Could Apple’s new iPad Air replace your laptop?

You’d be forgiven for looking at the iPad Air and mistaking it for the iPad Pro – at least at first glance. The general look of the iPad Air is similar to the iPad Pro, just in a slightly smaller form. It wears it well though, providing a halfway house between the entry-level iPad and the more expensive Pro version.

And given the recent updates announced for iPad Air, the gap between the two devices has narrowed a little further.

I’ve had the 2022 iPad Air for a few days, long enough to form an early opinion on the device.

Here’s what the newest iPad Air has to offer.

An upgraded chip

The iPad Air has Apple’s M1 chip inside, the same silicon that last year’s iPad Pro uses. That means faster performance, and up to two times’ faster graphics over last year’s model. Is it noticeably faster? Side by side, the M1 iPad Air is indeed noticeably faster than its predecessor, particularly when it comes to loading up games. Video editing is also easy on the Air, and if you are a fan of augmented reality, the whole experience will be smoother with the new M1 chip.

For most tasks, the A14-powered device is more than sufficient, so there is no need to ditch a year-old tablet in favour of the shiny new device.

Where the new iPad Air will really shine is in the future, when more people are using software that stretches the capabilities of the M1 chip. It also futureproofs the device, so you can be sure that the tablet will last for several years.

Faster USB C connection

Apple has boosted the speed of the iPad Air's USB C connections, making it twice as fast. That means you can transfer images and data to the tablet faster, for example, with the port supporting up to 10Gbps in transfers. In practice, it means less standing around waiting; the USB C connection makes the iPad Air more flexible than its lightning connector peers too, so you can hook it up to external displays, cameras and so on.

New connectivity

The new iPad Air, like the iPhones, includes 5G connectivity in its cellular version. That gives you the option of wireless connections on the move – while you may not appreciate the 5G feature right now, it will likely be more important in the future.

There is an eSim inside, so you don’t need a physical sim card, but the option to use one is still there on the iPad Air.

The camera

Who knew that cameras on tablets and laptops would become so important? But two years of a pandemic and working from home has given us all a new perspective on how useful – or not – the cameras can be. The iPad Air has a 12 megapixel wide angle camera on the rear that is capable of recording video in 4K, as long as you have the storage space for it.

The 2021 iPad Air had a decent front-facing camera, and the new version maintains that reputation. However, it adds one more important feature: Centre Stage. The technology allows the wide angle camera on the front of the iPad to keep you centred in the frame as you move. It works when you are using the camera for FaceTime calls, Zoom and so on. It’s a little like having your own personal cameraman, provided you don’t move too far and go outside the bounds of the camera’s vision.

If you don’t like it though, it can be disabled with a couple of clicks, and you will have to look after your own angles.

The colours

There is very little difference in looks between last year’s iPad and this year’s version. However, the new iPad Air has new colours, with pink, purple, blue, space grey and starlight on offer. That may not be top of your list of must-haves for your tablet, but there is something about the blue iPad in the white Magic Keyboard case that appeals to me.

It’s purely superficial, of course, but that isn’t always a bad thing.

The verdict

Could the iPad Air replace your laptop? The short answer is, for many functions, yes. There are still some people who won’t be able to ditch the desktop or laptop just yet, but the iPad Air can easily carry out everything from video editing to word processing without any trouble.

Team it with the second generation Apple Pencil, which is an additional cost but is worth it, in my opinion, and you have a multifunctional device that can replace not only your laptop but your paper notebooks too.

Should you buy it over the iPad Pro? It depends on what you want from it. The Pro still offers a superior display with 120Hz ProMotion. It also has incredible audio, and Thunderbolt support, making it more versatile for power users. Plus if you can stretch to the more expensive models, you’ll get more RAM to help you run your power-hungry applications.

For everyone else though? The iPad Air is the tablet to buy.

www.apple.com