In an unexpected turn of events, Apple just dropped spec bumps for both the iPad Air and the base iPad instead. So maybe we’ll see an update to the MacBook Air tomorrow? Who knows? Still, the updates to the iPad line are quite solid overall.
The iPad Air now features the M3 chip (although it’s a binned chip with a 9-core GPU), which supports hardware-accelerated ray-tracing and mesh-shading graphics. Available in both 11-inch and 13-inch sizes, iPad Air is built for Apple Intelligence in mind. iPad Air comes in the same colors as before: Starlight, Space Gray, Purple, and Blue. Additionally, it features an all-new Magic Keyboard, which borrows many of the design elements and features from the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro (M4), including a similar design with the aluminum hinge, larger trackpad, and a row of function keys. iPad Air still works with both the Apple Pencil (USB-C) and the amazing Apple Pencil Pro.
iPad Air starts at the same amazing price of $599, which continues to bring serious performance to even more people.
11-inch
- 128GB – $599 (Wi-Fi) / $749 (Wi-Fi + Cellular)
- 256GB – $699 (Wi-Fi) / $849 (Wi-Fi + Cellular)
- 512GB – $899 (Wi-Fi) / $1,049 (Wi-Fi + Cellular)
- 1TB – $1,099 (Wi-Fi) / $1,249 (Wi-Fi + Cellular)
13-inch
- 128GB – $799 (Wi-Fi) / $949 (Wi-Fi + Cellular)
- 256GB – $899 (Wi-Fi) / $1,049 (Wi-Fi + Cellular)
- 512GB – $1,099 (Wi-Fi) / $1,249 (Wi-Fi + Cellular)
- 1TB – $1,299 (Wi-Fi) / $1,449 (Wi-Fi + Cellular)
Magic Keyboard for iPad Air is just $269 for the 11-inch model and $319 for the 13-inch model, and it’s also compatible with previous generations of iPad Air: 4th-generation (2020), 5th-generation (2022), and M2 (2024).
The base iPad also receives a spec update as it now features the A16 chip although it’s also a binned variant with one less core in both CPU/GPU. Although this model won’t support Apple Intelligence, this iPad is still a great buy now that it has more RAM, faster performance, and faster Bluetooth 5.3 support for many more software updates to come. This iPad is also compatible with the existing Magic Keyboard Folio as well as the Apple Pencil (1st generation) and Apple Pencil (USB-C). iPad comes in the same fun colors as the previous generation: Silver, Blue, Yellow, and Pink, and even more amazing, it starts at the same price with double the storage. For the first time on the base iPad, there’s now a 512GB tier, so you can so many applications, movies, TV shows, and more on the fly.
- 128GB – $349 (Wi-Fi) / $499 (Wi-Fi + Cellular)
- 256GB – $449 (Wi-Fi) / $599 (Wi-Fi + Cellular)
- 512GB – $649 (Wi-Fi) / $799 (Wi-Fi + Cellular)
All updated iPad models and the Magic Keyboard for iPad are available to order today, and they’ll launch on March 12. All in all, very small, yet solid updates for the full-size iPad models for many more software updates to come.
