Apple launches new iPad Air with powerful M3 chip for more AI capabilities

Apple has launched a new version of its iPad Air in a bid to spur upgrades among consumers. The latest release is enhanced with an M3 chip, artificial intelligence capabilities, and a new magic keyboard. 

Apple noted that the line-up price for the iPad Air, which will be available from March 12, starts at $599 and $799 for the 11-inch and 13-inch models respectively.

During the announcement via a press release dated March 4, Bob Borchers, Apple’s Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing noted that the iPad Air is popular because of its unmatched combination of powerful performance, portability, and support for advanced accessories.

“For everyone from college students taking notes with Apple Pencil Pro, to travellers and content creators who need powerful productivity on the go, iPad Air with M3, Apple Intelligence, and the new Magic Keyboard take versatility and value to the next level,” he added. 

The company noted that while it has updated the regular iPad with double the storage for the base variant and the A16 chip, the product will not support Apple Intelligence.

According to Reuters, the company’s iPad sales came in at $8.1 billion for the holiday quarter, above estimates of $7.3 billion where over half of the sales in the three-month period were from customers who were new to iPad.

Similar Read: Apple records an all-time high revenue of $124.3 billion for quarter ending Dec 2024

iPad Air M3 chip vs others

The new iPad Air with M3 chip gains momentum as against the previous model in the following comparison:

• Performance: Taking its incredible combination of power-efficient performance and portability to a new level, the iPad Air M3 is nearly 2x faster compared to the iPad Air M1 and M2 and up to 3.5x faster than the iPad Air with A14 Bionic. The M3 chip makes it possess incredible speed as it creates engaging content faster than ever to play demanding and graphics-intensive games. 

• More powerful CPU: The powerful M3 chip is featured with a more powerful 9-core CPU compared to the 8-core in M2 and M1. M3 is up to 35 per cent faster for multithreaded CPU workflows.

• Graphics intensive: iPad Air M3 offers up to 4x faster performance than iPad Air with M1 and M2, enabling more accurate lighting, reflections, shadows, and extremely realistic gaming experiences.

• Advanced AI Capability: The faster neural engine in M3 means that it has more AI capabilities in iPadOS. Compared to other models, the neural engine in M3 is up to 60 per cent faster for AI-based workloads. 

• Magic Keyboard: Though this feature is present in the previous model, the inclusion of the M3 chip in this model enhances its versatility and ability to deliver more capabilities. The new Magic Keyboard attaches magnetically, and the Smart Connector immediately connects power and data without the need for Bluetooth; a machined aluminium hinge also includes a USB-C connector for charging.

• Enhanced Camera Capability: The M3 chip supports more advanced camera features, such as improved low-light performance and enhanced video recording.

Apple’s recent performances

For a while, Apple has been equipping its devices with more powerful chips designed to handle AI tasks, such as summoning ChatGPT to answer user queries. The effort stems from Apple’s aim to attract customers and keep pace with rivals including Samsung Electronics and China’s Huawei Technologies that are racing to embed AI into their products.

In May 2024, Apple introduced a generation of iPad Air with an M2 chip which it claimed to be 50 per cent faster than the previous generation. The version was made available in both 11 and 13-inch structures. 

Last month, the company launched iPhone 16e by lowering the entry barrier for its phones with Apple Intelligence to around $600 to win back customers looking to buy mid-range phones in key markets such as India. 

Apple Intelligence is a set of features with access to ChatGPT that lets users write emails, and messages and edit photos among other capabilities. Apple Intelligence helps users explore creative new ways to express themselves visually with Image Playground, create the perfect emoji with Genmoji, and make their writing even more dynamic with writing tools.

The company has been rolling out a suite of AI features in more languages and regions in phases although Apple Intelligence was not immediately available when the iPhone 16 series was launched in September 2024. 

The cool run extended to its financial outlook as Apple reported an all-time revenue high of $124.3 billion for the first quarter of 2025 ended December 28, 2024, representing a 4 per cent YoY increase. The iPhone maker revealed that its services such as App Store, iCloud, Music, TV+, and other subscriptions generated $100 billion in revenue over the past year. 

Apple also reported having more than 1 billion subscriptions across its services, including through third-party apps in the App Store with its paid accounts and subscriptions both growing by double digits year over year.