The same picture and sound as before, but with vastly more power under the skin Still a lovely design Extraordinarily powerful The same great picture and sound Poor placement of front camera Nearly no change to AV performance

When Apple announced the iPad Air, the company said that words alone wouldn't do it justice —users had to feel its latest tablet to truly appreciate the difference. As it turns out, they were right.

“The iPad Air 4 is the iPad Pro for the masses. It's perfectly situated to offer an exceptional tablet experience, without pushing into the territory of high-end laptop pricing.”

Excellent hardware design; Strong battery life and USB-C; Wonderful display; Pro-level performance; Magic Keyboard support; Fast fingerprint sensor

Base 64GB of storage; Expensive upsell to 256GB

I’ve been using the new iPad Air (2020) for the past few weeks, throwing everything from writing and emailing to media editing at Apple’s midrange tablet, and I’m struggling to figure out why most people should step up to the iPad Pro.

iPad Pro design but far more affordable; Screen is excellent; Apple A14 Bionic processor is fast and future-proofed; Touch ID is slickly integrated

Cellular and higher storage upgrades are expensive; iPadOS still has some multi-tasking foibles

The fourth-generation iPad Air gives you the power of an iPad Pro for less money, making it the best Apple tablet to buy in 2020.

Super-fast processor and internet speeds; Excellent cameras; Fantastic build quality

Unimpressive battery life; iPadOS still doesn't multitask as well as Mac/Windows

The new iPad Air might feel like a minor update from last year’s model, but it’s improved enough that its features and specs are now mostly on par with the pricier iPad Pro. It’s not just the best iPad for most people -- it’s arguably even Apple’s best tablet for the money.

Fast performance and WiFi speeds; Healthy battery life; Fun new color options; Supports Apple’s second-gen Apple Pencil; Very similar to the pricier iPad Pro

Still no Face ID; Only two speakers; The cost adds up with accessories meant to make it a laptop replacement

The iPad Air for 2020 is a phenomenally well-made tablet that improves upon the last-gen version in a variety of ways, solving issues with that tablet’s dated design and accessories. The jump in price will make this a tougher sell for some, but the iPad Air for 2020 is so impressive that you may have trouble choosing between it and the iPad Pro.

All-screen design; Lots of power; Adventurous color choices;

64GB storage is limited; Higher price than last-gen; Selfie camera could be better

Improvements haven’t been made in the areas I’d hoped for. Nevertheless, the iPad Air 2022 remains a superb tablet in a number of ways: it looks great, supports class-leading accessories, and comes packing top-notch performance.

Great display, Support for excellent accessories, Seriously powerful internals, Attractive design and array of colours, If you want Apple’s best all-around tablet With many of the features of the iPad Pro and a design that’s far more modern than the basic model, this is the iPad that ticks the most...

Annoying front camera placement, No 128GB storage option, Creaky body, You want to store lots of files offline The storage options here are strange, with only 64GB and 256GB available. The former is isn’t very generous, while the latter brings the price a little too close to that of the iPad Pro.

The new colours are the only design changes in the new iPad Air, but the big upgrades are inside, especially the Apple M1 processor and 5G...

Powerful processor, 5G connectivity, Brilliant Touch ID, Elegant design

No design change, Average rear camera