Apple Unveils iPad Air With M3 Chip (apple.com) 25
Apple today announced a significant update to its iPad Air lineup, integrating the M3 chip previously reserved for higher-end devices. The new tablets, available in both 11-inch ($599) and 13-inch ($799) configurations, deliver substantial performance gains: nearly 2x faster than M1-equipped models and 3.5x faster than A14 Bionic versions.
The M3 brings Apple's advanced graphics architecture to the Air for the first time, featuring dynamic caching, hardware-accelerated mesh shading, and ray tracing. The chip includes an 8-core CPU delivering 35% faster multithreaded performance over M1, paired with a 9-core GPU offering 40% faster graphics. The Neural Engine processes AI workloads 60% faster than M1, the company said. Apple also introduced a redesigned Magic Keyboard ($269/$319) with function row and larger trackpad.
The M3 brings Apple's advanced graphics architecture to the Air for the first time, featuring dynamic caching, hardware-accelerated mesh shading, and ray tracing. The chip includes an 8-core CPU delivering 35% faster multithreaded performance over M1, paired with a 9-core GPU offering 40% faster graphics. The Neural Engine processes AI workloads 60% faster than M1, the company said. Apple also introduced a redesigned Magic Keyboard ($269/$319) with function row and larger trackpad.
Market Research (Score:2)
I wonder how many people feel that a tablet need to be a high-performance machine?
Re:Market Research (Score:4, Insightful)
There are people out there who use an iPad (or a Galaxy S Ultra Tab) as a daily driver. As few as you might think, but they do exist.
I like having an iPad Pro for those times when I use it, but I use my laptop for 95% of my computing. It's a nice-to-have, and I really only have one because my work allows me the opportunity.
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It seems like it could be a decent choice. So long as there would be a decent tabbed SSH client that would run on it and allow me to switch between a Web browser and the SSH client and a remote desktop client without losing any active connections.
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Blink Shell isn't traditionally tabbed, but you can have multiple ssh shells in it. Works well with some UI niceties to make being on a (normally) keyboardless device less bad.
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SecureCRT for iPAD is great when I'm on call and don't want to have to carry around a laptop. It's saved me many times. VPN in and boom.
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I wonder how many people feel that a tablet need to be a high-performance machine?
Imagine how amazing Candy Crush looks on it!
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Everyone knows the real app to test is Angry Birds. Now in 3D with AI of course.
I miss Angry Birds in its original form. The last one I could get ahold of was just trash in comparison.
I did manage to track down Crush the Castle for PC, the original fling-and-kill game. So simple, so fun.
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Blame browser bloat.
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Re: Market Research (Score:2)
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If the company won't spend money on my salary then I'll spend their money on gadgets.
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I wonder how many people feel that a tablet need to be a high-performance machine?
Good question, and the associated question is whether a typical user will notice the difference.
Of course, Apple products are aspirational and have cachet, so in that sense the move to M3 has value for some people.
Still no Linux on iPad (Score:2, Interesting)
I'd buy this in a second if it had access to a real os.
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I'd buy this in a second if it had access to a real os.
+1. iOS is the biggest flaw in the iPad. I'd settle for macOS, but iOS is a non-starter. Similarly, VisionOS is the biggest flaw in the Vision Pro. Both of these devices could be so much better if Apple weren't lobotomizing them to keep strict control over what software you can run.
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And what would you do with this "real os"?
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Productivity work that requires multiple screens, multiple apps at once, and complete access to my files. By all reports, ios sucks for this. Yesterday I had five spreadsheets open, tiled across my 4k screen, as I sorted through account transactions for my taxes. I regularly have content across three screens and run Firefox and Chrome at the same time, with plug-ins that I cannot have on ios. None of this is difficult for Apple to fix. They just gimp ios.
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Sounds like a terrible use case for a tablet.
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A tablet is a computer with a touchscreen but no keyboard or trackpad built in. More than half the time, I don't use my laptop's keyboard or trackpad. I hook it up to thunderbolt with an external monitor or monitors, mechanical keyboard, and mouse. But tablets are lighter. A Macbook Air is 2.7 lbs. An iPad air m3 11" will weigh 1.01 lbs. A rather significant difference. A Surface Pro weights 2 lbs. I'd love to use an iPad air m3 11" as my daily, if it had a real OS.
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"by all reports"? Okay, thanks for your informed opinion. When I get a 4K iPad I'm sure I'll bear it in mind and be desperate to use that whole screen with 0.1mm tall letters (that's something small over something big inches for our former allies).
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Ironically who has a high powered tablet that can run just about any OS you want? Everybody's favorite tech company Microsoft [github.com]
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It's not high performance, and it has the thermal characteristics of a volcano. It's a terrible fucking device.
The Arm ones are a bit cooler and have pretty good performance, but sadly, they do not run linux, currently.
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Windows has issues, but it is a real OS.
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However, the claim was "high powered" and "could run just about any OS you want"
Actually, those are mutually exclusive for the given device.