Apple iPad Air 13 (2024) review – Big Screen Power at a Not-So-Big Price

For the first time, you can get an affordable (for an Apple device) iPad with a large 13-inch display. Before that, the big-screen tablet experience was only possible with the Pro models. The Apple iPad Air 13 (2024) is meant for the masses. It has a sizable high-res display, it looks modern and well-built. To achieve a lower price, the manufacturer has to cut corners here and there. That’s why this gadget is powered by the not-so-new M2 SoC with an 8-core CPU plus a 9-core GPU. However, this combo is still potent enough for normal tasks. Compared to the predecessor, the connectivity is updated to WiFi 6E + Bluetooth 5.3 standards.

Expectedly, there is no sign of OLED displays here but on the bright side, the IPS panel is PWM-free which is very important for users with sensitive eyes who want to own a tablet with a panel that doesn’t flicker.

You can rely on 12MP snappers on the front and the back. The main one is capable of 4K@60FPS video recording. The tablet supports Apple Pencil Pro and Magic Keyboard. On the flip side, with these two the end price reaches the one of the base Apple MacBook Air (13″, M3) – ouch!

This 13-incher isn’t perfect since you don’t get Thunderbolt and Face ID support. However, it looks up to date and feels fast for daily usage.

You can check the current price of Apple iPad Air 13 (2024) here: Buy from Amazon.com (#CommissionsEarned)

Contents

Specs Sheet, What’s in the box

What’s in the box?

Inside the compact box, we found the tablet itself, some manuals, and a USB‑C Charge Cable. The 20W USB‑C Power Adapter was not included in the package.

Design and construction

No surprises here, the iPad Air 13 (2024) looks clean like any other Apple tablet thanks to the rounded edges and decently small camera bulge on the back. The device is available in Blue, Purple, Starlight, and Space Gray color options.

Except for the display and its thick-ish bezels, the rest is made of aluminum. The build quality is solid. The panel has antireflective coating which is handy while using the device outside your home.

The surface of the back doesn’t easily pick up fingerprints while the smudges on the display are clearly visible after 10 minutes of work.

Ports

On the left, there are no ports, and the right side houses the Magnetic connector and the Volume buttons.

On the top, we can spot a pair of speaker grills and the Power button that doubles as a Touch ID sensor. We can see another duo of speaker grills and a USB Type-C 3.1 (Gen 2) connector at the bottom. The USB port has charging and DisplayPort capabilities (for up to 6K@60Hz external displays).

Display and Sound Quality

Apple iPad Air 13 (2024) is equipped with an IPS „Liquid Retina display“ Touch display. It comes with a 90Hz refresh rate. Its diagonal is 13.0″ (33 cm), and the resolution – 2732 х 2048p.

The screen ratio is 4:3, the pixel density – 263 ppi, and their pitch – 0.1 x 0.1 mm. It can be considered “Retina” when viewed from at least13.0″ (33 cm) – this is based on the pixel density and the typical viewing distance at which individual pixels cannot be distinguished by the human eye.

Viewing angles are good. We offer images at different angles to evaluate the quality.

Also, a video with locked focus and exposure.

The maximum measured brightness is 600 nits (cd/m2). The maximum measured brightness in a full-screen browser window is 501 cd/m2 („True Tone“ Off). The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen and at maximum brightness is 6780K („True Tone“ Off), and the contrast ratio – 1550:1.

In the illustration below you can see how the display performs from a uniformity perspective. The illustration below shows how matters are for operational brightness levels (approximately 180 nits).

To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction to the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. To start, there’s the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye, giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy.

Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that is being used by millions of people on HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors, etc for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook.

Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios, as well as the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s difficult for today’s displays to cover that well. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day.

The yellow dotted line shows Apple iPad Air 13 (2024) ‘s color gamut coverage.

Its display covers 100% of the sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976, and 100% of Display-P3.

Response time (Gaming capabilities)

We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “black-to-white” and “white-to-black” method from 10% to 90% and vice versa обратно (these terms refer to the time it takes for pixels to change from one color to another (black to white and back to black in this case), a shorter time reduces picture blur with fast moving images).

We recorded Fall Time + Rise Time = 21 ms.

After that, we test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “Gray-to-Gray” method from 50% White to 80% White and vice versa between 10% and 90% of the amplitude.

Health Impact: PWM (Screen flickering)

Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is an easy way to control monitor brightness. When you lower the brightness, the light intensity of the display is not lowered, but instead turned off and on by the electronics with a frequency indistinguishable to the human eye. In these light impulses, the light/no-light time ratio varies, while brightness remains unchanged, which is harmful to your eyes. You can read more about that in our dedicated article on PWM.

Apple iPad Air 13 (2024)’s display doesn’t flicker at any brightness level. This makes the screen pretty comfortable for long periods of use.

Health Impact: Screen Reflectance

Glossy-coated displays are sometimes inconvenient in high ambient light conditions. We show the level of reflection on the screen for the respective laptop when the display is turned off and the measurement angle is 60°.

The iPad Air 13 has a reflectance of 67.5 GU.

High Gloss: >70 GU
Medium Gloss: 30 – 70 GU
Low Gloss: <30 GU

Sound

Apple iPad Air 13 (2024)’s speakers produce a sound of relatively good quality. However, the low, mid, and high tones all have some slight deviations from clarity.

Benchmarks, Camera

Camera

The back 12MP camera takes adequate photos. The resolved quality is good enough for social media. The cat’s fur in the pictures below is decently detailed.

Performance: CPU, GPU

CPU options

The M2 SoC outscores the well-cooled Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 in the Lenovo Legion Tab (TB320FC), at least when it comes to Geekbench 6.

GPU options

The 9-core M2 GPU has the upper hand in 3DMark Wildlife Extreme and 3DMark Wildlife Nomad Light compared to the Adreno 730 in the Lenovo Legion Tab (TB320FC).

Stress test stability, Battery Life

After 20 loops of 3DMark Wild Life, the performance remains the same – thumb up!

Comfort during full load

During long loads such as gaming, the area around the front camera reaches just 41°C – nothing to worry about.

Battery

On a single charge, the battery has enough juice for 13 hours and 21 minutes of video playback. That’s a respectable score considering the snappy hardware and the 2048p screen!

Verdict

The Apple iPad Air 13 (2024) is a very capable tablet for daily usage. Yes, the M2 SoC isn’t that new but the overall performance is good. We didn’t experience any system hiccups or stutters while browsing the Web or gaming. Depending on your preferences, the IPS display can be a pro or con for some of you. Let’s start with the positives – no PWM usage! Also, the panel reaches 600 nits of max brightness and it covers filly even the Display-P3 gamut. Also, the viewing angles are good. On the other hand, if you want an infinite contrast ratio and a brighter panel, you could take a look at the more expensive Pro sibling with an OLED screen.

Now, you can transform this tablet into a small PC if you buy the Magic Keyboard which is pretty costly extra. On the other hand, this is the first time when the end user can pick a mid-range Apple tablet with such a big screen. The gadget is well-built and pretty comfortable to hold in hand thanks to the low weight.

The comfort under stress is fine, the hotspot is located around the front camera. Still, we measured a surface temperature of 41°C which is normal.

The Apple iPad Air 13 (2024) can impress a lot of users with its 90Hz PWM-free IPS display, long battery life, quality aluminum build, and good performance for everyday usage.

You can check the current price of Apple iPad Air 13 (2024) here: Buy from Amazon.com (#CommissionsEarned)

Author: Nikolay Palaozov

Author: Kroum NikolovHead of Engineering at LaptopMedia.com, inventor and innovator with 40+ years of experience in electronics and high technology.

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