Apple Introduces a New iPad and new iPad Air
Today, Apple announced a new set of iPad Airs and an updated base model iPad. These are both small updates to the devices.
Base iPad
The 11th-generation iPad is a minor update. There are two big changes: one regarding the chip and the second is storage. The base model iPad is now an A16. This replaces the previous model, which had an A15 Bionic. Because the new iPad has an A16, it does not support Apple Intelligence. The second change is that there is now twice as much storage, going from 64GB base model to 128GB storage.
The iPad comes in the same color options: Silver, Blue, Pink, and Yellow. It is available in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB models. The Wi-Fi-only models are $349, $449, and $649. The Wi-Fi + Cellular models are $499, $599, and $799, respectively.
You can pre-order it today, and it will begin arriving on March 12th.
iPad Air
Much like the new iPad, the new iPad Air is a spec bump. There are two notable changes. The first is the processor, which is now an M3 processor. This replaces the M2, which was present in the previous iPad Air. The iPad Air continues to come in four different storage sizes: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. The iPad Air is available in four colors: Space Gray, Blue, Purple, and Starlight. As was the case with the previous models, there are two screen sizes: an 11-inch and a 13-inch.
The 11-inch iPad Air is $599 for 128GB, $699 for 256GB, $899 for 512GB, and $1099 for the 1TB model. The Wi-Fi + Cellular model is $150 more, meaning $749, $849, $1049, and $1249 for each storage size.
The 13-inch model starts at $799 for the 128GB, $899 for the 256GB, $1099 for 512GB, and $1299 for 1TB. The Wi-Fi + Cellular models are also $150 more. Therefore, the 128GB model is $949, the 256GB is $1049, 512GB is $1249, and the 1TB model is $1449.
The M3 iPad Air supports the Apple Pencil Pro or the Apple Pencil with USB-C.
You can pre-order it today, and it will begin arriving on March 12th.
Closing Thoughts
The M3 iPad Air and 11th-generation iPad are both speed bump updates, and announcing them via press release is the best way to do it. It is good to see the iPad and iPad Air get regular updates, even if the iPad Air was last updated only 10 months ago. If you have an iPad with a Home button and are in the market for an upgrade, you could look at both the iPad and iPad Air.
Source: Posted: March 4, 2025 at 6:40 PM
