Apple iPad Air M2 review: Bigger screen and more power without the Pro price

Just like those famous red double-decker buses that ferry Londoners around the capital, you wait an age for a new iPad Air, then two come along at once. Apple has finally rebooted its popular tablet and, along with launching a spruced-up 11-inch model, the firm has added a much bigger 13-inch Air to the lineup as well.

That larger version is the one we’ve been using for this review and we are not in any doubt that Apple is onto a winner here. Until now, the only way to get a supersized iPad was to blow the budget and buy a very expensive Pro device.

That’s no longer the case with the 13-inch Air now starting from a much more reasonable £799. It’s still pricey but nowhere near as damaging for your bank balance as the same-sized £1,299 13-inch iPad Pro.

We’ve always loved using a larger tablet screen as it offers a more expansive experience for watching films, editing home movies and getting creative with the Apple Pencil.

Now that bumper screen has arrived on the Air and we absolutely love it. This LED Liquid Retina display is bright, crystal clear and packed full of colour with content looking vibrant and rich in detail. As you’d expect from Apple, it also features True Tone technology – which adjusts things depending on your surroundings – and there’s a decent enough anti-reflective coating to help you concentrate on your content.

It’s a very good display. Just remember that it can’t get close to matching the new 2024 iPad Pros that now pack ludicrously bright OLED screens with better colours and richer blacks.

Along with not getting that OLED technology, another gripe with the new Air’s display is that it still only offers a 60Hz refresh rate which makes it feel a little stuttery when whizzing through websites – higher Hz screens are smoother to scroll.

The previous Air also only got 60Hz technology but it appears more noticeable this year due to the screen size being so much larger.

You simply don’t get the same slick experience found on the iPad Pro’s ProMotion 120Hz panel. Of course, that premium 13-inch tablet costs a staggering £500 more but if having the best display in the business is important to you, definitely check out the difference in your local Apple Store before splashing the cash.

Along with expanding the Air’s display, Apple has also added the very quick M2 processor – that’s the same chip that powered the previous flagship Pro models.

No matter what you do, or how hard you try to push the Air, it’s not going to get close to breaking a sweat.

You can edit 4K video, run multiple apps at once, retouch photos and play console-style games without ever feeling like this tablet is in any sort of trouble.

In fact, the M2 is probably too powerful for what most people will ever need but that’s no bad thing as it will future-proof the device for years to come, especially when Apple has a track record of giving iPads multiple years of software support.

Thanks to that M2 silicon, the Air remains very efficient and during our tests, we were easily able to watch back-to-back blockbuster movies without the battery running flat. With the screen slightly dimmed and with average use you should get close to 10 hours before needing to find a plug.

Other features worth mentioning include a new position for the front-facing camera which now sits on the longer edge of the chassis (it was on the top edge before). It is something older iPads were criticised for and it now makes more sense when making FaceTime calls in the more popular landscape mode – but an annoyance with this camera is that it doesn’t offer Face ID technology for fast unlocking of the screen.

Another thing Apple appears to have listened to is the feedback about storage. The Air now starts with 128GB of internal memory which makes far more sense than the measly 64GB that used to be found inside previous versions of the Air.

Other extras include decent speakers, fast wireless connectivity thanks to the latest Wi-Fi 6E technology and full 5G support if you buy a cellular model, though the physical SIM slot has been removed from the new Air devices so you’ll now have to sign up to an eSIM plan to access the web on the move.

That’s a pain if you’ve already got a SIM you use in an older iPad and it’s not the only change Apple that might upset some.

The firm has also launched a shiny new Apple Pencil Pro which gets smart new features such as haptic feedback, the option to squeeze to launch menus and a gyroscope that allows you to roll the Apple Pencil Pro for precise control of the tool you’re using.

Although it has the Pro name, it works just as well on the new iPad Air – that’s great news we hear you cry!

Sadly, the same can’t be said about the older 2nd Gen Apple Pencil as this is not now compatible with the new Air. That means those owning that older stylus will need to add the new £129 Pencil Pro to their online shopping basket.

To make things even more baffling, the Apple Pencil USB-C – which launched last year – is also compatible with the new Air. If you are confused, don’t panic, so are we.

Some other things to note are the lack of compatibility with the all-new Magic Keyboard which now features an improved design, bigger trackpad and function keys – the Air only works with the older keyboard accessory. Plus Apple has followed what it did with the iPhone and has ditched the wall charger from the box, so you’ll have to buy one to get quick refilling.

Finally, unlike the new iPad Pro, there’s no big design update. Weirdly, that now makes the “Air” thicker and heavier than its Pro siblings. That said, it looks stunning, especially in its pastel shades which now include Blue, Purple and Starlight.

The iPad Air was already a top tablet for those wanting plenty of power without going Pro. Now this range gets the same M2 processor that powered Apple’s flagship models and there’s finally that option to go supersized without forking out more than £1,200 for the privilege.

We’re massive fans of the bigger screen and it’s great to see Apple bringing a 13-inch display to fans at a more reasonable – though still considerable – price. It makes work and play feel so much more immersive and is especially useful for anyone who ends up running multiple apps at the same time or wants space to edit content and view movies on a larger screen.

Other things to love include the new front-facing camera placement, extra storage on the standard model and the same long battery life we’ve come to expect from the iPad.

It’s not all perfect though. The 60Hz screen feels a little laggy, your old Apple Pencil might not work on the new model, there’s no Face ID technology and Apple has ditched the powerful plug from the box. If you own a physical 5G SIM it now won’t fit in the iPad with Apple switching over to the latest eSIM technology.

Don’t forget, Apple has also slashed the price of the 10th Gen iPad to just £349 which makes that device seriously tempting especially as it offers a decent level of performance for most people’s needs.

Those gripes aside, the iPad Air remains an outstandingly good device and we have a feeling the new 13-inch model could prove to be a massive hit for Apple.