Apple has made a fairly large splash with this 12 months’s launch of the Tenth-generation iPad (2022), leaving its traditional pill design behind and bringing the entry-level iPad into concord with the trendy aesthetic of its higher-end fashions.

This change is greater than skin-deep. The iPad (2022) doesn’t simply get the brand new design language of its extra premium siblings; it additionally receives some boosts to its specs to deliver it nearer to the iPad Air (2022) — plus a barely elevated price ticket to match.

With the iPad and iPad Air nearer in design, specs, and efficiency than ever earlier than, it’s a more durable name this 12 months as to which one is value spending your cash on. Read on as we evaluate the 2 iPads face to face.

iPad versus iPad Air specs

iPad versus iPad Air design and show

At a look, the iPad (2022) and iPad Air (2022) are nearly indistinguishable. It’s been 4 years since Apple launched this new flat-edged design with the 2018 iPad Pro, but it surely’s lastly been adopted throughout all the iPad lineup.

Technically, the iPad (2022) is barely bigger and heavier than the iPad Air (2022), however solely about 0.05 inches in every path. It’s sufficient to stop many circumstances from getting used interchangeably however not sufficient to note except you’re laying the 2 tablets on high of one another.

Even so, there are some noticeable visible variations. The iPad (2022) strikes the entrance digicam to the lengthy edge — a primary for Apple’s tablets — and lacks the magnetic connector for the second-generation Apple Pencil. The Smart Connector additionally stays on the left edge, reverse the digicam; that’s much like the place it was positioned on its predecessors, but it surely’s an uncommon distinction from the iPad Air and iPad Pro, each of which have the Smart Connector on the again.

This is the place the brand new design belies among the variations between the iPad (2022) and the iPad Air (2022). The two tablets could look practically an identical, however they don’t assist the identical equipment. Since it makes use of the rear Smart Connector, Apple’s Magic Keyboard solely works with the costlier iPad Air and iPad Pro; iPad (2022) consumers might want to go for Apple’s new Magic Keyboard Folio as an alternative. Likewise, the dearth of a magnetic charger for the second-generation Apple Pencil means you’ll solely be capable of use the first-generation Apple Pencil.

Thankfully, the shows on the iPad (2022) and iPad Air (2022) are a lot nearer in specs. In reality, they’re an identical in measurement (10.9 inches), decision (2360 x 1640 at 264 pixels per inch), and brightness (500 nits). They additionally each assist Apple’s True Tone show know-how. However, the iPad Air will get an edge with its absolutely laminated show with an anti-reflective coating and likewise helps the P3 vast coloration gamut. This means the iPad Air show can supply richer and extra life like colours, and also you’ll have a better time seeing it in brighter lighting.

Lastly, the iPad (2022) and iPad Air (2022) can be found in fully completely different assortments of colours. Apple has gone with brighter and extra “fun” blue, pink, and yellow finishes for the iPad, with silver because the plain mannequin. The iPad Air is available in way more muted pink and blue choices, plus purple, Starlight, and Space Gray.

Winner: iPad Air (2022)

iPad versus iPad Air efficiency

While Apple stunned us by including its M1 chip to the iPad Air this 12 months, the entry-level iPad affords no such bombshells. Instead, it predictably packs within the A14 Bionic, superseding the A13 Bionic present in its predecessor.

Of course, the A14 chip is not any slouch; it was the identical chip utilized in Apple’s complete 2020 iPhone 12 lineup, so it’s greater than able to dealing with practically every little thing besides essentially the most demanding skilled workflows. That simply contains day-to-day productiveness duties, net shopping, streaming video, gaming, photograph modifying, and even light-duty video modifying.

Nevertheless, the M1 chip in Apple’s iPad Air places the midrange pill in a wholly completely different class. After all, this is identical chip utilized in Apple’s present 24-inch iMac and plenty of MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops which can be nonetheless in widespread use. While iPadOS 16 doesn’t supply the identical breadth of choices as macOS, there are nonetheless some M1-exclusive options like Stage Manager and exterior show assist that iPad (2022) homeowners gained’t be capable of make the most of.

Winner: iPad Air (2022)

iPad versus iPad Air battery life and charging

According to Apple’s revealed specs, the iPad (2022) and iPad Air (2022) ought to present practically an identical battery life. Apple says that’s as much as 10 hours of browsing the online on Wi-Fi or watching movies. That drops to 9 hours of browsing over a 5G connection. That’s on par with final 12 months’s iPad (2021).

However, the iPad (2022) will get an edge by adopting USB-C. Yes, Apple has lastly ditched the Lightning connector on its tablets. While you gained’t essentially get sooner charging, this could make it simpler to cost your iPad with out having to tote round a USB-C to Lightning cable only for that function.

Winner: Tie

iPad versus iPad Air cameras

Although taking footage with an iPad isn’t a precedence for a lot of of us, the iPad (2022) and iPad Air (2022) each supply the identical 12-megapixel (MP) rear digicam with an f/1.8 aperture, 5x digital zoom, and Smart HDR 3 assist. While that doesn’t maintain a candle to any of Apple’s current iPhones, it will get the job accomplished in a pinch, and it’s additionally greater than sufficient for duties like scanning paperwork. It may also report 4K video at as much as 60 frames per second (fps), with prolonged dynamic vary and even assist for recording slo-mo movies.

