In defense of the iPad Air

The iPad Air, I think, is a great product. Not that many YouTubers like it though. And I find it disingenuous for YouTubers to say “well, either get the base iPad, or pony up the cash to get the iPad Pro. The iPad Air is a horrible value”.

While I agree that the iPad Air is, for all that it’s worth, sits at the lower end of the iPad value proposition, it’s still a good iPad and there is a reason why people, like me, buy it.

My credentials

I’ve had plenty of iPads in my life. I was an OG iPad kid - literally, I had the iPad 1 as a kid. I then got the iPad 3, iPad Air, iPad Air 3, iPad Air 4, and most recently, the iPad Air M3.

Admittedly - I use my iPad a lot less than I use to back before college and during college, but I still find it nice to have when I want to watch YouTube, browse the web, or do some drawing work in Notability without needing to get my MBP 16 inch.

I recently had my iPad Air 4 for about 5 years before having to upgrade it - mostly because iPadOS was getting so sluggish on it, but this drives home one of my points shortly.

Anyway, let’s get into why I think the iPad Air is still a good iPad - but only if you know the differences, plan them wisely, and put everything into context

The iPad Air screen, while not great, is leagues better than a base iPad

On paper, it sounds like the base iPad & iPad Air have a very similar screen - identical size & resolution. And every YouTuber I know complains about 60 Hz on the iPad Air as if they’re getting teeth pulled out involuntarily. Listen, I get it, 60 Hz kinda sucks. But I also have an iPhone that runs at 120 Hz, a Mac that runs at 120 Hz, and I can hardly tell the difference when going between all three devices. Apple does 60 Hz exceptionally well, and this is no secret.

However - the iPad has a gap between the screen and the glass. The iPad Air does not. This makes a gigantic difference in my opinion. When drawing, the pencil is closer to the screen. When tapping, it feels like you are tapping a solid object, and not some air gap. Reflections are also cut down since the screen is closer to the glass and there’s less room for light to bounce around.

The iPad screen is, in fact, how you look at your iPad for as long as you own it. So having a non air-gapped screen, in my opinion, is very valuable.

Performance, performance, performance

The iPad Air has always come into question about why it has a M-series processor. After all, it has a 60 Hz screen, who’s doing actually intensive work on it? Good point. I don’t really know to be honest.

But the M-series processors in the iPads are its strength. It’s about longevity! The M3 (and now the M4) will vastly outlast the A16 in the base iPad. The M4 has twice the cores and twice the RAM, the M3 also having almost twice the cores and 2 GB extra RAM.

My A14 iPad Air lasted about 4 years before it got very sluggish. Given how well the M1 is doing nearly 6 years later in the MacBook Air and iPad Air, it’s fair to say that these M-series iPads can continue to receive upgrades for many years to come, and you can certainly hold onto one for 7-8 years without much trouble (especially with the M3 & M4).

The A16 in the base iPad, while a good performer, is still a 3-year-old smartphone chip first found in the iPhone 14 Pro & iPhone 15 lineup. I have my doubts about how gracefully the A16 will age into the iPad as software requirements get more demanding. And given its age, you’re already starting further down the pecking order with how many software updates you’ll get.

It may very well be the case that your base iPad lasts 3-4 years, then you have to buy another one, and now you’ve spent the equivalent of an iPad Air in money in that 7-8 year window.

The Apple Pencil Pro

A lot of the reason people buy the iPad Air is because it’s compatible with the better Apple Pencil (now known as the Apple Pencil Pro). The Pencil Pro supports roll & pressure detection, which you really need to get digital art done. It also comes with haptic feedback and hover support, which is very useful on the web as a way to hover your cursor when webapps support it.

Now, I’m not an artist. But I do some notability drawings & markups from time to time, and being able to conveniently stow the Apple Pencil on the side of the iPad Air, and also charge it is a lifesaver. The base Apple Pencil requires you to plug it in, it’s one more thing to forget about, with the iPad Air it’s just set and forget.

Are you really buying a keyboard folio with the iPad Air?

Another point that YouTubers love to make - if you get the base iPad with the keyboard folio case, then you basically are at the price of an iPad Air. And if you get an iPad Air keyboard folio, you’re at the price of an iPad Pro.

I ask this question because, realistically, who is getting a keyboard folio for an iPad Air? I don’t see the appeal. The keyboard folio for the base iPad makes sense, because it’s going to be used in classrooms, or it’s because the combination of iPad + folio is pretty cheap ($549ish) - around MacBook Neo levels. With the iPad Pro, well, if you’re gonna spend $1k on an iPad, an extra $250 for a keyboard folio probably won’t hurt the wallet much.

The iPad Air + folio costs a little shy of $1k, so that’s why I think most people getting an iPad Air don’t get the folio. If they were, they’d just get an iPad Pro anyway. The iPad Air is a perfect iPad for people who know that they’ll never use a keyboard folio on it.

The iPad Pro just costs too much money!

Jumping from the iPad Air to the iPad Pro costs $400. $599 to $999. Phones cost $999, a decent laptop is $1299, do I really need another $999 product from Apple to complete the ecosystem?

No. And most people buying the iPad Air don’t. We recognize that, yes, while the iPad Air is still $599, that’s a hell of a lot better than spending another $400 to get the pro with features we may never use. And that $400 could buy you a watch, or AirPods, you get the gist. It’s also not too hard to find the iPad Air for $499 during major sale periods at retailers like Best Buy - that’s where I got my iPad Air M3 actually.

It is not your grandma’s iPad (until it is)

The iPad Air is not meant to be the iPad that most people get. I say get the base iPad for that purpose. The base iPad is perfect for occasional or lightweight use. I say that if you don’t plan on using an Apple Pencil, then just get a base iPad.

But if you are going to get an Apple Pencil and do a decent bit of work with it, you might as well get the iPad Air if you can afford it.

Or, you can get a refurbished iPad Air, like I did with my grandma, and that also seems to work pretty nicely. You can find the iPad Air M1 with 256 GB of storage for $399, or the iPad Air M3 with 128 GB of storage for $469. Nice deal.

Conclusion

The iPad Air is not a bad deal, and I think it’s the right iPad to get for people who are heavily reliant on the Apple Pencil, but don’t want to spend iPad Pro levels of money. And for folks who like an iPad that will last forever or is performant, the iPad Air is a fantastic deal.

That’s where i sit, personally. I don’t need to spend iPad Pro levels of money (that’s just a waste for me!), but I do like having an iPad with good performance & the professional pencil. And I don’t have to worry about upgrading my iPad until 2032.