After a few years without any major updates, Apple has just announced that its iPad Air and iPad Pro tablet models are getting refreshed with improved performance, more sizes, lighter weights, more storage, optimised displays and revamped accessories.
We know there’s a lot of information to sift through whenever new tech comes out, and that’s why we’re here to let you know what’s worth your attention with these new models. We were lucky enough to take an inperson look at the new iPads at an event in London too, so we’re wellplaced to highlight the key features you’ll care about.
The new iPad Air (2024): it’s bigger, faster and more versatile
While the “Air” moniker may have once indicated that this model was the lightest iPad, we think it’s now best to view it as the standard model for most people who want something more advanced than the basic entrylevel iPad, but don’t need the features of the iPad Pro.
In that way, it’s a lot like the MacBook Air of the iPad range. We’ve used an iPad Air as our main entertainment device for the last few years, and we also used it to plan holiday itineraries, write notes and edit photos.
Apple iPad Air (2024): The important details
The iPad Air’s new version adds several previously exclusive features to the iPad Pro, making it a terrific option for most shoppers. Here are our key takeaways from the announcement:
- You can now buy the iPad Air in a bigger 13inch size as well as the existing 11inch form factor. The much bigger display is excellent for fitting more people on a big FaceTime call, watching movies in fullscreen on streaming services, viewing photo albums and for splitscreen multitasking. It’s 30% larger than the 11inch one.
- It features an M2 processor, the same chip that’s available in the futuristic and immersive Apple Vision Pro headset and that’s in the last version of the iPad Pro. This is the brains of the tablet, and it’s 50% faster than the iPad Air with the M1 chip.
- The frontfacing 12MP camera is now positioned on the landscape edge, which is a far better placement for video calls, compared to when it was placed at the top of the tablet when held in a portrait orientation.
- The new iPad Air supports the upgraded Apple Pencil Pro and the USBC Apple Pencil, but it doesn’t support the same stylus as the old iPad Air, so some users may need to look at upgrading their pencil. This is the same when it comes to the Magic Keyboard cover.
- The 11inch model maintains the same price but has an increased default storage size by going up to 128GB, which we think is great news for storing more files, photos and videos on the device. You can also buy it with 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of storage on the slate.
Apple iPad Air (2024): Available colours
The new iPad Air comes in Blue, Purple, Starlight and Space Grey.
The 2022 version of the iPad Air also came in a Pink colour that isn’t available for this model.
Apple iPad Air (2024): UK price
- The new 11inch iPad Air starts at £599, the same price as the 2022 version of the iPad Air.
- The new 13inch iPad Air costs more for the larger screen – its price starts at £799, and at this price, you may want to consider the older 2022 Apple iPad Pro with the M2 processor, which you may now be able to find with a lower price tag.
Where to preorder iPad Air in the UK
There are a couple of retailers where you can preorder the new iPad already ahead of the 15 May release date – we’ll add information for more as we find them:
The new iPad Pro (2024): now with a new display, faster processor and super thin design
For most users, the advanced features of the iPad Pro might be overkill for limited computing needs. That’s why we recommend the Prolevel optimisations of the iPad Air so much, it’s the best balance between the two.
But, if only the best will do, or you’re buying an iPad as a gift for someone who uses highend design software, does photo or video editing, plays graphicsintensive games, or is an illustrator or 3D designer, we’d recommend looking closely at the refreshed iPad Pro.
Apple iPad Pro (2024): The important details
- The design is the most headlinegrabbing feature of the upgraded iPad Pro, as it’s now thinner than ever – and Apple’s thinnest product yet – advertised as thinner than the minuscule iPod Nano. The 11inch is only 5.3mm thin, while the 13inch is thinner still at 5.1mm. We were highly impressed by how sleek this design is when we saw these.
- These are the first iPads ever that feature OLED display technology, which helps them to deliver deeper black levels and more vibrant colours with high brightness. Apple calls this the Ultra Retina XDR and it looks stunning. This upgrade makes this an excellent choice if you want to be impressed by cinemaworthy visuals.
- We think it’s worth noting that this is available with a nanotexture glass option for greatly reduced glare. But, this will cost more and is only available on higher storage sizes – it’s intended for photographers and videographers who’ll make the most use of this tech.