The entrance digicam on the iPad (2022) additionally options an identical specs to the one discovered on the iPad Air (2022), with a 12MP decision, an f/2.4 aperture, and assist for Center Stage and cinematic video stabilization. However, the iPad (2022) has a novel trick up its sleeve that we hope to see Apple embrace throughout all the iPad lineup: a panorama entrance digicam.

For the primary time on an iPad, Apple has moved the entrance digicam to the lengthy edge, appropriate to be used when holding the iPad sideways in panorama orientation. This affords a extra laptop-like consumer expertise, and it’s a pleasant contact for people who use their iPad with a keyboard on FaceTime and Zoom calls. It’s extra pure to look right into a digicam above your display screen slightly than off to at least one facet, and the angles make it seem to the opposite individual that you just’re really them slightly than gazing off in a seemingly random path.

Of course, the brand new digicam place gained’t attraction to those that favor to make use of the iPad for video calls in portrait orientation. However, since most iPad stands and practically all iPad keyboards are designed for panorama use, we predict the brand new digicam place makes lots of sense, and it’s sufficient to offer the brand new iPad (2022) an edge on this class.

Winner: iPad (2022)

iPad versus iPad Air software program and updates

The iPad (2022) and iPad Air (2022) each run iPadOS 16, which means they’ll supply a nearly-identical consumer expertise. Thanks to its extra highly effective M1 chip, the iPad Air will get two distinctive iPadOS 16 options — Stage Manager and exterior show assist — however each iPads ought to in any other case operate identically from a software program perspective.

Apple additionally releases its iPadOS updates for all fashions concurrently, so each the iPad (2022) and iPad Air (2022) ought to stay in lockstep for a minimum of the subsequent few years. With the older A14 chip, it’s doable the iPad (2022) could possibly be left behind earlier than the M1-equipped iPad Air is by a future iPadOS launch, however that’s nonetheless years away. To put this in perspective, iPadOS 16 nonetheless runs on the fifth-generation iPad launched in March 2017, so it’s a secure wager that the iPad (2022) will sometime be capable of run iPadOS 21.

Winner: Tie

iPad versus iPad Air particular options

Perhaps the largest factor that separates the iPad (2022) and iPad Air (2022) is their assist for Apple’s first-party equipment. When Apple introduced the design of the iPad Pro to the iPad Air in 2020, the mid-tier pill gained assist for a similar equipment because the flagship mannequin. This included Apple’s Magic Keyboard and its second-generation Apple Pencil.

That continued in 2021 with the sixth-generation iPad Mini, a minimum of in precept. While the smaller pill clearly wasn’t going to work with Apple’s full-sized Magic Keyboard, it did supply the identical Apple Pencil compatibility, proper right down to the magnetic charging dock on the facet.

Sadly, that’s not the case with the iPad (2022). The new design is arguably a bit deceptive, contemplating what occurred with the iPad Air, however the backside line is that you just gained’t be capable of use any of the identical equipment. The iPad (2022) solely works with the first-generation Apple Pencil, which must be charged slightly awkwardly utilizing a USB-C to Apple Pencil adapter — both instantly from the iPad or an exterior USB-C charger. The lack of a magnetic charging dock additionally means there’s nowhere handy to stash the Apple Pencil if you’re not utilizing it.

Similarly, Apple inexplicably selected to maintain the Smart Connector on the sting of the iPad (2022) slightly than shifting it to the again because it did with the iPad Pro and iPad Air. The 0.04 inches of additional thickness could have prevented the brand new iPad from becoming correctly within the Magic Keyboard. Still, the facet placement is yet one more odd inconsistency for a design that in any other case appears to be like so much like the remainder of the iPad lineup.

These points don’t matter a lot when you’re not planning on utilizing these equipment, but it surely’s powerful to advocate the iPad (2022) to anyone contemplating the Apple Pencil; the first-generation stylus affords a considerably poorer consumer expertise in comparison with the extra magical second-generation mannequin.

Winner: iPad Air (2022)

iPad versus iPad Air value and availability

Overall winner: iPad Air (2022)

While the iPad (2022) remains to be essentially the most reasonably priced mannequin on this 12 months’s iPad lineup, it’s telling that Apple has saved final 12 months’s iPad (2021) available on the market to fulfill of us nonetheless on the lookout for an much more wallet-friendly possibility. For years, Apple’s entry-level iPad has featured a beginning value of $329, so this 12 months’s bounce to $449 for the brand new iPad (2022) is fairly vital.

The actual problem is that it closes the hole between the 2 product tiers in a method that makes the bounce to the iPad Air way more interesting. At about half the worth of the iPad Air, Apple’s fundamental iPad was a simple promote for people on the lookout for a pill for informal private or household use. Now, the iPad (2022) sits practically in the midst of that gulf — and it doesn’t bridge it in the best way you would possibly assume.

With the iPad (2021) nonetheless available on the market and the iPad Air (2022) providing a tantalizing improve with its a lot better Apple Pencil assist, laminated display screen, and extra highly effective M1 chip, the iPad (2022) is a tough promote. Folks seeking to spend as little as doable are higher off staying with the 2021 mannequin, whereas others ought to contemplate spending the additional cash to leap to the a lot better iPad Air.

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