Apple’s M3 iPad Air Benchmarks Confirm Speed Boost | Image Source: www.apple.com
CUPERTINO, California, March 07, 2025 – The new Apple Air iPad, with the powerful M3 chip, has started to make waves as the first reference results confirm significant performance gains on its predecessor. With the latest Geekbench 6 surface scores, the iPad Air M3 shows an 18% improvement in multicore processor performance compared to the previous M2 model. While Apple fans enthusiastically anticipate new tests on the premium ultra M3 chip, these preliminary results have set the stage for a convincing update on the Apple tablet line.
How fast is the M3 iPad Air?
The first set of Geekbench 6 results for the iPad Air M3 shows an average CPU multi-core score of 11,605. In comparison, the latest generation iPad Air with the M2 chip scored about 9,817. This results in an increase of about 18% in performance, which closely reflects previous expectations based on the M3.
For the context, the M3 chip was introduced into the Apple MacBook line last year, offering a 20% increase in multicore performance on the M2. iPad Air’s latest reference results indicate similar performance improvements, ensuring a remarkable increase in speed for users involved in demanding tasks such as video editing, playback and multitasking.
New iPad Apple Air: What’s changed?
In addition to performance improvements, Apple introduced the M3 iPad Air in two sizes: 11 inches and 13 inches, offering users more flexibility. The device retains the elegant design of its predecessor, but now has support for Apple Intelligence, thanks to its improved neural motor.
According to Apple, the M3 chip includes an 8-core processor and a 9-core processor, which delivers up to 35% faster multi-wire processor performance than the M1-driven iPad Air. Graphic performance sees an even bigger jump, with up to 40% improvement on the M1, providing features such as ray tracking and dynamic cache at iPad Air for the first time.
Apple Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing, Bob Borchers, stressed the importance of the update:
“iPad Air is so popular because of its unparalleled combination of performance, portability and support for advanced accessories, all at an affordable price. “
In addition, the iPad Air now supports the new magic keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro, improving its productivity capabilities.
How is M3 iPad Air compared to M1 and A16 models?
Apple states that the iPad Air M3 is almost twice as fast as the M1 model and up to 3.5 times faster than the iPad Air A14 Bionic@-@ powered. The M3 also introduces the accelerated ray collection, offering softer graphics and more realistic lighting in games and professional rendering applications.
Meanwhile, Apple has also updated its input level iPad with the A16 chip, doubling its initial storage to 128 GB. However, despite the speed improvements, the iPad A16 does not support Apple Intelligence, now some of the most advanced features of the M series.
What are the details of price and availability?
The new iPad Air with M3 starts at $599 for the 11-inch Wi-Fi model and $799 for the 13-inch variant. The Wi-Fi + Cellular models start at $749 and $949 respectively. Apple maintains the price of education slightly lower, with the 11-inch model of $549 and the 13-inch version of $749.
Customers can order the new iPad Air now, with shipments and in-store availability on March 12. The updated Magic Keyboard for iPad Air starts at $269 for the 11-inch model and $319 for the 13-inch version. Apple Pencil Pro, compatible with the new iPad Air, has a price of $129.
And then what? The M3 Ultra Benchmark expected
While the iPad M3 The air results are promising, many eyes are now on Apple’s Ultra M3 chip, which should feed the next generation of Mac Studio. This high-performance chip aims to compete with high-level workstation processors, and its benchmarks are expected in the coming days.
For now, the iPad Air M3 has proven to be an improvement in value, offering a remarkable increase in performance, improved AI capabilities and improved graphics rendering. More baseline data emerges, Apple users can better assess whether this latest iPad Air meets their energy, portability and efficiency needs.
