iPad Air (5th generation)

A welcome upgrade — thanks to the M1

When the fourth–gen iPad Air arrived in 2020, it marked a remarkable shift in design and ambition for Apple’s mid–tier tablet. Its successor, the new fifth-gen iPad Air, shifts the dial in small but significant ways.

Outwardly, little has changed. 2022's iPad Air retains the design of the previous generation, although it now comes in new colors – Space Gray, Starlight, Pink, Purple, and Blue. The entry–level Wi–Fi–only model is $599 with 64GB of onboard storage. The step–up 256GB model costs $749.

As before, the iPad Air is also available in Wi–Fi+Cellular variants and both models now include 5G connectivity. The new iPad Air includes an Apple silicon M1 chip with an 8–core CPU, 8–core GPU and 16–core Neural Engine. All that, plus a faster 20W USB–C port and improved 12MP Ultra Wide front camera with Center Stage.

Pitting the latest iPad Air against the almost identical 2020 version is certainly interesting – in use, everything feels slightly quicker on the M1–powered Air than on the A14 Bionic version, a feeling that’s borne out by our tests. In Geekbench 5, the new iPad Air scored 1,706 points compared to the 2020 iPad Air’s 1,590. Storage read and write speeds were also notably faster at 1,223 MB/sec (write) for the new model versus 779 MB/sec for the older one.

The upgraded iPad Air has a classy design, built qualitym and beautiful Liquid Retina display – while still offering a phenomenal mix of pure power, light weight, and up to 10 hours' battery life between recharges.

iPad Air (5th generation) Features

• 10.9–inch Liquid Retina display with True Tone
• M1 chip
• 64 or 256GB of storage
• Wi–Fi 6
• Bluetooth 5.0
• Wi–Fi+Cellular option
• USB–C
• 12MP Wide camera (rear)
• 12MP Ultra Wide camera (front)

iPad Air (5th generation) Price

• 64GB Wi-Fi: $599
• 64GB Wi-Fi + Cellular: $749
• 256GB Wi-Fi: $749
• 256GB Wi-Fi + Cellular: $899