iPad Pro 12.9” (3rd Gen, 2018) vs Apple IPad Air 13" (2024)
67
out of 100
VS
80
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship tablets: the 12.9-inch Apple iPad Pro 12.9” (3rd Gen, 2018) (with Apple A12X Bionic) that was released on October 30, 2018, against the Apple IPad Air 13" (2024), which is powered by Apple M2 (iPad) and came out 5 years and 7 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Apple iPad Pro 12.9” (3rd Gen, 2018)
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
Reasons to consider the Apple IPad Air 13" (2024)
- Has 2x more RAM: 8GB versus 4GB
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
- Fingerprint scanner
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 6400 MHz
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
- 90% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 2585 and 1358 points
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | IPS LCD | IPS LCD |
| Size | 12.9 inches | 13 inches |
| Resolution | 2048 x 2732 pixels | 2048 x 2732 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 4:3 | 4:3 |
| PPI | 265 ppi | 264 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (24-120 Hz) | No |
| Max rated brightness | 600 nits | 600 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10 | No |
| Screen protection | Tempered glass | Tempered glass |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 85.5% | 86.8% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 | - DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 99.7% | 99.7% |
| PWM | Not detected | Not detected |
| Response time | 36 ms | 45 ms |
| Contrast | 1975:1 | 1018:1 |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 280.6 mm (11.05 inches) | 280.6 mm (11.05 inches) |
| Width | 214.9 mm (8.46 inches) | 214.9 mm (8.46 inches) |
| Thickness | 5.9 mm (0.23 inches) | 6.1 mm (0.24 inches) |
| Weight | 631 g (22.26 oz) | 617 g (21.76 oz) |
| Waterproof | No | No |
| Rear material | Metal | Metal |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Silver, Gray | Gold, Gray, Blue, Purple |
| Fingerprint scanner | No | Yes, in-button |
| Area | 603 cm2 (93.5 inches2) | 603 cm2 (93.5 inches2) |
Screen-to-body ratio
Tablet Ranking (75th and 35th place)
iPad Ranking (19th and 10th place)
Performance
| Chipset | Apple A12X Bionic | Apple M2 (iPad) |
| Max clock | 2500 MHz | 3490 MHz |
| CPU cores | - | 8 (4 + 4) |
| Architecture | - | - 4 cores at 2.42 GHz: Blizzard - 4 cores at 3.49 GHz: Avalanche |
| Manufacturing | - | TSMC |
| Lithography process | - | 5 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | - | Apple Neural Engine |
| Graphics | Apple GPU 7-core | Apple GPU 10-core |
| GPU shading units | - | 1024 |
| GPU clock | - | 1398 MHz |
| FLOPS | - | ~2863.1 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | - | 43561 |
| Single-core score | 1358 | 2585 |
| Multi-core score | 4736 | 10090 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | - | 841074 |
| GPU | - | 801119 |
| Memory | - | 371059 |
| UX | - | 523068 |
| Total score | - | 2536320 |
| Samples | Less than 3 | Less than 3 |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | - | 74% |
| Graphics test | - | 17 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 2299 |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Graphics test | - | 30 FPS |
| Section 1 | - | 38 FPS |
| Section 2 | - | 30 FPS |
| Section 3 | - | 20 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 7827 |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | 72% | - |
| Graphics test | 19 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 3206 | - |
Recent User Tests
Apple iPad Pro 12.9” (3rd Gen, 2018)
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-09-16 -> op1 | GeekBench CPU | 1344 / 4757 |
Apple IPad Air 13" (2024)
No benchmark results yet
Memory
Configuration
| RAM size | 4 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 2133 MHz | 6400 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 4 |
| Storage size | 64 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | NVMe | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | iPadOS 12 (Can be upgraded to iPadOS 26.5) | iPadOS 17.5 (Can be upgraded to iPadOS 26.5) |
| OS size | - | 13 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 9720 mAh | 10340 mAh |
| Max charge power | 30 W | 30 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | No |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (50% in 60 min) | Yes |
| Full charging time | 2:45 hr | 2:30 hr |
| Web browsing | 08:41 hr | 12:05 hr |
| Watching video | 12:15 hr | 11:26 hr |
| Gaming | 06:08 hr | 07:56 hr |
| Standby | 178 hr | 167 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | Quad LED | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 120 FPS (1080p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 12 MP |
1) Standard: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode | - Bokeh mode |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.8 |
| Focal length | 29 mm | - |
| Sensor size | 1/3.0" (≈ 0.33 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 1.4 micron | 1.22 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 7 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3472 x 2063 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.4 |
| Focal length | 32 mm | - |
| Sensor | - | CMOS |
| Autofocus | No | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5 | 5.3 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.1 | 3.1 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | No | Yes |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS | GPS, GLONASS |
| NFC* | No | No |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 1 | - |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | eSIM |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 18 | - |
| 5G support | No | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | 4.0 | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | October 2018 | May 2024 |
| Release date | November 2018 | May 2024 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $999 | $799 |
| Successor | - Apple iPad Pro 13" (7th Gen, 2024) | - Apple iPad Air 13" (2th Gen, 2025) |
| Sensors | - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
- Barometer - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Fingerprint |
| Keyboard weight | 710 g | - |
| Bundled charger | Yes, 18 W | Yes, 20 W |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Apple IPad Air 13" (2024) is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 20