 single-core score and a 10,498 multi-core score, it’s roughly on par with an M1 MacBook Pro, which is plenty powerful for a tablet.

Of course, if you’re intent on using the iPad Air as your main productivity machine, my verdict is the same as it is for the best iPads: Don’t. The iPad is simply better suited for iPad tasks, which include light work, gaming, reading, and perhaps some light drawing and photo editing. Try to multitask, juggle around a word processor and some tables, create, edit, and move files… and you’ll soon find that MacBook is vastly superior for such tasks.

Battery life: Slightly improved

The battery life on the new iPad Air is pretty great, though not dramatically improved compared to the last version. If I use it for reading and browsing, it lasts for days. If I play a graphics-intensive game, it’ll only last a couple of hours. For a healthy mix of the two, this new iPad Air will last you a full day.

The new Magic Keyboard has pass-through charging, meaning you can charge it while using the iPad’s USB-C port to connect an external display.
Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

To test it out, I ran Mashable’s standard battery test (running a loop of a TikTok video at 50% brightness). I got 14 hours and 46 minutes of battery life, which is about an hour and a half better than last year’s iPad Air. That’s a tangible improvement, likely due to the M3 chip being more power efficient than its predecessor.

For pretty much everything else, we direct you to our review of last year’s iPad Air, because it’s all the same. That means the display, the cameras, the speakers, the ports (well, the singular USB-C port on the bottom) are all the same as before. Even the storage options remain unchanged.

Is the M3 iPad Air worth it?

If you already own the 2024 iPad Air with the M2 chip, then there’s very little reason to upgrade. The new Air is slightly faster and has slightly better battery life…and that’s pretty much it. However, if you’re upgrading from an older Apple tablet, then the new iPad Air is still our “best buy” for most Apple shoppers.

Still the “best buy” iPad.
Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

For me, the iPad is not, and will likely never be, my primary workhorse (I use my MacBook Pro for the vast majority of my daily work). For this reason, the iPad Pro, while nice, is overkill. The iPad, which still has a phone-grade, A16 chip, is underpowered, so the iPad Air is the best choice for most buyers.

As for that Magic Keyboard…look, it’s good, but it’s too pricey to make sense. If you’re shopping for an iPad Air, combining it with a more affordable, third-party option is probably the way to go.