Minor refresh 2025 iPad Air hands-on: Why mess with a good thing? Apples annual refresh is a minor one, but not much needed to change anyway. Samuel Axon Mar 14, 2025 6:14 pm | 2 The 2025 13-inch iPad Air. Credit: Samuel Axon The 2025 13-inch iPad Air. Credit: Samuel Axon Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreTheres not much new in Apples latest refresh of the iPad Air, so theres not much to say about it, but its worth taking a brief look regardless.In almost every way, this is identical to the previous generation. There are only two differences to go over: the bump from the M2 chip to the slightly faster M3, and a redesign of the Magic Keyboard peripheral.If you want more details about this tablet, refer to our M2 iPad Air review from last year. Everything we said then applies now.From M2 to M3The M3 chip has an 8-core CPU with four performance cores and four efficiency cores. On the GPU side, there are nine cores. Theres also a 16-core Neural Engine, which is what Apple calls its NPU.Weve seen the M3 in other devices before, and it performs comparably here in the iPad Air in Geekbench benchmarks. Those coming from the M1 or older A-series chips will see some big gains, but its a subtle step up over the M2 in last years iPad Air.That will be a noticeable boost primarily for a handful of particularly demanding 3D games (the likes of Assassins Creed Mirage, Resident Evil Village, Infinity Nikki, and Genshin Impact) and some heavy-duty applications only a few people use, like CAD or video editing programs.Most of the iPad Airs target audience would never know the difference, though, and the main benefit here isnt necessarily real-world performance. Rather, the upside of this upgrade is the addition of a few specific features, namely hardware-accelerated ray tracing and hardware-accelerated AV1 video codec support.This isnt new, but this chip supports Apple Intelligence, the much-ballyhooed suite of generative AI features Apple recently introduced. At this point there arent many devices left in Apples lineup that dont support Apple Intelligence (its basically just the cheapest, entry-level iPad that doesn't have it) and thats good news for Apple, as it helps the company simplify its marketing messaging around the features.As weve written previously, Apple Intelligence very much feels like a work-in-progress, but the companys overall approach to where its chosen to apply generative AI is sound, and some of the features are likely to become useful as models improve over the next year or two. Its not a must-have, but it might be later. The well-balanced LCD screen is the iPad Air's star feature. Samuel Axon The well-balanced LCD screen is the iPad Air's star feature. Samuel Axon On the back, you just see the Apple logo and the small camera lens. Samuel Axon On the back, you just see the Apple logo and the small camera lens. Samuel Axon The well-balanced LCD screen is the iPad Air's star feature. Samuel Axon On the back, you just see the Apple logo and the small camera lens. Samuel Axon Look, its always nice to see more performance, but the M3 didnt offer anything drastically different compared to last years iPad Air, so you shouldnt bother upgrading so quickly on that basis alone.If youre coming in from an older iPad or almost any Android tablet, though, youll be impressedjust like you wouldve been if youd made the same jump last year.A slightly more magical-ish Magic KeyboardThe new Magic Keyboard is a little lighter, and theres a new row of function keys that allows you to quickly adjust the volume or brightness, skip around in media playback, and so on. We loved seeing that addition in the Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro recently, so we also love seeing it in the Airs version.The iPad Airs new Magic Keyboard sits on a middle ground between the old design and the one we see over on the Pro. Yeah, we get the function keys, but the Pros keyboard is backlit and has haptics that arent found here.The good news is that this keyboard is a little cheaper than its predecessor, at $269 (compared to $299). Thats not a huge gap, and its still awfully expensive compared to non-Apple solutions, but well take it. The keyboard layout. Credit: Samuel Axon Apple opted to continue to support the old Magic Keyboard, so those upgrading from a recent prior Air wont have to spend a big chunk of cash replacing their existing keyboards unless they find these updates worth the price. (I doubt it, but theyre nice to see.)I found the typing experience to be quite good compared to other options for the tablet, though it of course cant match a really nice laptop keyboard, and it obviously has nothing to offer the sort of folks who insist on a mechanical keyboard.The trackpad is slightly bigger too, and every little bit helps on that front. The new Magic Keyboard offers some welcome refinements on the old design, and a little bit of price relief going along with that is great to see.Its still really expensive, but hey, you get what you pay for, for the most part.The best option for most heavy tablet usersBy not changing much in a market that is also not moving very quickly, the modestly tweaked new iPad Air (pricing starts at $599 for the 11-inch version and $799 for the 13-inch) remains the best option for most people who plan to use a tablet regularly.It offers way more performance than almost anyone needs, it has a good screen for an LCD, and the new Magic Keyboard introduces several welcome tweaks while slightly lowering the price.The cheaper, base iPad ($349) is still a better option for buying a tablet for your kid, point of sale uses, and various other light applications. Meanwhile, the iPad Pro ($999 for the 11-inch, $1,299 for the 13-inch) is much more robust than most people need, but the nicer screen goes a long way.While there are still some things Id like to see change in the iPads software, theres not much change in this years refresh because there doesnt need to be. Its a good tablet in a mature market, even if its a bit pricey.Samuel AxonSenior EditorSamuel AxonSenior Editor Samuel Axon is a senior editor at Ars Technica. He covers Apple, software development, gaming, AI, entertainment, and mixed reality. He has been writing about gaming and technology for nearly two decades at Engadget, PC World, Mashable, Vice, Polygon, Wired, and others. He previously ran a marketing and PR agency in the gaming industry, led editorial for the TV network CBS, and worked on social media marketing strategy for Samsung Mobile at the creative agency SPCSHP. He also is an independent software and game developer for iOS, Windows, and other platforms, and heis a graduate of DePaul University, where he studied interactive media and software development. 2 Comments