Apple unveils iPad Air M3 alongside updated Magic Keyboard and base $349 iPad

Why it matters: It's not even been 24 hours since CEO Tim Cook teased that Apple was about to unveil new "Air" products this week, but Cupertino has already pulled back the curtain. Surprisingly, it's not a new faster MacBook Air as most expected, but a new iPad Air packing the M3 chip. There's also been an update to the Magic Keyboard and the base iPad. Apple claims the new M3 iPad Air is twice as fast as the older M1 model, and 3.5 times faster than the A14 Bionic version. Compared to the most recent iPad Air with the M2 chip, which launched less than a year ago, the M3 model is expected to be ~20% faster. As with the current iPad Air, this newer M3 tablet will come in both 11-inch and 13-inch sizes, all while keeping the same prices of $599 and $799, respectively. Storage capacities remain between 128GB and 1TB, and battery life also stays the same, as do the Space Gray, Starlight, Blue, and Purple color options. Beyond the SoC upgrade, there doesn't appear to be any other major ... Read full article.