Cheaper than Android? Apple iPad Air 11 (2025) with M3 power for under $600 review

Apple's seventh-generation iPad Air 11 is once again a premium tablet which likely represents the mid-range for the company. Even so, it has a lot of processor power that no Android tablet can currently compete with. The high-quality apps included and its focus on data protection and sustainability additionally make the tablet attractive.

One major innovation is Apple Intelligence, which is also available on other iPads, but which we were able to test here in Europe for the first time. Most of the functions work quickly and correctly—in part thanks to the integration of the tried-and-tested and feature-rich ChatGPT. However, Apple still needs to work on some AI functions, such as cutting out unwanted people from photos, where Google has sometimes already proven to be further ahead.

If you want to use the Apple iPad Air 11 (2025) for professional work, you should bear in mind that it is a device with iPadOS. Even if version 18 finally has a built-in calculator, apps that you know and love from MacOS are missing or simply aren't as practical as on Apple's desktop system. It's best to try out iPadOS before relying on it fully.

There aren't many noticeable improvements compared to the predecessor model, apart from its better keyboard dock and its processor's slightly higher performance. Its graphics unit even delivers slightly a little less power in some cases, as it has one core fewer.

As a result of its entry-level price—which is quite low by Apple standards—and in view of its extremely high performance, the Apple iPad Air 11 (2025) is actually a good offer if you can make do with its compact 10.86-inch screen. However, if you want an OLED screen or more storage, then Android is still cheaper.

The iPad Air 11 2025 is available to purchase from lots of retailers.

Online, you can currently buy it from Amazon for $549, for example.

Apple's iPads aren't exactly known for their low prices. The iPad Air 11 (2025) isn't even the cheapest tablet from the manufacturer, but the 2025 edition comes with the Apple M3 and plenty of power.

From a price standpoint, it can keep up with some of the more expensive Android tablets—so it may actually be Apple's best tablet in terms of value for money. After the 13-inch model, it's now the iPad Air 11 (2025)'s turn to face our test course and we are excited to see the result. Let's go.

We hardly have anything more to say about Apple's build quality and the materials the manufacturer has chosen: The 11-inch iPad Air 2025 also features an aluminum unibody case and it feels great.

The tablet feels nice to hold and, at 460 grams, it doesn't feel too heavy even after long periods of time. The bezels around its screen aren't too wide, making the front look modern, yet they effectively prevent you from accidentally activating the touchscreen. Even so, the Apple iPad Air 13 (2025) looks even more stylish in this respect, as its edges are similarly wide but with a larger screen area.

The available color variants include soft pastel shades, so the tablet blends in well in any environment. A few splashes of water are usually not a problem for the device, but like all iPads, the iPad Air 11 (2025) is generally not protected against water or dust.

Apple has shown great commitment to sustainability. For example, the CO₂ footprint over the product's service life is precisely specified to help you compare different products: In this case, 76 kg was determined for the smallest storage configuration. A comprehensive environmental report on the product is also available on Apple's website.

The manufacturer has already gone so far as to use only recycled aluminum for the tablet's case, and many other minerals are now also recycled.

Furthermore, Apple has its own website for self-repair and where you can order spare parts. However, this is not yet possible for iPads.

WiFi 6E is once again the fastest standard that the Apple iPad Air with an 11-inch screen supports for WiFi networks. This provides access to the 6 GHz band.

During our test using the Asus ROG Rapture AXE11000 reference router, our test device managed up to 1,554 MBit/s when downloading and over 1,100 MBit/s when uploading. As a result, it should be able to fully utilize most internet lines. Minor drops in its transfer rates were visible during our test and were also repeated. But overall, its data rates were quite stable.

We tested a WLAN-only model, but tablets with 5G support are also available. In this case, however, it only supports eSIMs; the iPad Air doesn't have a slot for physical SIM cards. Our test device cannot be located via satellite and can only determine its approximate location via known Wi-Fi networks. Exact positioning, including for navigation purposes, is reserved for the 5G models.

The Apple M3 SoC is the clear highlight of the 7th generation iPad Air.

Thanks to its high performance, even very demanding tasks can be carried out on the iPad Air 11 (2025). Apple will have problems justifying the extra charge for the Apple M4 inside the iPad Pro. Local calculations for Apple Intelligence were also performed very quickly during our test.

The gap to the Apple M2 in last year's iPad Air 11 could be seen in the benchmarks, but is hardly noticeable during everyday use.

Apple has saved money on the device's GPU, only activating 9 cores as opposed to the 10 cores that were activated in the iPad Air 11 2024's GPU. This was actually noticeable in some benchmarks and the newer iPad fell slightly behind in some cases.

In practice, however, you still get a very powerful GPU that keeps the vast majority of Android competitors at bay.

Surfing the web has actually become a little faster, but this is certainly in part thanks to the new Safari version.

Overall, you won't face any waiting times in the browser if you have a good internet connection—even large websites make images available immediately while scrolling.

Apple has again gone for a memory module that combines NVMe storage and RAM to increase system efficiency.

Although there are no direct benchmarks for the storage speed supported by Apple's mobile operating system, we were able to measure short loading times and fast data transfers during our test.

The iPad Air 11 (2025) heats up slightly more than its bigger brother, which makes sense: as neither requires a fan, the larger surface area of the iPad Air 13 allows better distribution of waste heat. Even the 11-inch iPad Air doesn't get excessively hot after long periods of use, which is impressive considering the chip's performance.

However, the SoC is throttled significantly more than in the iPad Air 13 (2025): According to the 3DMark stress tests, you can expect up to 24% performance losses under prolonged high load.

The smaller iPad Air is fitted with two speakers. Their volume is acceptable for medium-sized rooms—the sound is warm and tends to be neutral, but there is no real bass. The clear low mids, which even produce perceptible vibrations when placed on a hard surface, are a positive highlight.

USB-C and Bluetooth 5.3 are available for audio output. However, support for wireless audio codecs is limited to Apple's AAC and SBC, which is less good in terms of sound quality.

The Apple iPad Air 11 (2025) is just as energy-hungry as its predecessor. This means that not too much power is required from its battery or the power outlet under very low or light loads, but significantly more power is needed under high workloads: We measured a maximum of up to 16.8 watts, which is exactly the same value as its predecessor.

Apple remains true to its 20 watt maximum charging power, and the iPad's charging time of 2:15 hours for a full cycle is fine.

The Apple iPad Air 11 2025 lasted a few minutes longer than its predecessor in our runtime tests, but you'll hardly notice this during everyday use. Android tablets delivered significantly more endurance at times.

11:43 hours in our Wi-Fi test is just enough for a day in the office or on the couch, but there aren't many reserves left. Just under 13 hours of movies or series on a single charge is enough for a long-distance flight.