Apple just released a new iPad Air with the M3 chip and two display sizes: 11-inch and 13-inch. But does it offer enough performance and value for its price, or should you spend over $1,000 on the M4 iPad Pro? Let’s find out.

M4 iPad Pro Is Apple’s Thinnest Device Ever

The latest iPads from Apple follow a similar design language with some key differences. Both are available in two screen sizes (11-inch and 13-inch) and have symmetrical bezels on all sides (slightly thinner on the iPad Pro).

Like the iPad Air, the iPad Pro also features an aluminum frame and back panel, but the additional sensors in the camera cutout (LiDAR, ambient light sensor, and an LED flash) give it away. With regards to dimensions, the 11-inch iPad Air is a tad shorter and broader than the 11-inch iPad Pro. However, the 13-inch iPad Pro is taller and wider than the corresponding iPad Air variant.

While those are negligible differences, you can’t ignore how light and thin the 2024 iPad Pro is (so much for the ‘Air’ branding). Between the 11-inch Wi-Fi models, the Pro is about half an ounce (16g) lighter, while the difference increases to about 1.3oz (37g) for the 13-inch models.

The 2024 iPad Pro is the thinnest device the company has ever made. Previously, it was the iPhone 6 that carried this accolade.

On both iPads, the front camera is located on the longer side, making it suitable for video calling in the landscape orientation. When it comes to colors, though, the top-tier iPad Pro is only available in Space Black and Silver finishes, while the 2025 iPad Pro (like its predecessor) sells in Space Gray, Blue, Purple, and Starlight.

Like always, none of the iPads are water-resistant. In other words, spilling a cup of coffee or a glass of water will most certainly damage the product, and unless you have AppleCare+, you’d have to pay a hefty amount for repairs.

iPad Pro Offers Higher Brightness and 120Hz Refresh Rate

As I said previously, both iPads are available in 11-inch and 13-inch models. However, it is the type of panels that creates a drastic difference.

The M3 iPad Air features a Liquid Retina display that comprises an LED-backlit IPS panel (for both sizes). It has a resolution of 2360 x 1640 pixels (264 ppi) and can achieve a peak brightness of 500 nits on the 11-inch variant and 600 nits on the 13-inch variant. Alongside the screen, there’s a landscape stereo speaker system.

On the other hand, the more expensive M4 iPad Pro flaunts an Ultra Retina XDR display with two OLED panels stacked on top of each other (what Apple refers to as the ‘Tandem OLED’ technology). As a result, the iPad provides a higher full-screen brightness (1000 nits for SDR and 1600 nits for HDR). The iPad Pro also features four speakers.

Since the pixels in OLED screens produce both light and color, the M4 iPad Pro should provide a superior visual experience with deeper blacks, brighter highlights, better details in shadows (for HDR photos, videos, or movies), and is more responsive to motion than ever. And it doesn’t end here.

The M4 iPad Pro features ProMotion display technology. In other words, the screen supports a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, making animations much smoother than the 60Hz M3 iPad Air (which is as disappointing as on the baseline iPhones).

Aside from the superior display technology, the iPad Pro comes with a nano-texture display on the 1TB and 2TB trims (for an additional $100). It is essentially a coating that scatters light to minimize the reflections or glares on the screen.

Even so, the iPad Pro shares its resolution, fully laminated display, anti-reflective coating on the screen, and True Tone feature with the iPad Air.

M3 vs. M4: Both Chips Offer Plenty of Power

Pro and Max variants aside, this is a comparison between the second-best and the best baseline chips on Apple’s latest iPad lineup.

The 2025 iPad Air gets Apple’s M3 chip with an eight-core CPU (four performance and four efficiency cores), a nine-core GPU (with a new architecture) that supports hardware-accelerated mesh shading and ray tracing, and a 16-core Neural Engine.

Besides, there’s 8GB of RAM (100GB/s memory bandwidth) standard on all variants, with up to 1TB of storage (starting from 128GB). All things considered, the M3 iPad Air is not an entry-level device but one that can easily handle complex and demanding workflows like 4K video editing, 3D modeling, or graphic designing.

Of five iPad users I know, only one uses the device to play video games. If that’s you, the latest iPad Air is well-equipped to run demanding video games. Moreover, the M3 silicon packs enough performance for an enthusiast, let alone a regular user who simply browses the internet, streams web shows, or compiles presentations on the iPad.

And then comes the 2024 iPad Pro, which features an even faster and more efficient chip: M4 silicon.

On the 256GB and 512GB variants, the chip is available in a nine-core CPU (three performance cores and six efficiency cores) with a 10-core GPU and 8GB of RAM (120GB/s memory bandwidth).

The higher storage trims get another performance core (10-core CPU) and twice the memory (16GB). Like the M3, the M4’s media engine supports 8K HEVC, 4K H.264, ProRes, and ProRes RAW. Then there’s the 10-core GPU and Apple’s most powerful 16-core Neural Engine that make the M4 a performance beast.

Unless you are using the M4 iPad Pro to edit videos with multiple 4K layers and visual effects in Final Cut Pro or rendering intricate designs in Shapr3D or Sketchup, there’s no way you will utilize the true potential of the chip’s processing power.

