The iPad Air M2 (13 inches) can easily replace your standard laptop. This is the first thought that pops into your mind when you’re unboxing the newly launched Apple product, which comes stacked with an advanced M2 chip that’s also used in the 2022 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models.
It isn’t just the sheer size of the new iPad that’s designed to impress. The iPad Air M2, which is available in four colours—blue, purple, starlight and space grey—has a sleek aluminium casing which gives it its silky touch, as well as a dual-purpose power button that doubles up as the Touch ID, dual speakers that are as loud as the MacBook Air M1, a USB type-C charging port that can plug in any iPhone charger and, most significantly, a realigned 12 MP camera that streamlines a greater Facetime experience.
As is the case with most of its predecessors, the iPad Air M2 is the perfect midfielder between the iPhone Pro series and the MacBook Air and Pro models. It’s more portable than your computer and spares you the need to lug on an additional laptop bag. With its 13-inch display, it makes for a greater content viewing or creating experience than the one you’d work with on a smaller-screen smartphone.
After a week of usage, I found myself reaching for the iPad instead of my Kindle for a late-night read, or to catch up on the latest episode of my favourite show—which I could watch while making dinner or en route to work. I’m no artist or designer, but with its compatibility with the Apple Pencil Pro and Apple Pencil USB-C, the iPad Air M2 (13 inches) is a dream for creatives who need to pen down a fleeting idea or design. It’s also an excellent product for music producers and video editors, who can create and modify content on the go.
The iPad Air M2 has arrived with a series of significant upgrades that reflect (most of) the specs found in the costlier iPad Pro M4. Here’s breaking it all down.
iPad Air M2 (13-inch) review: Delivers a Pro experience with (mostly) the same specs at a lower price
iPad Air M2: In the box and accessories
Along with the 13-inch iPad Air M2, the box comes with a 20W USB-C Power Adapter and USB-C Charge Cable. This is helpful, considering that the adapter and cable can be used to charge your iPhone (15 and up) models as well.
iPad Air M2: Key Specs
M2 chip
The new iPad Air comes powered by the M2 chip, which until now, had only been used in the Pro models. This is a significant leap from its predecessors, which used an A15 and A14 bionic chip, although the newer iPad Pro uses the M4. The M2 brings with it an 8-core CPU and a 9-core GPU and a 16-core neural engine, and, according to the tech giant, makes the iPad Air M2 50 per cent faster than the M1 and three times faster than the iPad Air with the A14 Bionic chip. This works well for users who are looking for a product that can be utilised for more graphic-intensive tasks and a high-quality gaming experience. For designers and multimedia editors, the faster processing speed of the new tablet is certainly a point in its favour.
Display
The iPad Air M2 in 13 inches comes with a bigger, brighter display that’s an improvement on both its 11-inch counterpart and its predecessors. The model in question has a 2,732 x 2,048-pixel resolution, 264 pixels per inch, P3 wide colour and the ability to hit 600 nits of peak brightness in the Standard Dynamic Range. It comes with an LCD screen and 60-Hz refresh rate—which, unless you’re using it for professional video-making and editing, or gaming purposes—is good enough for most users. Those looking for a model with a high-par promotion and refresh rate should then opt for the iPad Pro M4 which has an OLED with 120-Hz screens. It also has an anti-reflective coating, which provides a more efficient imaging system.
