Apple announced a faster and more powerful iPad Air equipped with the M3 chip and designed for Apple Intelligence. The new iPad Air equipped with the M3 will be available for pre-order from apple.com/jp/store and the Apple Store app in 29 countries and regions, including the United States, from March 4, 2025. It will be available for sale at Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Resellers from March 12, 2025, at the same time as it will be delivered to customers.
The 11-inch and 13-inch M3-enabled iPad Air are available in blue, purple, starlight and space gray finishes and in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB configurations.
The 11-inch iPad Air Wi-Fi model will start at 98,800 yen (tax included), and the Wi-Fi + Cellular model will start at 124,800 yen (tax included). The 13-inch iPad Air Wi-Fi model will start at 128,800 yen (tax included), and the Wi-Fi + Cellular model will start at 154,800 yen (tax included).
Availability
The new Magic Keyboard comes in white and is compatible with the 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Air. Prices depend on location, and differ depending on if you are a pro or a student. The new A16-equipped iPad will be available for pre-order from the Apple Store app in 29 countries and regions, including the US, from March 4, 2025. It will be available for sale at Apple Store locations and Apple Authorized Resellers from March 12, 2025, at the same time as it is delivered to customers.
Storage Options
The new iPad starts at 128GB of storage, with 256GB and a new 512GB configuration also available. The new iPad is available in blue, pink, yellow and silver color options.
The M3-equipped iPad Air brings Apple’s advanced graphics architecture to the iPad Air for the first time, setting a new standard for power-efficient performance and portability. The M3-equipped iPad Air is approximately twice as fast as the M1-equipped model and up to 3.5 times faster than the A14 Bionic-equipped model. From creating compelling content to playing graphics-intensive games, you can experience the performance of the M3 in any task.
Available in two popular sizes and four beautiful finishes, the 11-inch model is highly portable, while the 13-inch model offers a larger display for greater creativity and productivity. Designed for iPad Air, the new Magic Keyboard is versatile and affordable. With iPadOS 18, support for Apple Intelligence, an advanced camera, high-speed 5G wireless connectivity, and support for Apple Pencil Pro and Apple Pencil (USB-C), it delivers an unparalleled experience.
Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, commented on the release:
“iPad Air is incredibly popular because it offers a combination of powerful performance, portability and support for advanced accessories, all at an affordable price.
For everyone, from students taking notes with Apple Pencil Pro to travelers and content creators who need powerful work on the go, iPad Air with the M3 chip, support for Apple Intelligence and the new Magic Keyboard delivers next-level versatility and value.”
The M3’s outstanding performance
The M3-equipped iPad Air supports efficiency and creativity wherever you are, from creators who handle large files with high-load apps to users who edit content on the go. The powerful M3 chip has evolved significantly from the M1 and previous generation models.
The more powerful 8-core CPU delivers multi-threaded CPU workflows up to 35% faster than the M1-powered iPad Air. The 9-core GPU delivers graphics performance up to 40% faster than the M1. It also brings Apple’s advanced graphics architecture to iPad Air for the first time, with support for Dynamic Caching, hardware-accelerated mesh shading, and ray tracing. In graphics-intensive rendering workflows, the M3-powered iPad Air delivers up to 4x faster performance than the M1 model, delivering more accurate lighting, reflections, shadows, and a highly realistic gaming experience.
The M3’s faster Neural Engine enables iPad Air users to take full advantage of the AI features in iPadOS. The M3’s Neural Engine runs AI-based tasks up to 60 percent faster than the M1. It also offers improved support for Apple Intelligence, 11- and 13-inch sizes, and advanced accessories like the new Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro.
iPad Air: Designed for Apple Intelligence
iPad Air is designed for Apple Intelligence, a personal intelligence system that delivers useful and relevant intelligence. In the Photos app, clean-up tools make it easy to remove clutter from your photos, and natural language search helps you find photos and videos by simply describing what you’re looking for.
The Image Magic Wand in the Notes app transforms a rough sketch into a beautiful image by simply drawing a circle around the sketch with Apple Pencil, or draw a circle in the white space to generate a related image to visually enhance your notes.
Apple Intelligence helps you express your visual identity with Image Playground, create custom emoji with Genmoji and polish your writing with proofing tools. Siri supports text input and has better conversational abilities to understand what you’re saying while maintaining context. It also uses its vast knowledge of Apple products to answer questions and provide guidance on things like screen recording.
Proofreading Tools and Other Privacy Protections
Proofreading tools and Siri seamlessly integrate with ChatGPT, allowing you to leverage ChatGPT’s expertise to complete tasks quickly and easily without switching apps. Additionally, you can access ChatGPT for free without creating an account.
Free access comes with built-in privacy protections, your IP address is anonymized, OpenAI doesn’t store your requests, and users have full control over whether and when they enable proofreading tools and ChatGPT’s Siri integration, as well as what information they share.
Designed to protect user privacy at every step, Apple Intelligence prioritizes on-device processing. Most generative models run on device, and when larger models are needed, private cloud computing extends the privacy and security of iPad to the cloud, providing additional intelligence. With private cloud computing, user data is never stored or shared with Apple, and is only used to process user requests.
All-New Magic Keyboard for iPad Air
The new Magic Keyboard for iPad Air empowers users at an even more affordable price, with a larger built-in trackpad for precision work and a new row of 14 function keys for quick access to features like screen brightness and volume.
The new Magic Keyboard attaches magnetically and instantly connects to power and data via its Smart Connector, eliminating the need for Bluetooth connectivity, and its machined aluminum hinge also includes a USB-C connector for charging.
Updated iPad with twice the storage and A16 chip
Apple updates iPad with the A16 chip, providing twice the storage capacity of the previous generation and even more value to customers. The A16 chip delivers major improvements for everyday tasks and experiences on iPadOS, while still delivering all-day battery life. The updated A16-powered iPad is nearly 30 percent faster than the previous generation and up to 50 percent faster than the A13 Bionic-powered iPad. With the A16, the updated iPad is up to six times faster than the top-selling Android tablet.
Powerful, intelligent features with iPadOS 18
iPadOS 18 delivers powerful features that make the iPad experience even more capable and smarter. Designed for the unique capabilities of iPad, the calculator helps you solve math equations while using Apple Pencil in new ways. Calculation Notes lets you enter math equations by hand or text and displays handwritten answers. You can also create and use variables, and add equations to insert into graphs. Access your calculation notes in the Notes app and use calculation features in other notes.
In the Notes app, handwritten notes become smoother and more flexible. Smart Script allows you to edit handwritten text, insert spaces, paste text, and more. When you write with Apple Pencil, it automatically adjusts in real time to make your writing smooth and easy to read.
The new recording and transcription feature allows you to record lectures or conversations and search for specific moments with the transcript synced with the audio.
The Home Screen allows you to customize the appearance and resize of icons and widgets, and the redesigned Control Center provides easier access to everyday tasks, including organizing new controls for third-party apps.
