Because both devices use the M1 chip, early benchmarks show the iPad Air 5 scoring exactly the same as the 11-inch iPad Pro.
The iPad Air 5 has been put via Geekbench by reviewers, and the results are unsurprising. In actuality, the only difference between the values is due to rounding mistakes and per-run variations.
In Geekbench, the iPad Air 5 is identified as "iPad13,17," with a single-core score of 1711 and a multi-core score of 7233 in one CPU test. This is comparable to the 11-inch iPad Pro, which has a single-core score of 1718 and a multi-core score of 7313.
The Metal score, which defines GPU performance, for one of the iPad Air 5 tests is 21,539 points. The 11-inch iPad Pro has a score of 21,498.
Geekbench calculates these results by conducting a series of benchmark tests in an iOS app. Battery charge level, outdoor temperature, and other factors can all have an impact on the results. This explains the disparity in figures between tests and devices using the same chipset.
The M1 CPU was originally designed for the Mac, but it was later moved to the iPad Pro range in place of Apple's regular "X" series processors. Apple's inclusion of the M1 in the iPad Air is surprising since it elevates the performance of this mid-range tablet to the level of the "pro" tablet series.
However, the CPU isn't the only thing that distinguishes the iPad Pro; there are numerous other characteristics that set it apart from the competition. They support up to 2TB of storage, 16GB of RAM, and ProMotion displays. The iPad Air has 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and a maximum refresh rate of 60Hz.
