The Tab You Should Get: iPad Air 5 vs. iPad Pro 11-inch
Since Apple added the m1 chip to the iPad Air 5, I’ve wondered if more people will opt for the less expensive iPad air instead of the 11-inch iPad Pro. Or are these two tablets priced similarly enough that you’d be better off spending a little more money for the improved features of the iPad Pro in the long run?
Form-Factor
On the surface, these two pads are very similar. They have the same height and width. The iPad Air 5 is .01 inches or 0.2 millimeters thicker, so when I look at them from the front or in a case, they’re virtually identical, but there are some essential differences. Both have squared-off edges, rounded corners, and tiny bezels all the way around. Still, they use two different forms of biometric authentication. The iPad Air 5 uses apple’s newer touch id, incorporated into the power button. The iPad Pro has a face id with a front-facing actual depth camera. In terms of accuracy, both have worked well for me, but for how I use the iPad, I prefer face id because I don’t have to think about it, just like with my iPhone at the same time. Each use case is different. I’m curious to know which one you prefer. Hopefully, with the next generation of the iPad Pro, we get both in the same iPad.
Sound
The iPad Pro has a quad-speaker system, and it’s able to adjust the sound when you switch the orientation from portrait to landscape mode. When we look around the edges, we see four speaker grilles on both pads, but the iPad Air 5 only has two speakers, one on each side. Overall the sound coming from the iPad Pro is better. It’s fuller, warmer, and provides a more expansive sound stage, which we’ll revisit in the gaming section.
Ports
Finally, both pads have a USB-C port for charging and connecting accessories. The one on the iPad Air has a maximum transfer speed of 10 gigabits per second. The Thunderbolt/USB port on the iPad pro caps out at 40 gigabits per second for most users. This difference isn’t likely to matter because 10 gigabits per second is already fast. If you need more than that, you’re probably using your iPad in a demanding professional environment. In that case, you’re better off going with the iPad pro.
Display
Now the size of the displays isn’t identical. We’re getting 11 inches on the iPad pro versus. 10.9 inches on the iPad air, but that’s not the most crucial difference. Both are liquid retina displays. We’ve got very similar resolutions. 2388*1668 on the iPad pro vs. 2360*1640 on the air 5, and both have a pixel density of 264 pixels per inch. The iPad Pro does have a brighter display with 600 nits with its max brightness versus 500 on the iPad Air 5.
But the most crucial difference is pro-motion. Pro-motion is the name that apple gave their adaptive refresh rate with a maximum of 120 hertz. This feature is still only available on the iPad pro. And it means that the system can vary the refresh rate based on what you’re doing. So if you’re reading or looking at static content or watching lower fps video, it can reduce the refresh rate and save battery life. Suppose you’re scrolling, opening or closing apps, or doing anything else where a higher refresh rate provides smoother animations and a responsive user experience. In that case, it will go ahead and bump it up to 120 hertz, and you’re essentially getting the best of both worlds. I was hoping that we would get pro-motion on the iPad Air, and I get a lot of questions about whether this makes a big difference, so the answer is yes, and sort of. Because of what I do, I use tablets every day, and I get to use a lot of different types of pills, so if you give me a choice, I’m always going to want 120 hertz at the same time. It’s not something that ruins my experience with tablets like the iPad 9, the iPad mini 6, or the iPad Air 4. I like using those displays because they’re good 60 Hz displays, and at the same time, the iPad Pro is better. So this is one of those features where I want you to think long term, like assuming that this device will be as powerful as you need it to be for the next five or seven years. Is this the type of feature that you’ll regret not getting? Is it something that will make you upgrade before you need to, and you’ll see that we will come back to that in just a minute?
Processor
Apple’s most significant update with the iPad Air is that it got the same incredible m1 chip as the 12.9 and 11-inch iPad pro. The iPad Air 5 also comes with 6 gigabytes of ram, which you get on the iPad pro. Unless you get the models with one or two terabytes of internal storage, you’re getting eight gigs of ram, which means that you will get the same level of performance from both devices. So if the only reason you are thinking of upgrading from your current tablet to the iPad Pro is the m1 chip, now you can get that with the iPad Air 5, which is pretty incredible.
