The first M3 iPad Air Geekbench 6 benchmarks are out, and they’re exactly what you expect them to be when compared to the M2.
Geekbench 6 Benchmarks Show M3 iPad Air is Exactly What You Expect it to Be, But Only a Great Upgrade Over M1
Though the M2 iPad Air was a fantastic tablet, it was still quickly replaced by the M3 model this week.
Little do people know that the M2 iPad Air is the second most short-lived iPad in Apple’s lineup. The shortest is iPad 3, and the crown will likely stay with that device forever.
With a new chip comes new capabilities and benchmark numbers, and the M3 iPad Air shows gains that are quite decent as well. With single-core scores hitting 3,058 and multi-core hovering around 11,692, this tablet is definitely fast.
But is it fast enough that you sell your M2 iPad Air and get the M3 model? Not at all. In fact, I will recommend the latest iPad Air to those who have the M1 or older model. Just keep your M2 tablet for another year or two; it will serve you just fine.
Just to give you a rough estimate how fast the M3 is compared to M2, you should see a performance gain of up to 20%, or around that number.
M2 iPad Air scores around 2,587 in single-core benchmarks and around 9,817 in multi-core.
Apple’s iPad lineup is solid, and it doesn’t really matter if you buy the latest model or save some money and get something that’s a year old. You get so much performance with these tablets that it’s more than enough for the average user.
I’m still holding on to my M1 iPad Pro and M1 iPad Air, and I have zero plans to upgrade anytime soon. The switch to M-series chips was such a massive leap forward that I’m sure Apple managed to tank its own sales by doing that.
