Apple’s new iPad Air, which drives the same M1 chip inside the company’s latest MacBook Air, switches that by bringing a laptop-class chip into a tablet form factor.
Before Apple’s homegrown processors documented the tech-sphere, you usually kept dropping the extra cash for an iPad Pro if you enjoyed something more versatile and portable than a regular laptop.
With all that power and a starting cost that’s notably lower than the M1 iPad Pro, making an iPad Air your primary machine seems like a promising endeavor that won’t thrash your wallet.
The M1 MacBooks have just as considerable power, though, if not more, with chips like the M1 Ultra and M1 Max. The power in conveying a laptop class chip to a tablet form factor is in the assurance of delivering the best of both worlds. A bright, spirited tablet that’s awesome for web browsing and gaming on the go and a laptop-like device with sufficient power to help you crunch through tasks without cracking a sweat.
Thanks to its descending price and exceptional specs, the M1 iPad Air is the nearest you can obtain to an affordable two-in-one that can fully replace your laptop. That said, it still holds the same drawbacks that plague every iPad.
While split-view multitasking does support on the iPad, it’s nowhere near as flexible as the window management systems on macOS or Windows.
Despite causing great leaps toward adding desktop-like multitasking to iPadOS, it’s still a limited platform compared to a more grown desktop operating system like macOS and Windows 11.
For beginners, windowed multitasking on iPadOS is limited to two side-by-side apps, floating apps with the aspect ratio of a contemporary iPhone. It performs well enough, but it’s nowhere close as flexible as being able to set your windows wherever you want, in whatever dimension and shape you desire.
You also won’t be able to employ a second monitor with your iPad in any unique way. Due to software limitations, sealing your iPad Air into a second monitor will enable mirroring your iPad’s display rather than extending your screen real estate and delivering you more room to work with. That might switch later down the road, but the screen you get is all you can perform with.
Finally, file administration is limited on iPadOS, too. While there is a file manager, not every app operates with it the same way. Like iA Writer and Procreate, some apps allow you to read and write to folders on your iPad or in your cloud drive. Meanwhile, other apps, like Google Docs, either doesn’t sustain the Files app or only operate it to back up fortes like settings within the app, but not fundamental files you’ve created.
iPadOS doesn’t permit you to install apps from outside Apple’s App Store, unlike macOS and Windows 11. At the same time, macOS lets you run any installable program you want (as long as you’ve accepted the security risk). So while there’s no shortage of handy and valuable or flashy and fun apps, that’s all you can choose from on iPadOS.
It may be incredibly frustrating if you’re not a fan of the increasingly dominant subscription model apps. You’ll locate a lot of apps that may crack a problem in your life, but unlocking all the components may cost you a few additional bucks a month.
If you only subscribe to a pair of apps, that probably won’t cause numerous problems, but it can add up fast. So, if you rely on a devoted text editor, calendar manager, time tracker, and password manager, and they all levy a buck or two per month for all the features you require, that’ll get expensive. Of course, subscriptions are driving their way to Mac apps, too, but at least there, you still have opportunities outside the App Store.
Like the M1 iPad Pro that arrived before it, the new M1 iPad Air is speedy and doesn’t ingest much power. But, with ease, it can handle everything from everyday tasks like spreadsheet management and email to more resource-heavy functions like video editing and gaming.
Thankfully, all that performance doesn’t condense the battery life on a single charge. As a result, the iPad Air lasts anywhere from eight to ten hours per charge, depending on how we use it. That’s nearly on par with the M1 MacBook Air and stands out from other power-hungry laptops that can survive anywhere from six to eight hours on a charge.
That speed might feel overkill, though, given how powerful the M1 chip is precise on the MacBook Pro. As a result, you won’t be capable of doing as much with the chip on iPadOS as you can on macOS. However, it’ll still deliver you plenty of juice to get through your assignment, and it should be rugged enough to handle several significant software releases.
The M1 iPad Air is attached to Apple’s Magic Keyboard, with the screen showing a wallpaper of a kiwi bird, with books and art in the background.
Paired with a keyboard case such as Apple’s Magic Keyboard, the M1 iPad Air gets pretty near to the sense of a traditional laptop.
Even though it’s more affordable than the 11-inch iPad Pro, the Air has more in shared dais with the Pro than differences. They’re roughly the same size, have identical chips, and work with a comparable suite of accessories.
So, if you desire to slap a keyboard and mouse on your iPad, you can still witness Apple’s Magic Keyboard or Logitech’s Combo Touch without springing the extra cash for the Pro. But, of course, the same Apple Pencil works with the Air, too, if you require to scrape your artistic craving.
That can add up fast, though. At a starting cost of $600, the M1 iPad Air is a lot of computers for not too many reserves, but that’s before including critical work accessories like a keyboard compartment. Apple’s Magic Keyboard would count an extra $300 to your cart, while Logitech’s Combo Touch would estimate about $200 to your total. That still holds you below $1,000, but you’re only carrying a couple of hundred bucks over a MacBook Air.
The iPad Air can drive a long way toward replacing your workstation with a keyboard and trackpad, but it’s not quite there yet.
The M1 iPad Air is a giant hop ahead of the mid-range iPad. It has the exact processor as the best iPad Pro, key to the same apps and accessories, and is cheaper without missing key features. You may miss FaceID and the four-speaker system, but that’s all confetti over what’s already a great tablet.
The matter isn’t whether the iPad Air is a great tablet, though—it’s whether it contains the software chops to support up all that hardware. For specialties like knocking out a few emails or handling notes for class, the Air shines as a working tool in many circumstances. But it still can’t do everything a laptop can, and you may not recognize it until you’ve already completed the jump. Certain web apps, for instance, may not work on your iPad, so you’ll want a desktop or laptop nearby for when those cracks start to show.
The M1 iPad Air is still abundantly powerful for most tasks. It may not be competent to do serious development work, but it can efficiently execute most tasks, thanks to that snappy M1 chip. That might be enough to obtain you mostly there, but that last little bit still exits the Air as a better auxiliary gadget than a primary one.