Apple’s iPad Air gains a Mac chip — official

Apple’s all-new iPad Air is amazing to see

Introduced at Apple’s 2022 ‘Peek Performance’ event, the new iPad Air features an M1 chip, 5G, a new front camera with Center Stage, and more.

What is the new iPad Air?

As rumored at the eleventh hour, Apple’s iPad Air 5 introduces an M1 Mac processor, a new 12MP Ultra Wide camera with CenterStage support, 5G and is available in new colors. The USB-C port offers up to 2x faster transfer speeds and the new tablet will be available to order beginning Friday, March 11, and in stores beginning Friday, March 18.

The big deal is the move to an M1 chip. This makes for a huge performance boost. Apple says the 8-core CPU delivers up to 60 percent faster performance, while the 8-core GPU delivers up to 2x faster graphics performance compared to the previous iPad Air.

Combined with the CPU and GPU, a 16-core Neural Engine powers advanced machine learning (ML) functions for real results. What this means in use is that whether you are editing multiple streams of 4K video or playing graphics-intensive games, you’ll see real improvement. Apple also introduced new Macs, an iPhone SE with 5G and a brand-new high-end M-series processor a the event.

What Apple said

“Whether it’s a college student taking elaborate notes, a content creator working on their latest project, or a gamer playing graphics-intensive titles, users love iPad Air for its amazing performance and versatility in such a portable design,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.

“With the breakthrough M1 chip, Ultra Wide front camera with Center Stage, and ultra-fast 5G, iPad Air is now more powerful, more capable, and simply more fun than ever.”

In case you missed it, Center Stage automatically pans to keep users in view as they move around. When others join in, the camera detects them too, and smoothly zooms out to include them in the conversation.

What else improves?

iPad Air can reach 5G peak speeds, up to 3.5Gbps at best.

The USB-C port is now up to 2x faster than the previous generation, with data transfers up to 10Gbps, so importing data is faster and you can run a 6K external display.

The tablet is available in space gray, starlight, pink, purple, and a stunning new blue. iPad Air features a 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display for an immersive visual experience, with 3.8 million pixels and advanced technologies, including 500 nits of brightness, full lamination, a P3 wide color gamut, True Tone, and an anti-reflective screen coating.

The system is compatible with the second-generation Apple Pencil, Magic Keyboard, Smart Keyboard Folio, and Smart Folio covers.

Apple and the environment

Apple’s environmental teams now work at the core of product design. Their work means the new iPad features a 100 percent recycled aluminum enclosure, 100 percent recycled tin in the solder of the main logic board, and 100 percent recycled rare earth elements in the enclosure and audio magnets.

All iPad models meet Apple’s high standards for energy efficiency, remain free of numerous harmful substances, and use wood fiber in the packaging that comes from recycled sources or responsibly managed forests.

When can you get it?

The new iPad Air is available to order beginning Friday, March 11. Wi-Fi models of iPad Air are available with a starting price of $599 (US) and Wi-Fi + Cellular models start at $749 (US). The new iPad Air, in 64GB and 256GB configurations, comes in space gray, starlight, pink, purple, and blue finishes.

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