Desktops and laptops
Back to Best Laptop And Tablet Reviews

Apple iPad Air (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular (A2589) with Magic Keyboard and Pencil (2nd gen) review

Apple iPad Air (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular (A2589) with Magic Keyboard and Pencil (2nd gen)

CHOICE Expert Rating

73%
What is the CHOICE Expert Rating?
Good points

Good Points

  • Silent operation
  • Very good keyboard
  • Very good Wi-Fi speed
  • Very good screen
  • Excellent viewing angles
Bad points

Bad Points

  • No SD card slot
  • Small touchpad
  • Long time to charge to 80 per cent
  • Long time to charge to 100 per cent
  • Very short power cord

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
61%
Tablet use score
80%
Ease of use score
74%
Battery life score
72%
Display score
85%
Audio score
65%
Wi-Fi score
80%
Storage write-speed (MBps)
846
Storage read-speed (MBps)
1365
Wi-Fi speed (MBps)
43
Average battery life – heavy usage (hours)
5:24
Charging time to 80% full (h:min)
2:08
Expert tester comments
Apple's iPad Air is one of the lightest tablets on the market, and a very good one at that. Paired with the Magic Keyboard accessory, which allows the tablet to sit an angle, it can also become a very handy laptop computer for basic office work and communications tasks.

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
China

Related products

Availability
Tested model

Cost

Price
$2,160.00

Specifications

Screen size (inches)
10.9
Native screen resolution (pixels)
2360 x 1640
Processor (CPU) type
Apple M1
CPU frequency (GHz)
3.2
RAM (GB)
8
Video graphics type
Apple M1
Storage capacity (GB)
256
Available user space (GB)
241
Storage type
SSD
Wi-Fi version
6
Weight of laptop (kg)
1.1
Weight of power supply (kg)
0.09
Size (mm, H x D x W)
15 x 192 x 249

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
1
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
10

More products in this test

HP Chromebook Plus 15a-nb0009TU
66

HP Chromebook Plus 15a-nb0009TU

$749
Dell XPS 13 9345
78
Recommended

Dell XPS 13 9345

$2,299
Apple MacBook Air 13.6-inch (A2681)
74

Apple MacBook Air 13.6-inch (A2681)

$1,299

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.