Apple’s new 10.9-inch iPad Air, and my 13-inch MacBook Pro from 2020, share the same chip, Apple’s powerful M1. Apple released the 2022 iPad Air about a year and a half over the fourth-generation model. With the fourth-generation Air, Apple introduced a new design that mixed fun colors with an iPad Pro-inspired aesthetic. This new version also gets an upgraded front-facing camera, a faster USB-C port, and 5G connectivity. Even with these new guts, the price starts at $599, which is the same amount as the last iPad Air.
The look of the Apple iPad Air 2022 is instantly recognizable, sporting the same overall design as the iPad mini, iPad Pro and recent models of iPhone. While the camera is definitely better than on the prior iPad Air, it’s still on the left side of the screen when you use the iPad in landscape mode. Optional 5G is another unsurprising addition, given that last fall’s iPad mini and the iPad Pro all have it as well. (The entry-level iPad remains stuck with LTE.)
The new iPad Air 5 (2022) price starts at £569 / $599 / AU$929. Somewhat surprisingly, that means the new model is £10 cheaper in the UK than the iPad Air 4 was at launch. For the basic 64GB version with Wi-Fi. Add 5G connectivity and the price increases to $799 for the entry-level model. We recommend paying for more storage, though, and the only other option is 256GB, which ups the price to $749 (719 pounds) for the Wi-Fi version.
The iPad Air basically is the iPad Pro. The difference in display size is negligible, 10.9 vs. 11 inches. This model didn’t get a redesign, but its new color choices are paired with the incredibly-capable M1 processor. It’s got speed to spare for almost everyone and is one reason why we are always quick to recommend this model to users.
Apple iPad Air 2022 comes in five colors, some as holdovers while others are new. There is Space Grey, a common choice. There’s a new blue supplanting the old one, Pink replaces Rose Gold, silver has been abandoned in favor of Starlight, and green is gone in favor of purple. The rear-facing camera is a 12MP camera, the same as last-gen, while the front-facing camera is now a 12MP module, up from 7MP.
Apple provides a 20-watt charging block and a USB Type-C cable. It’ll certainly charge the tablet, but it won’t do it very quickly. It took 30 minutes to reach about 25%, an hour to reach 50%, and 2 hours and 20 minutes to reach 100%. To speed the process up a little, I used an ElecJet X21 GaN Pro charger. It took 30 minutes to reach 35%, an hour to reach about 70%, and hit the full mark in just under two hours.
Apple iPad Air 2022 has more than enough performance to do so, at least. The octa-core M1 processor in the iPad Air 5 comes with 8GB of RAM, octa-core graphics, and Apple’s Neural Engine, so it isn’t all that different from the cheapest Apple MacBook Air M1. Apple’s iPadOS is fast and powerful, and if you’ve used iOS on an iPhone, you’ll adjust to it immediately.
