Apple’s iPad Air is as powerful as the outgoing iPad Pro

At an event dubbed “Let Loose" held at its headquarters in Cupertino, California, Apple launched the renewed iPad Air, along with new versions of the iPad Pro. This powerful tablet sits between the ‘regular’ iPad and the iPad Pro, leaving no gap in Apple’s tablet line-up.

All this time, there was just one size for the iPad Air, but Apple has now launched the device in two sizes: an 11-inch and a 13-inch. Both models work with Apple’s own M2 chip which powered the outgoing model of the iPad Pro. This upgrade allows the iPad Air to handle artificial intelligence tasks and deliver overall more powerful performance.

“So many users — from students to content creators to small businesses, and more — love iPad Air for its performance, portability, and versatility, all at an affordable price. Today, iPad Air gets even better,” said Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president of Product Marketing. “We’re so excited to introduce the redesigned 11-inch and all-new 13-inch iPad Air, offering two sizes for the first time. With its combination of a brilliant Liquid Retina display, the phenomenal performance of the M2 chip, incredible AI capabilities, and its colourful, portable design with support for new accessories, iPad Air is more powerful and versatile than ever.”

The front-facing Ultra Wide 12MP camera on the iPad Air with Centre Stage tech is now located along the landscape edge of the tablet, which is better for video calls. It also includes faster Wi-Fi and cellular models include faster 5G connectivity.

The M2 chip that powers the two Air tablets brings a boost in performance to the iPad Air. With an 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU. The M2 chip offers a number of improvements over M1 including being 50 percent faster. Compared to the iPad Air with A14 Bionic, the new iPad Air delivers up to 3x faster performance.

Because of the improved performance, users can deploy iPadOS features such as Visual Look Up, Subject Lift, or Live Text. iPadOS also has advanced frameworks like Core ML that make it easy for developers to tap into the Neural Engine to deliver powerful AI features on the device. The iPad Air also supports the Apple Pencil Pro, Magic Keyboard and Smart Folio.

Customers can order the new iPad Air with M2 starting today, May 7, on apple.com/in/store, and in the Apple Store app in 29 countries and regions, including the U.S. It will begin arriving to customers and will be in Apple Store locations and Apple Authorised Resellers, starting Wednesday, May 15.

The new 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Air will be available in blue, purple, starlight, and space grey, with 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB configurations. The 11-inch iPad Air starts at ₹59,900 for the Wi-Fi model, and ₹74,900 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model. The 13-inch iPad Air starts at ₹79,900 for the Wi-Fi model, and ₹94,900 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model. See the Apple India website for education prices and for accessories including the Magic Keyboard, available in black and white finishes for ₹29,900 for the new 11-inch iPad Air, and ₹33,900 for the new 13-inch iPad Air, a new Smart Folio, available in charcoal grey, light violet, denim, and sage, for ₹8,500 for the new 11-inch iPad Air, and ₹10,900 for the new 13-inch iPad Air.