Tablet
iPad Air M3 review: A subtle update that remains an easy recommendation 📱✨
If you’ve handled an iPad 📱 anytime in the last five years, the new iPad Air will feel immediately familiar. In practically every aspect but one, it is a mirror image 🪞 of the model Apple launched last spring. The singular distinction lies internally: the latest Air runs on the M3 chip 🧠, stepping up from the already formidable M2. Even the color palette—which remains notably understated—looks unchanged this year 🎨. Aside from the 13-inch size option introduced last spring 📏, this device is virtually indistinguishable from the design language established back in 2020.
This familiarity makes evaluating the new iPad exceedingly straightforward—much of what I observed in my review of the 13-inch M2 model last May remains true today 🧐. It still boasts impressive battery life 🔋, ample processing power ⚡, a respectable amount of entry-level storage 💾, and a landscape-oriented front camera 📸. The 13-inch variant is substantial, yet remains thin and light enough for comfortable handheld use—though, if you prioritize tablet ergonomics over keyboard usage, the 11-inch model remains the more logical choice ⚖️. The Apple Pencil Pro ✏️, introduced last year, continues to be a superb tool for digital artists. However, I remain disappointed by the reliance on Touch ID over Face ID ☝️, and I firmly believe the iPad Air is overdue for a display upgrade 📺.
Apple iPad Air (M3, 13-inch display) 🍎
The iPad Air continues to occupy the “sweet spot” 🎯 in Apple’s tablet portfolio, bridging the gap between the entry-level iPad and the high-end Pro with a mix of advanced features and relative affordability 💸.
Pros ✅
Apple’s most accessible large-screen tablet 🖥️
Powerful M3 silicon 🚀
Superior display, speed, and multitasking compared to the base iPad ⚡
Improved, lower-cost keyboard option ⌨️
Cons ❌
Display technology is showing its age ⏳
Lacks Face ID 🆔
Price climbs steeply with upgrades and accessories 📈
Color options are uninspired ⚪
$749 at Amazon 🛒
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$800 at Target 🎯
$1,200 at HSN 📺
Since the M3 chip is the headline update, it warrants a closer look 🔍. Geekbench 6 benchmarks indicate that the M3-equipped Air delivers roughly a 16 percent boost in both single- and multi-core performance 📊. While impressive—especially considering the M2 model is less than a year old—this isn’t the kind of leap that radically alters the user experience. It does, however, offer a layer of future-proofing, which is always welcome ✨. In practical terms, the iPad Air breezed through my daily routine, handling multitasking, gaming 🎮, video transcoding, and various Apple Intelligence tasks without a single stutter.
Apple has been aggressive about equipping the Air and Pro lines with desktop-class silicon for years now 💻, ensuring that performance bottlenecks are virtually non-existent. Crucially, this new power hasn’t compromised endurance. I easily squeezed eight hours of battery life out of a workday with the Magic Keyboard attached 🔋, and pushed close to Apple’s promised 10 hours when sticking to video streaming and lighter tasks 🎬.
Apple has also addressed one of my primary grievances with the previous generation. The new Magic Keyboard ⌨️ is modeled after the superior version launched alongside the iPad Pro M4. It is lighter and thinner than its predecessor 🪶, features a larger trackpad, and finally includes a dedicated row of function keys 🔠. While these aren’t revolutionary changes, they significantly improve the typing experience. It does lack a few premium touches found on the Pro keyboard—the palm rest is plastic rather than aluminum, the keys lack backlighting, and the trackpad uses a physical click mechanism instead of haptics. However, priced at $269 for the 11-inch and $319 for the 13-inch, it is $30 cheaper than the model it replaces, though still objectively expensive 💰.
The iPad Pro M4 on the left and the iPad Air M3 on the right 📲. The iPad Pro’s keyboard has a slightly bigger trackpad.
