Apple 11-inch iPad Air (M3) review: Is there a good reason to buy this?

Note: This review was first published on 10 March 2025.

Caught in the middle

The iPad Air is mostly a great tablet, but it has two big problems: the basic iPad and the iPad Pro. For the money, the iPad Air doesn’t do enough to distinguish itself from the basic iPad. And if you are already spending that much, it’s mighty tempting to bite the bullet and go all out for the iPad Pro. In my review of the last iPad Air, I wrote that the only reason you should get one is if you want a 13-inch iPad for the lowest possible price. Has outfitting it with the M3 chip changed anything?

The TL;DR version:



Adding the M3 chip has made the iPad Air faster, but that doesn’t solve its problems nor make it a more compelling option. Ultimately, most people will be better served by the basic iPad. 



Note: You can find the iPad Air on Lazada, Shopee, and the Apple Online Store.

What’s new?

The latest iPad Air doesn’t have all that many new features or parts. This is a very minor spec-bump update, so the only notable changes are the M3 chip and a new Magic Keyboard.

The rest of the tablet - its dimensions, weight, battery capacity, cameras, etc – is unchanged. You still get the iPad in two sizes: 11 and 13-inches. The display is still Liquid Retina with P3 colour support and True Tone technology. There’s no ProMotion tech so refresh rates are capped at 60Hz. And there’s no Face ID so you still have to rely on Touch ID for biometric authentication. That said, it does have stereo speakers and supports the Apple Pencil Pro and USB-C Apple Pencil. Sadly, there's only support for Wi-Fi 6E and not Wi-Fi 7.

Interestingly, the M3 chip in the iPad Air is a new variant we have never seen before. It has 9 GPU cores instead of the usual 8 or 10 that we see in Macs. The CPU core count remains the same at 8. The GPU is probably the most significant because the M3’s GPU brings with it hardware-accelerated ray-tracing, mesh shading, and Dynamic Caching technology. This could benefit certain games greatly.

Unsurprisingly, the M3 chip makes the iPad Air a very brisk tablet and it’ll run anything you can throw at it without breaking a sweat. And as you’ll see from the benchmarking results on the next page, battery life was decent too. Even at max brightness and volume, it lasted nearly 5 hours.

Looking at the results, it's clear that the M3 chip is appreciably faster, racking up higher scores all around. That said, I doubt most people can feel the difference in day-to-day usage. I certainly didn’t feel it was any faster when I was using it to work on this review. And if performance is your utmost priority, the iPad Pro with the M4 chip is a significantly more performant tablet.

There’s a new Magic Keyboard for this iPad Air too. It retains the “floating cantilever” design and USB-C port for pass-through charging but adds a function row and a larger glass trackpad. It may look like the Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro, but the trackpad isn’t haptic, it doesn't have backlit keys, and its surface is rubber, not metal. Regardless, it’s a fantastic keyboard for the iPad Air. The typing feel and trackpad are first-rate. My only complaint is that with prices starting at S$399, it’s really pricey. In fact, accessories for the iPad Air are expensive.

And in case you were wondering, no, you cannot use the iPad Pro’s Magic Keyboard with this new iPad Air, and neither will this new Magic Keyboard work with the iPad Pro. The magnets are in the wrong locations and the iPad will not mount properly.

Final thoughts and buying advice

Giving the iPad Air the M3 chip and a new keyboard hasn’t fundamentally changed it. It remains an extremely competent tablet with a nice display, stellar performance, and good battery life. Judged on its own, it’s hard to fault. However, it’s hard to see why one would choose it over the basic iPad, iPad Pro, or even an iPad Mini.

Before I explain why, let's take a look at how much iPads cost.

The basic iPad does many things well and is nearly half the price of the iPad Air. If you only need an iPad to watch videos, browse the web, and stitch the occasional video together, it’s hard to justify the additional cost of the iPad Air. And at the iPad Air’s prices, it’s tempting to splash the cash and go all out for the iPad Pro. It’s a much nicer iPad with advanced features that make a difference. Plus, if you are going to be keeping it for the next couple of years, doesn’t it make sense to go for the best? The iPad mini is no slouch too. It’s extremely compact, supports the Apple Pencil Pro, and costs considerably less too.

Ultimately, my buying advice remains the same. Get the iPad Air only for the following reasons:

• You need the performance of the M3 chip
• You want a 13-inch iPad at the lowest possible price
• You use the Apple Pencil Pro often and want an iPad larger than the iPad Mini

Everyone else will probably be happier with a basic iPad and the spare change in their wallets.

Note: You can find the iPad Air on Lazada, Shopee, and the Apple Online Store.

Benchmarking results

Here are the results from the iPad Air. The unit I tested was the 11-inch version with 1TB of storage. It has an M3 chip with 8 CPU cores and 9 GPU cores.

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