New iPad Air 7 Gives Apple's Affordable Tablet A Graphics Boost

Apple has officially taken the wraps off the company's latest addition to its "Air" product line with the 2025 iPad Air. The latest iteration of this slim tablet features the company's M3 chip, making it around double the speed of its M1 counterpart, according to the company. The slate boasts a number of features that'll make it an appealing option for iPad fans who aren't quite ready to spring for the iPad Pro — remember the overpowered M4 model we reviewed last year? — but who want a similar experience at a more comfortable price point.

The 2025 iPad Air arrives with support for two versions of the Apple Pencil (USB-C and Pro), as well as compatibility with the Apple Magic Keyboard, which Apple says includes a larger trackpad and a 14-key function row. Apple is serving up the model in two sizes, 11-inch and 13-inch, with support for 5G on cellular models. There are also four color options this time around, available for both sizes: Purple, Starlight, Space Grey, and Blue. Storage starts at 128 GB and spans up to 1 TB.

The addition of the M3 chip is, of course, the star of the show with the newest iPad Air. The updated hardware brings an 8-core CPU and 9-core GPU with up to 35% and 40% performance boosts compared to the M1, according to Apple, which emphasizes the model's ability to handle "graphics-intensive rendering workflows." That is thanks in part to the support for ray-tracing, dynamic caching, and hardware-accelerated mesh shading.

As expected, the new model likewise features an updated Neural Engine, facilitating the somewhat controversial Apple Intelligence suite of tools and capabilities. The company says the M3's Neural Engine in the 2025 iPad Air is up to 60% faster when it comes to handling these AI tasks versus the outgoing model. Users get access to Apple Intelligence tools like the company's Image Playground AI image generator (which is also available on the iPhone), as well as features like Clean Up, Image Wand, Writing Tools, and the other Apple Intelligence features you need to try.

The 11-inch 2025 iPad Air with the M3 chip starts at $599 for the Wi-Fi model and $749 for the cellular variant, while the larger 13-inch model starts at $799 and $949, respectively. The model is available to preorder from Apple now, with the first round of shipments hitting on March 12.