Apple puts the M3 chip and Apple Intelligence in new iPad Air

Apple just refreshed its tablet lineup with a noticeable performance boost and a much-needed accessory makeover.

The company introduced the new iPad Air powered by the M3 chip, alongside a redesigned, lower-priced Magic Keyboard. The 11-inch model keeps its starting price tag at $599, while the 13-inch variant starts at $799. Both are available for pre-order today, landing in stores on March 12.

Alongside the Air, the standard entry-level iPad also got a quiet bump: it now features the A16 chip and doubles the starting storage capacity.

M3 brings high-end graphics to the midrange

The big story here is inside the silicon. The M3 processor features an 8-core CPU and a 9-core GPU, bringing Apple’s advanced graphics architecture to the Air for the first time.

That means users now get hardware-accelerated ray tracing, mesh shading, and Dynamic Caching. Compared to the older M1 iPad Air, CPU performance is up by 35%, GPU speeds are up by 40%, and intense 3D rendering workflows can run up to four times faster.

The 16-core Neural Engine is also 60% faster than the M1, built squarely to handle Apple Intelligence features in iPadOS 18 like Image Wand sketches, Clean Up photo editing, and built-in ChatGPT access.

A cheaper Magic Keyboard with function keys

Accessories got an equally important quality-of-life update. The new Magic Keyboard keeps the iconic floating cantilever design, but finally adds a 14-key function row for quick controls like volume and brightness.

It also sports a larger built-in trackpad and connects via the Smart Connector, so there is no Bluetooth pairing or extra charging hassle needed. Best of all, Apple lowered the price: the 11-inch keyboard starts at $269, and the 13-inch version comes in at $319.

Why it matters

In our view, Apple executed a very pragmatic update here. For students, digital artists, and mobile workers, the M3 iPad Air basically renders the pricier iPad Pro unnecessary for all but the most extreme edge cases. Giving users desktop-class GPU architecture and full access to Apple Intelligence without bumping up the base $599 price makes it a tremendous hardware package.

However, the elephant in the room remains the display. Shipping a $600 to $800 tablet without a 120Hz ProMotion screen in 2025 feels like an increasingly glaring artificial limitation just to protect Pro sales. Furthermore, iPadOS still handcuffs the massive computing power packed inside the M3.

Still, by combining lower-cost functional keyboards, double base storage on the base iPad, and high-performance neural compute across the midrange, Apple is putting serious pressure on premium Android tablets that struggle to compete on software longevity and raw silicon muscle.