How the Latest iPad Pro Measures Up Against the New iPad Air

After patiently waiting for almost two years, Apple has refreshed its iPad offerings with a slimmer iPad Pro and a brand new iPad Air. Consumers can start placing pre-orders now with prices commencing at $999 for the iPad Pro and $599 for the iPad Air, anticipating their launch on May 15th.

Both the iPad Pro and iPad Air are significant upgrades from their predecessors. Apple has introduced an OLED display for the first time in the iPad Pro, paired with the advanced M4 chip. Additionally, a 13-inch version has been added to the iPad Air's lineup. Both devices support new and existing Apple accessories like the innovative Apple Pencil Pro.

The main distinction between the iPad Pro and iPad Air lies beneath their sleek exteriors. The new iPad Pro's thinness and OLED screen make it stand out, but whether its higher price point is justifiable for mere entertainment purposes is debatable.

To aid in your decision-making, we've analyzed and contrasted their specifications to spotlight the key differences. Full reviews of both tablets will be available soon, offering more depth.

Pricing and Storage

The iPad Air is more affordable, with the Wi-Fi versions of the 11-inch and 13-inch models priced at $599 and $799. Opting for cellular connectivity increases the price to $749 and $949, respectively. The new iPad Air models boast double the base storage of their 2022 counterparts, starting at 128GB and maxing out at 1TB.

In contrast, the iPad Pro's pricing starts at $999 for the 11-inch Wi-Fi model and $1,299 for the 13-inch variant, with cellular versions costing $1,199 and $1,499. The Pro models come with a standard 256GB of storage, doubling that of the iPad Air, and offer configurations up to 2TB.

The 2024 iPad Air is available in a broader spectrum of colors compared to the iPad Pro.

Design and Display

The design elements and display technologies further set these two tablets apart. The new iPad Pro is remarkably lightweight, even surpassing the iPad Air. However, it comes in fewer colors—just black and silver—unlike the iPad Air's diverse palette that includes dark gray, starlight gold, light purple, and light blue.

Both the iPad Pro and iPad Air are available in 11-inch and 13-inch sizes, but only the Pro has the new 'Ultra Retina XDR' display with OLED panels. This feature allows the iPad Pro to achieve higher brightness and contrast levels, as well as deeper black tones compared to the iPad Air's LED screen. On select high-storage models, the iPad Pro also offers reduced screen glare thanks to nano-texture glass.

The Pro's OLED screen pairs nicely with its ProMotion technology, offering a 120Hz refresh rate for smoother visuals. The iPad Air, however, does not support this feature.

The new iPad Pro distinguishes itself with a black color option and larger sizes.

Processing Power

The refreshed iPad Pro boasts Apple's M4 chip, providing significant speed gains over the iPad Air's M2 chip. For the 1TB and 2TB models, an even faster 10-core M4 chip is offered. Despite the power boost, the latest M4 chip is designed to consume less energy compared to the previous generation.

Apple has also enhanced the processing power with a faster Neural Engine and improved graphics capabilities, including advanced features for gaming such as hardware-accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading.

Accessories Compatibility

The iPad Air and iPad Pro are both compatible with several accessories, including last year's Apple Pencil (USB‑C) and the forthcoming Apple Pencil Pro. However, neither supports the second-gen Apple Pencil. Notably, the iPad Air can now use the hover feature previously exclusive to the iPad Pro, offering a preview effect with the Apple Pencil.

While the iPad Air is compatible with existing Magic Keyboard models, only the iPad Pro will pair with the new Magic Keyboard tailored for the M4 variant. This newer keyboard iteration boasts lighter materials, a more responsive trackpad, and additional features like a row of function keys.

Speakers and Cameras

The iPad Air comes equipped with two speakers and microphones, while the iPad Pro offers a more robust quad-speaker audio system with four microphones, likely resulting in superior sound quality. For the visual experience, both devices now have their front-facing cameras on the longer edge to facilitate video calls in landscape mode. However, only the iPad Pro includes adaptive True Tone flash, designed to improve shadow reduction in scanned documents.

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