iPad Air (2022) vs 11-inch iPad Pro (2021): Save your money

It's time to compare Apple's new, M1-powered iPad Air (2022), also known as the iPad Air 5, against the more premium option – the currently-newest 11-inch iPad Pro from last year.

Should you shed quite a bit of extra dollars to get the iPad Pro, or does the new iPad Air offer pretty much the same great experience, minus a few gimmicks? Let's find out!

iPad Air 5 vs iPad Pro: Colors, price and storage options

If you like expressing yourself through fun colors or just having a more interesting-looking iPad, you'll have to go for the iPad Air 5. While that one has a rainbow of color options to pick from, the iPad Pro only has silver and gray.

iPad Air 5 colors:

• Blue
• Purple
• Pink
• Starlight
• Space Gray

iPad Pro (2021, 11-inch) colors:

• Silver
• Space Gray

Obviously the iPad Pro's colors match its theme of being the "sleeker, professional" tablet, so we realistically can't exactly expect it to come out in purple and what not, but still. You'll need to get a colorful iPad Pro case or cover in order to make it pop.

As for storage options, you'll definitely get way more from the iPad Pro, while the iPad Air still starts a bit stingy with only 64 GB. If you're a content creator or just expect to film a lot of videos, that likely won't be enough at all.

iPad Air 5 storage options and starting price:

• 64 GB – $599
• 128 GB – $749

iPad Pro (2021, 11-inch) storage options and starting price:

• 128 GB – $799
• 256 GB – $899
• 512 GB – $1099
• 1 TB – $1499
• 2 TB – $1899

Of course, if you get those tablets with cellular connectivity, those prices will jump even more. But again – basically, if you plan on creating content like filming and editing videos, or you want to download lots of movies, shows, music and games directly on your tablet – the base iPad Air 5 won't cut it. You'll need to invest in either the 256 GB iPad Air or the iPad Pro.

iPad Air 5 vs iPad Pro: Design and display

At first glance the iPad Air (2022) and the 11-inch iPad Pro (2021) aren't that different. Both feel nice and premium to the touch, with glass at the front and metal everywhere else. Sleek, flat edges, reasonably lightweight.

Speaking of weight, the iPad Air 5 is slightly lighter at 462 grams, while the 11-inch iPad Pro is 466.

Now let's talk about their design differences, however few those might be. The iPad Air 5 has just a single camera on the back, while the iPad Pro has a large square module holding two cameras and a LiDAR sensor.

On the front, the iPad Air 5 has ever so slightly thicker bezels around the display, making it a 10.9-inch one. While the iPad Pro has exactly the same body dimensions, thanks to its smaller bezels its screen is a tiny bit larger at 11.0 inches.



And perhaps most notably, albeit hardest to notice – the iPad Air 5 has a Touch ID fingerprint sensor embedded in its power key, while the iPad Pro does not. Instead, the Pro uses a Face ID sensor array to unlock itself once it detects its user's face, which can be quicker and more convenient for some than Face ID. But, in these times – some of us have to wear masks or just might plain not like Face ID – so Touch ID likely has its fans who'd prefer it. In any case, you either get one or the other.

The display differences between the iPad Air 5 and the 11-inch iPad Pro don't end at size. While both displays are LCD (not AMOLED or Mini-LED), the iPad Pro's screen has twice as smooth refresh rate – 120 Hz. It's also a bit brighter, and at a slightly higher resolution.

iPad Air 5 display specs:

• Size: 10.9 inches
• Resolution: 2360 by 1640 pixels, 264 pixels per inch (ppi)
• Refresh rate: 60 Hz
• Peak brightness: 500 nits
• P3 wide color
• Supports Apple Pencil (2nd generation)

iPad Pro 11-inch display specs:

• Size: 11.0 inches
• Resolution: 2388 by 1668 pixels, 264 pixels per inch (ppi)
• Refresh rate: 120 Hz
• Peak brightness: 600 nits
• P3 wide color
• Supports Apple Pencil (2nd generation)

I personally don't find the 120 Hz screen refresh rate on the iPad Pro a must-have, but it does indeed make scrolling through iPadOS feel smoother.

Some people can't seem to live without it, so if you feel like you're one of them, and you've already been spoiled by 120 Hz laptops and tablets – you'll definitely want it. Otherwise – I doubt most users would find that particular feature important or necessary.

iPad Air 5 vs iPad Pro: Performance

This is pretty hilarious – the new "mid-tier" iPad Air 5 is actually more powerful than the currently-latest, flagship 11-inch iPad Pro, at least in some instances.

That's despite the fact that both the iPad Pro and the iPad Air 5 pack Apple's famously powerful M1 processor, along with 8-core CPUs and GPUs. I'll let our benchmarks speak for themselves:



As we can see, the iPad Air 5 is ever so slightly more powerful than the 2021 iPad Pro when it comes to single-core performance on Geekbench. But click on "multi-core" and the difference is a bit more significant.

Yet in some of the other benchmark tests, the Pro has the upper hand, so all of this gives us just a rough idea of the tablets' performance. But bottom line – both are some of the best-performing tablets on the market right now.

The thing is, though – iPadOS doesn't really take full advantage of all that M1 power right now, in my opinion, so rest assured that either tablet will crush any tasks you throw at it effortlessly.

It's also worth mentioning that both the iPad Air 5 and the iPad Pro (2021) have 8 GB of RAM, so again – the Pro doesn't really have an edge. That is unless you buy the top-tier iPad Pro with one or two terabytes of storage – those exclusively have 16 GB of RAM.

More RAM essentially means more apps can stay open in the background for longer, readily waiting for you, without needing to refresh once you get back to them.

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