In fact, the entire setup I’ve been testing commands a premium price 💎. A 13-inch iPad Air configured with 1TB of storage and 5G runs $1,449—before you even add the keyboard. That said, a similarly specced iPad Pro would set you back a staggering $2,099 without accessories 😲. The 13-inch Air’s starting price of $799 for 128GB feels reasonable by comparison, and the $599 11-inch model remains an excellent value, offering significant upgrades over the standard iPad 🏷️.
Given the similarities to last year’s model, I’ve been reflecting on the compromises Apple makes to keep the Air’s price in check, and whether those trade-offs still hold up in 2025 🕰️. The iPad Pro M4 holds several clear advantages over the Air M3: a stunning OLED display with a high refresh rate 🌟, increased base storage, a faster chip, superior audio hardware 🔊, Face ID, a thinner chassis, LiDAR, and advanced camera capabilities 🛰️. The Pro also offers exclusive options like nano-texture glass and 16GB of RAM on higher-tier models.
For the most part, I accept these as valid differentiators for a “Pro” device 💼. However, after extensive time with the Air, the screen stands out as a component in need of evolution. A viable solution already exists: the mini-LED technology used in the 2021 and 2022 iPad Pros. That display offered a 120Hz refresh rate (ProMotion) 💨 and achieved 1,000 nits of brightness for video—peaking at 1,600 nits for HDR 🔆. Even if standard brightness remained capped at 600 nits like the current Air, the visual upgrade for media consumption would be profound.
It is likely that Apple fears a high-refresh, mini-LED screen on the Air would cannibalize sales of the iPad Pro 📉, whose OLED panel remains arguably the best portable display on the market. Furthermore, since Apple never produced a mini-LED panel for the 11-inch form factor, bringing this tech to the smaller Air would require new manufacturing investment 🏗️.
Despite the business reasons against it, I believe the iPad Air deserves a better visual experience 👁️. Frankly, I would settle for the current panel if it just supported a higher refresh rate. While Apple guards 120Hz as a “Pro” feature, the market reality in 2025 is that many mid-range smartphones offer 90Hz or 120Hz displays 🤳. Apple, of course, rarely bows to industry peer pressure, maintaining strict segmentation across its lineup: the Air shares its screen tech with the MacBook Air, while the Pro iPads, MacBooks, and iPhones get the high refresh rates ⚖️. That is the current status quo, but it feels ripe for change.
To be fair, the iPad Air’s screen is still objectively good 👌. Apple has refined its LCD technology to its absolute limit, resulting in sharp resolution, vibrant color reproduction 🌈, and excellent viewing angles. While I can see that the blacks aren’t the inky voids of an OLED or mini-LED panel, it rarely detracts from the enjoyment of a movie or game 🕹️. Most users won’t be obsessing over contrast ratios while using it.
The 60Hz refresh rate, however, is more perceptible in daily use 👆. On a touch-first interface where you are constantly swiping and scrolling, the lack of fluidity is noticeable. Coming from a MacBook Pro, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPad Pro—all equipped with ProMotion—switching to the Air feels like a step backward in responsiveness 🔙. While Apple often ignores broader tech trends, sticking with 60Hz panels for premium products is becoming increasingly difficult to justify 😤.
My other significant grievance concerns Touch ID. In 2025, Face ID shouldn’t feel like a gatekept “Pro” luxury 👑. With the exception of the budget-friendly iPhone SE, every iPhone released since 2018 has included facial recognition. Yet, on the iPad, you must spend upwards of $1,000 to get it 💸. Touch ID is functional, but reaching for the top button to authenticate for work apps and websites is a friction point I could do without—especially when a camera is staring right at me 🤨. While this annoyance is amplified during a review period that requires constant logging in, Face ID simply feels like a standard feature that should no longer be exclusive to the most expensive tier.
For a detailed breakdown, my review from 10 months ago covers the nuances, but the summary remains consistent 📝. The Air is a definitive upgrade over the base iPad 🆙, justifying its cost with a better display, superior performance, and a more robust ecosystem of accessories. Furthermore, the 13-inch Air is the only pathway to a large-screen iPad experience that doesn’t require a mortgage payment 🏠. The improved keyboard is a welcome addition, and it’s a nice bonus that it is backward compatible with older Air models.
