Preview: New iPad Air and Pro tablets are lighter, flatter and faster | Tweakers

This is a shortened version of a preview that appeared on Tweakers.

Apple will release the iPad Air and iPad Pro this year in two sizes: 11 inches and 13 inches. According to the manufacturer, the new Pro models are the thinnest iPads ever. For example, the 11-inch version is 5.3 millimeters thick and the larger model is 5.1 millimeters. Although they feel nice and light, they are no less sturdy than the previous generation.

Another difference is the position of the front camera. It is now on the long side of the tablet, while it was on the short side of the predecessors. That’s a nice adjustment, especially if you use the camera during video calls. You can now attend a digital meeting while using the tablet in combination with a keyboard.

Speaking of keyboards, Apple also introduced a new Magic Keyboard specifically for the iPad Pro. The touchpad is larger and function keys have been added at the top. This makes it possible, for example, to adjust the sound or brightness of the tablet. In addition, the keyboard has a more luxurious appearance because the inside is made of aluminum and the touchpad is made of glass. The iPad top model therefore feels a little more like a laptop. It is not possible to use the older Magic Keyboard on the new iPad Pro.

The iPad Pro’s OLED screen has also received an upgrade. According to Apple, the new screen can achieve a higher maximum brightness. In darker images with some light elements, the light elements jump off the screen. The versions of the tablet with 1 or 2 terabytes of storage memory are also available with a matte screen for an additional charge. This makes the screens less reflective. Apple promises that the matte screen is not more sensitive to fingerprints.

The iPad Pro is equipped with an M4 processor, the fastest chip that Apple currently has. This chip must be able to perform advanced AI calculations, among other things. In Apple’s music software Logic Pro, for example, AI can be used to split up different sound sources from an audio file, such as background and voice noise. The faster chip can also be useful for animators and photo editors. During our preview session we saw that the latest games are also displayed more smoothly by the M4 chip.

The new iPad Air has received many features that were in last year’s iPad Pro. For example, the M1 chip from the 2022 Air model has been exchanged for a more powerful M2 variant. Apple also promises that they have better speakers on board that can produce more bass, although we were not able to test this at Apple’s noisy event.

The iPad Air also offers support for the new Apple Pencil Pro. That pen has, among other things, a pinch sensor. If you squeeze it you will see a menu that allows you to quickly switch brushes or line thickness while drawing. The pen gives a tap to confirm. The tablet can recognize the Pencil Pro if you let it float above the tablet, so you see an indicator on the screen of exactly where the point ends up. The iPad Pro also supports this pen and the functions mentioned.

Because the iPads are lighter, sturdier and faster, the tablets seem to be getting closer to laptops, especially in combination with the new keyboard and stylus. Still, that’s not too bad when you work with the devices. The operating system and the iPad apps work very differently than the PC versions.

Whether that is a bad thing is a matter of taste, although for the price of the tablets you could also buy a laptop. The iPad Pro and iPad Air have a starting price of 1569 and 719 euros respectively, and to that you have to add 349 or 399 euros (depending on the size of the model) for the Magic Keyboard and 140 euros for the Pencil Pro.

For that money you get a very light, handy device that can be used more easily for video calls, among other things, and in the case of the iPad Pro, it has a beast of a processor under the hood. If you are only concerned with simple everyday tablet use, you could also look at the normal iPad, the price of which has been reduced to 349 euros. The new tablets can currently be pre-ordered and will be available from next week.

Want to know more about the iPad Air (2024) and iPad Pro (2024), such as specifications, user experiences and the stores with the best prices? Then view the overview in the Tweakers Pricewatch.