iPad Air (M3, 7th Generation)
Apple (Hacker News):
iPad Air with M3 empowers users to be productive and creative wherever they are, from aspiring creatives using demanding apps and working with large files, to travelers editing content on the go. The powerful M3 chip offers a number of improvements over M1 and previous-generation models. Featuring a more powerful 8-core CPU, M3 is up to 35 percent faster for multithreaded CPU workflows than iPad Air with M1.
Though note that the model it replaces had an M2.
With the M3 chip, the new iPad Air should offer up to 20% faster performance compared to the previous-generation model with the M2 chip, which was released in May 2024. In addition, the M3 chip brings hardware-accelerated ray tracing to the iPad Air for the first time, providing improved graphics rendering in games.
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We have yet to discover any other changes for the new iPad Air beyond the M3 chip and the updated Magic Keyboard.
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In the U.S., the 11-inch model continues to start at $599, and the 13-inch model continues to start at $799. The device remains available in the same Space Gray, Starlight, Blue, and Purple color options that were offered for the previous model.
It’s definitely a muted update, which is no surprise as it comes just nine months after the introduction of the M2 iPad Air last May. The use of the M3 processor is also somewhat surprising, given that it’s based on an outdated manufacturing process that Apple has otherwise been aggressive about transitioning away from on the rest of its product line.
My Mac does everything I could imagine, so when you show me a Mac that looks exactly like what I already have but is way faster, then I go “hell yeah, gimme that!” But when you show me a faster iPad, I largely go, “well, speed isn’t what I feel holds me back on the iPad, it’s the software.” My evidence is literally every iPad review in the past 10 years.
The new keyboard features a larger built-in trackpad, a 14-key function row, and a new aluminum hinge.
It’s great to see these features from the iPad Pro’s Magic Keyboard make their way to the iPad Air. At the same time, the Air version does include some compromises, most notably its omission of backlit keys. It also lacks the aluminum palm rest and trackpad haptic feedback found on the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro, and it only comes in a single color option: white.
The iPad Air’s Magic Keyboard is marginally cheaper than the iPad Pro version (and the Magic Keyboard for last year’s iPad Air), costing $30 less at $269 for the 11-inch version and $319 for the 13-inch version.
Previously:
- iPad (11th Generation)
- Premium Hardware, Subpar Software
- Apple M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max
- iPad Air (6th Generation)
Update (2025-03-05): John Gruber:
$269 feels like a crummy deal. The new-from-last-year $299 Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro, with an aluminum top, feels way more than $30 better than the old-style silicone-covered ones like this new Magic Keyboard for iPad Air. It kind of feels like a design failure of some sort that these new iPad Airs can’t use the same Magic Keyboards as the iPad Pros of the same size.
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Has Apple lost the motivational spirit? They keep coat tailing on old electronic devices.
Yeah we all know iteration is a thing but M2-M3 and nothing else is barely worth a tweet.
I use an M1 iPad Air (10.9") for photo editing via Lightroom and the processor speed is not even close to being an issue for me. And ditto for all the other general IT uses.
Tempted to get a 13" one eventually but the M2 would surely suffice.
I use a stand alone Magic Keyboard and a Magic Trackpad (not the case) so there's no problem upgrading and wasting the extortionate cost of the Magic Keyboard Case (standalone KB and Trackpad is way better IMO as allows for far better ergonomics than the laptop like keyboard case where you end up cramped and cannot move the iPad/screen further back or higher up)
It's interesting to keep using the M3, which some considered a technological dead-end. Perhaps its production run is starting anew at a new less-fancy factory? Arizona? For future iPhoneKitchen?
@Paul No way. M3 is considered a difficult, 3nm production, only possible at TSMC. Most likely they are using it because they have enough spare they can run an entire iPad line.
It's so sad to see, how Apple isn't able to source a 1 TB SSD (my absolute minimum now) for their laptops for less than +400. Tip: 1 TB PCIe SSD at Amazon will cost you 50 retail and no, I would not notice any difference between that and Apples soldered on chips.
Apple's storage and ram prices are obscene at this point. A 2TB top of the line Samsung 990 PRO is only 167.22 on Amazon right now.
