SpecEagle review · Apple

Apple iPad Air (3rd gen, 2019) review: A 10.5" Air with A12 Bionic and Apple Pencil support.

SpecEagle Editorial·Mar 2019·$499
Overall
70/100
Class rank
#17 of 101
Tier
Mid-range
Buy?
At the right price
The verdict, up front

A return of the iPad Air.

iPad Air 3 revived the Air line at $499 — A12 Bionic flagship power and Apple Pencil support in the mid-tier slot.

01Display

76/100

76/100 puts it above the 73-point average for mid-range phones of 2019.

TypeRetina IPS LCD, True Tone
Size10.5 inches
Resolution2,224 × 1,668 px (264 ppi)

02Camera

56/100

56/100 is one of the weaker camera results among mid-range phones of 2019 — 8 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.

Main8 MP, f/2.4
Selfie7 MP

03Performance

76/100

At 76/100 this is one of the strongest performance showings among mid-range phones of 2019 — 13 points above the cohort average.

ChipsetApple A12 Bionic
RAM3 GB
Storage64 / 256 GB

04Battery

80/100

At 80/100 this is one of the strongest battery showings among mid-range phones of 2019 — 8 points above the cohort average.

Capacity8,134 mAh
WiredLightning

05Build

78/100

At 78/100 this is one of the strongest build showings among mid-range phones of 2019 — 7 points above the cohort average.

06Value

74/100

At 74/100 this is one of the strongest value showings among mid-range phones of 2019 — 8 points above the cohort average.

What works
  • A12 Bionic flagship power at $499.
  • Apple Pencil 1 support arrives on Air.
  • 3.5 mm jack survives.
  • Long software support.
What doesn't
  • Lightning, not USB-C.
  • Curved edges (pre-redesign).
  • Only 1 rear camera.
  • No second-gen Pencil.
Cross-shop it against
Xiaomi Mi 9T
$349 · score 78/100

How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 101-phone cohort of mid-range devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .