iPad Air 3 vs iPad Air 4 - Is it REALLY Worth Upgrading? By Max Tech

Hey guys this is Vadim with max tech and right in front of me. I have the iPad Air 3 from last year and I have apple's brand new iPad Air 4. And in this video, we're basically going to be looking at the differences between the three and the four to see. If you should upgrade. If you have the three, and you're thinking about getting the four or in general, just seeing how many things got upgraded, how many things changed, so we're going to be taking a look at the design differences we're going to take a look at the displays, the display quality, the graphics performance, everything like that and the cameras as well to see if it's basically worth upgrading to the new iPad Air 4. So what we're going to start off with is the design differences and the size differences so right off the bat.

The first thing I noticed right away, looking at the back is the cameras you can see that the camera bump on the air 4 is massive. I mean this is coming from the camera from the iPad Pro a much larger sensor in camera, and we're actually going to be going into a camera comparison later on in this video. Apart from that, you can see that the microphone on the 4 is actually quite a bit larger than the one on the air 3 that's over there, so we are going to be testing the microphone quality as well. Now, the absolute best part of the air 4 is the new modern design with flat sides and a flat back. As you can see right here, the air 3 had the classic chamfer design, so it rounded into the corners, but the air takes on the design from the iPad Pro.

So we have nice flat, edges flat sides just like the new iPhone 12 lineup, and this honestly just feels so much more premium and modern. Now another difference is the size, because the iPad Air, the new one, gets a new aspect ratio which we're going to talk about in just a minute. It actually is a little wider than the iPad Air 3, and it's also not as tall so the air 3 actually ends up being a little taller than the new iPad Air. One thing I really love about the new flat design on the iPad Air 4 is that the buttons are much easier to press because on the iPad, r3 they're kind of hidden behind those chambered edges, so they're much harder to press compared to the new iPad Air. Now one of the standout new features of the air 4 is the new touch I'd power button.

So you have touch I'd built into this power button, which is a really cool feature, and we're actually going to be comparing touch ID between these two in just a moment. But first I want to mention that the new air 4 does not get a headphone jack because I don't know apple just likes getting rid of it, and even though it seems like the iPad, air 4 is thinner, they're, actually, the exact same 6.1 millimeters thick, so yeah, no headphone jack, now finishing up with a couple more differences. The air 4 has the smart connector on the back, and it's actually a little larger than the classic location of the smart connector on the air.3 like we had before, and one of the great improvements is the USB c ports on the iPad Air 4. That is a huge deal, because the lightning port is so limiting in terms of connecting accessories and supplying power to those accessories. So that's really nice.

Now one of my absolute favorite features of the air for is that you get speaker grills not only on the bottom, like you get with the air 3, but you also get them on the top, so that gives you landscape, stereo, speaker quality, which is going to help for everything from watching movies, Netflix YouTube whatever or gaming. Hearing footsteps around you. So that's definitely a nice plus, and we're going to get into the speaker comparison in just a couple of minutes now. Finally, moving on to the front here is where we see the biggest differences. Obviously the iPad Air 4 looks so much modern with the new liquid retina display basically has rounded corners, so it looks more modern compared to this old ancient design, where you have the square display, just like all the old iPhones.

The iPad Air 4 looks like all the new iPhones like the iPhone 12, everything's, nice and rounded, and of course you no longer have that home button that the iPad Air 3 has now. This looks really nice and clean, but the new air does not have face I'd like the pro it has touch ID on the top compared to touch ID here. So comparing them honestly, I kind of like the old touch ID, because if it's laying down like this, you can use your index finger very easily open it up like that or if you're holding the air 3 use your thumb, and you can set different fingerprints in the settings compared to the air 4 you kind of have to reach up top, and it's a little annoying. It's not as convenient of a location and, like you, kind of have to use your index finger. It's kind of annoying now one of the main advantages of having a power button touch ID is that you can authenticate and unlock your iPad at the same time just like that, but the air 3 had it as well, just with the home button just like that.

