If you want an iPad, you have three basic choices: the basic
10.2-inch iPad, the more expensive
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is the budget option, with an aging design (big bezels, home
button, Lightning port) and older processor, and the 12.9-inch iPad
Pro starts at a whopping $1,099 and is geared toward only the most
demanding of users.
So if you want the most tablet without breaking the bank on a
$1,099 12.9-inch iPad Pro, you have just two options: the
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18, and the . The iPad Air was just upgraded with
an M1 processor, making it as powerful as the iPad Pro. But a
tablet is more than its processor, and the Pro model does offer a
few improvements that might be worth your money. Here’s how these
two tablets stack up.
Before we start the matchup, let’s have a weigh-in and see how
they match up on paper.
iPad Air (2022)
11-inch iPad Pro
(5th gen)
Starting price
$599
$799
Screen size
10.9-inch
11-inch
Size (H x
W x D)
9.74 x 7.02 0.24 inches
9.74 x 7.02 x 0.23 inches
Weight
1.02 pounds
1.03 pounds
Colors
Space gray, pink, purple, starlight, blue
Silver, space gray
Display
Liquid Retina,
True Tone
Liquid Retina,
ProMotion,
True Tone
Processor
M1
M1
Storage
64/256GB
128/256/512GB/1TB/2TB
Memory
8GB
8GB/16GB (1TB and 2TB)
Authentication
Touch ID
Face ID
Rear camera
12MP f/1.8 Wide
12MP f/1.8 Wide
10MP f/2.4 Ultra Wide
Front camera
12MP f/2.2 Ultra Wide
12MP f/2.4 Ultra Wide
Wireless features
5G (sub-6 only), Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0
5G (sub-6/mmWave), Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0
The iPad Air and 11-inch iPad Pro are essentially the same size
and weight. In fact, the dimensions are so similar that they can
both use most of the same cases, covers, Magic Keyboards, and so
on. Only cases that have specific camera cutouts for the single
iPad Air camera won’t fit on the iPad Pro, which has a squarish
camera area with multiple cameras, but iPad Pro cases will fit fine
on the Air (they just look a little weird).
With nearly identical shapes, they also have nearly identical
designs with one main exception: color. The iPad Pro comes in
silver and space gray only, while the iPad Air has a more whimsical
array of colors to choose from: space grey, starlight, pink,
purple, and blue. You’re also getting ever-so-slightly smaller
bezels on the iPad Pro, which is why Apple says it has room for an
11-inch display instead of 10.9 inches. You’re not really going to
notice that tenth of an inch, though.
Our pick: When it comes to size and weight,
this is a complete tie. The designs are basically identical as
well. So it comes down to color. If you want starlight, blue,
purple, or pink, you’ll need to get the Air.
Apple
The 11-inch iPad Pro has a slightly bigger display than
the iPad Air. We’re really splitting hairs here—it’s one-tenth of
an inch. The resolution is the same—264 pixels per inch—but the
iPad Pro has just slightly slimmer bezels around the display,
giving it room for a few more pixels. Both displays also have True
Tone and a wide P3 color gamut and follow Apple’s “liquid” retina
design, meaning the corners of the screen are rounded to match the
device itself.
The iPad Pro’s display is definitely superior, though. It’s
brighter, with a max brightness of 600 nits compared to the Air’s
500 nits. But the big benefit is ProMotion, which lets the display
run-up to 120Hz for smoother motion and lower latency, especially
when using the Apple Pencil. The difference is palpable when
switching between devices, and once you’ve tried the Pro, it’s very
hard to go back.
Our pick: The extra brightness isn’t a huge
deal, but ProMotion is really nice and helps justify the
higher price of the iPad Pro.
With the latest update (available March 18, 2022), the iPad Air
has the same M1 processor as the iPad Pro. It’s got eight CPU
cores, eight GPU cores, and in almost all respects should offer
exactly the same performance.
There’s only one small difference. Both tablets have 8GB of RAM,
with the exception of the 1TB and 2TB storage options on the iPad
Pro. If you opt for one of those configurations, the iPad Pro will
have 16GB of RAM. Those storage options don’t come cheap, however,
and the extra RAM probably isn’t going to make much of a difference
with iPadOS.
Our pick: It’s a tie. It’s the same processor,
and to get 16GB of RAM you need to pay for a huge chunk of storage
on the iPad Pro. You’re not likely to notice the difference between
8GB and 16GB anyway, even in very intensive applications.
Apple
The battery capacity is nearly the same in both iPads, around 29
watt-hours. Apple lists similar battery life specs: Up to 10 hours
of surfing the web on Wi‑Fi or watching videos, nine hours when on
cellular (iPads rarely stray from these numbers). ProMotion can be
a battery drain while in use, but can save battery when in
some cases where the iPad can switch to a much lower refresh rate.
On the other hand, the iPad Pro’s brighter display will likely
drain the battery a little faster if you crank up the
brightness.
Our pick: Either tablet will last you through
hours and use. For the most part, we expect battery life to be
similar.
