Quick review
The good
The not-so-good
A little earlier than expected, the M3 iPad Air is the 2025 edition of Apple’s almost high-end tablet. Does it still deliver value?
It goes without saying that gadgets will be updated regularly, and lately, it’s even year on year. But with Apple’s iPad Air being updated only one year ago in 2024, we’ll admit that a new model wasn’t on our bingo card for being ready this early.
And yet here we are in March 2025 with just that: a new iPad Air. Maybe we’re just getting too old for this.
The latest generation of iPad Air takes what has been familiar about the range and changes virtually nothing about it beyond the chip inside. There’s no new screen, no new WiFi, no new design, and if you showed an Apple fanboy an iPad from this year versus one from the past few years, they’d probably look at you dumbfounded unable to decide which was the most recent model from the bunch.
But inside, there’s something new, and if you’re the type of person that prefers keeping your gear for as long as possible, the 2025 iPad Air could have you worked out.
What’s new in the M3 iPad Air, and will it stand the test of time?
Design
Last year’s iPad Air was a lot like the iPad Air before it, and frankly, this year’s is a lot like the both of those, too.
You’ll find an aluminium body in a handful of colours (ours was the starlight gold) complete with soft and flat edges, encasing an 11 inch screen with reasonably thick bezels, and that is roughly it.
Features
Inside the 11 inch Air we’re reviewing, there’s the Apple M3 processor, the main change from the M2 variation last year, though you can also find the M3 iPad Air in a 13 inch variation, as well.
That chip is pretty much the only new feature, and beyond this it is largely the same. There’s a good 8GB RAM and iPadOS on the 2025 iPad Air (either size), arriving in storage capacities of 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB.
WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax 6E is supported on all variations of the iPad Air, as is Bluetooth 5.3, though if you opt for the cellular model, you’ll also get GPS support and 5G using the eSIM built-in (no physical nanoSIM here).
There’s a 12 megapixel F1.8 camera on the back and a 12 megapixel F2.0 camera on the front, both the same as last time, plus two microphones and stereo speakers in a landscape configuration.
USB-C is the only obvious data port, found on the very bottom, and there’s also a fingerprint sensor for Touch ID available in the power button on the iPad Air, as well.
Display
The chip is pretty much all that’s changed, so the screen is exactly what you’ve been able to find for the past year or so.
That means the M3 iPad Air gets the same 2360×1640 IPS screen with True Tone as what was in the M2 iPad Air, and to an extent what was also in the iPad Air 5th-gen with the M1 chip inside.
The screen is very much in a state of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix”, it seems.
In-use
Using the Air is much the same here, as well, largely because Apple hasn’t made any significant changes.
Apple’s iPadOS 18 offers a bit of AI if you want it — part of Apple Intelligence — but for the most part, using the iPad is loading apps, swiping across screens, and working out what you need to use the hardware for.
Work or play, you’ll find plenty on offer in this mobile computer, complete with a new generation of the Magic Keyboard, which now comes with a row of function keys making it more like using a proper Apple keyboard. The hinge on that Magic Keyboard is slightly flatter, too, giving the look more of a folio style, but be warned, this keyboard does cost $449 and is an optional extra.
It’s pretty much the same, though. And interestingly, you can use the M4 iPad Air with the older Magic Keyboard Case and this newer variety, and vice versa (older iPad Air models also work with the new Magic Keyboard Case, too, provided they have the Smart Connector on the back).
Performance
Comparing the M2 Air to the M3 Air, it should be pretty clear that not much has changed generationally, with the main thing — hey, the only thing — being the chip.
In the 2025 iPad Air, you’ll get an upgrade from Apple Silicon M2 to the Apple Silicon M3, a jump that based on benchmarks puts the iPad Air within spitting distance of its M4 iPad Pro sibling, and flying out ahead of some other tablets we’ve seen.
If you have an older iPad Air, the benchmarks are pretty consistent at showing just how much speed you’ll see generation upon generation.
There’s more guts to speak of in this version, making for a suitable upgrade for iPad owners who might not need the full extent of what’s in the iPad Pro.
Beyond the benchmarks, however, you may not even realise there’s a performance upgrade of sorts. Apple’s M1 is still a pretty solid force to be reckoned with, and while the M3 boosts things significantly, apps aren’t really built to take advantage of those little differences.
Sufficed to say, the iPad Air is fast now, and should be fast enough for several years to come. We doubt apps on the iPad will hit a level to pus this thing too hard, and that may include games.
Battery
A change to the chip hasn’t impacted battery life in anyway, with much the same runtime between generations.
Officially, Apple supports up to 10 hours of watching video or web surfing on the iPad Air, something that tracks from our time with the hardware.
It’s roughly a 1:1 replacement, with intermittent use providing two days of battery life operating at roughly 3 to 4 hours per day, while more consistent use will see your iPad Air need charging nightly. Fortunately, you’ll use USB-C to charge it, which means you probably have a plug lying around that can help.
Value
Even the price is the same, with a $999 starting price tag to work with. That’s good, because it means you get much of what makes an iPad Pro impressive, but in a slightly less expensive package.
It’s not quite the same: the design isn’t as thin, the screen isn’t as good, and the pen interaction isn’t as fast, but if you don’t happen to depend on those features, the iPad Air is a balanced take on what makes the iPad Pro tick.
This version just happens to be a little faster and better value with a new chip inside, giving you a little more grunt and lasting a little bit longer, as well.
What needs work?
The biggest problem with the M3 iPad Air is very much consistent with most of Apple’s updates this year so far in that… very little has changed.
The M1 iPad Air was fast. The M2 iPad Air was faster. This M3 iPad Air is faster again, but here’s the rub: very little of what you’ll do between generations will point any of those differences out.
Yes, there’s a chip separating each subsequent generation. But will you run a whole lot that can show all of that up? Not really.
It’s difficult enough to find apps that show off the differences between the M1 MacBook Air, M2 MacBook Air, M3 MacBook Air, and most recently the M4 MacBook Air; benchmarks show the differences, but little else, making it difficult to really know what has changed beyond the chip.
The answer is not much of anything. The M4 iPad Air is last year’s iPad made that little bit faster again, while still not being quite as thin or impressive as the iPad Pro.
You’re still missing out on the high-speed screen tech of ProMotion and the facial security that is Face ID.
What we love
While the changes are minor — a chip and that’s it! — Apple also didn’t really need to change much.
The last generation of the Air was great, especially if you wanted an iPad Pro without all the hyper-accurate pen speed, Mini-LED backlighting, and super thin design. This one is just more of the same, but with an updated chip.
That’s not a bad thing, even if it means it’s not an upgrade path for recent iPad owners.
Final thoughts (TLDR)
However, the 2025 iPad Air could be an upgrade for owners of an older iPad, for sure. The hardware improves the longevity of the iPad Air thanks to that new chip, essentially giving buyers a slightly better iPad Air this year than they would have bought a few weeks before.
It’s more of the same in a good way. You’ll get the same great iPad Air from last year, but with a bump in processing power. Unexciting, for sure, but useful all the same.
In short, the 2025 iPad Air is unexciting technology in the best way possible, delivering a great device in a fairly minor update. It’s more of the same in a good way. Recommended for folks who want an iPad Pro but don’t want to spend up to get it.
