M2 iPad Pro vs iPad Air: What's the better choice? (2023)

FAQs

Which is more better iPad Air or iPad Pro? ›

They both offer USB-C charging, while Pro also supports Thunderbolt/USB 4 charging. iPad Air comes with 6-cores CPU and 4-cores GPU, while Pro has an 8-core CPU and GPU. Needless to say, this makes iPad Pro faster than iPad Air. However, a Hexa-core CPU is good even for gamers.

The M2 iPad Pro Isn't Worth the Upgrade for Most People

Even though the M2 iPad Pro squeezes even more performance than ever into the iPad, it's not a worthwhile upgrade for most people. The M1 iPad Pro and iPad Air models still deliver incredible performance, battery life, and portability, all for less money.

iMore Verdict. This year's iPad Pro packs more power, thanks to the M2 chip inside, and offers the same fantastic tablet experience you've come to know. The speakers are great, the 12.9-inch screen is awesome, and it's the best drawing experience you'll get on an iPad.

The iPad Pro has more storage

Like the iPad Pro 2021, the iPad Pro 2022 comes with up to 2TB of storage. This is significantly more than the 256GB available on the iPad Air. The iPad Pro 2022 is available in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB and 2TB configurations, while the iPad Air 2022 only comes in 64GB and 256GB versions.

A major area of difference between the two ‌iPad‌ models is their camera setups. The ‌iPad Air‌ features a single ƒ/1.8 12MP Wide camera. The ‌iPad Pro‌ has the same ƒ/1.8 12MP Wide camera as the ‌iPad Air‌, but also adds a ƒ/2.4 10MP Ultra Wide camera and a LiDAR scanner.

We highly recommend the iPad Air for students who need premium performance and best iPad you can buy without the Pro name. To find out more details, read our full iPad Air (2022) review.

The 2022 Apple iPad Pro offers the same external hardware and design as the 2021 model. The biggest upgrades are the latest M2 processor and a new feature for the Apple Pencil. The 2022 iPad Pro remains the best and most powerful tablet if you're willing to pay for it.

With its powerful CPU, M2 Pro can compile code up to 25 percent faster than M1 Pro, and up to 2.5x faster than MacBook Pro with an Intel Core i9 processor.

If you frequently do graphically-intensive tasks such as video editing, graphics rendering, and so on, the performance boost and the extra hour of battery life might be worth the cost, as they will help your workflow. However, for most other users, the upgrade isn't worth it since it's just a spec bump.

Apple has compared the M2's performance to “the latest ten-core notebook processor”, which essentially means the Intel Core i7–1255U found in Samsung's Galaxy Book2 360. Both builds were also said to come with 16GB of RAM.

How long does M2 iPad Air battery last? ›

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.

It should be noted that generally, BMW M2 engine failure is rare, and the N55 engine has a reputation for being reliable.

You should buy the iPad Air 5 (2022) if...

Trickling down from MacBooks and iMacs, Apple's M1 chip is expected to be up to 60% faster and more powerful than its A-series counterpart -- like the A14 found in the iPad Air 4.

The standard iPad has a 10.9-inch screen, as well as an M2 processor. The iPad Pro has the same M2 chip, but still offers better performance overall. It's also slightly larger, with an 11-inch or 12.9-inch screen. It also has a USB-C port, whereas the standard iPad retains the old Apple lightning port.

When it comes to drawing, the 120Hz screen response rate makes the iPad Pro the precision instrument of choice undoubtedly – and nothing comes close to the high-resolution display on the 12.9-inch model. But the iPad Air is more than good enough if you won't use your tablet for your finest work.

Should you buy it? Pick the 2022 iPad Pro if you want the extra power and better screen over other iPads. It's very fast, the screen display and speakers are excellent for kicking back and watching movies, and it's a great tablet for creatives who need added power for video or photo editing.

How Many Years Should an iPad Last? Apple usually supports a new iPad with iPadOS updates for at least five years and often several years longer. Most iPad models hold up well in performance, features, and storage over this timeframe which means that five years is a standard lifespan for any iPad.

Regarding the standard iPad, the mini, and the iPad Air, Gurman says there are no major updates coming in 2023. And the iPad Pro “for sure isn't getting anything of note this year.”

How much will the iPad Pro 2022 cost? ›

The iPad Pro 2022 has a starting retail price of $799/£899 for the 11-inch model and $1,099/£1,249 for the 12.9-inch model. These prices are for the WiFi only tablets with the lowest 128GB of storage space - prices will vary dependant on cellular compatibility and larger storage sizes.

