Tom's Guide90
A fantastic all-round tablet with strong performance, a lovely display, reliable battery and handy Apple Intelligence features.
Apple iPad Air (M3)
5 expert reviews#6 of 14 tablets
Image: Apple3/5critics
recommend
recommend
Best all-round Apple tablet
Critics’ consensus
5 professional reviewers tested the Apple iPad Air (M3), and 3 recommend it. Most praised: performance and picture quality. Most common complaint: battery life.
Reviewed by Tom's Guide, Tech Advisor, Trusted Reviews and 2 more
The catch: The keyboard and Pencil are costly, and it barely changes from the M2 model.
One critic disagrees
Scores run from 70 to 90All 5 scores printed by the outletsWIRED's review has no printed score; we read it as 70/100. The other 4 average 88.
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What do critics say about the Apple iPad Air (M3)?
Tech Advisor90
A superb tablet with excellent performance, build and battery that the reviewer would happily recommend to those wanting power and portability.
Trusted Reviews90
A small update that is pointless as a refresh, yet as Apple's mid-range tablet it is very good and easy to recommend, with more power at the same price and strong battery life.
Expert Reviews80
A brilliant and very powerful tablet, but expensive once accessories are added, to the point where a MacBook Air is a better buy for laptop replacement.
WIRED70
A capable tablet with a modest performance bump, but it feels like a stale refresh with an ordinary LCD, unchanged battery and a clumsy iPadOS for work.
Scores are converted to 0–100. "est." means the outlet gave no number, so we estimated one from its verdict and checked our estimates against ratings outlets print. How we check estimates
What critics praise most
Performance4 of 5
Picture quality3 of 5
Battery life3 of 5
What critics dislike most
Battery life2 of 5
Price2 of 5
Alternatives
Not sure about the Apple iPad Air (M3)?
Image: OnePlus
Image: Apple
Image: RedMagic
Image: OnePlusAlso reviewed, not yet scored
- Apple iPad mini (A17 Pro) · 3 reviews so far
- Huawei MatePad 11.5 · 3 reviews so far
- Microsoft Surface Pro 12-inch · 3 reviews so far
Common questions
Is the Apple iPad Air (M3) worth it?
Critics are divided: 3 of 5 recommend it. The keyboard and Pencil are costly, and it barely changes from the M2 model.
Do critics agree about the Apple iPad Air (M3)?
One critic disagrees: scores range from 70 (WIRED) to 90 (Tom's Guide), a spread of 20 points across 5 reviews. WIRED's review has no printed score; we read it as 70/100. The other 4 average 88.
What do critics dislike about the Apple iPad Air (M3)?
Battery life (2 of 5 reviews), Price (2 of 5 reviews).
What is the best alternative to the Apple iPad Air (M3)?
The OnePlus Pad 3 (critic score 88), top pick, narrowly.