11-inch iPad Air M2 overview: Stable however unexciting mid-ranger

Worth When Reviewed

$599 (128GB, Wi-Fi solely)

Greatest Costs Right this moment: Apple iPad Air 11-inch (M2, 2024)

The most important innovation on this 12 months’s iPad Air is the brand new bigger-screen possibility: if you need (and might afford the improve) you may plump for a 13-inch show. Nonetheless, Apple despatched us the 11-inch mannequin for testing. This got here totally outfitted with 1TB of storage and mobile connectivity, for which you would need to pay a record value of $1,249.

Along with the iPad, we additionally acquired a Sensible Folio for the take a look at, which Apple has redesigned barely and now permits a larger angle of inclination and a Magic Keyboard. That is the older Magic Keyboard mannequin, which is now solely appropriate with the iPad Air, and never with the M4 model of the iPad Professional.

The keyboard holds the iPad magnetically and serves as safety when closed. Along with the keyboard, it additionally has a comparatively small trackpad and a USB-C port that can be utilized to cost the iPad Air. What the Air’s Magic Keyboard doesn’t have is a set of perform keys; these are solely obtainable on the new model designed for the iPad Professional M4, which additionally has a bigger glass trackpad with haptic suggestions and is product of aluminum as an alternative of plastic.

However, and barely frustratingly, each of the 11-inch Magic Keyboards value the identical (moderately excessive) value of $299. And when you’ve received a 13-inch Air or Professional you’ll must pay $349. We expect a cheaper price for the Air’s Magic Keyboard can be extra acceptable.

11-inch iPad Air M2: Show

Nothing has modified with the display in comparison with the earlier mannequin with the M1 chip. Apple could have began referring to an “11-inch show,” in distinction to 10.9 inches on the 4th- and Fifth-gen Airs, however that’s a deceptive approximation: the truth is it’s the identical 10.9-inch show (full with 2360 x 1640 decision at a pixel density of 264 ppi) as in 2020 and 2022.

Foundry

Foundry

Foundry

The brightness additionally stays at 500 nits. It’s a pity that the 11-inch mannequin doesn’t acquire a show with a brightness of 600 nits, just like the 13-inch iPad Air M2. That will be a plus level for out of doors use.

One other distinction between the massive and small iPad Air M2 may be discovered within the technical specs for the audio system. Apple refers to “Panorama stereo audio system with 2x bass” for the massive model, whereas the small model doesn’t have this twin bass. Nonetheless, we can not evaluate the sound high quality as a result of lack of a 13-inch take a look at gadget.

11-inch iPad AIr M2: Design

The size and weight of the 11-inch iPad Air M2 haven’t modified in comparison with the iPad Air M1. The vary of colour finishes additionally stays largely the identical–you may select from House Grey, Starlight, purple, and blue–however blue and purple are actually barely brighter, and pink is not obtainable.

Other than these lighter colours, the Air M2 can be distinguished from its predecessor by the place of the front-facing digital camera. This has moved to the lengthy edge, simply because it did on the Tenth-gen iPad again in 2022, and on this 12 months’s iPad Professional M4. This can be a wise change that enormously improves video chats.

In different respects, the front-facing digital camera has been barely however not radically tweaked. You continue to get a single wide-angle lens and a sensor with 12 megapixels; the aperture has elevated in measurement from f/2.4 to f/2. The digital camera helps Apple’s Middle Stage characteristic so that you simply all the time stay in focus and centered within the body, even when transferring backward and forward (inside cause). Nonetheless, we did discover some slight distortions in FaceTime testing.

Each front- and rear-facing cameras now help Sensible HDR 4 for images, an improve from Sensible HDR 3 on the earlier mannequin, which ought to make it simpler to take photographs in tough lighting circumstances. That’s assuming you utilize your iPad for normal digital camera work, which feels unlikely. Nonetheless, this digital camera is kind of helpful for scanning paperwork.

Petter Ahrnstedt

Petter Ahrnstedt

Petter Ahrnstedt

One other new characteristic in comparison with the earlier mannequin may be discovered within the battery settings. You may view the variety of charging cycles, the manufacture date of the battery, and when it was first used. You can too stipulate that the battery ought to solely ever be charged to 80 %; that is meant to increase the gadget’s service life. Nonetheless, in keeping with Apple, the battery continues to be charged to one hundred pc occasionally with the intention to decide the battery standing and present capability.

11-inch iPad Air M2: Processor and specs

Unsurprisingly, the improve from an M1 to an M2 chip was noticeable in our take a look at outcomes. The Air M2 recorded CPU scores of two,617 for single-core and 10,074 for multi-core in Geekbench 6.3, numbers that are in the identical vary because the iPad Professional M2 and considerably greater than these of the iPad Air M1. The identical may be stated of the Air M2’s wonderful GPU (Metallic) rating of 41,902.

Thomas Armbrüster

Thomas Armbrüster

Thomas Armbrüster

This doesn’t imply the Air is a match for the final Professional in each division. Not like the Professional M2, for instance, the Air M2’s media engine doesn’t help ProRes and ProRes RAW, in keeping with Apple. This perform might be nonetheless reserved for the Professional iPads.

In our 3DMark Wildlife Excessive take a look at, in the meantime, the Air recorded a rating of 6,443, which once more is akin to the iPad Professional M2. The M2 is due to this fact nicely outfitted for all duties.

Keep in mind that the M1 Air was already decently fast. In actual fact, in on a regular basis use away from essentially the most processor-intensive apps, you in all probability gained’t discover the distinction between the M1 and M2 fashions. However that doesn’t essentially imply you have to be trying to purchase the older mannequin at a lowered value.

On the one hand, Apple has lowered the worth of the fundamental model of the iPad Air by $70 in comparison with its predecessor and prices a listing value of simply (or maybe that must be “simply”) $599 for the most cost effective M2. And second, the entry-level model of the Air now comes with 128GB of reminiscence, whereas the M1 mannequin began at a meager 64GB. That’s except for the brand new Air providing you with a better-positioned entrance digital camera, greater storage choices on the high finish, and, in fact, the M2 chip’s higher future-proofing: it will not be noticeably sooner than the M1 proper now, however it will likely be higher in a position to deal with the extra demanding apps of the years to come back.

In different phrases, you’d want to seek out a superb cut price to make it value shopping for an M1 iPad Air at this level.

Additionally new is Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6E, bringing the iPad Air M2 on top of things with the iPad Professional and Apple’s Mac lineup. In case you purchase a model with mobile connectivity, like our overview pattern, keep in mind that you simply’ll have to order an eSim out of your supplier, as there isn’t a longer a slot for a bodily SIM card.

Do you have to purchase an 11-inch iPad Air M2?

The decrease entry-level value, the elevated primary reminiscence capability of 128GB, and the entrance digital camera on the lengthy edge are all pleasing upgrades for this technology of Air. The truth that the iPad has additionally been given the subsequent chip up, the M2, can be welcome. Nonetheless, it could have been good if the show of the 11-inch iPad Air had been simply as vivid as that of its large brother.

At the moment finest value: iPad Air 11-inch M2