Desktops and laptops
Back to Best Laptop And Tablet Reviews

Apple iPad Air Wi-Fi + Cellular (A2123) review

Apple iPad Air Wi-Fi + Cellular (A2123)

CHOICE Expert Rating

73%
What is the CHOICE Expert Rating?
Good points

Good Points

  • Long battery life
  • Extremely light and portable
  • Very good screen
  • Silent operation
  • Excellent cameras
  • Built-in mobile broadband module
Bad points

Bad Points

  • Smart Keyboard is uncomfortable to type on
  • Very long charge time
  • Very short power cord
  • Keyboard not backlit
  • No SD card slot
  • No ports other than a Lightning connector

Type

Ultraportable
Ultrabook
Tablet mode
Operating system
iPadOS

Recommended products

Recommended
Not recommended
Recommended for tablet use

Test results

CHOICE Expert Rating
73%
Performance score
59%
Tablet use score
83%
Ease of use score
69%
Battery life score
89%
Display score
84%
Audio score
55%
Wi-Fi score
78%
Storage write-speed (MBps)
392
Storage read-speed (MBps)
1413
Wi-Fi speed (MBps)
40
Average battery life – heavy usage (hours)
12:20
Charging time to 80% full (h:min)
3:04
Expert tester comments
The iPad Air is the one to get if you want extreme portability in a tablet. It has a very good screen, supplies long battery life, and it feels zippy to use. We're not fans of the Smart Keyboard accessory due to how cramped and bouncy it feels, so if you want more of a laptop feel, then get an actual laptop. But if a tablet is your main concern, then go for it. Note: This laptop's performance is not directly comparable to current products due to it being tested with an older version of our benchmark.

Sustainability

Shop Ethical rating
D
Warranty (years)
1
Replaceable battery
Not collected
Replace/upgrade RAM
Not collected
Slots for additional RAM
Not collected
Replace/upgrade storage
Not collected
Slot for additional storage
Not collected
Replace/upgrade Wi-Fi
Not collected
Country of origin
Not collected

Related products

Availability
Discontinued model

Cost

Price
$1,434.00

Specifications

Screen size (inches)
10.5
Native screen resolution (pixels)
2224 x 1668
Processor (CPU) type
Apple A12 Bionic
CPU frequency (GHz)
2.4
RAM (GB)
3
Video graphics type
Apple A12 Bionic
Storage capacity (GB)
256
Available user space (GB)
227
Storage type
SSD
Wi-Fi version
5
Weight of laptop (kg)
0.7
Weight of power supply (kg)
0.1
Size (mm, H x D x W)
14 x 179 x 251

Features

Screen finish
Glossy
Touchscreen
USB-C
USB 2.0 ports
0
USB 3.0 ports
0
USB 4 as USB-C port
0
USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen 1 or 2, not Thunderbolt 3 or 4) ports
0
Thunderbolt 3 or 4 (as USB-C) ports
0
SD card slot (full-size)
SD card slot (micro)
HDMI port
Gigabit ethernet port
Rear camera
Backlit keyboard levels of brightness
0

More products in this test

Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (A3403)
83
Recommended

Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (A3403)

$5,499
Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition (2307)
78
Recommended

Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition (2307)

$2,699
Venom BlackBook Zero 14 Phantom G9 Platinum Edition (Model L360)
77
Recommended

Venom BlackBook Zero 14 Phantom G9 Platinum Edition (Model L360)

$3,099

Looking for user reviews?

We don't offer user reviews anymore. Help us improve this expert review by sharing your feedback in a quick survey.