How fast is the iPad Air 5 compared to earlier iPad Air models? How fast is it compared to the iPad mini and iPad Pro?

In the corporate press release for the iPad Air 5, Apple boasts in the subtitle that it is the "most powerful and versatile iPad Air ever" and more specifically claims:

The breakthrough M1 chip in iPad Air [5] delivers a giant performance boost to even the most demanding apps and workflows, with incredible power efficiency and all-day battery life. The 8-core CPU delivers up to 60 percent faster performance, and the 8-core GPU delivers up to 2x faster graphics performance compared to the previous iPad Air [4].

A 60% increase in CPU performance and a 100% increase in graphics performance compared to its predecessor -- introduced about a year and a half earlier -- definitely is a significant speed bump.

Photo Credit: Apple, Inc. (iPad Air 5 with Magic Keyboard)

Apple's official performance boast is a worthwhile starting point, but because many users are not considering an upgrade from its immediate predecessor, but rather earlier models, additional performance info can be particularly helpful.

Benchmark Performance Overview

For a useful general overview of the performance differences between the iPad Air 5 and all other iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch devices, Everyi.com's own Ultimate iComparison makes it quick to compare side-by-side Geekbench benchmark averages for hundreds of possible performance comparisons.

Compared to other recent iPad models, when running the Geekbench 5 benchmark, the iPad Air 5 performs accordingly:

With a review of the above, you can see that the Geekbench 5 shows a mixed performance increase for the iPad Air 5 compared to the iPad Air 4 replaced. Apple's claim of "up to 60% faster" is reasonable based on the multicore test results, but the single core test results show a much more modest 8% increase; unlikely to be noticeable in real-world use.

Compared to the more expensive iPad Pro 11" (3rd Gen) model released a year earlier, the iPad Air 5 essentially is the same speed with a lower price tag, so it is a particularly good value.

Performance Summary

Ultimately, the iPad Air 5 represents an especially good value in terms of price for performance; it can hold its own with the more expensive iPad Pro models available at the time it was introduced. However, in single-core tasks, it is not hugely faster than the iPad Air 4 it replaced and the iPad Air 4 remains a good buy for those on a budget, as well.

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