ASCII.jp New iPad Air is equivalent to the iPad Pro with M1 and is 14,000 yen cheaper [Ishikawa Atsushi]

I got the actual iPad Air (5th generation), which will be released on March 18, as soon as possible and tried using it

　The iPad Air (5th generation) will be released on March 18th. This time, I got the actual machine as soon as possible. I used it immediately.

　This time, the iPad Air (5th generation) has been equipped with the M1 chip. The MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac mini, iMac, and iPad Pro also use the M1 chip, and Apple is steadily expanding its M1 lineup.

　Initially, it was installed in products costing more than 100,000 yen, such as the MacBook Pro, but now that it has been installed in the iPad Air (5th generation), it has the power of the M1 chip starting at 74,800 yen. It became possible. However, what is worrisome is that with the emergence of so many M1-equipped products, "How far is the difference in performance from other M1-equipped products?"

　In particular, the only differences between the iPad Air (5th generation) and the 11-inch iPad Pro (3rd generation) are the presence or absence of a LiDAR scanner and ultra-wide-angle camera, and the difference in screen drawing speed called ProMotion technology. If this is the same 256GB model, the difference is 14,000 yen. Due to the weak yen, the exchange rate for the iPad Air (5th generation) is likely to be higher, but with such a difference, it will be difficult to decide whether to buy the iPad Air or the iPad Pro.

iPad Air on the left, 11-inch iPad Pro (3rd generation) on the right

So, this time, I gathered up the iPad Air (5th generation) that I got and the M1-equipped products that I had at home, and put them on GeekBench5.

Then iPad Air (5th generation, M1), iPad Pro (3rd generation, M1), iMac (M1), and MacBook Pro (M1 Max) all yielded similar results in Single-Core scores. Regarding Multi-Core, the MacBook Pro was outstanding, but the iPad Air and iPad Pro were almost the same, and the iMac was a little better.

　Also, I tried exporting a 1-hour video with Adobe Premiere Rush, but the result was about 9 minutes with no big difference.

　Although the score is "It's the same M1, so it's possible", it turns out that the contents of the iPad Air are the same as the iPad Pro, and it can be said that the iMac has enough numbers to compete.

　Although there are restrictions on the screen size and the apps that can be used, the iPad Air equipped with the M1 chip can be used reliably for video processing, etc., which requires a considerable load, and supports handwriting input with the Apple Pencil.

The connector part of the iPad Pro is ThunderBolt, which is convenient for retrieving image files directly from a digital camera, but if you don't want to connect to the outside so much, use the iPad Air (5th generation) would be enough.