iPad Air 2022 release date: Apple announces powerful new 5th generation tablet

By George Storr

Published: Tuesday, 08 March 2022 at 12:00 am

Apple announced its latest tablet — the 5th generation iPad Air — during the company’s 8th March event. It slots into the middle of the existing iPad line-up, with plenty of features and some eye-catching new additions.

Foremost among those additions is probably the addition of Apple’s M1 chip. This makes the new iPad Air a seriously powerful tablet that’s ideal for a huge range of creative tasks, from video and sound editing, to sketching and 4K filming.

We named this tablet’s predecessor, the fourth-gen iPad Air, as the best mid-range iPad to buy in our best iPad round-up. The new iteration is about to take its place in that regard, taking the mid-range crown for itself.

Follow our Apple event live blog for the latest news and announcements.

Now, with an updated tablet arriving on the market, Apple fans have a wider selection of go-to tablets, but choosing which one to purchase got that little bit trickier. Read on for more info, plus some buying advice from the RadioTimes.com tech team.

iPad Air (5th gen) release date

The latest iPad sees a full release on 18th March but pre-orders are available from this Friday.

The all-new iPad Air is available in both WiFi and cellular, from £659 and £719 respectively. It’s also available with either 64GB or 256GB of storage.

Shop the full iPad range:

iPad Air (5th gen) specs and features

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The 4th generation iPad Air was powered by Apple’s A14 Bionic chip. It delivered some pretty impressive performance and we thoroughly enjoyed testing it in our Apple iPad Air (2020) review.

It was fast and responsive, with a display that’s wonderful to use for a wide variety of tasks and activities. Plus, the compatibility with Apple pencil really widened the potential uses of the iPad Air, turning it into a wonderful platform for artists and creative work, or for simpler applications like annotating documents.

Now, with the new 5th gen iPad Air, a few new features have been added and everything looks just as crisp and well presented as we’ve come to expect from Apple.

Firstly — and most importantly — the new iPad Air comes with Apple’s M1 chip, also found in the iPad Pro. It’s a remarkably efficient chip and gives the iPad Air (2022) some impressive capabilities.

For example, the iPad Air’s 12MP ultra-wide camera is likely to be able to deliver much better photography than many other 12MP cameras, thanks to the AI backup enabled by that M1 chip. Similarly, the iPad’s AI capabilities allow it to make use of ‘Centre Stage’ — Apple’s auto-framing video mode, which was introduced when the iPhone 13 was unveiled. Overall, Apple claims the CPU is 60% faster.

Notably, the new iPad Air is compatible with the second-generation Apple Pencil, making it an even more versatile device.

iPad Air (5th gen) design

When it comes to iPads, Apple rarely surprises us with the design — and guess what? This new iPad Air looks pretty much like an iPad. No shocks there then.

Joking aside, it’s a sleek, well-made device, as we’ve come to expect from the US tech giant. It’s got a good-sized display for streaming, the typical iPad camera lens on the reverse and those signature flat panels. Take a look at another image of the newest iPad below.

The camera on the reverse is relatively small and un-intrusive, especially considering its ability to shoot 4K video and — seemingly — take remarkably clear photographs.

How to buy iPad Air (5th gen)

As mentioned earlier, the new iPad Air won’t be available for pre-order purchasing until Friday.

Shop the full iPad range:

For more on your favourite Apple products, why not check out our iPhone 13 review or take a look at our rundown of the best Apple Watch.

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