In April 2021, Apple updated its popular iPad Pro lineup, introducing a faster M1 chip, a Liquid Retina XDR display, a Thunderbolt port, and more. Since the iPad Air saw a major update in September last year, both the ‌iPad Air‌ and the ‌iPad Pro‌ now share similar designs and an increasingly close feature set. Despite their appearances, the ‌iPad Air‌ and ‌iPad Pro‌ are still very different devices intended for different user bases.

Should you consider purchasing the ‌iPad Air‌ to save money, or do you need the high-end features of the ‌iPad Pro‌? Our guide answers the question of how to decide which of these two iPads is best for you.

Comparing the iPad Air and iPad Pro

The ‌iPad Air‌ and ‌iPad Pro‌ share a number of key features, such as design, rear Wide camera, and a USB-C port:

Similarities

  • Industrial design with flat edges.
  • Liquid Retina display with 264 ppi, full lamination, oleophobic and anti-reflective coating, P3 Wide Color, and True Tone.
  • ƒ/1.8 12MP Wide rear camera, with digital zoom up to 5x and Smart HDR 3 for photos.
  • 4K video recording at 24 fps, 25 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps, 1080p HD video recording at 60 fps, 3x video zoom, slo-mo video support for 1080p at 120 fps or 240 fps, time-lapse video with stabilization.
  • "All-day" 10 hour battery life.
  • Wi‑Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity.
  • USB‑C connector.
  • Compatible with Magic Keyboard, Smart Keyboard Folio, and Apple Pencil (2nd generation).
  • Available in Silver and Space Gray.

Apple's specification breakdown shows that the two iPads share a number of important features. Even so, there are an even larger number of meaningful differences between the ‌iPad Air‌ and ‌iPad Pro‌ that are worth highlighting, including their displays, authentication technologies, processors, and camera setups.

Differences


iPad Air

  • Touch ID built into the top button.
  • 10.9-inch display.
  • Liquid Retina LED display.
  • 500 nits max brightness (typical).
  • A14 Bionic chip with Neural Engine.
  • 4GB RAM.
  • ƒ/1.8 12MP Wide camera.
  • Digital zoom up to 5x.
  • 3x video zoom.
  • ƒ/2.2 7MP FaceTime HD camera.
  • 1080p HD video recording.
  • Two speaker audio landscape mode.
  • 4G LTE cellular.
  • USB‑C connector.
  • Up to 256GB storage.
  • Available in Silver, Space Gray, Rose Gold, Green, and Sky Blue.
  • Price starting at $599.Read on for a closer look at each of these aspects, and see what exactly both iPads have to offer.

iPad Pro

  • Face ID enabled by TrueDepth camera.
  • 11-inch or 12.9-inch display, with 120Hz ProMotion technology.
  • Liquid Retina XDR mini-LED display on 12.9-inch model with 1,000 nits max full-screen brightness and 1,600 nits peak brightness (HDR).
  • 600 nits max brightness (typical).
  • ‌M1‌ chip with next-generation Neural Engine.
  • 8GB or 16GB RAM.
  • ƒ/1.8 12MP Wide and ƒ/2.4 10MP Ultra Wide cameras with LiDAR scanner.
  • True Tone flash.
  • Digital zoom up to 5x and 2x optical zoom out.
  • Video zoom up to 3x and 2x optical zoom out.
  • Extended dynamic range for video up to 30 fps.
  • Audio zoom.
  • ƒ/2.4 12MP TrueDepth camera with Ultra Wide camera with 2x optical zoom out, Portrait Mode, and Portrait Lighting.
  • 1080p HD video recording at 25 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps.
  • Center Stage video calls.
  • Animoji and Memoji.
  • Stereo recording.
  • Four speaker audio.
  • 5G cellular connectivity.
  • USB‑C connector with support for Thunderbolt / USB 4.
  • Up to 2TB storage.
  • Available in Silver and Space Gray.
  • Price starting at $799.

Design

Both the ‌iPad Air‌ and the ‌iPad Pro‌ use Apple's most recent product design language, also seen on the iPhone 12 and the iMac, featuring industrial squared-off edges.

The 10.9-inch ‌iPad Air‌ is almost exactly the same size as the 11-inch ‌iPad Pro‌, despite having a smaller display, resulting in it having slightly thicker bezels.

Although the design of the two iPad models is similar, the ‌iPad Air‌ is available in a wider range of colors. The ‌iPad Air‌ is available in Silver, Space Gray, Rose Gold, Green, and Sky Blue, while the ‌iPad Pro‌ is only available in Silver and Space Gray.



Authentication

A key area of difference between the ‌iPad Air‌ and ‌iPad Pro‌ is authentication. The ‌iPad Air‌ features ‌Touch ID‌, while the ‌iPad Pro‌ features Face ID.


The ‌iPad Air‌ has a ‌Touch ID‌ fingerprint scanner embedded in the ‌iPad‌'s top button. The ‌iPad Pro‌'s Face ID is facilitated by the TrueDepth camera array in the top bezel.


Unlocking is something that may be used dozens of times every day, so it is important to choose your preferred method of authentication if you feel particularly strongly about it. That being said, both ‌Touch ID‌ and Face ID are now extremely polished technologies that work well, and most users will likely be happy with whichever they have.

Displays

Display Sizes

The ‌iPad Air‌ features a 10.9-inch display, while the ‌iPad Pro‌ has the option of either an 11-inch display or a 12.9-inch display.

The difference in screen size between the 10.9-inch ‌iPad Air‌ and the 11-inch ‌iPad Pro‌ is virtually negligible. These models are around half a pound lighter than the 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌ and will be best for users focused on portability and easy handheld use.

The 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌, on the other hand, is best for users who are intending to use their ‌iPad‌ more like a laptop, likely on a table or with a keyboard accessory such as the Magic Keyboard. In particular, multitasking is a much better experience on the 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌'s large display.

Storage

The ‌iPad Air‌ offers the option of either 64GB or 256GB storage, while the ‌iPad Pro‌ offers 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB. The maximum 256GB of storage in the ‌iPad Air‌ will be enough for many users, but for those power users who intend to store a large amount of data on their ‌iPad‌, the option is available with the ‌iPad Pro‌.

Memory

The ‌iPad Air‌ has 4GB of RAM, while the ‌iPad Pro‌ has either 8GB or 16GB, just like Macs with the ‌M1‌ chip. ‌iPad Pro‌ configurations with either 1TB or 2TB of storage contain 16GB of RAM, while all other storage configurations contain 8GB of RAM.

4GB in the ‌iPad Air‌ will be adequate for casual users, but 8GB will be defter at handling multiple windows of the same application and a range of intense background tasks.

Ultimately, iPadOS is excellent at memory management, so it is unlikely that the amount of RAM in your ‌iPad‌ will be important in most cases.

Cameras

Rear Cameras

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.