Why it matters: It's not even been 24 hours since CEO Tim Cook teased that Apple was about to unveil new "Air" products this week, but Cupertino has already pulled back the curtain. Surprisingly, it's not a new faster MacBook Air as most expected, but a new iPad Air packing the M3 chip. There's also been an update to the Magic Keyboard and the base iPad. Apple claims the new M3 iPad Air is twice as fast as the older M1 model, and 3.5 times faster than the A14 Bionic version. Compared to the most recent iPad Air with the M2 chip, which launched less than a year ago, the M3 model is expected to be ~20% faster.As with the current iPad Air, this newer M3 tablet will come in both 11-inch and 13-inch sizes, all while keeping the same prices of $599 and $799, respectively. Storage capacities remain between 128GB and 1TB, and battery life also stays the same, as do the Space Gray, Starlight, Blue, and Purple color options.Beyond the SoC upgrade, there doesn't appear to be any other major changes. The 12MP front and rear cameras, Touch ID power button, USB-C port, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.3 are all still there.That means the 60Hz display is unchanged. In my comparison between the 2024 iPad Air and a 2017 iPad Pro, which has a 120Hz refresh rate, I found that the noticeable difference between the two screens was the only element of the iPad Air I didn't like.Apple also announced a new Magic Keyboard accessory. Priced at $269 for the 11-inch iPad and $319 for the 13-inch model both $30 cheaper than the previous versions it comes with a new 14-key function row that allows for easy access to features like screen brightness and volume controls, as well as a larger trackpad. // Related StoriesThe keyboard is also lighter and thinner, though it does lack the backlighting and haptic feedback found in the iPad Pro Magic Keyboard.Apple has also updated the base iPad. The starting storage is being doubled to 128GB and it comes with the A16 chip instead of the A14 found in the previous model, which means there's no support for Apple Intelligence. The starting price remains the same at $349.Pre-orders for the iPad Air and updated iPad start today. They will begin arriving for customers and in Apple Store locations and Apple Authorized Resellers starting March 12.