Apple launches new iPad Air with M3 chip, AI features, and updated Magic Keyboard
Despite owning a fancy iPhone 16 Pro Max, I also have an iPad Air. Why? Well, even though my iPhone has a pretty big screen, sometimes I just want even bigger. Plus, I can use it when my iPhone is charging.
Why didn’t I go with an iPad Pro? Quite simply, Apple’s Pro tablets are too expensive for what I mostly use them for -- media consumption. Hell, I don’t need an expensive iPad Pro for watching TikTok on the toilet.
The iPad Air tablets present a nice balance of performance and price. You get a modern Apple Silicon “M” chip without needing to mortgage your house to afford it. And today, Apple launches the latest iPad Air. This time, the midrange tablet comes with an M3 processor, starting at the same $599 price.
The M3 chip gives the iPad Air a performance boost, with Apple saying it’s nearly twice as fast as the M1 model. Most people are not likely to notice a dramatic difference in everyday use, but for gaming and creative apps, the extra speed could be useful. The real benefit is longevity -- this tablet should stay fast for years, so you won’t feel the itch to upgrade too soon.
Apple is, naturally enough, leaning into AI, claiming the iPad Air is “built for Apple Intelligence.” That means new tools like an AI-powered cleanup feature in Photos and deeper Siri integration. There’s also ChatGPT baked right into Siri and Writing Tools, letting users generate text and images without leaving their apps.
A new Magic Keyboard for iPad Air is also launching, offering a larger trackpad and function row at a lower price than the Pro version. The base model now starts with 128GB of storage, which is better than the old 64GB but still feels a little limited in 2025.
The 11-inch iPad Air starts at $599, while the 13-inch version goes for $799. It’s available to order today in blue, purple, starlight, and space gray. If you want an iPad with modern performance but don’t need Pro-level features, this might be the sweet spot.