Hey, Everyone, you’re at Top2Gadget, we compare the best products from the market which helps you to choose a device that will be suited for your choices. So we are back again with another interesting comparison for you guys and today we will compare two iPads which are iPad Air 4 and iPad Pro to know which one will better be suited for choices.
Pros and Cons
| iPad Air 4 | iPad Pro |
| A14 Bionic processor | Better camera and accessories |
| Magic Keyboard support | LiDAR scanner |
| Fingerprint scanner | Only two color choices |
| It has good battery life | iPad Pro has a 120 Hz screen |
| 64GB base storage | Expensive |
Key Specification
| iPad Air 4 | iPad Pro | |
| Chipset | Apple A14 Bionic (5 nm) | Apple A12Z Bionic |
| Display | 10.9 inches | 12.9 inches |
| Memory | 64/256 GB | 128/256/512 GB |
| Camera | 12 MP | 12 MP + 10 MP |
| Fingerprint Sensor Position | On Display | No |
Design
| iPad Air 4 | iPad Pro | |
| Dimensions | 247.6 x 178.5 x 6.1 mm | 280.6 x 214.9 x 5.9 mm |
| Weight | 458 grams | 641 grams |
| Screen Size | 10.9 inches | 12.9 inches |
| Type | IPS LCD | IPS LCD |
| Colours | Space Gray, Silver, Rose Gold, Green, Sky Blue | Silver, Space Gray |
| Screen Resolution | 1640 x 2360 pixels | 2048 x 2732 pixels |
Talking about the differences that appeared in design than two things stand out. Now the most obvious one is the camera bump but we’re also missing this band at the top which even the 2018 iPad pro had the new iPad Air 4 has the same camera module as the previous iPad pro. Whereas with 2020 we have this much larger iPhone 11 and 12 style design. We have an additional ultra-wide camera and we have the lidar sensor the last difference is that the iPad Pro does have a flash which could be useful for scanning documents. Now apart from this they look very similar that’s because recently the iPad Air just keeps following the iPad pro’s design. If we take a look at it they look similar.
We can put them up on their sides and they have this new flat edge design that we have with the new iPhones. It looks nice, it looks more modern and as you see when we stack them up like this they look identical the size is the same. Now, why would Apple want to make a potential iPad pro killer with the same design well that is to sell more magic keyboards? And many of you have to say that we love this thing. It’s way more convenient to charge now there are a couple more external differences that you can notice first off we do have two grilles on each side even though the new iPad Air 4 doesn’t have quad speakers like the iPad pro. It does have dual stereo speakers and with these speaker grilles, the actual cutouts are slightly larger. Now the other one is that the iPad Air 4 has just two microphones it has one where the camera is and one up top whereas the pro has two on top and then it has one additional one on the side over here. The last difference is that we now have touch id instead of face id.
Now let’s compare the displays and we didn’t think that we would notice a bigger bezel on the iPad Air 4 because it’s a 10.9-inch display compared to 11 that’s almost identical just a few pixels. But you guys can see that the bezel is thicker now. If you’re buying just an iPad Air 4 you don’t have a pro you won’t notice this the bezel is even on all sides and it’s a nice improvement over the iPad Air 3. Now we can’t tell any difference in terms of quality the detail is identical because the pixels per inch are very close.
Let’s go ahead and talk about the brightness because the iPad pro can reach 600 nits compared to 500. Now along with that, we noticed that the Air 4 loses brightness much more. So if you’re looking at an off-angle so at the top right now the brightness is identical but from the side, it’s a lot dimmer. Now, what about the reflectivity everyone was not expecting this so the new iPad Air 4 is less reflective than the iPad Pro, and instead of it looking slightly bluish here on the ceiling tile. It looks more black and it’s just the reflections aren’t as sharp so it looks like Apple might have newer better coatings.
