Apple just threw a massive curveball at us with the iPad Air 5 because they gave it something
that basically NOBODY was expecting, the M1 chip.
Yes, the same industry-changing M1 chip that comes in Apple’s $1300 MacBook Pro is now
packed into the brand new $600 iPad Air, making it the absolute cheapest way to get the M1
chip, even cheaper than the M1 Mac Mini which doesn’t even come with a display.
So what I’m gonna try to answer in this video is why Apple would do this in the first
place because ALL of the leaks were pointing to the new Air getting the A15 Bionic chip,
and the even crazier thing is that it’s the same M1 chip that comes in the more expensive
iPad Pro..
And trust me, we were all blown away last year when Apple stuck the M1 into the iPad
Pro.. but them throwing it into the iPad Air 5 made me almost jump out of my seat during
the event because I just couldn’t believe it.
And now..
The question that’s on everyone’s mind is if the iPad Air 5 is now a much better
value than the iPad Pro, since you get the same chip for $200 less cash, and that’s
exactly what I’m gonna do in this video by laying out all of the differences and explaining
my point of view on which iPad you should buy!
But before I get into all of those little differences, there is a question on my mind
that has really been bothering me, so let me go ahead and try to give you an answer
for what the heck Apple was thinking by throwing the M1 chip into this new iPad Air.
As you probably already know, the iPad lineup was even more messed up before Apple’s March
event because late last year, they updated their iPad Mini with a bunch of new features
while not touching their iPad Air 4 at all.
And the #1 thing that put the lineup out of whack was the fact that the iPad Mini 6 came
with Apple’s latest A15 Bionic chip while the iPad Air was still stuck with the A14,
while being $100 more expensive.
So for those who wanted to have the larger 10.9” display, they would have to pay $100
more just to lose performance with the Air, which made no sense at all.
So coming up to the March 8th Peek performance event, we were all expecting the iPad Air
to get the A15 Bionic chip so that it made sense within the full iPad lineup.
But if you really think about it, the problem was that it would just be playing catch up
to the iPad Mini which already had the A15 and all of those other features like the 12MP
Ultrawide selfie camera and the optional 5G cellular support.
And in reality, we ourselves were expecting a pretty boring update to the iPad Air, so
one of the reasons I think Apple tossed in the M1 chip instead was to basically blow
everyone away and get some real attention back on the Air again, making it actually
worth the $600 price tag.
Because for the last year, even before the iPad Mini 6 was released, the iPad Air just
hasn’t really been worth it because it was in a really weird spot, where paying an extra
$200 for the 11” iPad Pro made SO much more sense because of the sheer number of extra
features..
so we literally told you guys to either buy one of the lower-end iPads like the 10.2”
budget model or go straight for the $800 iPad Pro!
But now..
For the first time in over a year, the iPad Air actually makes sense..
And it actually feels like a substantial upgrade over the iPad Mini 6 which is exactly what
Apple wants, they want to make each iPad in the lineup tempting so that you’ll spend
just a little bit more..
And that’s why I think Apple decided to toss the M1 chip into the iPad Air, because
now, you’re DEFINITELY tempted to spend $100 more over the iPad Mini.. and then if
you’re willing to pay $600 for the Air, why not spend another $200 more for the Pro?
But that right there has become the new problem, the iPad Air gets the M1 chip for only $600
which was a huge shock to me, so the big question is..
Why in the world would anyone pay the extra $200 for the 11” iPad Pro?
And if they did, what exactly would they get for that extra cash?
Well, for starters, the one drawback to the iPad Air is that only comes with 64GB of storage
compared to the iPad Pro which starts with 128GB, and if you did want to upgrade the
storage on the Air, you’ve gotta spend $750, literally putting you right into iPad Pro
territory.
And if you want a TON of storage, the iPad Pro is the only way to get more than 256GB,
all the way up to a massive 2TBs.
But in terms of the actual feature and spec differences, you’ll be surprised by just
how much extra you get with the iPad Pro.
First of all, even though the iPad Air supports optional 5G, it doesn’t come with mmWave
5G like the iPad Pro does.
And even though the iPad Air comes with the same M1 chip, the iPad Pro actually gets a
full-on Thunderbolt 3 / USB 4 port which supports a bunch of other Thunderbolt devices, as well
as transfer speeds up to 40Gb/s compared to only 10Gb/s with the iPad Air 5.
