The 2022 iPad Air has the majority of features found in the 2021 iPad Pro like an M1 chip, ultra wide front camera with Center Stage, 5G connectivity, and more. But now the M2 iPad Pro is here with the most advanced features and greatest performance in an iPad – but is it overkill? Follow along for a breakdown of all the similarities and differences between the 11″ M2 iPad Pro vs iPad Air to help you decide which is right for you.
The 2022 5th-gen iPad Air blurred the line between the mid and high-end iPads, giving many people the incentive to go with the Air that starts at $200 (or more) below the $799 11-inch iPad Pro.
Then this fall the iPad 10 arrived which blurs the line even further as it takes many of the popular iPad Air features and puts them into the $449 entry-level tablet.
If you know you want a 12.9-inch iPad, the iPad Pro is your only choice. But now you’ve got the option to get the latest with an M2 chip or save some money with the previous M1 iPad Pro.
But when it comes to the 11″ M2 and M1 iPad Pro vs iPad Air. For all the comparison charts below, the 11″ M2 iPad Pro is on the left, 11″ M1 iPad Pro is in the middle, and M1 iPad Air is on the right.
11″ M2 iPad Pro vs iPad Air
Performance
The main performance difference is the upgrade from an M1 to M2 chip for the new iPad Pro.
That delivers up to an 18% faster CPU, 35% faster GPU (10-core vs 8-core), and a 2x boost in memory bandwidth from 50GB/s to 100GB/s.
But three other advantages the iPad Pro holds over the iPad Air – in this category – are Thunderbolt support, 16GB RAM on the 1TB and 2TB models, and more storage options.
Note: 128, 256 and 512GB models have 8GB RAM, 1TB and 2TB models have 16GB RAM.
| 11″ M2 iPad Pro | 11″ M1 iPad Pro | M1 iPad Air | |
| Chip | M2 | M1 | M1 |
| CPU cores | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| GPU cores | 10 | 8 | 8 |
| Neural cores | 16 | 16 | 16 |
| Storage | 128GB – 2TB | 128GB – 2TB | 64 or 256GB |
| RAM | 8 or 16GB | 8 or 16GB | 8GB |
| Thunderbolt | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Cellular | 5G | 5G | 5G (but no mmWave) |
However, the vast majority of users will likely find the iPad Air with an M1 and 8GB RAM to be more than powerful enough for years to come.
Thunderbolt and 16GB RAM with the iPad Pro will likely only be tempting for professionals or those who aren’t price-sensitive.
Display
With the iPad Air screen, you’re getting a 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display with True Tone and P3 wide color. It’s almost exactly the same Liquid Retina display as the 11-inch iPad Pro (ok, technically 0.1″ smaller 😅). Both displays are fully laminated and have Apple’s anti-reflective coating.
The biggest differences are you only get ProMotion (up to 120Hz refresh rates) with the iPad Pro display and you only get Apple Pencil Hover with the M2 iPad Pro.
| 11″ M2 iPad Pro | 11″ M1 iPad Pro | M1 iPad Air | |
| Display | 11″ | 11″ | 10.9″ |
| Resolution | 2388 x 1668 | 2388 x 1668 | 2360 x 1640 |
| PPI (pixels per inch) | 264 | 264 | 264 |
| Display brightness | 600 nits | 600 nits | 500 nits |
| True Tone | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| P3 wide color | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| ProMotion (120Hz) | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Anti-reflective coating | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Liquid Retina Display | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Apple Pencil Hover | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
Meanwhile, HDR brightness up to 1600 nits is only available on the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, not the 11-inch Pro or 10.9-inch iPad Air.
Connectivity and accessories
iPad Air works with all the same great Apple accessories as the iPad Pro. That includes the second-generation Apple Pencil, Magic Keyboard, and Smart Keyboard Folio.
iPad Air uses Touch ID as opposed to the iPad Pro coming with Face ID.
