2023 was the year when Android tablets finally upped their game and narrowed the distance to their iPad counterparts. The ambitious OnePlus Pad left a lasting impression on us when we reviewed it last year. Xiaomi put out the affordable Pad 6, which garnered good reviews across the board. In a bid to squash any budding competition, Apple released its new set of iPads at its ‘Let Loose’ event last month. The specced-out iPad Pro demands a whopping Rs 1,00,000, but if you’re not concerned with ‘Pro’ features, the iPad Air would be up your alley. While the updates on the 2024 iPad Air may be small, they are significant nonetheless. We used the tablet for a week, here is our iPad Air (2024) review.
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In This Article
iPad Air 2024 (13-inch) Review: Design and Display
Before we jump into the form factor of the tablet, let’s take a look at what you get inside the iPad Air retail box.
- iPad Air
- USB Type-C to Type-C braided cable
- Power adapter
- Tips booklet
- Info booklet
The four colour options on offer (Space Grey, Blue, Purple, and Starlight) are a bit underwhelming but a safe choice from Apple. A couple of vibrant shades among the pastel options would have been ideal.
Over the years, Apple has perfected the design of the iPad. The 2024 iPad Air may seem indistinguishable from its previous-gen counterpart, but that’s not a bad thing. Tablets serve a specific functional value and the iPad has the perfect form factor for it. As the saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. However, there is one important tweak to this year’s iPad Air. The selfie camera has been moved to the longer bezel, which makes taking video calls in landscape orientation more natural. Interestingly, the selfie camera lacks Face ID tech, which is a bit of a letdown for an Apple product in this price range.
The aluminium back and frame exude strength and bring a premium feel to the device. The back panel has a matte finish but it is prone to smudges and fingerprints. The lone rear camera is positioned at the top left corner of the panel. Interestingly, the iPad Air is thicker (0.24 inches) than this year’s iPad Pro (0.20 inches), which makes us question what the ‘Air’ monicker means anymore.
The top landscape edge of the frame houses the volume rocker keys and a magnetic strip for docking the Apple Pencil. We used the Apple Pencil Pro with our iPad Air review unit and were quite pleased with the snappy locking mechanism and the ease of charging the drawing accessory. The side button, which also doubles up as the fingerprint sensor, is positioned on the left edge. The two portrait edges also house the speakers.
One of the key things that differentiates the iPad Air from its Pro sibling is the display. The Air sports a 13-inch IPS LCD panel (also available in an 11-inch variant) while the Pro model rocks a superior OLED display. Having said that, the viewing experience on the iPad Air is exemplary. The blacks may not be as deep as an OLED panel but the image saturation and punchy colours elevate the media to the next level. Surrounding the display are thick bezels, which are a necessity on a tablet this size if you want to hold it without accidentally touching the screen.
iPad Air 2024 (13-inch) Review: Performance and Cameras
The biggest highlight and the most important upgrade on the iPad Air 2024 is the M2 chip that lies at the heart of the device. The sheer power you have on your hands with the M2 chip is something that Android tablets cannot compete against (yet). On the Geekbench 6 app, the iPad Air scored 2,577 points in the single-core test and 9,872 points in the multicore test.
We used the iPad Air for a multitude of tasks during the review period. Be it media streaming, social media browsing, video calling, or video editing, the M2 iPad Air crushes every task you throw at it. Now that the selfie camera is placed on the landscape bezel, the video feed on online meetings does not look off. The stereo speakers produce a powerful output that doesn’t make you feel the need to connect your AirPods or link an external speaker while consuming media.
For digital artists and graphic designers, the iPad is a no-brainer. While some may prefer the M4-powered Pro model, the Air is well-equipped to bring your creative vision to fruition. This is possible with the Apple Pencil Pro. The new squeeze functions on the Pencil Pro bring a lot of accessibility to the sketching and drawing experience. Changing the drawing tool with just a squeeze made everything very intuitive. Procreate remains one of the best apps you can download on your iPad and is a must-have for every digital artist.
When you’ve got a chip as powerful as the M2 at your disposal, you need the software to be up to the task of unlocking its true potential. The iPadOS is quite lukewarm in this regard. Let’s start with the good bits. The Stage Manager on iPadOS 17 is important in juggling multiple tasks at once and quickly jumping between apps. You can group certain apps depending on the task at hand, and reposition, resize, and overlap the windows for a seamless and intuitive workflow. The app support for the iPad is also impressive, although there are some apps (we’re looking at you, Instagram) that still aren’t optimised for the iPad OS.
If you want something simpler, the split-screen mode is a good alternative to the Stage Manager. By hitting the ellipses on top of the supported apps, you can open them in split-screen mode alongside another app. Streaming a football game while going through its live discussion thread on Reddit is something that your iPad can make happen with brilliant expertise. Moments like this are where the device truly shines.
As played out as it is, the discourse about the iPad being a laptop replacement isn’t going anywhere. The answer to that is still ‘close, but no’. As intuitive as the iPadOS 17, it simply isn’t enough to harness the power of the M2 chip. Being stuck with the watered-down tablet versions of apps like Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom when the processor can handle the full versions feels like a wasted opportunity. Apple recently announced the iPadOS 18 at this year’s WWDC event so the possibility of macOS making it to the iPad in the future seems bleak as well.
Apple does not specify the battery capacity or the charging speed for its iPads. Needless to say, they aren’t the fastest-charging tablets in the world. By our estimation, the charging speed is capped at 30W. Apple’s claim of a 10-hour battery life held up after performing tasks like gaming, video calling, sketching, and web browsing on the device.
The two cameras on the iPad Air are optimum for video calling and attending online meetings. We were happy with the video quality relayed over video calls using the 12MP selfie camera. The 12MP rear camera can take decent shots in well-lit conditions, but it’s not something that will keep you from using your smartphone camera. It can record 4K videos at 24, 30, and 60 fps, which is impressive. The LiDAR scanner and Face ID have been held back on the iPad Air as a distinguishing feature for the Pro model.
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Verdict
The 2024 iPad Air is a good update over its predecessor. The M2 chip is the star of the show, handling intensive tasks without breaking a sweat. The LCD panel, while not as flashy as its OLED counterpart, produces a quality viewing experience on the tablet. Digital artists and creators will relish the Apple Pencil Pro and all its intuitive features. If you’re primarily concerned with making art, streaming media, editing videos, and browsing the web, you don’t need to splurge on the iPad Pro. It is a worthy upgrade over the entry-level A14 Bionic iPad. Prices start at Rs 59,900 for the 11-inch variants and Rs 79,900 for the 13-inch model.
iPad Air 2024: Pros
- Powerful M2 chip
- Excellent performance
- Good audio output
- Snappy display
iPad Air 2024: Cons
- Lacks Face ID
- iPad OS 17 holds back the powerful M2 chip
