Whats the difference in ipad and ipad air

Apple offers four different iPad lines with five different screen sizes, ranging in price from $329 to $799 (for baseline models; the 12.9-inch iPad Pro with cellular connectivity and 1TB of storage will set you back $1,649). With updates to these tablets coming nearly every year (the iPad Air is the most recent one to be refreshed), it can get pretty complicated if you're shopping for a new tablet.

To help you figure out what you're getting with each iPad, let's look at all the differences between the various models, including what's changed with the latest versions. But let's start with the similarities, and what you can expect from any Apple tablet you buy today.


Similarities Across the Board: Software and Accessories

A few years ago, Apple formally split the iPad's operating system off from iOS, which powers iPhones, into iPadOS. The tablet-specific operating system is very similar to iOS, but focuses on streamlining and expanding multitasking to improve the usefulness of iPads as workplace devices, with pinnable widgets and cross-app workflow features like split screen and rapidly sliding between screens. Basically, it's iOS optimized for much bigger displays.

Wireless connectivity is also almost universally strong across all iPad models. Every version has dual-band 2.4/5GHz Wi-Fi with MIMO and optional cellular connectivity, though the entry-level iPad lacks Wi-Fi 6 and 5G.

Each iPad also supports the Apple Pencil. This doesn't mean every Apple Pencil is the same; the $99 first-generation Apple Pencil works with the standard iPad, while the $129 second-generation Apple Pencil works with the iPad Air, iPad mini, and iPad Pro.

All iPads can also work with Bluetooth keyboards, but the iPad, iPad Air, and iPad Pro feature Smart Connectors that make them compatible with Apple's Smart Keyboard, and the iPad Air and iPad Pro also work with Apple's higher-end Magic Keyboard and Smart Keyboard Folio. In addition, all iPads can work with the Magic Trackpad 2, Apple's touchpad accessory.


Apple iPad: Budget Baseline

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Internally, the iPad mini shoots past the base iPad with its A15 Bionic chip. The selfie camera is the same as the standard iPad, a 12MP ultra-wide sensor that supports Center Stage in FaceTime to automatically frame your face. The rear-facing camera is also 12MP, with True Tone flash and Smart HDR.

It's full-featured on the connectivity front, with Wi-Fi 6, plus 5G on the cellular model. It also has a USB-C connector instead of a Lightning port, though it uses only USB 3.1 Gen 1 and DisplayPort, with no Thunderbolt or USB 4 support.


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About Will Greenwald

Lead Analyst, Consumer Electronics

Whats the difference in ipad and ipad air

I’ve been PCMag’s home entertainment expert for over 10 years, covering both TVs and everything you might want to connect to them. I’ve reviewed more than a thousand different consumer electronics products including headphones, speakers, TVs, and every major game system and VR headset of the last decade. I’m an ISF-certified TV calibrator and a THX-certified home theater professional, and I’m here to help you understand 4K, HDR, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and even 8K (and to reassure you that you don’t need to worry about 8K at all for at least a few more years).

Apple just updated two of its top tablets for 2020. The $599 iPad Air received a major makeover, but is it worth nearly twice the price of the $329 iPad? We haven't seen either slate in person yet, but let's take a look at the specs and see how they stack up on paper.

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About Steven Winkelman

Analyst, Consumer Electronics

Whats the difference in ipad and ipad air

It would be an understatement to say Steven Winkelman is obsessed with mobile technology. Since joining PCMag as a mobile analyst in 2019, he’s reviewed over 100 phones and tablets. Before that he covered mobile and wearable tech as a staff writer at Digital Trends.

Is it worth getting an iPad Air?

If you're looking for a do-it-all tablet with top-notch accessories, the 2022 iPad Air is the best choice in Apple's tablet lineup—and a better bet than any Android tablet—earning it our Editors' Choice award.

What is special about the iPad Air?

The iPad Air is Apple's first product to sport its A14 Bionic chip, one that's manufactured with a 5-nanometer process. Apple says the six-core CPU offers a 40 percent bump in performance over the A12 Bionic processor, with a four-core GPU, for 30 percent faster graphics performance. Storage comes in at 64GB and 256GB.

What is the difference between an iPad Air and an iPad Pro?

A major area of difference between the two ‌iPad‌ models is their camera setups. The ‌iPad Air‌ features a single ƒ/1.8 12MP Wide camera. The ‌iPad Pro‌ has the same ƒ/1.8 12MP Wide camera as the ‌iPad Air‌, but also adds a ƒ/2.4 10MP Ultra Wide camera and a LiDAR scanner.

What iPad Air means?

Apple's iPad Air is an iOS tablet that is lighter and thinner than Apple's previous tablets. iPad Air runs the iOS 7 operating system and features a 64-bit Apple A7 processor and 1 GB of RAM.