iPad Air (5th generation) vs iPad Air (M2)

Apple announced iPad Air (5th generation) on 8 March 2022 as the first Air with its M1 chip, and it was the last Air to come in a single size. iPad Air (M2) followed on 7 May 2024, in stores from 15 May 2024, and brought the first 13-inch Air with it. Neither is Apple’s current Air: later models followed in 2025 and 2026.

If you own the 5th generation, upgrade for one of three reasons: the 13-inch screen, Apple Pencil Pro, or room beyond a full 64GB model. Otherwise the move buys you little, and it costs you the SIM tray, the Pink finish and the use of your 2nd-generation Pencil. If what you’re after is 12GB of memory, Wi-Fi 7 or the C1X modem, neither of these has them; those came with the later Airs.

What changed in two years

Spec	iPad Air (5th generation)	iPad Air (M2)
Announced	8 March 2022	7 May 2024; in stores 15 May 2024
Sizes	One size, sold as 10.9-inch	11-inch and 13-inch
Chip	M1: 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine	M2: 8-core CPU, 9-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Memory	8GB	8GB
Storage	64GB or 256GB	128GB, 256GB, 512GB or 1TB
Screen	2360 × 1640, 500 nits	11-inch: 2360 × 1640, 500 nits; 13-inch: 2732 × 2048, 600 nits
Apple Pencil	2nd generation or USB-C; no hover	Pencil Pro or USB-C; hover
Front camera	12 MP ultra-wide, 122°, f/2.4	Landscape 12 MP Ultra Wide, f/2.0
Speakers	Stereo	Landscape stereo
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth	Wi-Fi 6 up to 1.2 Gbps; Bluetooth 5.0	Wi-Fi 6E; Bluetooth 5.3
Cellular	5G; nano-SIM and eSIM	5G sub-6; eSIM only
Weight	461 g Wi-Fi; 462 g cellular	11-inch: 462 g; 13-inch: 617 g Wi-Fi, 618 g cellular
Battery	28.6 Wh; up to 10 hours	28.93 Wh (11-inch), 36.59 Wh (13-inch); up to 10 hours
US launch price	$599 Wi-Fi; $749 cellular	$599 (11-inch) and $799 (13-inch) Wi-Fi; cellular not published
Finishes	Space Gray, Starlight, Pink, Purple, Blue	Blue, Purple, Starlight, Space Gray
Location	Digital compass, Wi-Fi, iBeacon; GPS and GNSS on cellular models	Same
Unlock, port, rear camera, charger	Touch ID in the top button; USB-C at USB 3 speeds up to 10 Gb/s; 12 MP rear camera; 20W adapter in the box	Same

Same 11-inch size, plus a 13-inch

Apple sells the 5th generation as a 10.9-inch iPad; measured as a rectangle, the screen is 10.86 inches. The case is 247.6 × 178.5 × 6.1 mm and weighs 461 grams, or 462 with cellular. The 11-inch M2 has exactly that outline and weighs 462 grams in both versions, so if the old Air’s size suited you, nothing changes in your hands.

The 13-inch M2 is the size that didn’t exist in 2022: 280.6 × 214.9 × 6.1 mm and 617 grams (618 with cellular), with a 2732 × 2048 screen rated at 600 nits against 500 on the smaller models. It also has the biggest battery here, 36.59 watt-hours against 28.93 in the 11-inch M2 and 28.6 in the 5th generation. Apple still rates all three for up to 10 hours of Wi-Fi browsing or video, or 9 hours of browsing on cellular, and each box holds the iPad, a 1-meter USB-C cable and a 20-watt adapter.

Both screens are fully laminated, with P3 color, True Tone and antireflective and oleophobic coatings, and Apple gives a 1.8 percent reflectivity figure for the 5th generation only. Neither Air has ProMotion: a 120 Hz screen, tandem OLED and Thunderbolt are still iPad Pro features.

Apple Pencil Pro and hover

This is the change you’ll notice if you draw or take notes. The 5th generation works with Apple Pencil (2nd generation) and Apple Pencil (USB-C), and has no hover. The M2 works with Apple Pencil Pro and Apple Pencil (USB-C), and hover shows where the tip will land before it touches the glass. The 2nd-generation Pencil isn’t on the M2’s compatibility list, so moving up usually means a new pencil, and neither tablet comes with one.

Keyboards are extra on both, and both have a Smart Connector. For college students, Apple’s 2022 education pricing put the Smart Keyboard Folio at $159 and the Magic Keyboard at $279 for the 5th generation. For the M2, Apple names Magic Keyboard for iPad Air without a price. Touch ID stays in the top button on both, so there’s no Face ID to gain.

M1 or M2, and the storage ladder

M1 and M2 both pair four performance cores with four efficiency cores and have a 16-core Neural Engine; the M2 adds a ninth GPU core. Hardware ray tracing came with a later Air, not with these two.

Memory is 8GB on every model of both, from the 64GB 5th generation to the 1TB M2, so there’s no extra memory to buy. Storage is where they really differ. The 5th generation comes in 64GB or 256GB with nothing in between; the M2 runs 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB. A full 64GB model is a good reason to move. A 256GB owner who doesn’t want the 13-inch has much less of one.

On both, the USB-C port charges, carries DisplayPort and runs at USB 3 speeds up to 10 gigabits per second, next to a Smart Connector and the magnetic pencil connector. For the M2, Apple also lists one external display at up to 6K and 60 Hz.

Radios and the SIM tray

The 5th generation has Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax, 2x2 MIMO, simultaneous dual band, up to 1.2 gigabits per second) and Bluetooth 5.0. The M2 moves to Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.

The cellular models differ in a way that matters if you move a SIM between devices. The 5th generation’s, model A2589, is 5G with a nano-SIM tray as well as eSIM, for data only. The M2’s (A2899 and A2903 on the 11-inch) is 5G sub-6 with 4x4 MIMO and Gigabit LTE, and it’s eSIM only, with no tray. If your carrier still hands you a plastic card, the 5th generation is the one that takes it.

Cameras, speakers and colors

The rear camera is the same 12 MP Wide at f/1.8 on both, with 4K video at up to 60 frames per second. The front camera moves. The 5th generation’s is a 12 MP ultra-wide with a 122-degree view at f/2.4; the M2’s is a 12 MP Ultra Wide at f/2.0 on the landscape edge, so it sits at the top when the iPad is propped sideways on a keyboard. Both have Center Stage and record 1080p. The speakers follow the same idea, stereo on the 5th generation and landscape stereo on the M2, with dual microphones on both.

The 5th generation came in Space Gray, Starlight, Pink, Purple and Blue. The M2 keeps Blue, Purple, Starlight and Space Gray, so if you want Pink, it’s the older Air. Apple lists Apple Intelligence for both, with region and language limits; the 5th generation got it later through software, not at launch.

What they cost

Both started at $599 in the US for the smaller Wi-Fi model: 64GB for the 5th generation in March 2022, 128GB for the 11-inch M2 in May 2024. The 13-inch M2 started at $799. The 5th generation’s cellular model was $749; Apple didn’t publish a cellular price for the M2.

If the two cost about the same, buy the M2. If the 5th generation is clearly cheaper and one size with a SIM tray suits you, buy that. Used listings should say 64GB or 256GB for the older Air, and 11-inch or 13-inch for the M2, because those are different machines; check the listing and current prices before you buy.