iPad Air vs iPad Pro

The new iPad Air is finally arrived. Which is also known as Apple iPad Air 4 or iPad Air (4th generation) whatever it is. We are actually comparing an iPad air 4 against iPad pro 2020. Both iPads are pretty similar because of the vertical flat sides, same button positioning and the box shaped rock solid design. From the outside they look almost identical. From a performance perspective both feel identical. So which one comes out on top ?

The iPad Pro maybe an overall package for for a best tablet with a better overall display or a better speaker setup. let's compare these two iPad spec wise and see if maybe an extra money for the Pro. The iPad Air four represents a pretty substantial upgrade over the third generation air. It ditches the older iPad design aesthetic for the newer version that was first demonstrated with the iPad Pro from 2018. I like how it looks, I think all iPads should start migrating over to this. Now that's not to say that there's anything wrong with the original design. In fact, you can still get it on the iPad generation eight in the iPad Mini, but this new look, it's amazing it's very sleek, it's modern with much more usable screen with minimal bezels. I didn't say small, we're dealing with Apple here, minimal as small bezels you gonna get. 

The newer version of this iPad Air will cost you $599 for the base model with 64 gigabytes of storage and $749 for the 256 gigabyte storage option. Under the hood is the brand new, A14 bionic Apple chip, which again, much like substantial upgrade over the previous A13. The A14 is that Apple says the new six core. A 14 is a 40% boost in CPU performance, and it's got a new four core GPU that you'd have a 30% upgrade in the graphical capabilities. But what I really think the A14 is prepared to take advantage of new machine learning capabilities and algorithms, with its 16 core neural engine. Honestly this chip is amazing. It's incredible in the fact that such a beefy CPU is squeezed into such a small space like the iPad Air. We are talking about specs, the numbers higher and that doesn't means that it's just all around better than the a 12z that's found in the iPad Pro. It is newer and it has a lot of cool features and it's built on a more advanced kind of technology called Five nanometers functionally. The two chips, they're more similar than they seem. 

The other big update is the new 10.9 inch liquid retina panel and it can go up to 500 nits of brightness, wide color accuracy and is fully laminated. Physically this new iPad is almost identical to the 11 inch iPad Pro. The biggest difference in the overall body is you do get a few more color options. The real big physical difference in my opinion is that the iPad Air has a brand new Touch ID sensor built into the lock slash PowerPoint. It doesn't have face ID you unlock it by just tapping the little button.  In this world of masks that we live in, finger reader is more convenient. Basically the pro tip is register multiple fingerprints, actually that's not even a pro tip, that's just common sense but a lot of people don't do it. But for me, both index fingers were great so no matter which orientation the iPad is in. I can unlock my iPad at any angle, that's great. Apples finger print is always much faster and so reliable. 

iPad Pro comes with two sizes, 11 inches for a $799 base and a 12.9 inch for $999, under the hood like I said earlier, this does have the a 12z processor. It's still very powerful and it compares well against last generations actual laptop processors. iPad pro has obviously the displays are a little bigger. But besides that you also get pro motion technology in the iPad Pro display, giving you up to 120 hertz refresh rate and slightly brighter and up to 600 nits. On the storage side here, there are many more options with the pro going from 120 gigabytes at the base with four models up to one terabyte at the top end of the storage. The iPad Pro also has face ID built into the front facing camera. If you do prefer being able to unlock your display or conduct your verification with your face, instead of with your fingerprint go with pro. There are some camera differences here too, with the iPad Pro you can see a 12mp single camera, the iPad Pro also has a LIDAR camera on the back. 

Okay, fair enough talking about the specs, how did these two really function separately, since they look so similar look almost identical. You do get a lot of the same functionality as the iPad Pro without spending at minimum $800 for the pro model. Yes the two iPads have different internal processors, but honestly there is no much differences. A14 is a quad core processor and in the A12z will see an eight core, so if you're doing things that take advantage of more cores things like video editing the iPad Pro will still have the performance advantage. 

Another thing you might notice when looking directly at these two iPads is the separate refresh rate, because of the promotion on the iPad Pro. This will seem a little more seamless and a little more smoother when things are moving on screen. When you're swiping between Windows, or playing video games or moving between programs, its really smooth. If you have the two iPads right next to each other, the iPad Pro will look a little smoother, but if you look at them separately you won't be able to tell the difference. 

The base model air has 64 gigabytes of storage, and the base model Pro has 128 gigabytes of storage. And yes, that's a pretty big difference. If you do want more storage on the air, Your only other option is to go to the 256 gigabyte model at 750 bucks, that' pretty big. That's a pretty big jump of 150 bucks for 120 gigabytes of storage. If you only plan on using this iPad air to consume content or you really leverage cloud based storage options, primarily sure the 64 gigabyte is probably fine. You'll have to sacrifice some of that for the operating system. As more updates come out, you'll lose more and more space but I guess anything greater than 32 gigabytes is better. If you are planning on doing any kind of creation on the iPad itself, I would say the 256 gigabyte version on both iPads are the bare minimum. 

One of the nice similarities between the iPad Pro specifically the 11 and the iPad Air is they do share most of the same accessories between them like the magic keyboard. iPad pro have folio keyboard, you can just swap them, they works on both. So if you do have an older version of the iPad 11 Pro and you're looking at upgrades with the A14 Well there you go, most of your accessories will continue to work. The iPad Air has the new Apple Pencil support which snaps on the side of the iPad, charge and pair the same way, that's pretty sweet. There are other smaller differences between the tablets, the iPad Pro has the better speaker system, a little more RAM, ultrawide camera, flash light and the LIDAR. How often do you need an ultra wide, or a LIDAR sensor, or even a flash for your tablet photography. I will say pretty much never so all of these things missing, at the same time almost nothing to most people. I most commonly use the iPad cameras for scanning and FaceTime calls, and these cameras iPad air are already good enough for that.

So if you already have an iPad Pro 11 from 2020, is it worth upgrading to the air for things like the newer processor, touch ID and maybe quad core performance. No I don't think so. The iPad Pro will perform better in certain situations and still has the higher quality display. Like I said earlier Touch ID, and new processor wouldn't be a reason for me to switch from the pro to the air. let's say you don't have an iPad in that situation, which one should you get, if you're looking to spend the least amount of money possible then absolutely get the iPad Air. This new iPad to me more represents Apple's more interesting strategy of attacking a wider range of prices, offering more things at more prices. We saw with the iPhone, anywhere from $399 at the SC all the way up to $1299 12 pro max. I would see the same with iPad, the $329 iPad straight all the way up to $1499 for the one terabyte 13 inch cellular. So this new iPad air takes a lot of great stuff from the pro brings it to a better price. And that's why you should try the new iPad air.