But honestly, the air 3 works better, because you have more surface area on that round. Touch ID sensor compared to the slim power button, which doesn't work as often which really sucks now getting into comparing the display quality itself. The iPad Air 4 has a 10.9 inch display compared to 10.5, but the quality is actually very, very similar, but one benefit that I am noticing with the new display is that reflectivity isn't as big of an issue as you guys can see from that top-down camera the new iPad Air 4 is less reflective and the display looks a little more black or a deeper black compared to the air 3. So that's definitely nice. Now, comparing the maximum brightness between these two they're, both rated at the same 500 nits and looking from the top.

They both look equally bright, but I did turn off true tone on both of these and the new iPad Air looks to have a much cooler display. It looks more blue compared to the iPad Air 3, which is very interesting, and when I look at it from different angles, I honestly think that the old iPad Air 3 has better viewing angles than the iPad Air 4, which is pretty interesting. So I guess that's one of the downsides. By going with the new, rounded corner display now, comparing the display quality, they both support, p3 wide color, gamut, and they're both using LCD panels. So they're, not OLED, but what's really cool is that on youtube.

They both now support 4k 60, which is really great. Looking from the top cam. They both look perfect, but I am noticing that you're getting more surface area on the new iPad Air 4 and that's because we're getting rid of the home button. So the display is actually a little wider when you're in landscape mode, so you're getting a larger image or picture from YouTube, and you're getting smaller black bars on the top and bottom. So that's really nice, but as far as the color of reproduction and things like that, I'm not really noticing any differences here.

Now, let's get into the speaker comparison now before we begin, I want to remind you guys that the air 4 has speakers on the left and the right when you're in landscape, but the air 3 only has them on the right side. So you guys won't be able to hear that difference because we're using a mono microphone, but keep that in mind and let's get started me all right guys. Now I don't know about you but the new air 4. While it did sound louder because you have speakers on both sides- definitely more immersive. The speakers themselves actually sounded a little flat compared to the iPad Air 3, which had kind of sharper highs and more dynamic range, like the speakers are better.

It seems like compared to having them on both sides on the air 4. , but even with that downside, I still prefer the new air, because it's so much more immersive having it on both sides and with that, let's get into comparing the Apple Pencil experience. The air 3 supports the original Apple Pencil. It uses the really weird way of charging where you plug it into the bottom into the lightning port. It's really annoying.

Furthermore, it really sucks. This is how you pair and charge- I really don't like it, but the new air 4 has the second generation Apple Pencil, which uses the wireless charger on the side it magnetically snaps into place. It pairs like this. It charges like this so much better of an experience compared to the original Apple Pencil and comparing the pencils themselves. The new one has a matte feel, and I honestly like it so much better.

It's a little smaller, and it just feels more compact and better in your hand, compared to the old longer glossy finish now. The new one also has a double tap gesture, so you just tap double tap like this on the edge, and you can do things like switch between tools, zoom in zoom out in documents and stuff like that, so definitely the better Apple Pencil, it's actually a hundred and thirty dollars compared to a hundred. That's the only downside, but I'd say that it's definitely worth it now, let's get into comparing the cameras, starting with the selfie cams. They both actually use 7 megapixel sensors. So you could do 1080p, video and just let me know which one of these selfies looks better to you and, of course, on the rear.

The air 4 has a much larger camera from the iPad Pro it's actually 12 megapixels compared to 8 on the iPad Air 3. , and that basically gives it sharper photos, and it allows it to shoot at 4k 60, whereas the iPad Air 3 cannot do that. So that's definitely a nice advantage now getting into comparing the webcams and the microphone quality. This is the audio quality on the iPad Air 3. , and this is the microphone quality on the iPad Air 4.

Let me know which one is better down below, and I'm actually noticing that this one looks way more cropped in which is really weird, but I did have a couple of options to shoot in 1080p 60fps, where I didn't have those options on the air 3, so that's kind of nice now, finally, getting into the performance comparison. The air 3 has the a12 bionic chip compared to the a14 bionic on the air 4. So that's two generations newer. On top of that, you also get four gigabytes of ram with the air 4 compared to 3 with the old air. So that's also a nice jump up for multitasking and things like that.

