Apple refreshes the iPad Air with the iPad Pro’s M1 chip, 5G

• The fifth-generation iPad Air. It looks much like the last one, but it comes with a much faster M1 system-on-a-chip. [credit: Apple ]

The iPad Air got 5G support, faster processor speeds, and an improved front camera in a refresh that was announced during the company's "Peek performance" event on Tuesday.

Until today, the 10.9-inch tablet had been the oldest in Apple's lineup, having released in October 2020. The iPad mini and base iPad were updated last fall, and the iPad Pro got the M1 chip and other improvements last spring. Now Apple's entire iPad lineup has been updated within just the past year.

This iPad Air refresh bumps the previous model’s A14 Bionic chip up to the aforementioned M1. This is the same chip used in the iPad Pro, late 2020 MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and 2020 Mac Mini.