Two other small upgrades with the M2 iPad Pro are Bluetooth 5.3 and WiFi 6E support.
| 11″ M2 iPad Pro | 11″ M1 iPad Pro | M1 iPad Air | |
| 2nd-gen Apple Pencil support | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Magic Keyboard support | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| 5G | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ (but no mmWave) |
| WiFi 6 | – | ✅ | ✅ |
| WiFi 6E | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| USB-C | ✅ USB 4 | ✅ USB 4 | ✅ 3.1 Gen 2 |
| Thunderbolt | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Touch ID | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Face ID | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
Like the iPhone SE 3, the iPad Air doesn’t get mmWave 5G support with its cellular models. But as mmWave is the rarest version of 5G coverage to find, that’s probably not an issue for most people.
Splash of color
If the color of your next iPad is an important piece, you’ve got five options with the iPad Air. It comes in space gray, starlight, pink, purple, and blue.
The iPad Pro only comes in space gray and silver.
iPad Pro vs iPad Air battery life
The M2/M1 iPad Pro and iPad Air all have the same battery life:
- 10 hours of web or video use on WiFi
- 9 hours of web use with cellular
Storage and price
Here’s a breakdown of the price differences (MSRP) between these tablets. It’s not exactly apples to apples since iPad Pro and Air have different storage options, but you can save some significant cash with the iPad Air (also thanks to iPad Air being discounted sometimes).
| 11″ M2 iPad Pro | 11″ M1 iPad Pro | M1 iPad Air | |
| 64GB WiFi | – | – | $599 |
| 64GB + cell | – | $749 | |
| 128GB WiFi | $799 | $799 | – |
| 128GB + cell | $999 | $999 | – |
| 256GB WiFi | $899 | $899 | $749 |
| 256GB + cell | $1,099 | $1,099 | $899 |
| 512GB WiFi | $1,099 | $1,099 | – |
| 512GB + cell | $1,299 | $1,299 | – |
| 1TB WiFi | $1,499 | $1,499 | – |
| 1TB + cell | $1,699 | $1,699 | – |
| 2TB WiFi | $1,899 | $1,899 | – |
| 2TB + cell | $2,099 | $2,099 | – |
Cameras
You get a solid rear single camera with the iPad Air that includes the same 12MP wide lens that is found on the iPad Pro. It shoots 4K video at the same fps as the Pro too.
However, with the iPad Pro, you’ve also got a 10MP ultra wide lens plus the LiDAR Scanner, and the True Tone flash.
The iPad Air comes with the same ultra wide 12MP lens with Center Stage support as the iPad Pro.
The main difference is the M2 iPad Pro’s ability to shoot ProRes 4K video at up to 30 fps.
| 11″ M2 iPad Pro | 11″ M1 iPad Pro | 2022 iPad Air | |
| 12MP wide lens | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| 10MP ultra wide lens | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Smart HDR 3 | – | ✅ | ✅ |
| Smart HDR 4 | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| LiDAR | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| 4K video | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| ProRes video up to 4K 30 fps | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Extended dynamic range | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Slo-mo video | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Rear camera flash | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| TrueDepth camera with Face ID | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Ultra wide 12MP front camera | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| 2x optical zoom out | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Center Stage auto-tracking | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Stereo recording | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
A couple of smaller differences – the iPad Pro front camera features support for Portrait mode, Portrait Lighting, and Animoji/Memoji while the iPad Air front camera does not.
And when it comes to speakers, you’re getting four-speaker audio with the iPad Pro while the iPad Air has a two-speaker system.
M2 iPad Pro vs iPad Air conclusion
Why buy iPad Pro?
If you know you’ll often be pushing your tablet to the limit, the iPad Pro delivers the top-performing package with up to 16GB RAM and 2TB storage, 120Hz ProMotion display, Thunderbolt support, and the ability to capture ProRes 4K video, all powered by the new M2 chip.
Orders are open now for the M2 iPad Pro at Apple, Amazon, and more with deliveries arriving starting October 26.
Why buy iPad Air?
When considering all the similarities, the iPad Air is likely going to be the best choice for most people. It’s got a price of around $200 less than the iPad Pro while including most of the premium iPad Pro features.
Read more 9to5Mac in-depth comparisons:
- iPad 10 vs 9 vs iPad Air: How the new affordable iPad lineup compares
- M2 iPad Pro vs M1 iPad Pro: What’s changed?
- iPhone 14 vs iPhone 14 Pro: Which should you buy?
- Here’s how Apple Watch Series 8 compares to Series 7 and earlier
- AirPods Pro 2 vs AirPods Pro, AirPods 2/3: How the lineup compares
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