The M2 chip is 1.4x faster than the ‌M1‌, with an 18 percent faster CPU, a 35 percent more powerful GPU, and a 40 percent faster Neural Engine. Geekbench benchmarks have confirmed that the M2 chip is up to 20 percent faster than the ‌M1‌ chip when it comes to multi-core performance.

The ‌M2‌'s advancements are generally worthwhile, if not transformative, and the chip is certain to provide a more up-to-date experience with lower-spec Apple silicon machines – especially for those coming from an Intel-based machine.

Now let's look at how each processor performs. Not surprisingly, the A16 Bionic in the iPhone 14 Pro is the fastest. The iPhone 14 and iPhone 13 both have an A15 Bionic processor, but the iPhone 13 has one fewer GPU core than the iPhone 13 Pro, which gives it better graphics performance.

The most obvious reason to wait for the new MacBook Pro laptops is for the M2 Pro and M2 Max chips. The M2 Pro chip features a 10- or 12-core CPU with up to eight high-performance and four high-efficiency cores, which Apple claims delivers 20 percent greater performance over M1 Pro.

Apple's M2 MacBook Air could use more ports and a higher refresh rate, but overall, anyone who's been rocking an older MacBook for a while should upgrade to this one ASAP. Mashable Choice is a badge of honor, reserved for the absolute best stuff you can see, use, or do. If it's Choice, it's worth your time.

According to recent reports, both devices equipped with Apple M2 chip — MacBook Air M2 and Pro M2 — face severe overheating issues. Reviewers and enthusiastic customers have shown their disappointment at how quickly and frequently their MacBook Air and Pro devices heat up.

iPad Pro M2: Features & performance

According to them, the M2 chip is 15 percent faster than the M1 chip, but in practice, we didn't notice any discernible difference when editing complex images or playing the latest games.

CPU. MacBook Pro with M2 Pro offers up to 20% greater performance than M1 Pro, thanks to its 10- or 12-core CPU. It also offers exceptional battery life and connectivity even when disconnected from the power cord. This makes it an ideal choice for those seeking better productivity from their laptop.

MacBook Pro M2 Pro: Why you should wait

The new chip has 200GB/s of unified memory bandwidth, which is double the amount of the base M2 chip and can have up to 32GB of RAM. Apple says the chip's 19-core GPU can deliver up to 30 percent more graphics performance and the Neural Engine is 40 percent faster.

What can you do with M2 iPad Pro? ›

Watching video content, playing games, conferencing with others, web browsing, writing, drawing and more work as well as ever. The M2 chip powering the tablet should also make it fairly future-proof. It's hard to knock the iPad Pro for what it offers.

It used to be able to get 10-12 hours of use each day from 80-30% mainly 6-8 hours on average since I use this iPad with a lot of heavy CPU/GPU intensive apps, programmes and games, and now it gets about 4-5 hours on average.

Like the new MacBook Pro M2, this new notebook features the Apple M2 chip — making it one of the most performant and overall best laptops you can buy. Despite its steep $1,199 starting price, it's arguably worth every penny due to the value it provides.

The M1 Pro and M1 Max go a mile further than the M2, including a 10-core CPU and up to 16 and 32 GPU cores, respectively. The M1 Ultra, the biggest Apple silicon chip of all, boasts a 20-core CPU with up to 64 GPU cores. However, the M1 range has lower maximum CPU clock speeds relative to the M2.

In our testing, the M2 has an 18 percent faster CPU than the M1. The new chip doesn't just mean that the new Macs can accomplish more though, they use less power doing so: Apple promises an increased CPU performance of 18 percent with the same energy consumption thanks to various optimizations.

The MacBook Pro (2023) with the M2 Pro or M2 Max chips boast improved battery life over previous generation models, along with other upgrades.

The M2 GPU performance is 30% faster, though part of the speed boost comes from better cache memory on the chip, Apple said. The neural engine has 16 cores on both M1 and M2 generations, but Apple boasts its AI performance is 40% faster with the new chips.

Performance. The main difference between the new and old iPad Pro is the upgrade from an M1 to M2 chip. 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.

The Pro and the Air have the same M2 processor and run the same macOS operating system. But that doesn't mean they'll perform identically because the Pro has something inside it that the Air doesn't: a fan.