Apple iPad Air 5th Gen First Look: Raises benchmark for midrange tablets

The Apple iPad Air 5th Gen uses the same chip that powers the MacBook Air. Does the M1 chip make this iPad a laptop-replacement.

The new Apple iPad Air starts at a price of Rs. 54,900 in India for the base 64GB Wi-Fi variant. The Wi-Fi + Cellular variant starts at Rs. 68,900. There is also a 256GB variant available. (Amritanshu / HT Tech)

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1/8 The new Apple iPad Air starts at a price of Rs. 54,900 in India for the base 64GB Wi-Fi variant. The Wi-Fi + Cellular variant starts at Rs. 68,900. There is also a 256GB variant available. (Amritanshu / HT Tech)

The Apple iPad Air 5th Gen gets quad speakers for the stereo effect, and also gets a faster USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 port that also acts as a DisplayPort.  (Amritanshu / HT Tech)

2/8 The Apple iPad Air 5th Gen gets quad speakers for the stereo effect, and also gets a faster USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 port that also acts as a DisplayPort.  (Amritanshu / HT Tech)

Apple iPad Air 5th Gen retains the 12MP wide-angle single camera with Smart HDR 3. It record up to 4K videos at 60 fps. The front camera is now a new 12MP wide-angle camera that gets the Center Stage feature. (Amritanshu / HT Tech)

3/8 Apple iPad Air 5th Gen retains the 12MP wide-angle single camera with Smart HDR 3. It record up to 4K videos at 60 fps. The front camera is now a new 12MP wide-angle camera that gets the Center Stage feature. (Amritanshu / HT Tech)

The biggest upgrade on the Apple iPad Air 5th Gen is the M1 chip that is found on the MacBook Air. Hence, you get the 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU paired with 8GB RAM. Performance on this tablet should be class-leading. The Cellular model also supports 5G network connectivity. (Amritanshu / HT Tech)

4/8 The biggest upgrade on the Apple iPad Air 5th Gen is the M1 chip that is found on the MacBook Air. Hence, you get the 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU paired with 8GB RAM. Performance on this tablet should be class-leading. The Cellular model also supports 5G network connectivity. (Amritanshu / HT Tech)

The Apple iPad Air 5th Gen retains the same 10.9-inch 2360x1640 pixel IPS LCD display with True Tone, P3 colour gamut, and up to 500 nits of peak brightness. (Amritanshu / HT Tech)

5/8 The Apple iPad Air 5th Gen retains the same 10.9-inch 2360x1640 pixel IPS LCD display with True Tone, P3 colour gamut, and up to 500 nits of peak brightness. (Amritanshu / HT Tech)

The Apple iPad Air 5th Gen also retains its power-key mounted Touch ID fingerprint scanner for biometric verification purposes. (Amritanshu / HT Tech)

6/8 The Apple iPad Air 5th Gen also retains its power-key mounted Touch ID fingerprint scanner for biometric verification purposes. (Amritanshu / HT Tech)

A 28.6Whr battery on this iPad Air promises up to 10 hours of battery stamina while connected to a Wi-Fi network only, On Cellular connection, the iPad Air can offer up to 9 hours of usage. (Amritanshu / HT Tech)

7/8 A 28.6Whr battery on this iPad Air promises up to 10 hours of battery stamina while connected to a Wi-Fi network only, On Cellular connection, the iPad Air can offer up to 9 hours of usage. (Amritanshu / HT Tech)

The Apple iPad Air 5th Gen runs on iPadOS 15.4.1 at the moment and should be getting at least six years of softwrae support. It gets all the iPadOS features and quirks that we have seen so far. (Amritanshu / HT Tech)

8/8 The Apple iPad Air 5th Gen runs on iPadOS 15.4.1 at the moment and should be getting at least six years of softwrae support. It gets all the iPadOS features and quirks that we have seen so far. (Amritanshu / HT Tech)