Why the iPad Air M3 Beats the iPad Pro for Most, Especially During Black Friday

By the end of 2025, we will have far more processing power at our disposal than there was in all data centers a decade ago, and the true magic will occur when that capacity begins to trickle into our daily lives without raising a blip. Enter the latest iPad Air, with a beastly M3 chip, a device that silently gets the job done without raising a fuss. The 11-inch variant with 128GB storage is priced at $449 (down from $599) ahead of Black Friday, which significantly reduces the tablet’s pricing and makes the iPad Pro’s starting price of $999 appear a little pricey.

Performance is essential to what makes a tablet work, and the Air excels in this area without going overboard. The M3 chip includes an 8-core CPU, a 9-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine, allowing for seamless multitasking. Apple claims it’s twice as fast as the previous M1 Air, and the benchmarks back that up: multi-core scores of approximately 12,000 in Geekbench tests, more than enough for exporting 4K videos or doing light 3D work in Nomad Sculpt. Most of us will never need to reach that level. True, the Pro’s M5 chip achieves a score of roughly 15,000 – but that extra power is only visible in professional processes like as generating complicated AR scenarios or processing raw footage in Final Cut Pro.

Battery life is what transforms a good tablet into a dependable companion, and the Air wins this fight. Both tablets promise up to 10 hours of mixed use, but real-world tests reveal that the Air has the upper hand: its LCD screen consumes less power than the Pro’s power-hungry OLED, which can quickly deplete its battery when the brightness is turned up to the max. After a full day of emails, web browsing, and occasional video playback, the Air still has 20% left in the tank, whilst the Pro may be running on fumes. This provides the Air more breathing room, which reduces the need for mid-afternoon top-ups, especially if you’re on the go. Pair that with the updated Magic Keyboard, which now has a full function row that allows you to adjust the volume and brightness on the fly, and you’ve got a setup that will get you through even the longest flights or the most intensive work sessions. The Pro may appear identical on paper, but its slimmer frame and brighter display make it more of a ‘top-up and go’ proposition.

Cameras on tablets frequently play catch-up in importance, but it turns out that they are really handy for everyday tasks like checking in with family via video call or rapidly scanning a document. The Air’s 12 megapixel front-facing camera includes Center Stage, which keeps you exactly where you should be during Zoom meetings. This feature adapts on the go, even if you swap seats during a conference. The rear camera is similarly 12 megapixel, with a wide lens capable of capturing clear 4K video and quickly scanning a paper and transferring the contents to the Notes app. When photographing indoors, the True Tone flash provides great level illumination, and the Smart HDR helps to sort out the lighting without requiring too much thought. These tools are ideal for the bulk of users who are just getting the job done, such as teachers grading papers or parents filming their children’s school recital.

Portability is particularly important if your tablet serves as an extension of your everyday routine, and the Air excels at it. The 11-inch model weighs just 1.01 pounds and is only 6.1mm thick, making it easy to throw in a bag and go. The 13-inch version is slightly larger and heavier, weighing 1.36 pounds, but it still feels light enough to work on your lap while on the move.