Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021) vs Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026)

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Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021) Buy Now ↗
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Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026) Buy Now ↗
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Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021) Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026)
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Review

Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021)
Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026)
Display
57
73
Camera
49
88
Performance
58
99
Gaming
42
97
Connectivity
48
90
❖

Key differences

Key distinctions and advantages between Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021) and Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026)

Reasons to consider the Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021)

  • + Apple A13 Bionic chipset
  • + 10.2 inches display
  • + 3 GB/64 GB
  • + 8557 mAh battery

Reasons to consider the Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026)

  • + Apple M4 (iPad) chipset
  • + 11 inches display
  • + 12 GB/128 GB
  • + 7606 mAh battery

Pros & Cons

Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021)
  • Reliable everyday tablet
  • Older generation device

"A entry-level Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021) tablet with standard performance. Suited for everyday browsing and video."

Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026)
  • Flagship performance
  • Capable gaming
  • 5G connectivity
  • No significant drawbacks for its tier

"A high-end flagship Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026) tablet with strong performance (99/100). Suited for professional creative work and demanding apps."

Value for Money Beta

Please input up-to-date prices for the selected configurations to get an accurate value-for-money index.

PKRs
PKRs
Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021)
VS
Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026)
—
VALUE INDEX
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Visual size comparison

Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021) Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026)
9.75"7.03"0.24"9.87"6.85"0.30"
Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021) Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026)
Height9.87"9.75"
Width6.85"7.03"
Thickness0.30"0.24"
Height (mm)250.60247.60
Width (mm)174.10178.50
Thickness (mm)7.506.10

Benchmarks

Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021)
1792
Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026) +107%
3711
Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021) Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core) 4214 13478
Compute Score (GPU) — —
Single-core score 1792 3711
Multi-core score 4214 13478
AnTuTu Benchmark 11 1087108 3617960
CPU 272419 1732068
GPU 317618 945613
Memory 149125 349993
UX 347946 590286
Total score 1087108 3617960
3DMark Steel Nomad Light — 3008
Stability 85% —
Graphics test — 47 FPS
Graphics score — 12241
3DMark Solar Bay 2552 12241
Section 1 — 59 FPS
Section 2 — 47 FPS
Section 3 — 34 FPS
PCMark 3.0 — —
Web score — —
Video editing — —
Photo editing — —
Data manipulation — —
Writing score — —

Specifications

Display
Specification Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021) ↗ Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026) ↗
Type IPS LCD IPS LCD
Size 10.2 inches 11 inches
Resolution 1620 x 2160 pixels 1640 x 2360 pixels
Aspect ratio 4:03 3:02
PPI 265 ppi 264 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 500 nits 500 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR
HDR support No No
Screen protection Tempered glass Tempered glass
Screen-to-body ratio 73.80% 81.50%
Display features #NAME? #NAME?
Display tests
RGB color space 97.90%
PWM 40000 Hz
Response time 27 ms
Contrast 1014:01:00
Peak brightness test (auto) 493 nits
Design and build
Specification Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021) ↗ Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026) ↗
Height 250.6 mm (9.87 inches) 247.6 mm (9.75 inches)
Width 174.1 mm (6.85 inches) 178.5 mm (7.03 inches)
Thickness 7.5 mm (0.3 inches) 6.1 mm (0.24 inches)
Weight 487 g (17.18 oz) 464 g (16.37 oz)
Waterproof No No
Advanced cooling
Rear material Metal Metal
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors Silver, Gray Gold, Gray, Blue, Purple
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-button Yes, in-button
Area 436 cm 2 (67.6 inches 2 ) 442 cm 2 (68.5 inches 2 )
Repairability Average (2.85/5)
Screen-to-body ratio 73.80% 81.50%
Performance
Specification Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021) ↗ Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026) ↗
SoC
Chipset Apple A13 Bionic Apple M4 (iPad)
Max clock 2650 MHz 4410 MHz
CPU cores 6 (2 + 4) 10 (4 + 6)
Architecture - 4 cores at 1.6 GHz: Thunder - 2 cores at 2.65 GHz: Lightning - 6 cores at 2.85 GHz: - 4 cores at 4.41 GHz:
L3 cache
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 7 nanometers 3 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Apple Neural Engine Apple Neural Engine
GPU
Graphics Apple GPU 4-core 9 core Apple GPU
GPU shading units 256
GPU clock 1230 MHz 1470 MHz
FLOPS ~629.8 GFLOPS ~3763.2 GFLOPS
Memory
Specification Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021) ↗ Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026) ↗
Configuration 3 / 64 GB 12 / 128 GB
RAM
RAM size 3 GB 12 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR5
Memory clock 2133 MHz
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage size 64 GB 128 GB
Storage type NVMe NVMe
Memory card No No
Memory card max size
Software
Specification Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021) ↗ Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026) ↗
Operating system iPadOS 15 (Can be upgraded to iPadOS 26.4) iPadOS 26.3 (Can be upgraded to iPadOS 26.4)
ROM
OS updates 0 years
Battery
Specification Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021) ↗ Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026) ↗
Capacity 8557 mAh 7606 mAh
Max charge power 30 W 20 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging No No
Reverse charging No No
Fast charging Yes (24% in 30 min) Yes (50% in 60 min)
Full charging time 2:45 hr 2:16 hr
Battery cycles 1000 cycles
Main camera
Specification Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021) ↗ Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026) ↗
Matrix 8 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 8 MP 12 MP
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash No No
Stabilization Digital Digital
8K video recording No No
4K video recording No Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 30FPS Up to 60FPS
Lenses 1) Standard: 8 MP 1) Standard: 12 MP
Camera features - #NAME?
Standard lens
Aperture f/2.4 f/1.8
Focal length 31 mm
Sensor size
Pixel size 1.12 micron 1.22 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Selfie camera
Specification Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021) ↗ Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026) ↗
Megapixels 12 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4032 x 3024 4032 x 3024
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.4
Sensor CMOS
Autofocus No No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No
Connectivity
Specification Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021) ↗ Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026) ↗
Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be)
Wi-Fi features #NAME? #NAME?
Bluetooth version 4.2 6
Bluetooth features LE
USB type No USB Type-C
USB version 2 3.1
USB features #NAME? #NAME?
DisplayPort No Yes
GPS GPS, GLONASS GPS, GLONASS
NFC* No No
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 1
Type of SIM card Nano eSIM
Multi SIM mode
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
2G network
3G network UMTS/HSPA/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA 850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz UMTS/HSPA/HSPA+/DC‑HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz)
4G network LTE 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 29, 30, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 66, 71 LTE 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 32, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 48, 66, 71
5G support No Yes
Sound
Specification Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021) ↗ Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026) ↗
Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack Yes No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness 91.9 dB
Other
Specification Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021) ↗ Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026) ↗
Category Mid-range Flagship
Announced 21-Sep 26-Mar
Release date 21-Sep 26-Mar
Launch price (MSRP) $329 $599
SAR (body)
Sensors #NAME? #NAME?
Bundled charger Yes, 20 W Yes, 20 W

Comparison with Competitors

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