Anticipation was high following a teaser from Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, leading many to expect an announcement of the M4 MacBook Air lineup. However, the tech giant took a different route, unveiling the new M3 iPad Air series instead. Staying true to its roots, Apple is refreshing its 11-inch and 13-inch models with a major chipset upgrade, although the details were somewhat limited as Apple compared the M3 to the older M1 rather than the previous M2 model.
The pricing for the new M3 iPad Air series remains unchanged, starting at $599 for the base 11-inch model and $799 for the 13-inch variant, mirroring the cost of the former M2 lineup. Apple continues to offer a discount to students, who can purchase the devices for a starting price of $549.
The standout enhancement in these new tablets is indeed the M3 chip. Apple touts a 35% improvement in multi-threaded performance compared to the M1 iPad Air, thanks to the 8-core CPU. On the graphics front, the M3 boasts a 9-core GPU that delivers an impressive 40% increase in graphics performance. Plus, it maintains the cutting-edge feature of hardware-accelerated ray tracing.
Equipped with a faster Neural Engine, the M3 iPad Air also offers a remarkable 60% boost in AI processing efficiency over the M1. Designed to keep pace with the latest in tech, these tablets support generative AI features, alongside compatibility with the new Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro.
Interestingly, despite significant advancements, Apple didn’t compare the M3 to the M2 in performance terms, sparking some disappointment. This decision hints that the leap from M2 to M3 may not be as monumental, leaving some to speculate that a shift to M4 would have provided a more attractive performance-to-price ratio.
For eager customers, the M3 iPad Air is available for pre-order now in 29 countries, including the U.S. The official release is set for March 12, with colors like Blue, Purple, Starlight, and Space Gray available in storage options of 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB.
