Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
I ’m a few solar day into using the newfangled 11 - inchiPad Air ( 2024 ) , and one single feature conclusion has bother me to the point where I ’m question why it exists at all .
In Apple ’s current iPad range , theiPad Pro ( 2024)is definitely the professional ’s selection , while the steady iPad is the one for the bargain hunter . The iPad Air sit awkwardly in between them . While it seems to offerall the office and abilityyou could require without paying the iPad Pro ’s mellow Mary Leontyne Price , it does n’t have the ProMotion 120Hz refresh rate screen — and that ’s a serious drawback .
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
Does this wanting feature ruin the M2 iPad Air , like it almost did the M1 - powerediPad Air ( 2022 ) ?
My issue with the iPad Air’s display
What ’s the covert office for those not used to poring over iPad specification sheets ? The M2 iPad Air ( 2024 ) has a 60Hz refresh rate Liquid Retina IPS cover just like thecheaper , even iPad , and both have the same 2360 x 1640 pixel resolution . To get a 120Hz screen , a technology Apple calls ProMotion , you have to splurge on the iPad Pro with its Ultra Retina XDR screen , and this has the potential to bea very expensive piece of equipment .
It ’s a very standardized situation to the iPhone , where you need either the iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max to get a 120Hz ProMotion screen , as the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus both have a 60Hz screen . But I can more easily accept that determination as Apple does n’t have an in - between model in its iPhone 15 image as it does with the iPad , and it makes the purchasing decision much simpler .
This is n’t a fresh job either , as the M1 iPad Air free in 2023 also had the Liquid Retina IPS 60Hz screen . At the prison term , to my eyes , the lozenge ’s big screen worsen the downside of a 60Hz refresh rate screen , and it almost ruined the M1 iPad for me . It was less smooth when scrolling and during animations , cheapening the experience compare to a ProMotion - outfit iPad model . Has anything changed with the M2 iPad Air , or is this still a tablet limp by a less screen ?
60Hz vs. 120Hz
I ’ve been using the iPad Air with the M2 processor for a few solar day now , and it has replaced the duties of both my 2020 iPad Pro and the M1 iPad Air , meaning it ’s phone into legal action for television , vane browsing , and using apps like Reddit , Amazon , and Autotrader , plus read book through the Kindle app . Something very encouraging happened when I started using the lozenge , as in some circumstances , the screen seemed to be a diminutive flake smooth than I expected . Not by much , but enough that I could see something was different .
Was it all in my judgment ? To find out , I open fire up the M1 iPad Air and my2020 iPad Proback into life for a unmediated , side - by - side comparison . All the time I was doing this , I remembered that when I reviewed theiPhone 15 Plus , I noted the screen was a tiny flake quiet than ask , too , improving on the less eye - well-disposed experience I ’d had with theiPhone 14 Plus . Like the two iPhone models , the two iPad Air model have the same CRT screen , but different mainframe .
I ’ve spend far too prospicient swiping , opening apps , and scroll through webpages and carte on the three different iPad exemplar in my possession , and have add up to the conclusion the M2 iPad Air is sometimes smoother , but it may also all be in my head . It ’s such a minuscule change , if it ’s there at all , and perhaps only obtrusive when you put all the tablets side by side . I discover it very toilsome to show even on video . Do n’t be surprised if it ’s unperceivable until you see it in mortal .
Did anything really improve?
Specifically , I think the M2 iPad Air make the animations between app opening and closing less obvious than on the M1 iPad Air and also a little smoother when scrolling through text . It may not sound like much , but I have found it less trouble and less visually demanding . There are no changes elsewhere , though , and sadly , both seem to have the same point of blur when scroll through menus , between home screens , and in the App Library .
The 2020 iPad Air is smoother throughout , regardless of what you do on the silver screen . But there ’s a chance you wo n’t see any difference at all , disregarding of the tablet , as the impression of a 60Hz and 120Hz refresh rate is n’t always find by everyone . I can really see it , though , and while I receive even the petite melioration in scheme smoothness , I ’m tremendously nark by the fact I have to tight examine these tablets in the first lieu . For the price , the iPad Air really should have the 120Hz ProMotion covert as monetary standard .
recall , the M2 iPad Air starts at $ 600 , and the iPad starts at $ 450 , but to get the ProMotion screen , you ’ll have to pay at least $ 1,000 for the iPad Pro . That ’s a big jump in price , and with it comes a fate of features many people may not require . I sure as shooting consider the new M4 iPad Profar too capable for my needs , but the iPad Air would be perfect if only it had the ProMotion silver screen .
What Apple should have done
Apple has been very plastered with upgrade on the M2 iPad Air over its predecessor , with the chip being practically the only one of any line , yet the iPad Pro has a across-the-board range of mountains of melioration and additional characteristic , including the new M4 central processor , boldness ID , four speaker , a 2 TB storage good example , and the alternative of the glare - reducing nano - texture glass . It ’s this last item that should have been the differentiator between the Pro and the Air ’s blind .
alternatively of burden supererogatory for the nano - grain methamphetamine hydrochloride — it ’s an additional $ 100 — it should have been made stock on the Pro and the iPad Air given the 120Hz ProMotion screen . This would give the iPad Air a cause to exist and avail win over masses to pass more on it over the much cheaper 10th - generation iPad . The tiny deviation I spotted between the M1 iPad Air and M2 iPad Air ’s eloquence ( which is n’t driven by screen hardware ) is n’t enough to guarantee any form of ascent .
I can see enough of a difference between the 60Hz and 120Hz refresh charge per unit that I require the dependable screen on my iPad , but as I do n’t necessitate the Pro ’s M4 central processor ( I ’m not sure anyone does ) and other spec updates , it ’s very thwarting that I am forced into devote for the Pro to get it . I really like the M2 iPad Air so far , but every time I look at it , I ’m remind it does n’t have the one feature of speech I really want . And to get it , I ’d have to pay at least another $ 400 . That ’s poor Cartesian product planning in my Word of God and not a peachy way to encourage new iPad sales or , more crucially , iPad upgrades .
