Yesterday, Apple announced a number of new products including a new iPhone SE, a new monitor, a new Mac, and more. Today, I'm focused on the new iPad Air, the fifth generation of this device that debuted in 2013. This looks to be an excellent iPad Air, one that will be perfect for most attorneys. In fact, Apple did the same thing yesterday that the company did in 2020 when it announced the 4th generation iPad Air: Apple has created a mid-level iPad that is so powerful that it provides almost all of the advantages of the more expensive iPad Pro. There are some differences, and those differences will be important for certain types of users. But for many lawyers looking to get a new iPad, this is the one to get.
Design
The new iPad Air shares the same design as the 2020 iPad Air fourth generation, and that is great news. It includes a 10.9" screen, which is the traditional iPad size, and it weighs a pound, the traditional iPad weight. It has a flat edge that works with the wonderful second generation Apple Pencil. It works with the Magic Keyboard and other external keyboards. The power button includes a Touch ID sensor, so you unlock it with your fingerprint.
The new iPad features a USB-C connector. Unlike the USB 3.1 Gen 1 connector on the prior iPad Air that supported 5Gbps transfers, this one supports USB 3.1 Gen 2 and thus supports 10Gpbs transfers. That higher speed means that it works with the new 5K Studio Display that Apple announced yesterday, should you ever want to do so.
It comes in five colors: Space Gray, Starlight, Pink, Blue, and Purple.
Speed
The prior iPad Air included an A14 chip. That was an excellent processor when it was introduced in 2020, but Apple introduced a faster A15 processor in the iPhone 13 that was announced last September. I expected Apple to use the A15 in this iPad Air, but instead Apple used the M1—the same processor used in the iPad Pro and some models of the Mac. The M1 provides a little more performance than the A15.
Compared to the fourth generation iPad Air, Apple says that this new fifth generation iPad Air provides 60% faster performance and up to twice the graphics performance. Suffice it to say that this new iPad Air will be plenty fast and should seem very responsive for all of the typical tasks that attorneys will want to do with an iPad, even working with very large PDF documents.
Other improvements
The front-facing camera is a 12-megapixel Ultra Wide, up from the prior 7-megapixel camera. It also supports Center Stage, so if you walk around during a video conference or if someone else enters the frame with you, the iPad will zoom and pan to keep up, almost like you had a professional camera operator.
The new iPad also supports 5G, if you purchase the cellular model.
iPad Air versus iPad Pro
The iPad Pro is the most expensive iPad model, and it is the best overall iPad model. But given all of the power of the new iPad Air, which model is best for attorneys?
If you want the larger screen of the 12.9" iPad Pro, then you need to get the iPad Pro. I love that larger screen for reading documents, and the additional screen real estate means that there is enough space to run two apps at once without being too cramped. Plus, a larger tablet is wonderful for taking handwritten notes, watching videos, viewing webpages, etc. Yes, the larger iPad weighs more and takes up a little more space in your hand or a briefcase. However, it wasn't very long after I started using the 12.9" size that I realized that I would never want to go back to a smaller 11" size.
I could go on forever about why I love the 12.9" size, but there is also another extreme: the iPad mini with an 8.3" screen. For some uses, like simple reading, the iPad mini size is perfect. But for many attorneys, the mini is too small to get serious work done.
For most attorneys, 11" is the sweet spot between the 12.9" iPad Pro and the 8.3" iPad mini. If that applies to you, one other consideration is how much storage space you need on the iPad. The new iPad Air (like the prior model) comes in a 64GB size for $599 and a 256GB size for $749. (Add another $150 if you want a model that includes cellular.) I don't recommend the 64GB size for most attorneys because once you start to add a lot of large PDF files, pictures, videos, and other documents, you can easily run out of space. But the 256GB size is perfect for most attorneys. Of course, some attorneys will want even more space, and that's where the iPad Pro comes in with its 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB sizes. I use a 512GB model and I love never having to worry about running out of space. (Even with the large number of documents on my iPad Pro, I'm still only using 333GB out of the 512GB available.) But I'm sure that most attorneys will store far less than I do.
So let's say that you want the 11" size and you believe that 256GB is large enough—statements that I suspect would apply to the vast majority of lawyers. Then you need to choose between the $749 iPad Air or the $899 iPad Pro 11" (third generation) that was introduced in April 2021. Is it worth spending the additional $150 for the Pro model that is virtually the same size and the same storage capacity? Probably not. Here are the advantages of the iPad Pro so that you can decide for yourself.
- A slightly better version of 5G (if you get the cellular version) because the iPad Pro can support mmWave. I don't think that this matters for most folks because mmWave is still pretty rare, and you are likely to be using Wi-Fi most of the time.
- A slightly better USB-C connector that supports Thunderbolt/USB 4. Most attorneys will never notice the difference.
- A very slight difference in the display size: 11" instead of 10.9" because of a slightly thinner bezel. Unless the iPad Air and iPad Pro are side-by-side, I doubt you would ever notice the difference.
- A second camera on the back, a 10-megapixel Ultra Wide camera, with a flash, a LiDAR scanner for improved augmented reality (for apps that support it), and a few other minor improvements. Except for occasionally taking a picture of a physical document to convert it to a PDF, most attorneys have no need to take a picture or a video with an iPad. That's what the iPhone is for. So the better cameras on the iPad Pro won't make a difference.
- A slightly better display. While the iPad Air has up to 500 nits brightness, the 11" iPad Pro has up to 600 nits brightness. Note that there is a difference between the 11" iPad Pro and the 12.9" iPad Pro; the larger iPad Pro has 1000 nits brightness and can go up to 1600 nits for a portion of the screen, which makes a big difference. But I am assuming that you have already decided that the 11" size is right for you, so the 100 nits difference between the iPad Air and the 11" iPad Pro won't be very noticeable. All models of the iPad Pro also support ProMotion, which allows for a higher frame rate so that motion on the screen is smoother. This is a nice feature on the iPad Pro and it makes it a more premium product, but you can certainly live without it.
- Four speakers on the iPad Pro, versus two speakers on the iPad Air. More speakers sound better, but this isn't a big deal.
- Face ID on the iPad Pro, versus Touch ID on the iPad Air. Face ID is more convenient (if you are not wearing a mask), but this isn't a big deal.
I like Face ID. I like ProMotion. I like having four speakers. But I'd be lying if I said that any of those features made much of a difference to my law practice. You know what makes a huge difference when using an iPad in my law practice? My Apple Pencil, which costs $120 on Amazon. For most attorneys who want the 11" size and 256GB capacity, you should get the iPad Air and use the $150 savings over the iPad Pro to purchase an Apple Pencil. A new iPad Air with an Apple Pencil is the perfect combination for annotating documents, taking notes, and more.
Conclusion
For attorneys like me who want a larger iPad, the 12.9" iPad Pro is the way to go. But for just about everyone else, I think that the new iPad Air with 256GB is the best iPad for a law practice. The impressive M1 processor will make this device incredibly responsive, the size and weight are great, the support for the second generation Apple Pencil is fantastic, and it will work with lots of accessories such as Bluetooth headphones, speakers, and keyboards, Apple's own Magic Keyboard, USB-C peripherals, etc. I'm very happy that Apple introduced this product, and a huge number of attorneys are going to love using it.
You can pre-order the new iPad Air starting at 8am Eastern on Friday, March 11, and the new iPad Air will ship and will be available in stores starting Friday, March 18.