The iPad Air 5 is a powerful new tablet from Apple, and it has some nice updates but is it enough to consider upgrading from an iPad Air 4? The fourth-generation iPad Air brought significant changes both in terms of appearance and speed, making it a tough decision compared to an iPad Pro at the time it was released. So the question is whether the changes to the fifth-generation iPad Air make it a clear purchase decision or if it's better to wait for the next version.
Apple's fourth-generation iPad Air was an exciting update, with the flat edges of the high-end iPad Pro and iPhone mobile devices, along with a super-fast A14 processor. In addition, since the home button was removed in favor of a Touch ID sensor placed in the sleep/wake button, the screen grew larger even though the outside dimensions remained about the same. The iPad Air 4 was released in 2020, and at that time, the iPad Pro used an A12Z, calling into question which had the best performance. A new iPad Pro came in 2021, shifting the title of the fastest iPad clearly to Apple's top tablet.
With the launch of the iPad Air 5, Apple brought this model up to date with some of the latest advances, matching the ultra-wide Center Stage camera of the iPad mini 6 and 2021 iPad Pro. This means the new model will be much nicer for video calls than the iPad Air 4, which has a fixed camera framing. Center Stage allows the iPad Air 5 to follow faces, zooming and panning intelligently to allow a bit more freedom of movement. So naturally, the processor got an update as well, and this is a massive upgrade to Apple's M1 chip, the same that's used in several MacBook and Mac computers. This already might justify the purchase since it's 60 percent faster and has twice the graphics performance.
iPad Air 5 Price & Specs
The iPad Air 5 starts at the same price as the previous generation, $599 and $749 for the cellular model. What's new is that the cellular is now capable of 5G, a significant improvement over the 4G LTE of the iPad Air 4. Wired connections also saw a nice speed boost with twice the transfer rate over USB-C. This is important if using external USB storage.
The screen technology remains the same, allowing the iPad Pro a bit of breathing room, so it's not a direct challenge, and Touch ID is still the authentication method for the fifth-generation iPad Air. In addition, the latest model is very enticing, with five colors available, including a new purple choice. With all of the performance upgrades Apple brought to the iPad Air 5, it would be easy to justify the purchase even for the fourth-generation iPad Air owners.
Source: Apple