Camera
While we look at the camera systems, both pads have a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera with the center stage. It’s a feature that uses the ultra-wide camera to track a subject as it moves through the frame and then zooms in and out to ensure proper framing. I’ve admitted this before, but when I first saw it at the Apple event, I thought it was a gimmick. Still, now after I’ve used it for a few months, I have to tell you that I like i. It makes video calls more engaging because you feel the other person’s movements, and it’s more like being in the same room. Most of the front-facing camera features are the same. Still, because the iPad Pro has a real depth camera, we’re getting things like portrait mode and portrait lighting. Now the rear-facing camera modules are very different. But at the same time, this may or may not matter to you, so let’s quickly break it down. The iPad Air only has a 12-megapixel camera. The iPad Pro has a 12-megapixel wide, a 10-megapixel ultra-wide flash, and a lidar scanner. I primarily use the cameras on the iPads to scan documents. So I’m going to use my phone for anything else like taking photos or shooting videos because it’s always with me. It’s a lot more convenient to use. if, on the other hand, you use your iPad camera differently or if you have a use case for the lidar scanner and you want the best camera system that Apple offers in an iPad, that’s the iPad pro
Accessories
When we look at accessories, both pads have a smart connector on the back, so they’re compatible with the same size magic keyboard. There are also some other great options from third-party manufacturers like Logitech. Both iPads are consistent with the 2nd-gen Apple Pencil for the stylus. It can be stored and charged on the side of the iPad. The solid feel of using the pencil is the same, but the iPad Pro has a faster refresh rate, so that it may feel more responsive now. personally, in my day-to-day use how I use it, I don’t notice a meaningful difference
Software features
Both pads support the latest iPad os. in terms of multitasking, we have the same set of features like split view. We can use two apps side by side and slide over windows for additional apps. Both iPads also work with a side-cart, an apple feature that allows you to use your iPad as an extra display for your Apple PC. It’s a feature that I use all the time. Since both pads have the same processor and the same size display, I will call this section a tie with a slight edge to the iPad pro because of pro-motion and a brighter display.
Battery Life
With all this additional workload, we must look at battery life. Both devices are rated for ten hours of surfing the web on wi-fi or watching a video and then nine hours of using cellular data. If you watched my iPad battery test with the previous model, the iPad air four, you might have been just as surprised as I was at the result. The 11inch iPad pro has been one of the best pads I’ve used so far is battery life. My experience with the iPad air has been similar for the most part. If I’m using either of these to browse the web, work on a channel to read and respond to your comments watch some youtube things like that, then I can get through a whole day with no problems. Still, if I sit down, I’m playing Genshin or a couple of hours of PUBG, then I’ll need to charge it.
Gameplay
The gameplay experience on both devices has been virtually identical because we’re getting the same processor and the same amount of ram. Both of these efficiently run every game that I tried, so whether I’m playing cod mobile or PUBG or Genshin or asphalt, every fun I try to play plays smoothly. When playing PUBG, both pads can go up to balanced for graphics if I want an extreme frame rate, and I can move up to ultra HD graphics and ultra frame rate because we have a remarkably similar form factor. The ergonomics are the same, but the sound is the one meaningful advantage that I will give the iPad Pro. Again we’re getting four speakers instead of two. The audio quality is better, and there’s more directionality to it. So if you’re playing games where it’s important to detect where footsteps or other sounds are coming from, the iPad Pro has the edge. The actual gameplay was very similar when connecting an Xbox controller and streaming games with the Xbox game pass app. The only noticeable difference was the audio.
Neither of them comes with a headphone jack, so you’ll either need to use a USB-C headset as an adapter or use something wireless.
Pricing
Before I get to my recommendation, let’s talk about the price because it’s tricky here. I will use the official prices from the apple store, but you can usually find better prices by using the links in the description. Also, let me know if the prices I show you differ from where you live in the comments section. The iPad air five is available with 64gigabytes for 599dollars, and 256gigs for 749usd eleven-inch iPad pro is available with 128gigabytes for 799 and goes all the way up to two terabytes for 1899usd. Ultimately the choice comes down to a few factors if you only need 64gigabytes of storage. If you want this form factor, the incredible processing power of the m1 chip, the 599 dollar base model of the iPad Air 5 is hard to beat. If you need more than 64 gigabytes, the 128GB 11-inch iPad Pro is a better value than the Air 5. You’re getting pro-motion, a better audio system, an improved camera system with a lidar scanner, and a more powerful port, all for an extra 50 bucks. If we’re comparing the 256 gig models of both, it’s 749 versus 899. and the price difference now jumps to 150 dollars. Hence, you need to decide whether the features that I just mentioned will provide you with enough of a benefit to offset the cost over the device’s lifetime, and remember that apple has outstanding long-term support. The m1 chip has enough processing power to last you for years.
You know The saying, buy it excellent or buy it twice. Good luck and see you soon.
