New Apple iPad Air 2025 gets M3 processor upgrade and cheaper Magic Keyboard

The Apple iPad Air 2025 gets a welcome upgrade in the form of a faster M3 chip over last year’s version which had an M2 chip. Aesthetically speaking, it’s similar as its predecessor with your choice of 11-inch and 13-inch sized displays as well as matching and cheaper Magic Keyboards for better productivity on the go.

What is the Apple iPad Air 2025?

Much like the iPad Air 2024 version with the M2 chip, the new Apple iPad Air 2025 uses IPS panels with the 11-inch variant featuring 2,360 x 1,640 pixels resolution and the 13-inch version with 2,732 x 2,048 pixels resolution with both models featuring a 60Hz refresh rate. The rear comes with a single 12MP wide camera while the front has a single 12MP camera that is essentially unaltered from the 2024 version with the design featuring twin microphones and stereo speakers. You also get Touch ID on the power button.

As mentioned, the new iPad Air 2025 integrates the newer M3 chip which has an 8-core CPU and 9-core GPU along with a upgraded Neural Engine that is up to 60% faster than the early M1 chipset for AI-based workloads. The M3 chip also supports Apple Intelligence with the use of on-device processing and Private Cloud Compute for secure cloud computing for larger, more demanding tasks.

In addition to 11-inch and 13-inch variants, the new Apple iPad Air comes in WiFi 6E only as well as LTE and 5G enabled versions with 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB storage variants and your choice of  Blue, Purple, Starlight and Space Grey colourways. Regardless of size or connectivity, the new Apple iPad Air 2025 is rated for about 10 hours of usage and video playback.

The new Magic Keyboard for the Apple iPad Air 2025 has a glass trackpad and 14-key function row on the top for direct access to key settings like brightness and volume controls along with a USB-C connector for charging and a Smart Connector to connect to the Apple iPad Air 2025 without the need for a Bluetooth connection.

Unfortunately, there’s no backlighting so it may not be an ideal choice for use in dark environments and the trackpad lacks haptic feedback though it is priced cheaper seeing as its 11-inch and 13-inch backlit predecessors respectively cost RM1,399 and RM1,599 which is an RM100 and RM200 price difference. If you prefer and need these features, the older backlit versions are identical in size so it should be compatible with the newer Apple iPad Air 2025

Apple iPad Air 2025 Malaysia price

Prices for the new iPad Air 2025 start from RM2,799 for the 128GB version all the way to RM5,699 for the 1TB version with WiFi and 5G while the 13-inch version starts from RM3,699 for the WiFi only configuration all the way to RM6,599 for the WiFi and 5G enabled version.

The new Magic Keyboard for the 11-inch version clocks in at RM1,299 while the 13-inch version is priced at RM1,399. There’s no word yet on local Malaysia deployment save for a Coming Soon on the official Apple website. For more details, check out https://www.apple.com/my/shop/buy-ipad/ipad-air