It is worth noting that the entry-level iPad, now with the A16 chip, has also improved ⚙️. Apple has corrected previous missteps, lowering the price, doubling the storage, and finally eliminating the clumsy Lightning charging method for the Pencil ⚡. For users who don’t prioritize Apple Intelligence features or advanced multitasking, saving $250 by choosing the standard iPad is a very sensible move 🧠.
However, for those seeking a more capable machine, the iPad Air remains as easy to recommend today as it was last year 👍. It delivers about 80 percent of the iPad Pro experience for significantly less money, and most users will never truly miss the features omitted to achieve that price point 🤝.
My primary caveat is that this iteration of the iPad Air feels like a placeholder—a polished stopgap before a more significant redesign 🛑. It reminds me of the 2022 iPad Pro, which moved from M1 to M2 with minor tweaks just 18 months before a massive overhaul. The M3 iPad Air seems to occupy a similar space, biding its time before a major refresh ⏳. I suspect it won’t be long before Apple updates the display technology 🔮. If you are particular about screen quality, it might be wise to wait another year to see if high refresh rates finally trickle down to the Air lineup 📅.
Infinix just expanded its hardware lineup, quietly dropping the new XPAD 30E tablet alongside the Note 60 smartphone series. 🚀 It’s a device clearly built with the classroom in mind, blending entry-level specs with a surprisingly robust suite of AI-driven educational features. 🏫✨
Display and Design 🎨
The tablet centers around an 11-inch FHD+ IPS LCD. 🖥️ While the 60Hz refresh rate is fairly standard for this price point, the TUV Blue Light certification is a welcome addition for students spending hours staring at a screen. 👓 It hits a peak brightness of 440 nits—plenty for indoor use—and comes in three distinct finishes: Dreamy Blue, Forest Green, and Deep Blue. 💙💚🌌
The AI Edge 🧠
What makes the XPAD 30E stand out isn’t the hardware, but the software. Infinix has bundled 120,000 free educational resources, including exercises and courses specifically aligned with school textbooks. 📚 The standout feature is the “AI Tutor,” which offers photo-based problem solving in nine languages, ranging from Indonesian and Turkish to specific English dialects used in India and Niger. 🌍✍️ There is also a “Tap to Ask” feature for English and Russian speakers, alongside broader tools for AI-assisted creation and screen recognition. 🤖🔍
#Infinix XPAD 30E
Performance and the Camera Mystery ⚙️🕵️♂️
Under the hood, the tablet runs XOS 15 (based on Android 15) powered by the MediaTek Helio G80 chipset. ⚡ According to the initial Shopee Indonesia listings, it comes equipped with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of eMMC 5.1 storage. 💾 If you need more room for files, there’s a microSD slot for expansion. 🃏
The camera situation is a little bit of a head-scratcher. 📷 While the primary marketing mentions an 8MP rear camera, the fine print in some listings fluctuates between 5MP and 8MP. On the front, however, you get a solid 8MP selfie camera optimized for landscape-mode video calls—perfect for virtual tutoring sessions. 🎥💻
Power and Connectivity 🔋📶
To keep things running through a full school day, Infinix tucked in a 7,000mAh battery. 🔋 It supports 18W charging, which is steady, if not particularly fast. 🔌 Connectivity is a strong suit here; unlike many budget tablets that are Wi-Fi only, the XPAD 30E supports 4G LTE with a physical SIM slot for data and calls on the go. 📡 It also features multi-device collaboration, allowing users to mirror screens or share data across phones and laptops. 📲💻 You’ll also find the essentials: Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth, and the ever-reliable 3.5mm headphone jack. 🎧
Pricing and Availability 💰📅
As of now, the 4GB/128GB model is retailing in Indonesia for Rp 2,394,000, which converts to roughly $148. 🇮🇩💵 While the tablet has already begun appearing in social media promotions and third-party retail sites, it hasn’t quite made it onto the official Infinix website yet. 📢 That should change in the coming days as the rollout continues. 🚀
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