Moreover, the M4 iPad Pro can do everything the M3 iPad Air does, but more smoothly and efficiently. But that doesn’t mean that the latter is a slouch.

Apple Intelligence and Software Support

The M3 iPad Air And M4 iPad Pro support all the Apple Intelligence features currently available on iPadOS 18.3 and the ones that will roll out in the future. However, given that Apple’s M4 chip is capable of 38 TOPS (vs. 18 TOPS on M3), the GenAI features (like image recognition, natural language processing, translations, and so on) should feel more responsive on the iPad Pro.

Apple has an excellent track record for providing software updates and supporting old devices, which should be the case with the iPads. The iPad Air and iPad Pro should get at least four to five years of iPadOS updates before retiring.

Both iPads Offer Similar Cameras

Both iPads feature a 12MP (f/1.8) primary camera, which isn’t as impressive as those on the latest iPhones but should be enough for scanning documents or taking quick pictures of a storyboard. The iPad Pro, however, offers a few additional perks, including True Tone flash, ProRes video recording at 4K 60 fps with external storage, Audio Zoom, and stereo recording.

Similarly, both iPads share the 12MP (f/2.0) front camera that supports Center Stage, but the iPad Pro also offers portrait mode with bokeh control and six portrait lighting effects. You can also create an Animoji or Memoji on the iPad Pro. I know most people don’t use iPads to record selfie videos, but the fact that these devices can only record 1080p videos (up to 60 fps) from the front cameras is a letdown.

Given that it comes with the TrueDepth camera system, the iPad Pro unlocks Face ID authentication (instead of Touch ID on the iPad Air).

Battery Life and Connectivity Options Remain Similar

Though the iPad Pro has larger batteries on its 11-inch and 13-inch variants, the improvement in performance balances the gain in efficiency.

This is why Apple claims to offer up to 10 hours of web surfing on Wi-Fi and up to nine hours using cellular data for both iPads. Although Apple doesn’t specify the maximum charging speed, you should use a 20W or higher adapter with both iPads.

Wireless connectivity options remain the same on both iPads. You get 5G on cellular models (sub-6 GHz), Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth v5.3, and GPS. When it comes to a wired connection via the USB-C port, the iPad Air provides USB 3 speeds (up to 10Gbps), while the iPad Pro supports Thunderbolt speeds (up to 40Gbps).

What About Accessories?

The M3 iPad Air and the M4 iPad Pro support the new Magic Keyboard with a larger trackpad, a dedicated 14-key function row for accessing shortcuts like media playback or screen brightness, pass-through charging (via a USB-C connector), and similar key travel.

Though both the folio keyboards have an aluminum hinge, the iPad Pro’s Magic Keyboard gets an aluminum palm rest and a glass trackpad with haptic feedback. The Magic Keyboard starts from $269 for the iPad Air and $299 for the iPad Pro.

You also get support for the $129 Apple Pencil Pro and $79 Apple Pencil (USB-C) on both iPads. While the former offers features like pressure sensitivity, double-tap recognition, haptic feedback, and Apple’s Find My network, the latter only includes the basic features, pairs/charges via the USB-C connector, and attaches magnetically with the iPad.

Last but not least, Apple sells a $79 smart folio case for both iPads.

M4 iPad Pro Costs Almost Twice as Much as M3 iPad Air

Apple’s latest iPad Air with the M3 is available on sale beginning March 12, 2025. The baseline variant with 128GB of storage and Wi-Fi connectivity costs $599, while the one with 5G cellular connectivity costs $749.

On the other hand, the baseline M4 iPad Pro (256GB, Wi-Fi) costs $999, while the one with 5G connectivity will set you back by $1,199. Even if we consider the basic variant, the iPad Pro costs almost twice as much as the iPad Air. The 1TB and 2TB variants are also available with the nano-texture glass coating on the screen, increasing the bill by $100.

So, which one should you get? The M3 iPad Air offers enough performance and features for a regular user. It can handle all the run-of-the-mill tasks like taking notes, streaming videos, checking emails, and playing video games. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or a regular user, the M3 iPad Air is among the best tablets on the market.

However, if you’re a creative professional whose livelihood depends on how fast the iPad renders a video or a 3D design (since you edit videos on the go), spending on the M4 iPad Pro makes sense. For the price, you get a more powerful chipset (which provides more headroom for long-term usage), a brighter and smoother screen, and faster USB connectivity for transferring files.

• 

  Apple iPad Air (M3)
  

  $559 $599 Save
  $40

  2025’s iPad Air upgrade features an M3 chip, is compatible with a new keyboard folio case, and has support for Apple Intelligence. It’s almost identical to the previous model in terms of look and feel.

  $559 at Amazon

  $599 at Apple

• 

  iPad Pro (M4)
  

  $909 $999 Save
  $90

  The new iPad Pro is impossibly thin, featuring outrageous performance with the Apple M4 chip, a breakthrough Ultra Retina XDR display, and superfast Wi-Fi 6E.

  $999 at Best Buy

  $909 at Amazon