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Apple iPad Air (2022) review: The best iPad for most people

By Kenny Yeo - 9 Apr 2022

Performance, battery life, and conclusion

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Did Apple really need to put an M1 chip into the iPad Air? Probably not. But are the results impressive? Undoubtedly.

The M1 chip has appeared in numerous Apple devices like the 13-inch MacBook Pro, 24-inch iMac, and iPad Pro, but it's worth covering the high-level highlights again for those who are learning about this chip for the first time.

  • Built on a 5nm process 
  • 16 billion transistors
  • 8 CPU cores and 8 GPU cores
  • 4 high-performance CPU cores, 4 high-efficiency CPU cores
  • 16-core Neural Engine capable of 11 trillion operations per second
  • Unified memory architecture

What do these specifications mean? It means you are getting performance that rivals a desktop-class Core i7-10700K processor in a slate-like device that's less than half a kilogram and is just mere millimetres thick. If that's not impressive, I don't know what else is.

 

Performance analysis

As you can see, the iPad Air’s performance was identical to the pricier iPad Pro – which should come as no surprise since they are powered by the same chip. Compared to its predecessor which had an A14 Bionic chip, this new iPad Air just leaves it for dead. Thanks to the extra CPU and GPU cores, Geekbench multi-core score is up a whopping 67% while 3DMark Wild Life saw a remarkable 93% bump in performance. Whatever you may throw at it the new iPad Air will handle it with ease and aplomb.

 

Battery life

Our standard battery test for mobile phones has the following parameters:

  • Looping a 720p video with screen brightness and volume at 100%
  • Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity turned on
  • Constant data streaming through email

Interestingly, despite the increased performance and the fact that battery capacity remains the same, the new iPad Air lasted just as long in our battery test – 4 hours. This truly is a testament to the efficiency of the M1 chip. But as remarkable as it may be, it’s still a long way down from what Android tablets like the Xiaomi Pad 5 and Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+ could achieve. Incredibly, the Xiaomi Pad 5 lasted over 13 hours.

In the real world, however, battery life was much more acceptable and reasonable. It does dip quite quickly if you are using it on cellular and if your screen brightness is set high, but I could still get around 7 to 8 hours of screen time before I needed to charge it. I found these numbers to be roughly the same as its predecessor.

 

Still the best iPad for most people (if you can afford it)

The iPad Air is the best iPad Air in the lineup for most people.

If you are in the market for a new iPad, the iPad Air is probably the best iPad for you. Granted, the iPad Pro has a better display, faster Thunderbolt port, a more advanced camera system with lidar, and more. But ask yourself if you need these features and how often are you going to use them. My guess is not very much. Fact is, the iPad Air offers much of what the iPad Pro does but at a lower price point. 

I’m hesitant to use the phase “more affordable” because prices of the iPad Air start at S$879. And that’s for the Wi-Fi-only version with 64GB of storage. The cellular models start at S$1,079. That’s quite pricey for a tablet. Furthermore, accessories are sold separately. A second-generation Apple Pencil is S$189, a Smart Keyboard Folio is S$269, and the Magic Keyboard is – gasp – S$519. I think most people will end up spending well over a grand on this tablet.

5th-generation iPad Air prices
Storage Wi-Fi Wi-Fi + Cellular
64GB S$879 S$1,099
256GB S$1,099 S$1,319


At this point, you might be thinking, “Right, why don’t get I just get the regular iPad then?” With prices starting at S$499, that’s certainly an enticing option if you want to save money. However, the regular iPad has a markedly less powerful processor (A13 Bionic), its design is quite dated, the display isn’t as nice, its speakers are only on one side, and it doesn’t work with the latest accessories. It really is a basic tablet and the iPad Air provides a much better experience. To put it in another way, I think people would regret more if they settled for a regular iPad when they could have gotten the iPad Air rather than spending the extra outright on an iPad Air.

So yes, the new iPad Air is by no means an affordable tablet. But it makes a strong case for itself as being the best tablet for most people. The design and form factor can hardly be faulted, the display is great, and the performance is utterly peerless. Battery life could be better but that’s my only real complaint. If you are the kind that believes in getting the best things you can afford so that you can use them for a longer time, then this is the iPad to aspire to.

 

You can find the iPad Air on Apple's Online Store, the Apple Flagship Store on Lazada, and also Amazon

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8.5
  • Design 8.5
  • Features 8.5
  • User-Friendliness 9
  • Performance 9.5
  • Value 8
The Good
M1 chip means it's crazy fast
Gorgeous display
Thin and light body
Works with iPad Pro accessories
Deep integration with Macs
The Bad
Display capped at 60Hz
Battery life could be better
Big step up in price over basic iPad
Accessories sold separately and pricey
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