iPad Air (2022) vs iPad Air (2020): Which tablet should you buy?

By Jason Murdock

Published: Monday, 04 April 2022 at 12:00 am

If you want to buy a mid-range Apple iPad, two of your best options right now are the new iPad Air (5th gen) and its predecessor, the iPad Air (4th gen).

The Air series is for anyone who finds the iPad mini too compact but doesn’t need the powerful performance offered by the pricier iPad Pro. It sits in the middle of the tablet family, and serves as a great balance between those two siblings. 

The 4th generation iPad Air, which first came out in October 2020, is still on sale despite being recently succeeded by the new 5th gen model in March 2022. 

At the majority of UK retailers, the iPad Air 4th gen has been discounted in price from £549 to £499 while stocks last. Apple has stopped selling the Air 4 in favour of the new model – which starts at £569 – but both remain available to buy at other stores, including Amazon, Currys, Very, Argos, AO and John Lewis.

That means anyone who is shopping for a new iPad Air has a choice to make: old or new? The same goes for anyone with a 2020-era iPad Air who is thinking about upgrading: is it worth it? To find out, let’s compare the specs of each model. 

We have been hands-on with both iOS tablets, so for an in-depth verdict here’s our Apple iPad Air 5th gen review and Apple iPad Air 4th gen review.

Want to read more about the latest Apple products? Here’s our iPhone 13 review, iPhone 13 mini review, iPhone 13 Pro review and iPhone 13 Pro Max review. Are you shopping for smartphone add-ons? Don’t miss our guides to the best iPhone accessories, the best smartphone tripods and the best portable chargers.

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Key differences at a glance

The two iPad Air models have more in common than they do apart, especially in the looks department, but there are of course a couple of key differences: 

  • iPad Air 5th gen comes with the latest M1 chip, while the 2020 iPad Air 4th gen has an A14 Bionic chip – the same as found in the iPhone 12.
  • iPad Air 5th gen has a 12MP (megapixel) ultra wide “selfie” camera, while the iPad Air 4th gen has a 7MP FaceTime HD camera. 
  • iPad Air 5th gen supports 5G connectivity for faster internet speeds and downloads, while the iPad Air 4th gen is 4G LTE cellular only. 

Design

The latest 2022 iPad Air is a fantastic tablet, there’s no doubt. But it has managed to win that award not by overhauling its design or specs on a grand scale, but by adding iterative updates under the hood. In other words, the iPad Air 4th gen was already great; the new version is now slightly better. Put them side by side and it’s likely that most, if not all, people would struggle to tell them apart. 

Both are 247.6 mm in height, 178.5 mm in width and have a thickness of 6.1 mm – although the new iPad Air is ever-so-slightly heavier. Both have a 10.9-inch LED backlit display, the same build materials and receive power via a USB-C port. 

The 2022 model has five colours: Space Grey, Starlight, Pink, Purple and Blue. The 2020 model also comes in five colours: Grey, Rose Gold, Silver, Blue and Green. 

Specs and features

The major upgrade with the new model is the M1 chip, which boosts performance speeds by about 60 per cent compared to the 2020 model, according to Apple. 

On top of that, the iPad Air 5 now comes with 5G, and the USB-C port has up to 2x faster transfer speeds. The majority of features are found via iPadOS 15, which is on both models so there is no difference in what the tablets can do day-to-day but the newer model may just complete some tasks a little faster and smoother. 

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The iPad Air (4th generation) line-up.
Apple

Price

The iPad Air 5th gen is the more recent tablet, so it costs more. The 2020 model is not what we would describe as being affordable, but it is now being discounted by around £50-£70 at various UK retailers. The new iPad Air 5 model starts from £569. 

iPad Air 5th gen pricing: 

  • 64GB WiFi: £569 
  • 64GB Cellular: £719
  • 256GB WiFi: £719
  • 256GB Cellular: £869

iPad Air 4th gen pricing: 

  • 64GB WiFi: £499
  • 64GB Cellular: £709
  • 256GB WiFi: £629
  • 256GB Cellular: £749

Storage

Both iPad Air models come with two storage sizes: 64GB and 256GB. They come in as Wi-Fi only or Wi-Fi cellular. Only the new 5th gen supports 5G networks. 

Battery life

iPad battery life will depend on how much the device is being used throughout the full day. As a guide, Apple measures how long the tablets can browse the web on Wi-Fi or watch videos to demonstrate roughly how each performs. 

Spoiler alert: they are the same, with the Air 5th gen, Air 4th gen and and the Pro models all having “up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi or watching video” and “up to nine hours of surfing the web using a mobile data network”.

Camera

The two iPad Air tablets have the same back cameras, consisting of a 12MP wide single camera set-up at the back that has a digital zoom of up to 5x, alongside the ability to shoot 4K video at 24 fps, 25 fps, 30 fps or 60 fps. The main difference is the front selfie camera, which is 12MP on the 5th gen and 7MP on the 4th.

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Display

Whether it’s drawing a sketch using the Apple Pencil 2 or watching a new Netflix show you get the same display on both tablets. It’s a 10.9-inch Liquid Retina (LED backlit) IPS display with True Tone, which adjusts the brightness based on your surroundings. They have 2360×1640 resolution and approximately 500 nits of brightness. 

5G connectivity

The iPad Air 5th gen has 5G, while the previous model does not. In terms of wider connectivity, both of the tablets have Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi 6 and built-in GPS. 

Verdict: which should you buy? 

As you could probably tell from this comparison, the iPad Air 5th gen is similar to the iPad Air 4th gen. They have more in common than not. Both slates look the same, have the same display, same rear camera and compatibility with accessories including the Magic Keyboard, Smart Keyboard Folio case and Apple Pencil 2. 

There are some key differences, however: the new model has 5G, a better selfie camera set-up but, crucially, it comes with the same M1 chip found in the pricier iPad Pro. The slightly older iPad Air is currently about £70 more affordable. 

So here’s the bottom line: If you can afford it, we recommend buying the new iPad Air. Performance is better than ever thanks to Apple’s M1 chip, it’s future-proofed with the 5G connectivity, and the front-facing camera gives you more clarity when on video calls. The design of the tablet remains attractive and premium, and the same on both, so if you do need to save money, the iPad Air 4th gen remains a top buy.

Where to buy the iPad Air 5th gen: 

Where to buy the iPad Air 4th gen: 

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