But let's go ahead and jump into the CPU comparison. All right. We have our scores back and wow. This is just insane in terms of the single core test: we're getting 42 percent faster performance compared to the air 3, which is incredible. This is actually the highest single core score.

We've seen on any computer out there and in terms of the multi-core, it's actually 50 percent, more multi-core performance. This is a massive jump going from one generation from the air 3 to the air 4. , it's incredible, and now, of course, let's get into that graphics test this difference right here I was not expecting. That is just insanity, we're getting well over twice the graphics performance on the new iPad Air 4. , and this is actually the best score.

We've had on any iPhone any iPad, even the iPad Pro. This beats the iPad Pro and graphics performance, it's just incredible, so wow. Now the only downside with this level of performance is that the a14 chip has been known to get worse battery life because of the crazy graphics performance. It ends up draining the battery, so you might actually get less battery life than the iPad Air 3 when you're playing games and stuff like that now. The final thing I want to cover before we get into our conclusion on if it's worth upgrading to the iPad Air 4 is keyboard case support because of the new design.

The iPad Air 4 supports the magic keyboard case that we got on the iPad Pro now I love this. I personally think it's the best keyboard case ever because of this unique floating hinge design, and we also have a pass USB-C charging port on the side, which you basically don't get on any other keyboard case. Now for the iPad Air 3, you get more traditional keyboard cases like the Logitech combo touch, which supports the 10.2-inch iPad and this iPad Air 3. Now what's nice about this, is that you have a detachable keyboard and of course, you also have the trackpad, which is really nice as well. The benefit with this one is that it's a lot cheaper.

It's a hundred and fifty dollars compared to three hundred dollars for the magic keyboard, but this is the most premium keyboard case, because the keyboard, the keys themselves, feel much, much better, maybe even better than an actual MacBook, and the trackpad is also excellent because it uses this unique design that gives you even clicking all the way around the trackpad. Compared to this traditional compared to this traditional diving board design, which makes it really hard to click at the top, or maybe even in the center, with it being easy at the bottom, so in general, you're paying more money, but you're getting the best keyboard case ever. However, you also get the option of the Logitech folio touch, which is 160 on the new iPad Air and that one is excellent as well, and it comes with a row of function keys. So it's really nice and now, let's finally finish with the conclusion, and I'd say that the iPad Air 4, it isn't really worth upgrading from the air 3. Honestly, it does get the new design, which is really nice, and it does support that magic keyboard case.

But the biggest downside is that you don't have 120 hertz pro motion technology because you're getting all of that power, but you can't really use it to the full potential, because you don't unlock 120 fps games and with the a12 chip on the iPad Air 3. It plays a lot of the games just as smooth as the iPad Air, so you're not really taking advantage of all that power unless you're doing things like video, editing or playing extremely tough to play games, maybe like gentian impact or something like that now, the four gigs of ram compared to three is definitely nice. But it's not that big of a deal. It's not that big of a change. I'd say that the six gigs on the pro is definitely going to be noticeable coming from the air three and by far the biggest downside with the new air is that it still comes with 64 gigs of storage at the base price, just like the air 3, and that is a big downside, because it's honestly not enough if you're going to be downloading games or large apps or doing productivity work using the USB c port and things like that and going up to the next level you get 256, gigs, and you're, already paying 750 bucks for that iPad, air, 4, and you're already getting into iPad Pro territory.

The 11-inch iPad Pro is on sale right now for 750 dollars, and that is by far so much better than the air 4. So to answer that question, if you already have the air 3 or if you have the iPad Mini 5, it's not really worth upgrading to the air 4. But if this is your first iPad, and you don't want to spend crazy amounts of money around 800 750 bucks, this is actually a great first time iPad, because this design is going to be sticking around for years, and it matches up to the design of the iPhone 12 and that's very important if you want to feel like you have a nice and modern iPad. But with all that said, I would highly recommend that you guys watch our iPad Air 4 versus iPad Pro comparison, video because there are just so many differences and the pro is just so much better in so many ways. Like the speakers, the microphones, the displays definitely watch that video right over there and, if you guys enjoyed this comparison, click that circle above to subscribe.

Thank you guys for watching, and we'll see you in the next video.

Source : Max Tech