The iPad Pro gives you double the starting storage: 128GB
instead of 64GB in the iPad Air. Both offer a 256GB upgrade
configuration ($100 more on the iPad Pro and $150 more on the iPad
Air), but while the iPad Air stops there, the iPad Pro offers
512GB, 1TB, and 2TB options.
Our pick: With all the cloud storage and
streaming these days, most users don’t need more than 256GB of
storage in an iPad, but if you do lots of work with 4K video or
high-res photos, the option for higher storage is nice. More
important is that the starting storage is twice as big on the iPad
Pro, and 64GB might be a little small for all of the apps and games
you’re going to download.
Like the iPhone, the iPad Pro uses Face ID, which uses the
TrueDepth sensors on the front to unlock the tablet and
authenticate purchases and passwords. The iPad Air doesn’t have a
TrueDepth module; it has Touch ID built into the side button. Both
are easy to set up and use in their own way, but Apple says the
odds of spoofing Face ID is approximately 1 in 1,000,000 vs 1
in 50,000 for Touch ID.
Our pick: Touch ID is plenty good, but there’s
no doubt that Face ID is usually the faster and easier way to
authenticate, enter passwords, and unlock your device.
Jason Cross/IDG
On the rear of the iPad Air, you’ll find a 12MP standard
wide-angle camera. On the iPad Pro you’ll find the same camera,
plus a 10MP Ultra Wide camera and a LiDAR sensor for better AR
positioning. We don’t think you’ll be taking too many pictures with
either of these somewhat awkward cameras, but if you want to, the
iPad Pro has a clearly superior array.
Apple upgraded the iPad Air to a 12MP Ultra-Wide camera on the
front, with support for Center Stage, which pans and zooms to keep
you the subject (you) in the frame. So the front camera is
virtually identical between the two tablets. The iPad Pro has a
TrueDepth sensor for Face ID, which means it also supports Apple’s
Animoj/Memoji, but photo and video-taking should be about the same
when using the front camera.
Our pick: The front camera is the more
important on a tablet, and the two here are virtually identical, as
is the rear-facing 12MP camera. The iPad Pro has an edge with its
10MP Ultra Wide rear camera if that sort of thing matters to
you.
The iPad Air has decent sound from its two-speaker stereo setup
and a dual microphone array. It works fine, but it’s nothing
special. The 11-inch iPad Pro, on the other hand, has four speakers
and five microphones that Apple calls “studio quality.” We don’t
know if we trust that moniker, but it’s almost certain that the
iPad Pro will produce better recordings and higher-quality audio
playback.
Our pick: The iPad Pro should bring superior
sound playback and recording.
We love the iPad Air’s USB-C port, and it’s event fast with the
fifth-generation model, supporting data transfers up to 10Gbps. But
the 11-inch iPad Pro takes it a step further. Its USB-C port
supports USB4 and Thunderbolt, which means a faster maximum
throughput of 40Gbit/sec. Both support a single external display up
to 6K, though. Both models support the new Magic Keyboard—though
the camera cutouts fit a little nicer on the 11-inch Pro—as well as
the 2nd-generation Apple Pencil.
Our pick: Thunderbolt might not be something
you need now, but it might be worth the investment. Over the years,
there’s a much better chance that the devices you buy will work to
their full potential (or at all) with the iPad Pro’s Thunderbolt
port over the iPad Air’s standard USB-C charging port. If you’re
primarily concerned about hooking up displays, the experience
should be similar with either one.
Jason Cross/IDG
Both iPads have Wi-Fi 6 with MIMO, simultaneous dual-band, and
speeds up to 1.6Gbps, so they’ll work great at home. You also get
Bluetooth 5 for AirPods and other wireless devices. But if you opt
for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model, there’s a small difference. Both
models also have 5G options, but the iPad Air only supports
sub-6GHz bands while the iPad Pro supports the faster short-range
mmWave bands as well. The cellular option costs more on the iPad
Pro ($200) than on the iPad Air ($150).
Our pick: You should consider carefully whether
you really need cellular access on your iPad—using your iPhone as a
wireless hotspot works extremely well. The iPad Pro’s ability to
connect to mmWave networks is of limited use and you pay $50 more
for cellular than you do on the iPad Air.
Last year, we thought the 11-inch iPad Pro was the better buy.
This year, thanks to the processor upgrade and improved front
camera in the iPad Air, our opinion has reversed. The iPad Pro is
essentially the same size and performance and supports the same
peripherals, but it costs $200 more ($250 more if you want a
cellular-equipped model). For that, you get:
ProMotion display
Five-microphone array and four speakers
10MP Ultra Wide rear camera with LiDAR
Thunderbolt
Face ID
Double the storage
Support for mmWave 5G bands
Our pick: Most of those improvements are not
the sort of things you’ll feel every day. ProMotion is the biggest
benefit, and the extra storage is nice, but they don’t seem worth
an extra $200. We think most users would be happiest with the iPad
Air, perhaps with the 256GB option (which is still $50 less than
the starting price of the 128GB 11-inch iPad Pro).