- This has the most upgraded M4 processor inside, for much faster performance that can outpace loads of laptops and tablets from most brands and even Apple itself. All you need to know is that for most users, M1 and M2 are more than enough, but M4 is much faster, more efficient and more capable for 3D object rendering, gaming and ondevice AI (artificial intelligence) tasks.
- Like on the iPad Air, the front camera on the Pro is also now placed in the landscape orientation. It also has an upgraded rear camera for better document scanning that can remove shadows when you’re scanning paperwork and receipts.
- And, like the Air, it also supports the impressive new Apple Pencil Pro and Magic Keyboard – more on those below.
Apple iPad Pro (2024): Available colours
The new Apple iPad Pro models come in either Silver or Space Black. That means you can no longer get it in a “Space Grey” finish, although we’d guess that in practice, this is very similar to the Space Black.
Apple iPad Pro (2024) UK price
- The new 11inch iPad Pro (2024) starts at £999 and costs £1,199 if you want the model with cellular connectivity.
- The new 13inch iPad Pro (2024) starts at £1,299. This goes up to £1,499 for the one that can connect to cellular networks. It’s worth noting that these cellular models appear to no longer have a SIM card tray, with Apple advertising eSIM support only and mentioning incompatibility with physical SIM cards.
Where to preorder iPad Pro (2024) in the UK
We’ve rounded up the UK retailers where there is likely to be availability for iPad Pro preorders, including Apple itself, ahead of the official release date of 15 May.
The new iPad accessories: a refreshed keyboard and Apple Pencil
As you’ve inevitably gathered, Apple has added new accessories to use with its new iPad Air and iPad Pro too.
The new Magic Keyboard
Apple has also unveiled new keyboards to go along with its upgraded iPads. From our perspective, the keyboard attachment is an essential companion that helps the iPad feel a bit more like a laptop and is ideal for productivity, students and notetakers.
The new keyboard cover is slimmer and lighter, with a larger trackpad, aluminium wrist rest and a proper function row of keys that makes it much more useful. While we’ve seen it, we’re excited to try this out for ourselves, as the powerful keyboard together with an iPad can end up being more affordable than a laptop, and just as capable depending on what you need the computer for.
There are different versions of the new keyboard for the iPad Air (starting at £299 for the 11inch size) and the iPad Pro (also starting at £299). Versions of the keyboard for the 13inch iPads are both £349, and no matter where you buy from, it’s important to check for a British English layout.
While understandable given the changed designs, it is a shame that older Magic Keyboards will not be compatible with these new iPads. This is important to note if you’re upgrading and already have this accessory.
The new Apple Pencil Pro
Artists, notetakers and brainstormers are delighted that Apple has added several features to a brandnew version of its stylus, now called the Apple Pencil Pro.
This one has haptic feedback so it vibrates subtly to give you a physical response in use, it has squeeze controls so that you can bring up a palette of pencil controls right on the screen near where you’re drawing or writing, and it responds to “barrel roll” so you can roll the pencil for different effects, just as you would with a real pen or pencil.
The Apple Pencil lineup does still seem a bit more confusing than it needs to be, but the simplest way we can explain it is that there are two pencils (a simple one and an advanced one) for each iPad available:
- The entrylevel iPad (10th generation) supports the original Apple Pencil (1st generation) or Apple Pencil (USBC)
- The iPad mini supports either the Apple Pencil (USBC) or Apple Pencil (2nd generation)
- The new iPad Air supports the Apple Pencil (USBC) and the new Apple Pencil Pro
- Just like the Air, the new iPad Pro supports the Apple Pencil (USBC) and the new Apple Pencil Pro
The newer models, though, don’t work with the Apple Pencil (2nd generation) as it won’t support the newly designed magnetic pairing and charging mechanism for these iPads.
Simon Cocks is our Technology Ecommerce Editor, overseeing tech shopping content and strategy across a range of titles including Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Digital Spy and more.
Simon specialises in testing the latest smart gadgets, home entertainment gear, headphones, speakers, charging kit and smartphones.
Previously, Simon was part of Good Housekeeping’s Consumer Affairs Team, conducting price comparison research, writing detailed advice guides and editing thousands of indepth reviews for the Good Housekeeping Institute.
When not testing out the latest gizmos, you’ll find Simon either catching up with the newest releases at his local cinema or out shooting with his beloved compact camera.
You can follow Simon on Instagram at @simonrcocks and on Twitter at @simoncocks.