And even though the iPad Air comes with the same 4 speaker grilles, it actually only comes
with two speakers, one on top and one on the bottom, while the iPad Pro comes with an absolutely
incredible quad-speaker system which is something that’s really important to me.
And this four-speaker system was one of the things that was rumored to come on this new
iPad Air, but we unfortunately didn’t get it.
And speaking of rumors that didn’t come true, it was said that the iPad Air would
come with a new dual rear camera system with a wide camera and an ultrawide camera like
the iPad Pro has, but we didn’t get that either, which was very disappointing, but
it looks like Apple decided to just toss in the M1 chip for the wow factor while keeping
the camera design the same which is definitely the cheaper option for Apple.
And then on top of the iPad Pro getting the dual cameras, it also gets a flash and the
LiDAR scanner which can be used for games, 3d scanning and augmented reality apps!
Going further, the iPad Pro comes with five studio-quality microphones while the Air only
gets two microphones.
And if you think that’s already a long list of differences, those were actually the ones
that don’t really matter as much, so now let’s get into the two MAJOR differences.
The iPad Pro comes with Apple’s Face ID system, which means that it unlocks automatically
without you having to do anything but simply swiping on the display, and if you’re using
the Magic Keyboard, you don’t even need to swipe, just hit the space bar and that’s
it!
But with the iPad Air, you’ve gotta use the Touch ID power button, which I find annoying
because you’ve gotta reach for that sensor which isn’t nearly as reliable as Face ID.
But the absolute biggest deal is the fact that the iPad Pro has a MUCH better display,
and this right here is a game-changer!
First of all, the 11” iPad Pro display has thinner bezels while also being brighter,
with 600 nits of brightness compared to 500 on the Air.
But the best part of all is that the iPad Pro comes with ProMotion technology, which
means that the display refreshes at up to 120hz compared to 60, giving you a super smooth
display experience where everything just feels super snappy with less motion blur which can
make it easier to read while scrolling and overall much more enjoyable.
And if you’re someone who already has an iPhone 13 Pro with the same 120hz ProMotion
feature, or you’re planning to buy a future iPhone Pro model, then using the iPad Air’s
60hz display will be EXTREMELY annoying for you, since it’s gonna look super choppy
compared to your iPhone’s display.
And I’m not even exaggerating, we use an iPad Air 4 as our teleprompter display and
it’s literally an eye sore to use, even just to load up a script.
And in my opinion, the 120hz ProMotion feature is worth $200 more ALONE, even if everything
else between the iPad Air and the iPad Pro was identical, and if you don’t believe
me, let me explain why.
Yes, the M1 chip sounds amazing on the iPad Air, but it is 100% OVERKILL for the 60hz
display because it doesn’t really help it feel any more snappy compared to the old A14
chip which was also very fast!
And if you’re someone who wants to play games on your iPad, the M1 chip isn’t really
gonna change anything because the old A14 could run almost every game at a perfectly
solid 60FPS which matches the 60hz display, so the M1 chip isn’t giving you any advantage
at all!
On the other hand, there are a LOT of games that now support 120FPS on the iPad Pro, like
League of Legends Wild Rift and even Genshin Impact, and the M1 gives you just enough performance
to take advantage of the 120hz display, making it the best gaming tablet in the world, since
even tablets like the brand new Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra don’t support 120FPS in many
games.
So the fact that the new iPad Air still has a regular 60hz display basically ruins the
entire point of Apple throwing in the M1 chip, especially since you don’t even get the
Thunderbolt port.
So with all of that said, let me give you guys my recommendation.
If you actually care about being able to put the M1 chip to use, or if you already have
an iPhone 13 Pro, then absolutely spend the extra $200 because you’re getting the 120hz
display, the extra storage, the Thunderbolt port, the Face ID system, the quad speakers
and much more.
But if you just want a nice and fresh modern-looking iPad to use features like the new 12MP ultrawide
selfie camera and you care more about saving $200 than getting a bunch of extra premium
features, then simply stick with the Air.
So there you guys go, hopefully you enjoyed this comparison, and if you did, go ahead
and click that circle above to subscribe for our full hands on comparison of these two
iPads when we get it in our hands, and definitely check out our Mac Studio content right over
there.
Thanks for watching and we’ll see you in the next video!