 |  |
|---|---|
| iPad Air | iPad Pro |
| BUY NOW | BUY NOW |
| PROS | PROS |
| Brilliant-looking laminated screen. Cheapest Smart Keyboard iPad. Fast charges via Lightning-to-USB-C. | Amazing audio. Smooth and crisp screen. Insanely powerful. |
| CONS | CONS |
| Uses the 1st Gen Apple Pencil. Traditional design doesn’t wow. Two speakers instead of four. | High price. Keyboard is necessary but extra. Still not quite a laptop replacement. |
DESIGN
| iPad Air | iPad Pro | |
| Dimensions | 9.8 x 6.8 x 0.24 inches (248.9 x 172.7 x 6.1 mm) | 9.87 x 6.85 x 0.24 inches (250.6 x 174.1 x 6.1 mm) |
| Weight | 16.37 oz | 16.83 oz |
| Materials | Back: Aluminum | Back: Aluminum |
| Biometrics | Fingerprint (touch) | -Fingerprint (touch) |
| Colors | Gold, Gray, Silver | Gold, Gray, Silver, Pink |
Both iPad’s look almost identical. They have the exact same thickness at 6.1 millimeters thin. The only difference is that the edges are reflective on the 10.5 inch iPad pro versus matte on the iPad Air.
Also camera bumps look different, we have just a single sensor iPad Air and a bigger camera sensor with a flash on the iPad pro 10.5.
Another major difference is with the speaker setups. On iPad Air you will get 2 speakers and iPad pro 10.5 is offering 4 speakers. iPad Air sound quality is pretty decent but it lacks the fullness which iPad pro 10.5 is giving.
When it comes to the colors, In case you decide to get a space created air the back is now a darker shade of space grey then on the space grey 10.5 inch iPad pro.
DISPLAY
| iPad Air | iPad Pro | |
| Size | 10.5 inches | 10.5 inches |
| Resolution | 2560 x 1600 pixels, 16:10 ratio, 288 PPI | 2224 x 1668 pixels, 4:3 ratio, 265 PPI |
| Technology | IPS LCD | IPS LCD |
| Screen-to-body | 79.41 % | 78.27 % |
| Features | Pressure-sensitive, Oleophobic coating, Ambient light sensor | Pressure-sensitive, Oleophobic coating, Ambient light sensor |
They both have a 2224×1668 resolution display with a ppi of 264 which there seems to be much lower. iPad Pro 10.5 is brighter upto 600 Nits versus 500 Nits on iPad Air.
In reality, they’re both very sharp and they both look almost identical. They have a DCI P3 color gamut. They support true tone which means that they can actually adjust the color temperature of the display, in order to match the ambient light. So it essentially makes it very easy on the eyes, when you’re reading content.
Both of these iPad’s actually support the Apple pencil now and unfortunately one of the main issues here is that whenever you’re using the Apple pencil on these it still slides around too easily and it feels as if you’re riding on a glass window, so you’re lacking that extra resistance that you would get with a piece of paper.
HARDWARE & PERFORMANCE
| iPad Air | iPad Pro | |
| System chip | Apple A12 Bionic APL1W81 | Apple A10X Fusion APL1071 |
| Processor | Octa-core, 2490 MHz, Vortex and Tempest, 64-bit, 7 nm | Hexa-core, 2380 MHz, Hurricane and Zephyr, 64-bit, 10 nm |
| GPU | Apple 4-core GPU | Apple 12-core GPU |
| RAM | 3GB LPDDR4 | 4GB LPDDR4 |
| Internal storage | 256GB | 512GB |
| OS | iPadOS (13.x) | iOS (13.x, 12.x, 11.x, 10.x) |
When it comes to the performance, the iPad pro 10.5 inch comes with the Apple A10x processor. A10x is based on a 10nm process, it’s a 6 Core processor, it has 3HP cores, 3LP Cores, and it has a 12 core GPU. It also comes with 4GB of LPDDR4 memory.
The iPad air on the other hand, it comes with the Apple A12 processor. It’s based on a 7nm process that’s more power efficient. It’s a 6 core processor and it has 2HP cores and 4LP cores, and what’s really unique about the A12 is that all of the cores can be used at the same time. The A12 has a 4 core GPU, so the GPU is more impressive on the iPad pro. It also comes with 3 gigabytes of RAM rather than 4 like you have on iPad Pro.
CAMERA
| iPad Air | iPad Pro | |
| Rear | Single camera | Single camera |
| Main camera | 8 MP (Autofocus, BSI sensor) | 12 MP (Sapphire crystal lens cover, OIS, Autofocus, BSI sensor) |
| Video recording | 1920×1080 (Full HD) (120 fps) | 3840×2160 (4K UHD) (30 fps), 1920×1080 (Full HD) (120 fps), 1280×720 (HD) (240 fps) |
| Front | 7 MP (HDR) | 7 MP (HDR) |
The selfie camera is identical on both, so we have 7 megapixel sensor f/2.2 aperture, HDR support but it’s selfies themselves they do actually look better on the iPad air.
When it comes to the back camera, we have an 8 megapixel f/2.4 aperture on the iPad air versus a 12 megapixel f/1.8 aperture on the iPad pro. So the pro is not only high resolution but it’s also quite a bit better.
BATTERY LIFE
| iPad Air | iPad Pro | |
| Capacity | 8134 mAh | 8134 mAh |
| Type | Li – Ion, Not user replaceable | Li – Ion, Not user replaceable |
When it comes to battery life, the iPad Pro has a slightly larger battery 30.8Wh versus 30.2Wh but Apple claims that they both last for 10 hours of continuous use. The charger is also identical in both, same lightning to USB-A 12W adapter.
CONCLUSION
Price is the biggest difference between the two. The iPad pro 10.5 starts at $650, when it first launched. The iPad air starts at $500, so it’s quite a bit less but at the same time it’s been almost 3 years since the 10.5 inch iPad pro got released.
iPad pro comes with more RAM and get better performance, when it comes to exporting videos. you get a better display and better speakers.
iPad Air is pretty good for future proofing with that A12 processor and Bluetooth 5.0 but other than that the iPad pro is better in every single way.
