IPad Air M2
Apple introduced the iPad Air nearly two years ago. Even today, this stunning tablet offers stunning display and impressive performance.
As one of the best-value laptops around, its portable form factor and double the base storage make it hard to beat for price. Furthermore, its powerful productivity features and next-gen Apple Pencil Pro experience further add value.
IPad Air M2 Display
Apple’s sixth generation Air M2 tablet offers an ideal alternative for tablet enthusiasts who primarily use their devices on-the-go and don’t require or desire the all-encompassing iPad Pro, offering 13-inch and 11-inch models as options with minimal internal changes between.
Though its A12 Bionic processor found in the new iPad Pro or Fusion chip found in some of its laptops does not match that of this M2 chip, it still delivers plenty of power. Graphics performance is twice that of its M1 counterpart in the original iPad Air while on-device AI features (Visual Look Up, Subject Lift and Live Text Capture) operate at breakneck speed.
The Air’s display is also slightly superior to that of its predecessor, featuring P3 color support and 600-nit peak brightness. Unfortunately, however, HDR support and 120Hz refresh rates are missing; therefore, do not purchase this as your main screen if performing intensive tasks such as editing 4K video or playing demanding games.
IP ad Air M2Performance
The iPad Air M2 2024 enjoys an impressive increase in performance over its predecessor. Running on Apple’s M2 chip, which is far more powerful than its M1 counterparts used by other iPads and laptops. Our Geekbench multi-core test showed it outperforming most Android tablets in its price range.
This tablet also benefited from a slight improvement to its battery life; we tested it over 5G at 150nits brightness for 11 hours and 30 minutes and found it exceeded Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 by 30 minutes in our battery test. This timeframe makes the LG G Pad 8.4 an attractive proposition.
The new iPad Air boasts a 12MP rear camera capable of taking serviceable images. Our tests proved its worth; capturing a sharp pic of my pup and a well-exposed shot of white, magenta and baby pink peonies in a glass vase with ease. In addition, this camera supports Pencil Hover functionality allowing stylus users to use stylus tips as cursors on screen.
IPad Air M2 Battery
The iPad Air M2 2024 receives an overall upgrade from last year’s model, including faster processor, more capable GPU, and improved battery life. Although not able to fully replace a laptop for power users or provide full mobility replacement capabilities for everyday computing needs, it remains a viable portable tablet capable of handling lots of apps and games.
Tom’s Guide’s battery test, where we surf over 5G with 150nit of brightness on screen, found that the new iPad Air M2 lasted 11 hours and 30 minutes – an hour longer than its predecessor model and surpassing even Samsung Galaxy Tab S9.
The 13-inch iPad Air M2 does differ significantly from Pro models in one key way: it does not support 120Hz high-screen refresh rate. Although this might seem counter-intuitive, as most of Apple’s iPhone models support it; this may simply reflect how premium OLED displays dominate iPad Pro models over regular ones; in any event, smaller Air M2 displays are still excellent!
IPad Air M2 Design
Apple has created a great tablet in the iPad Air, and while it may surprise some to find no significant design modifications this year, that’s probably for the best; this premium and solid build offers vibrant colors, exceptional performance, an all-day battery life and is even suitable as a laptop replacement solution.
Furthermore, the new iPad Air M2 2024 provides ample future-proofing thanks to its in-house M chip. In our lab testing, it easily outpaced Galaxy Tab S9 in many test scenarios and performed twice as well in our video transcoding tests.
iPadOS 17 also brings many of the same features found on an iPhone to this tablet device, such as customized lock screens and interactive widgets on its home screen as well as an easier Health app interface for iPad users.
IPad Air M2 Audio
The 2024 iPad Air is no longer Apple’s thinnest or lightest tablet, yet still delivers an appealing combination of power and price. Capable of handling most common tablet tasks such as multi-app browsing, watching movies/TV shows online streaming services like Netflix/Hulu etc and FaceTime chat sessions – all at hundreds less cost than an iPad Pro model!
It can run the latest version of iOS, including Apple’s recently-unveiled iPadOS 17 with features designed to make it more Mac-like computer. Furthermore, Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6E will boost connectivity speeds and work across more bands on this 2024 iPad Air model.
Finally, this tablet supports Apple Pencil via the “Pencil Hover” feature, enabling users to use their stylus as a cursor when the screen isn’t active. I tested my iPad Air M2 using Capcom’s groundbreaking horror game Resident Evil 4, and its capacitive touchscreen responded quickly to my touches without being affected by any glare when immersed in chaotic battle scenes with evil villagers in Resident Evil 4’s opening battle scene.
