iPad Air iPad Air 5 comes with M1 and 8GB RAM

[Digitalguy]

I agree but I’m afraid I’m hoping again. Interesting was the iMovie mention. Maybe Final Cut Pro at wwdc?

as for the mini, personally I don’t think that’s a device that needs to be capable of desktop mode monitor support. Same with iPad 9.
it’d be more than ok with apple releasing some “pro” features to iPadOS that are exclusive to M1 iPads Or iPads with 6GB ram and higher

That may suck for 2018 pro / 2020 Air users but the 2018 pro is now old enough for them to get away with it in my opinion

We can always hope.... For me the most important feature would be monitor support (= desktop mode). But this time I'll keep my expectations in check.

 

[yitwail]

Mac OS being able to swap memory is fundamentally a huge difference. And it doesn't impact performance severely until it starts swapping actively used memory, so an 8GB Mac vs. an 8GB iPad isn't quite apples to apples.

Even if iPadOS had memory swap, it wouldn't help much with measly 64gb of storage, and 64gb isn't sufficient for macOS either, if Apple were to make it available in iPads.

 

[boltjames]

I bought an iPad Air 4 a few weeks ago and have the option to exchange it straight up for an iPad Air 5.

Question is, do I need to?

I only use it to watch videos on long flights, no content creation, no photos, no gaming. So what actually matters to me is battery life. Will the M1 + 8gb provide better battery life than the A14 + 4gb? Or will the more powerful chip and higher RAM actually consume more power and reduce battery life?

 

[Digitalguy]

I bought an iPad Air 4 a few weeks ago and have the option to exchange it straight up for an iPad Air 5.

Question is, do I need to?

I only use it to watch videos on long flights, no content creation, no photos, no gaming. So what actually matters to me is battery life. Will the M1 + 8gb provide better battery life than the A14 + 4gb? Or will the more powerful chip and higher RAM actually consume more power and reduce battery life?

I would say battery may be slightly lower but more in terms of minutes than hours, so not even worth worrying about it. But to be certain only a proper battery life comparison could answer that. How long do you want to keep this iPad? M1 with 8GB will definitely have a longer life. I would consider this a more important consideration than 30-40 minutes of battery life....

 

[rui no onna]

I bought an iPad Air 4 a few weeks ago and have the option to exchange it straight up for an iPad Air 5.

Question is, do I need to?

I only use it to watch videos on long flights, no content creation, no photos, no gaming. So what actually matters to me is battery life. Will the M1 + 8gb provide better battery life than the A14 + 4gb? Or will the more powerful chip and higher RAM actually consume more power and reduce battery life?

For what it's worth, I get similar battery life from the M1 iPad Pro 11 (16GB RAM) and Air 4 (mostly web browsing and reading at low brightness).

For a straight exchange, I think you'd be much better off getting the Air 5.

 

[boltjames]

For what it's worth, I get similar battery life from the M1 iPad Pro 11 (16GB RAM) and Air 4 (mostly web browsing and reading at low brightness).

For a straight exchange, I think you'd be much better off getting the Air 5.

Thanks! I know Apple makes claims about being "60x faster", but it's 60x fractions of milliseconds. Do you think the M1 and double the RAM will make the Air 5 faster than the Air 4 when it comes to launching apps, loading videos, streaming, etc? Better wi-fi performance perhaps? If there really isn't a noticeable bump, it would be easier to stick with the 4 as I wouldn't be getting any benefit out of the new processor and RAM.

 

[rui no onna]

Thanks! I know Apple makes claims about being "60x faster", but it's 60x fractions of milliseconds. Do you think the M1 and double the RAM will make the Air 5 faster than the Air 4 when it comes to launching apps, loading videos, streaming, etc? Better wi-fi performance perhaps? If there really isn't a noticeable bump, it would be easier to stick with the 4 as I wouldn't be getting any benefit out of the new processor and RAM.

The A14 and M1 have the same building blocks. The M1 just has very slightly higher clock rate, 2 more performance cores and 4 more GPU cores. Unless you're encoding video or something, I doubt you'll notice a difference between the two launching apps, etc.

However, I already have issues with 4GB RAM (plenty of reloads; occasional freezing, lag and crashes). At the same price, I would definitely go for M1+8GB over A14+4GB. I bought an Air 4 last year but if I didn't need TouchID due to face masks, I'd have happily paid the $150 extra for the M1 Pro 11 for my EDC/purse iPad.

 

[yitwail]

Thanks! I know Apple makes claims about being "60x faster", but it's 60x fractions of milliseconds.

No they don't, it's 60% faster. If they made it 60x faster, that would be mind blowing.

 

[joshwithachance]

The Pro 11" is still the better purchase. 64GB is too low for something with an M1, but I feel like a lot of users don't really need 256GB either. The 120Hz display on the Pro is far superior to the Air's. But I am glad Apple gave the Air such a big boost in performance to differentiate it from the Mini. I just feel like they didn't increase base storage solely because it would entirely cannibalize Pro 11" sales.

 

[rui no onna]

The Pro 11" is still the better purchase. 64GB is too low for something with an M1, but I feel like a lot of users don't really need 256GB either. The 120Hz display on the Pro is far superior to the Air's. But I am glad Apple gave the Air such a big boost in performance to differentiate it from the Mini. I just feel like they didn't increase base storage solely because it would entirely cannibalize Pro 11" sales.