Performance
| iPad Air 4 | iPad Pro | |
| Processor | Apple A14 Bionic | Apple A12Z Bionic |
| GPU | Apple GPU (4-core graphics) | Apple GPU (8-core graphics) |
| Internal storage | 64/256 GB | 128/256/512 GB |
| Storage expansion | No | No |
| OS | iPadOS 14.1, upgradable to iPadOS 14.2 | iPadOS 13.4, upgradable to iPadOS 14.2 |
When we talk about the performance, we never thought that the processors coupled both of these devices are laggy in any circumstances, and both, iPad Air 4 and iPad Pro 11 perform well also. The iPad Air 4 highlights Apple’s A14 Bionic chip including Neural Engine, while the special Pro model highlights the A12Z chip including Neural Engine. This occurs during an unusual circumstance under which the iPad Air carries the newer processor. Though, both chips remain amazingly quick and will manage iMovie editing plus hardcore gaming with comfort.
Pushing the processor back and now we will talk about storage. Both iPad Air 4 and iPad Pro 11 gets ample amounts of internal storage to perform different responsibilities. However, the iPad Pro 11 carries it up a nick. The iPad Air 4 comes with two storage alternatives each 64GB or 256GB while the iPad Pro remains served with 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB. While 256GB should do enough to perform most routines, anyone seeming to utilize their iPad within a mobile video or photo editing workstation should acknowledge some of Pro’s extended and unique features.
Camera
| iPad Air 4 | iPad Pro | |
| Rear | 12 MP | 12 MP + 10 MP |
| Front | 7 MP | 7 MP |
| Video recording | 4K@24/30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps | 4K@24/30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps |
As we stated earlier, one of the easily visible differences between the iPad Air 4 and iPad Pro 11 remains the rear camera bulges. The iPad Air 4 highlights only a 12-megapixel wide-angle camera setup toward its back including an f/1.8 aperture. Whereas the iPad Pro gets the identical 12MP camera but additionally including a 10MP ultrawide camera with an f/2.4 aperture. Both devices perform very well with the camera, as anticipated, and allow ample tone capturing, autofocus including focus pixels, smart HDR, and also a panorama mode which allows photos impressively up to 63MP in dimension.
Multimedia
| iPad Air 4 | iPad Pro | |
| Headphone jack | No | No |
| Loudspeaker | Yes, with stereo speakers | Yes, with stereo speakers |
| Fm Radio | No | No |
Let’s go ahead and compare the speakers we have to say that we were hoping for a little bit more. We have four speaker grills here the speaker cutouts are larger but the bass isn’t as deep the mids aren’t as full and the highs especially the highs are not as crisp and clean that is because we don’t have any sound coming from these speaker grilles. Right here they’re just for looks we guess compared to the iPad Pro which we have the mids and the bass coming from the bottom-firing speakers and then from the top ones that’s where we have the higher frequencies and it ends up sounding great it’s louder as well sounds better overall and it’s also more immersive. Both devices won’t offer the music lover’s favorite headphone jack which is disappointing for some peoples.
Battery Life
| iPad Air 4 | iPad Pro | |
| Capacity | N/A | 9720 mAh |
| Type | Non-Removable Battery | Non-Removable Battery |
| Fast Charging | Yes | Fast charging 18W, 50 % Charge |
Talking about the battery life both of these tablets return you a battery life of up to 10 hours with web surfacing and video watching either, if you own the cellular variants of each tablet, they will last up to nine hours. Talking about the charging, both devices come with a USB-C connector to fulfill the charging needs, allowing quicker charging than that earlier Lightning port machines.
Connectivity
| iPad Air 4 | iPad Pro | |
| SIM | Nano-SIM, eSIM | Nano-SIM, eSIM |
| Bluetooth | 5.0, A2DP, EDR | 5.0, A2DP, EDR |
| Wifi | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6 | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6 |
| USB | Type-C | Type-C 3.1 |
| Sensors | Fingerprint (top-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, compass, barometer | Face ID, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, barometer |
Let’s get into connectivity options with both of these devices you will get the two SIM card options in which one is a physical SIM card and another one is an eSIM option. Talking about the Bluetooth connectivity you will get Bluetooth 5.0 with both of these devices that gives them a stable and solid Bluetooth connectivity range around 10m.
Which is better!
Both these devices are very identical in terms of design and battery life. But in terms of CPU performance, sound, and camera quality the iPad Pro easily surpasses the iPad Air. But they both served in the market at different price points. So it is very up to you if you want extra features and improved camera, sound quality and improved performance then should go for the iPad Pro. But if you have less budget and the performance which iPad Air 4 is sufficient for you then you must go for the iPad Air 4.
