Apple updated the iPad Air with an M2 processor back in May 2024, it didn’t change the design much, though it did introduce a larger 13-inch model. Now, less than a year later, there’s a new iPad Air, the M3 iPad Air.
2025 iPad Air M3 release date
- Pre-order the M3 iPad Air from Wednesday, March 4
- On sale from Wednesday, March 12
On March 3 Tim Cook tweeted a message that “this week” something is “in the Air”, suggesting a new product will launch soon, and indeed it did. One day later the M3 iPad Air was announced.
Alongside the iPad Air, another iPad wass expected to be updated. The standard iPad was expected to get an update to become the 11th gen iPad, we have more on that model in a separate article but the surprising thing is that the new standard iPad doesn’t support Apple Intelligence!
2025 iPad Air price: How much does the new iPad Air cost?
- 11-inch iPad Air starts at $599/£599
- 13-inch iPad Air starts at $799/£799
The price hasn’t changed from the previous generation.
| iPad Air model | U.S. | U.K. | Canada | Australia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11in, 128GB | $599 | £599 | $799 | $999 |
| 11in, 256GB | $699 | £699 | $949 | $1,199 |
| 11in, 512GB | $899 | £899 | $1,229 | $1,549 |
| 11in, 1TB | $1,099 | £1,099 | $1,509 | $1,899 |
| 13in, 128GB | $799 | £799 | $1,099 | $1,349 |
| 13in, 256GB | $899 | £899 | $1,249 | $1,549 |
| 13in, 512GB | $1,099 | £1,099 | $1,549 | $1,899 |
| 13in, 1TB | $1,299 | £1,299 | $1,209 | $2,249 |
Prices haven’t changed from the M2 iPad Air.
2024 was the first year Apple offers the iPad Air in two sizes.
2025 iPad Air features: New iPad Air specs
- A new M3 chip
As expected, the 2025 iPad Air is a chip upgrade without much else. Apple describes it as an M3 with a 8-core CPU and a 9-core GPU.
The M3 chip brings support for dynamic caching, along with hardware-accelerated mesh shading and ray tracing to the iPad Air.
Apple draws some comparisons with the M1 iPad Air from two generations ago, claiming that, for example, “M3 is up to 35 percent faster for multithreaded CPU workflows than iPad Air with M1”, and “40 percent faster graphics performance”. This isn’t a generational boost though.
The M3 isn’t without problems. There were numerous issues with the M3. In mid-January 2025, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said that he “wouldn’t be terribly surprised” if the 2024 iPad Air jumped to the M4. The M5 iPad Pro update isn’t expected until later in 2025.
We’ll update this article as more information becomes available. Until then, you should check out our best iPad Air deals, our best 10th-gen iPad deals and best iPad deals roundups to see if you can find a bargain on the current range.
Author: Karen Haslam, Managing Editor, Macworld
Karen has worked on both sides of the Apple divide, clocking up a number of years at Apple's PR agency prior to joining Macworld more than two decades ago. Karen's career highlights include interviewing Apple's Steve Wozniak and discussing Steve Jobs’ legacy on the BBC. Having edited the U.K. print and online editions of Macworld for many years, more recently her focus has been on SEO and evergreen content as well as product recommendations and buying advice.