I do agree about not wanting to cannibalize Pro 11 iPad sales too much.

That said, I expect 64GB is quite usable for many (just perhaps not comfortable). We have a 6th gen in the household that needs to be upgraded as it's running too slow after updating to iPadOS 15. It only has Twitch, YouTube, Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, Amazon Prime, Crunchyroll, Spotify and Facebook installed and still has plenty of free space. User prefers FaceID so will likely be getting the Pro 11 but if not for that, the 64GB Air would've been perfectly fine.

I personally have a 1TB iPad. However, I'm betting everyone else in my household will be fine with 64GB (mostly web browsing, social media and streaming).

 

[minik]

its on top right? i use in landscape mode 99.9% of the time, does it work well that that mode? i returned my 11 pro due to the pain it was for face id and landscape, i like the touch id of the 10.5 pro for landscape but havent used if its on top? whats so dumb is that face id works great on the phone...duh its in the right mode but for ipad they just threw it in there even though its probably used in landscape mode more by most

FaceID works perfectly on my 12.9" iPad Pro (portrait and landscape). For the TouchID on the iPad mini 6, it works pretty good as well.

 

[Argon_]

The new blue colour looks great.

Also I am pleasantly surprised by the spec bump. I was thinking A15 + 6GB RAM, but I’m all for the Air getting M1 and 8GB RAM. It brings the Air 5 back to the whole concept of the Air as a nearly-Pro device.

If I had use for another iPad I would be tempted to buy the blue Air 5.

64GB starting storage is a downer, but it’s the usual Apple deal of trying to upsell you to the Pro 128GB.

I thought we might see a storage bump with A15, 4GB. Dead wrong there, but happy to be. Instead we got a $600 tablet that can absolutely drag tower desktops of a similar price.

 

[jsmith1]

FaceID works perfectly on my 12.9" iPad Pro (portrait and landscape). For the TouchID on the iPad mini 6, it works pretty good as well.

I had one…they suck, in fact so bad I sent it back and bought refurb 10.5 pro, much better for landscape touch Id

 

[Isengardtom]

The A14 and M1 have the same building blocks. The M1 just has very slightly higher clock rate, 2 more performance cores and 4 more GPU cores. Unless you're encoding video or something, I doubt you'll notice a difference between the two launching apps, etc.

However, I already have issues with 4GB RAM (plenty of reloads; occasional freezing, lag and crashes). At the same price, I would definitely go for M1+8GB over A14+4GB. I bought an Air 4 last year but if I didn't need TouchID due to face masks, I'd have happily paid the $150 extra for the M1 Pro 11 for my EDC/purse iPad.

me too and also the center stage feature while not critical is nice to have. Air 4 doesn't have that

 

[LFC2020]

USB C speeds have been doubled on the Air 5 to 10gbps, i think the speeds on the Pro 11 might be faster than this.

One thing that the Air 5 has unique to it though is the colour options.

No buttery heavenly ProMotion. ?

For the price apple charges for their devices, all of them should come with 90hz-120hz displays.

Once you go ProMotion, you never go back.

 

[ericwn]

No buttery heavenly ProMotion.

For the price apple charges for their devices, all of them should come with 90hz-120hz displays.

Once you go ProMotion, you never go back.

I go back and forth every day. Sure it’s a tad nicer but everything else is just dramatic hyperbole.

 

[mackiee]

I wonder if they have fixed the issue with the backlight bleed?

 

[Heat_Fan89]

No buttery heavenly ProMotion. ?

For the price apple charges for their devices, all of them should come with 90hz-120hz displays.

Once you go ProMotion, you never go back.

When those displays first came out I went to my local Best Buy and tbh my eyes could not tell the difference. I was expecting the scrolling and refresh rate to keep the text from smearing while scrolling vertically and both the regular and iPad Pro where pretty close to each other. Sure the iPP was slightly better but it wasn't worth the added asking price.

 

[jzuena]

its on top right? i use in landscape mode 99.9% of the time, does it work well that that mode? i returned my 11 pro due to the pain it was for face id and landscape, i like the touch id of the 10.5 pro for landscape but havent used if its on top? whats so dumb is that face id works great on the phone...duh its in the right mode but for ipad they just threw it in there even though its probably used in landscape mode more by most

If you rotate so the camera is on the left, the power button is right where your left index finger can easily tap the fingerprint reader while holding the iPad. I wasn't sure about putting the reader in the power button, but a year with the Air 4 and I am sold on it. Never want to see a home button again.

 

[The Game 161]

64gb is just poor in 2022

 

[snipr125]

No buttery heavenly ProMotion. ?

For the price apple charges for their devices, all of them should come with 90hz-120hz displays.

Once you go ProMotion, you never go back.

I completely agree with you LFC, they could at least put 120hz Fixed refresh rate, like £300 Android phones have. But then if they added this to the M1 Air, then that would literally be the end of the Pro 11, as if it is not being cannibalised already.

 

[Makisupa Policeman]

Definitely gonna be putting the M1 iPad Air on my Christmas list. Probably ditch my rMB and go with bad boy this instead!

 

[Argon_]

Definitely gonna be putting the M1 iPad Air on my Christmas list. Probably ditch my rMB and go with bad boy this instead!

The M1 will seem crazy fast compared to the dual core rMB.