A teaser from Apple CEO Tim Cook led to the assumption that the new M4 MacBook Air lineup will be announced, but the company had different ideas because it has instead unveiled the new M3 iPad Air series. Like the M2 models, the 11-inch and 13-inch models are being refreshed, with the company introducing a major chipset upgrade to the table. Unfortunately, instead of comparing the SoC with the older M2, Apple continues to provide performance numbers on how the M3 performs against the two-generation old M1. Here are more details that you might be interested in.
The same starting price for the M3 iPad Air lineup has been retained; $599 for the base storage option, going up to $799 for the larger variant
The only meaningful change that Apple has brought to the table with the latest M3 iPad Air models is the chipset upgrade, but despite this massive internal switch, the company has not changed its pricing stance. The 11-inch model starts from $599, while the 13-inch version will set you back by $799, making these figures completely unchanged from the M2 family. As for the students, they can get the M3 iPad Air models from $549. Regarding performance numbers, Apple claims that the 8-core CPU configuration of the M3 can lead to 35 percent better multi-threaded performance than the M1 iPad Air.
On the GPU side of things, the technology claims a 40 percent boost in graphics performance, with the M3 iPad Air sporting nine cores. For those who forgot, this Apple Silicon was the first to bring hardware-accelerated ray tracing, and thankfully, the same technology support remains unchanged. The new SoC is equipped with a faster Neural Engine, with Apple claiming up to 60 percent faster AI workloads compared to the M1. The newer tablets can also run generative AI features and support the new Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro.
In the press release, what surprised us the most was that the company showcased no comparison details with the M2. The reason for this is simple; the M3 barely delivers any meaningful performance gains over the M2, which is why it is disappointing to hear that the 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Air models were not treated to the M4, which would have elevated their ‘price to performance’ ratio. Regardless, customers interested in these models can pre-order on Apple’s online store in 29 countries, including the U.S.
The official release in multiple regions will commence on March 12. The M3 iPad Air will be available in Blue, Purple, Starlight, and Space Gray finishes with capacities of 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB.
