iPad Air M3 Review: The iPad Most People Should Buy

We keep having the same conversation. Someone asks us which iPad to buy, we say “iPad Air,” and they look confused. “Not the Pro?” No. Not the Pro. Not unless you have a very specific reason.

The iPad Air M3 is the most important iPad Apple sells because it’s the one that serves the widest range of people the best. It’s not the cheapest, not the most powerful, and not the most feature-packed. It’s the one where every dollar spent translates directly into daily value.

The M3 Chip Is Plenty

Let’s address the elephant in the room: the iPad Air runs the M3, not the M4. Does it matter? In daily use, not really.

The M3 is still an incredibly capable chip. It handles multitasking, photo editing, video editing, and gaming without complaint. Apps open instantly. Split View with two demanding apps runs smoothly. The M3 powers Apple Intelligence features, which means you get the same Writing Tools, notification summaries, and AI capabilities as the Pro.

Where the M4 pulls ahead is in sustained workloads — exporting long videos, rendering 3D models, running complex audio projects with many plugins. If those are your daily tasks, the iPad Pro’s extra headroom and active cooling matter. For everyone else, the M3 has years of performance runway left.

Display: Great, Not Extraordinary

The iPad Air’s 11-inch Liquid Retina display is a beautiful LCD panel with P3 wide color, True Tone, and 500 nits of brightness. It’s crisp, color-accurate, and perfectly enjoyable for any content.

Is it as stunning as the Pro’s tandem OLED? No. The Pro’s display has deeper blacks, higher contrast, and that extra HDR luminance that makes content pop. But the Air’s display is still excellent — you’ll only notice the difference if you put them side by side, and even then, it’s a subtle distinction rather than a dealbreaker.

One thing we genuinely appreciate: no ProMotion on the Air. Wait, what? Here’s the thing — 60Hz on iPad is perfectly fine for most people. We only notice the absence of 120Hz when scrolling long documents or web pages, and even then it’s more of an observation than a complaint. If you’ve never used ProMotion, you won’t miss it.

Design and Build

The iPad Air M3 inherits the flat-edge design language from the Pro. It’s available in four colors — blue, purple, starlight, and space gray — and it feels solid and well-made. At 462 grams, it’s slightly heavier than the iPad Pro M4 (444g), which seems wrong for the non-Pro model, but the difference is negligible in hand.

Apple Pencil Pro support is a welcome addition. If you draw, take notes, or mark up documents, having the latest Pencil with barrel roll and squeeze gesture elevates the experience. The magnetic attachment and wireless charging work the same as on the Pro.

Magic Keyboard compatibility makes the Air a capable laptop substitute. The typing experience is identical to the Pro’s keyboard, and the trackpad turns iPadOS into a surprisingly productive operating environment.

Storage and RAM

The base model starts at 128GB with 8GB of RAM. We’d strongly recommend stepping up to 256GB ($699 vs $599) — 128GB fills up surprisingly fast with apps, photos, and downloads. The 8GB of RAM is adequate for most tasks but will show its age sooner than the Pro’s 8-16GB options.

For most users, the 256GB 11-inch Air at $699 is the sweet spot configuration. It offers enough storage for years of use and enough performance for anything short of professional creative work.

What You Give Up vs. the Pro

No OLED display. No ProMotion 120Hz. No Face ID (uses Touch ID in the top button, which works well). No Thunderbolt (USB-C 3.1 instead). No quad-speaker system (two speakers instead of four). No LiDAR scanner.

The speaker difference is probably the most noticeable in daily use. The Pro’s four-speaker setup creates an immersive spatial audio experience. The Air’s two speakers are decent but noticeably less impressive for media consumption. If you watch a lot of content on your iPad, this might matter to you.

Who Should Buy This

Students — hands down, this is the best student device. Lightweight, long-lasting battery, Apple Pencil for notes, keyboard for papers. Casual artists who want to try digital drawing without the Pro price. Families who need a shared entertainment and productivity device. Professionals who want a secondary device for travel and meetings.

If you find yourself asking “do I need the iPad Pro?” the answer is almost certainly no, and the iPad Air is where you should land. Our iPad Pro vs iPad Air comparison lays out every difference so you can decide for yourself.

iPad Air M3 on Amazon (paid link) (paid link)

The Verdict

The iPad Air M3 is the iPad for 80% of iPad buyers. It delivers a premium experience without the premium price, and it’s powerful enough to last years. The Pro exists for those who need the absolute best display and the absolute most power. For everyone else, the Air is the answer. And if you want something even more portable, take a look at the iPad mini 7.

OnVerdict Score: 9/10 — The smartest iPad purchase for most people.