What operating system does the iPad Air use? Which iPad Air models support which versions of the iPadOS?

All iPad Air models run the iPadOS, but not all devices are compatible with the current version of the operating system. Not all iPad Air models support all iOS features, either.

Photo Credit: Apple (iPad Air 3 with Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil)

iPad Air Identification (Skip)

If you are not sure which iPad Air you have, a simple way to identify each is by its Model Number; externally displayed toward the bottom on the back of each device:

iPad Air	Model No
iPad Air (Wi-Fi Only)	A1474
iPad Air (Wi-Fi/Cellular)	A1475
iPad Air (Wi-Fi/TD-LTE - China)	A1476
iPad Air 2 (Wi-Fi Only)	A1566
iPad Air 2 (Wi-Fi/Cellular)	A1567
iPad Air 3 (Wi-Fi Only)	A2152
iPad Air 3 (Wi-Fi+Cell US/CA)	A2153
iPad Air 3 (Wi-Fi+Cell Global)	A2123
iPad Air 3 (Wi-Fi+Cell China)	A2154
iPad Air 4 (Wi-Fi Only)	A2316
iPad Air 4 (Wi-Fi+Cell US/CA)	A2324
iPad Air 4 (Wi-Fi+Cell Global)	A2072
iPad Air 4 (Wi-Fi+Cell China)	A2325
iPad Air 5 (Wi-Fi Only)	A2588
iPad Air 5 (Wi-Fi+Cell A2589)	A2589
iPad Air 5 (Wi-Fi+Cell China)	A2591
iPad Air M2 11" (Wi-Fi Only)	A2902
iPad Air M2 11" (Wi-Fi+Cell)	A2903
iPad Air M2 11" (Wi-Fi+Cell China)	A2904
iPad Air M2 13" (Wi-Fi Only)	A2898
iPad Air M2 13" (Wi-Fi+Cell)	A2899
iPad Air M2 13" (Wi-Fi+Cell China)	A2900

All iPad Air models can be differentiated by other identifiers as well, such as the Order Number, which can be located by selecting the Settings app and pressing General > About and scrolling down to what is specified as "Model" within the iOS. For example, the iPad Air 3rd Gen (Wi-Fi+Cellular) sold in the US in black and space gray with 64 GB of storage is MV152LL/A.

To pinpoint a particular iPad Air by a variety of different identifiers, please refer to the Ultimate iLookup feature.

iPad Air iPadOS Support

The original iPad Air does not support versions of the iOS beyond iOS 12 and the iPad Air 2 stops at iPadOS 15, but subsequent iPad Air models support later versions of the operating system.

Specific feature support is more limited on some models than others, too:

iOS	7.x	8.x	9.x	10.x
iPad Air	Yes*	Yes**	Yes+	Yes++
iPad Air 2	No	Yes**	Yes	Yes++

iOS/iPadOS	11.x	12.x	13.x	14.x
iPad Air	Yes♦	Yes♦♦	No	No
iPad Air 2	Yes	Yes♦♦	Yes†	Yes††
iPad Air 3	No	Yes	Yes	Yes‡
iPad Air 4	No	Yes	Yes	Yes

iPadOS	15.x	16.x	17.x
iPad Air	No	No	No
iPad Air 2	Yes‡‡	No	No
iPad Air 3	Yes	Yes◊	Yes◊
iPad Air 4	Yes	Yes◊◊	Yes◊◊
iPad Air 5	Yes	Yes•	Yes•
iPad Air M2	No	No	Yes

* With the exception of a couple of minor photography features, the original iPad Air model is fully supported by iOS 7.

** With the exception of "Health" functionality, the original iPad Air and iPad Air 2 models are fully supported by iOS 8.

+ The original iPad Air is supported by iOS 9, but lacks support for the "Split View" interface feature.

++ The original iPad Air and iPad Air 2 models are supported by iOS 10, although they do not support the Raise to Wake or Ride-Booking features.

♦ The original iPad Air is supported by iOS 11, but it does not support person-to-person payments or Apple Pay Cash nor does it support the minor "Appointment confirmation" feature.

♦♦ The iPad Air and iPad Air 2 are supported by the last version of iOS 12, but neither support the Memoji, Camera Effects, and ARKit 2 features. The original iPad Air does not support Siri Suggestions, either.

† The iPad Air 2 is supported by iOS 13 (iPadOS), with the exception of the Adjust Portrait Lighting and "High-Key Mono" photography features as well as the modest AR features of Motion Capture People Occlusion.

†† The iPad Air 2 is supported by iPadOS 14, but does not support a number of advanced features (ARKit Depth API and Location Anchors, AR RealityKit Video Textures, Spatial Audio via AirPods Pro and On-Device Dictation).

‡ The iPad Air 3 fully supports iPadOS 14 with the modest exception of the ARKit Depth API.

‡‡ The iPad Air 2 supports iPadOS 15, but it does not support a significant number of advanced features (Spatial Audio, Portrait Mode, 3D Landmarks, Interactive Globe, Live Text in Photos, Live Text Translation, and Visual Look Up as well as Universal Control).

◊ The iPad Air 3 supports iPadOS 16, but it does not support the advanced Stage Manager, Reference Mode, Accessibility Detection, and Virtual Memory Swap features as well as Apple Music Sing (Karaoke). It supports iPadOS 17 -- but it lacks support for the React with Your Hands; Screen Distance; More Accurate Autocorrect in English, French, and Spanish; Inline Predictions (English); and External Camera for FaceTime features.

◊◊ The iPad Air 4 supports iPadOS 16, but it does not support the advanced Stage Manager, Reference Mode, Accessibility Detection, and Virtual Memory Swap features (Apple mistakenly initially listed it as compatible with Virtual Memory Swap, but this was an error). It supports iPadOS 17, but it lacks support for the minor Screen Distance and External Camera for FaceTime features.

• The iPad Air 5 supports iPadOS 16, but it does not support the advanced Reference Mode and Accessibility Detection features. It does support the Stage Manager features to improve multitasking, except for full external display support. It supports iPadOS 17 but it lacks support for the minor Screen Distance and External Camera for FaceTime features.

Please also note that once an iPad Air has been upgraded to a later version of the operating system, it can be challenging to "downgrade" it back to an earlier version without resorting to hacks. It's always smart to wait for feedback from other users and a couple of "bug fix" releases before upgrading any operating system.