iPad Air (2022)

An incremental upgrade, but a welcome one – thanks to the M1

- Rob Mead-Green

The iPad Air (2022) is available in five delicious colours - Space Grey, Starlight, Pink, Blue and Purple.

From £569 FROM Apple, apple.com/uk FEATURES 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display with True Tone, M1 chip, 64 or 256GB of storage, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi+Cellular option, USB-C port, 12MP Wide camera (rear), 12MP Ultra Wide camera (front)

When the fourth-gen iPad Air arrived in 2020, it marked a remarkable shift in design and ambition for Apple’s mid-tier tablet. Its all-screen, flat-sided design not only aped the premium iPad Pro, but it came packed with features, while also replacing the previous model’s Lightning port with USB-C and shifting Touch ID from the now-removed Home button to the Power button. It was a remarkable makeover – and one we were happy to give five stars and an Editor’s Choice award to in MF359. Its successor, the new fifth-gen iPad Air on test here, shifts the dial in small but significant ways.

Everything feels slightly slicker, quicker and smoother on the M1powered Air, than on the A14 Bionic version

Outwardly, little has changed. The iPad Air (2022) retains the design of the previous generation, although it now comes in new colours – Space Grey, Starlight, Pink, Purple and a deeper shade of Blue. The entry-level Wi-Fi-only model is also £10 cheaper than the model it replaces, at £569 with 64GB of onboard storage. The step-up 256GB model costs £719, again a £10 saving.