Tablets

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Apple iPad Air (5th Generation) £569

In a move predicted by next to no one, Apple has decided to cram into the Air’s supremely slim and lightweight chassis the awesomely powerful M1 processor.

That processor features in the company’s desktop Macs and MacBooks, as well as the iPad Pro (11-inch and 12.9-inch versions) – and that makes the iPad Air 5th Generation now the most affordable M1-powered product you can buy. According to Apple, it’s now 60 per cent faster than the previous iPad Air in terms of CPU performance, and twice as powerful from a graphics perspective.

The intention is clearly to make the Air a sort of iPad Pro Lite that will satisfy the creative types for whom the full-fat Pro models are expensive overkill. But what’s in it for those of us whose interests lie primarily in the consumption of the creative endeavours of others?

The screen and speakers are the same as the iPad Air 4’s: the same two-speaker sound system as its predecessor, as well as the same display, with no changes to size (10.9 inches), resolution (2360 x 1640), pixel density (264ppi) or peak brightness (a quoted 500 nits).

While it might seem disappointing that there’s been no obvious upgrades here, there’s simply nothing to complain about with the picture quality. The image is supremely authentic and natural, with an unquestionable colour balance, oodles of detail and crisp definition. Motion is handled adeptly without any hint of active processing and blacks, while not OLED-inky, are plenty deep enough and packed with detail. There’s a satisfying HDR punch to the sundrenched exterior scenes, despite the 500 nits limit to the brightness, and plenty of dramatic contrast.

The changes in the audio department are even more slight. But again it’s hard to complain, because the iPad Air was already an excellent-sounding tablet.

So aside from the new processor and front-facing camera (from 7MP to 12MP), it’s pretty much business as usual – a