It’s a brand new Air, but it’s not what you thiiiiink: Apple on Tuesday updated its iPad Air line with the M3 processor and redesigned the Magic Keyboard for iPad Air. And just so it wouldn’t feel left out, the base-level iPad got a new chip as well, going from the A14 Bionic chip to the A16.
The most consequential part of the Air’s update—perhaps the only real update—is the M3 processor, which brings with it GPU-based capabilities like hardware-accelerated ray tracing and video encoding and decoding for ProRes and ProRes RAW.
Otherwise, the Air is basically unchanged: it comes in 11-inch and 13-inch versions, features the same cameras, battery life, the exact same dimensions, and the same accessory compatibility as its M2-based predecessor. It even comes in the same colors—Space Gray, Blue, Purple, and Starlight—at the same prices starting at $599.
The new Magic Keyboard for Air is interesting in that it seems to meld parts of the older Magic Keyboard with the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro last May. While the new Magic Keyboard includes a function row and a larger trackpad like its Pro compatriot, it lacks haptics in the trackpad and backlit keys, and it seems to be built on the same design of the original silicone exterior instead of the new aluminum-based model. But you get some cost savings for that: it’s just $269 instead of $299. Also, it only comes in white—black keyboards are for pros, I guess.
Likewise, the update to the base-level iPad, which Apple is denoting as the iPad (A16) rather than the eleventh-generation iPad, is similarly low-key. The A16 offers 5 CPU cores, one fewer than the 6 in the A14 Bionic, though it maintains 4 GPU cores and the 16-core Neural Engine. Apple has also doubled the entry-level storage tier from 64GB to 128GB at the same $349 price, and now offers both 256GB and 512GB capacities as well. Apple’s also dropped the Nano-SIM slot in the cellular version, moving it to eSIM only like most of the rest of its cellular devices.
It’s definitely a muted update, which is no surprise as it comes just nine months after the introduction of the M2 iPad Air last May. The use of the M3 processor is also somewhat surprising, given that it’s based on an outdated manufacturing process that Apple has otherwise been aggressive about transitioning away from on the rest of its product line. The base iPad’s update is perhaps somewhat more disappointing, as that model was introduced in 2022 and its A16 processor will make it one of the few current main-line Apple devices—perhaps only—not to support Apple Intelligence.
In another minor descriptive change, Apple now describes the base-level iPad’s screen as “11-inch”, compared to the tenth-generation’s “10.9-inch”, though it says in a footnote that if the corners, which have rounded displays, are measured as rectangles “the 11-inch iPad Air, 10.9-inch iPad Air, iPad (A16), and iPad (10th generation) are 10.86 inches”.
Pre-orders for the new iPads are available now, with availability due on March 12th.
[Dan Moren is the East Coast Bureau Chief of Six Colors. You can find him on Mastodon at @dmoren@zeppelin.flights or reach him by email at dan@sixcolors.com. His latest novel, the sci-fi spy thriller The Armageddon Protocol, is out now.]
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