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Has Apple undermined its 11-inch iPad Pro with its new iPad Air?
At first glance, this seems to be the case for anyone considering a “good” iPad to use as a laptop replacement at work, college, or school.
Consider the immediate attractions of the iPad Air.
It has almost exactly the same screen size (10.9 inches), has the same premium shape (flattened edges that allow you to charge the newer Apple Pencil magnetically), and has a new A14 chip that the company calls the “most advanced” up to now.
It’s also available in a lot more colors (if that’s important) and has a new TouchID fingerprint sensor built into the power button – the first iPad to have this feature, saving you a lot of space on the bezels.
It even uses the same USB-C port connection as the iPad Pro instead of the Lightning port that we’re used to seeing on entry-level iPads. Apple touts USB-C as a ‘professional’ feature because it allows you to connect to more devices (such as USB keys and external drives and cameras) natively and transfer data much faster.
Finally, you can use the same main keyboard covers as the iPad Pro, including the amazing (albeit expensive) Magic Keyboard. This is a considerable improvement on the previous Air model and is very important when considering a device as a work or study companion.
In other words, the iPad Air is a very powerful, capable and attractive ‘professional’ tablet that is clearly capable of serious work.
However, it starts at more than € 200 cheaper than the iPad Pro 11 (€ 667 vs € 894).
So what is the potential downside? What are you giving up if you choose to save a few pounds on this model compared to the Pro?
There are some things you can miss and some you probably can’t.
1. There is no FaceID with the iPad Air.
This means that you can’t just open it and start working at a glance; you will need to use the TouchID button or a PIN code.
FaceID is undeniably useful for those who have it on their iPhones and iPad Pro devices, but Apple has a bit of a hard time installing it due to the additional sensors and cameras that need it. So Apple probably saved some money on that.
2. The iPad Air screen is not as responsive as the iPad Pro.
While it’s nice and bright and has a relatively high resolution, it doesn’t have the 120hz refresh rate of the iPad Pro, which you might notice if you lean heavily on the iPad for artistic or creative work. (You will hardly notice it in Microsoft Office.)
3. The iPad Air does not have all the cameras of the iPad Pro.
While it uses the same main 12-megapixel rear wide-angle camera, it doesn’t have a second ultra-wide lens. It also skips the iPad Pro’s additional lidar camera. This is one that some people don’t miss out on at all. The lidar cameras on the iPad Pro are there primarily to spark interest in and use of apps like augmented reality. Of all the new innovations Apple has introduced, this may be the slowest to take off. There is definitely some activity in the area, but it has yet to catch the public’s imagination.
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