After announcing the new iPads last week, the press has just released its first reviews of the M4 iPad Pro. We also have reviews of the iPad Air M2, and they praise the balance between reasonably powerful hardware at a reasonable price.
iPad Air M2 Review Roundup
According to Engadget, the new iPad Air M2 is the “iPad get.” Although the website While the iPad Pro M4 is hard to recommend due to its high price, the iPad Air offers “an attractive combination of features at a reasonable price.” The review highlights the storage upgrade for the base model (now 128GB) and the new 13-inch version.
But for the rest of us, the iPad Air is still here, offering about 80 percent of the capabilities of the iPad Pro for a lot less money. And for the first time, there's a larger-screen iPad at a much more affordable price. My heart may want the iPad Pro, but my head (and wallet) agree that the iPad Air is a much more reasonable option.
ArsTechnica calls the iPad Air M2 “the entire iPad.” While the review highlights that the entry-level iPad will likely be sufficient for most buyers, the new Air delivers all the iPad features at much lower prices than the iPad Pro. The website also says the M2 chip is “powerful enough to do everything people now use on an iPad.”
In particular, the 13-inch Air may appeal to people looking to replace their laptops with iPads. The screen is large enough and the device is certainly fast enough. The price is reasonable, although you'll have to factor in the cost of the keyboard top (if you just want a giant slab of glass to read on, the 13″ Air is still fine, but I find the device to be a bit on the expensive side. Too big and bulky if you're planning on use it as a tablet only).
CNET seems to agree with other reviewers. In addition, the review also notes that buyers of the new iPad Air will also have to buy the Apple Pencil Pro, since the Apple Pencil 2 is not compatible with it.
It looks and feels exactly the same, but has new rotation capabilities and a haptic pinch gesture for supported apps. The new Pencil Pro is the same price as the Pencil 2 ($129), which is great, except… the new Air won't work with your old Pencil 2 at all. So you'll have to buy the Pencil Pro or use the Pencil stylus smaller USB-C that doesn't have pressure sensitivity. Ugh on this — It's wasteful and forces you to upgrade an accessory you might not otherwise have.
The Verge, on the other hand, argues that the iPad you can buy isn't a new one Air, but the entry-level iPad, which just got cheaper – now starts at $349.
Barring a few specific scenarios, I wouldn't recommend you buy an iPad Air this year. Not because it's not great – it's great! It's just that for $250 less you can get a basic iPad that's about as good at all the usual iPad activities. The 10th generation iPad is a couple of years old at this point, but it's still a great device, especially after Apple dropped the price from $449 to $349. The iPad, not the iPad Air, is the right iPad for most people.
iPad Air starts at $599 for the 11-inch version and $799 for the 13-inch version.
Video Reviews
You can watch some video reviews below:
