WHAT WENT WRONG?! iPad Air 5 Long-Term Review

Are there build quality issues with the iPad Air 5? The iPad Air 5 hasn’t gotten the warm welcome that most iPads get, and that may come as a surprise considering that Apple is now offering the same M1 chip they used in the iPad Pro, in the $600 iPad Air. So what went wrong here?

I’ve been using the iPad Air 5 for 2 and a half months now and I also got some interesting results when I tested the build quality and strength of this iPad. Please don’t try what I did with your own iPads, I don’t want yours to get damaged, and I only did these things for testing purposes - so here’s everything you need to know about the iPad Air 5.

Overall, it’s important that we look at this iPad from 2 angles: the first, is someone who’s a prospective iPad user - meaning, they either don’t have a tablet at all; or they have a tablet from another brand and they’re thinking of buying an iPad.

The second angle is someone who already has an iPad and is thinking of upgrading.

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[TechGearTalk]

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What's up everyone?! I hope this long-term review of the iPad Air 5 was helpful. Did I cover what you wanted to know? What else did you want to see or learn about?

What do you think about the build-quality?

[travisauruss]

Man, I am tired of these click bait video titles. "WHAT WENT WRONG?!" implies something is wrong with the device, or worse than the predecessor. Yet you do not address this really at all or come up with any major complaints. Your "what went wrong section" was 15 seconds at the end and you said some BS about storage? It is pure click bait. Seems like the video is now just an excuse to get clicks for product brand deals. Respect your viewer, show some integrity.

[NekoMichi]

I did a similar test and found wildly varying results. At my local Apple Store I simply picked up the iPads with my hands and found that almost all of the 5th gen iPad Air display units had a tangible creaking or clicking on the back. This wasn't even intentionally applying any pressure. Interestingly enough, my personal iPad Air 5th gen doesn't exhibit any creaking and nor did any of the other display models in store (tested the 6th gen Mini, both sizes of the iPad Pro, and the 9th gen base model iPad). I went to a different store and repeated the test but found that the majority of them didn't creak, with only a small percentage carrying the same issue.

Throughout the test I also recorded the serial numbers of every iPad tested and couldn't find any correlation with manufacturing site or date/batch of manufacture to the creaking issue.

I mentally divided the iPad into a 3x3 grid and tested which region creaked the most and found that the creaking tends to be more prevalent on the middle-left of the iPad (when held screen-up with the camera at the top orientation). This also happens to be where the battery is located and my theory is that the creaking could be the battery adhesive not sticking properly to the inside of the back case and the battery become momentarily unstuck. Given that the Apple Store demo units always have their screen brightness turned all the way up and the screens never turn off, it would make sense that the iPads could get a little warm and weaken the adhesives. It doesn't explain why this issue doesn't seem happen on the other iPad models though.

[TheLemon]

We got an iPad Air for my mom because she had one with an old design and it works wonders for her. She’s older and is only going to use it for emails and games, and she’ll use it for years. Well worth the price imo.

[aiaito]

I'm planning to get an ipad this end of year and the Air 5 got my attention for awhile now. I'm an Android user for a very long time and interested on switching soon to apple. Main purpose to get this iPad is literally gaming and trying out new experiences with Apple devices

[FalseInformation]

I was one of the lucky ones that got one in perfect condition, mine has no flex or creaking issues at all. Very pleased with my buy and I love the white MK with the blue color!

Love your videos, keep em coming!

[roryvance]

My Ipad Air review (after one month) . First off, my needs were:
1. A general tablet with some staying power for years to come. Use for internet, books, streaming, app games (havent tried out cloud gaming yet).
2. Something I could mark up documents with, highlight key areas in reseach articles (peer reviewed stuff) and jot down handwritten notes
3. A laptop replacement for when I am on the go, being able to write and type extensivly. for a few hours at a time.

So the decision was made to get the ipad this year, and then the mac mini (hopefully next year with m2) next year. I got the apple magic keyboard and going to get the apple pencil 2. I come from the ipad 6 with apple pencil 1. I also have the 256 gb memory version. I realize that could have been a ipad pro for 50 more, but half storage. I aslo realize that i could have had an mac book air or pro but would only help with 3, not with 1 and 2.
So..how has it done over the last month?
1. GREAT- I dont notice the difference in pro motion. I came from ipad 6, and i cant see much difference between iphone 12 (what i have) and the ipad air. I just tried Diablo Immortal tonight, watched Ted Lasso, listened to music and entertained myself at a coffee shop while waiting on family memeber at an appointment. ZERO Complaints.
2. ALMOST GREAT, EXTREMELY GOOD. I am not a content creator, so my needs are a bit different . Does this ipad store tons of pdf documents downloaded from researcher websites? Yes. Is it snappy, going back and forth between them, including large data tables? Yes. Does the pencil work great for making notes and highlighting? Yes. Even the limited multi tasking is PERFECT for backtracking citations. What keeps it from being perfect? Lack of chrome extensions hampers citation management software
3. Good, but could be better. So the magic keyboard does work, but takes some getting adjusted to. Its snappy and responsive, but on the 11 inch version, some of the keys feel a bit cramped around the edges. I have to slow down my typing a smudge, but can still crank out a few pages an hour. I love the trackpad. I do know that excel and word work great off the apps for me, and google docs does what it needs to do. R studio cloud based seems to do most of my statistical analysis needs. I wish I could do SPSS or STATA, but it looks like i need to wait to i have my mac mini for that.

I feel that once i have the mac mini, the combo will be perfection.

So...whats my verdict? If this is your only device, you can get away with it, if your work load is no more than emails, documents, spreadsheets and PDFs. You will be able to have all that AND have a great tablet. This is super important if you find yourself doing work outside of a computer desk. Its portable and slim, good prices, fast and can be fun and good for work. If you need something more, you will have to determine if you want to.
a) ditch some things for convience and get a macbook. You lose tablet funcitonality, but (for researchers) you can do it all on a laptop. This is good if you are okay with not marking up books and research papers on them, instead keeping hand written notes or printing them out and having physical copies.
b) add something else to plug the gaps for when you need them. For me this is the mac mini.

The only thing i have not tried it yet is on zoom calls. I have my old lap top. How does that work in anyones expereince?

[kamillemercado]

I had just ordered the air 5 and was afraid of what others were saying about it but your video reassured me on my purchase. Thank you so much for your unbiased review of the product! ✨

[tijnzr]

Great video, love your advice as always. Just got the Air 5 64GB as an upgrade to the Samsung tab A (2016) and couldn't be more happy. While the storage made me think thrice about the purchase, with fast internet for rotating apps in and out and the ability of many apps (affinity photo etc.) to use file shares/usb-c ssd, i decided to manage instead of spend.

[LawrenceBroussard]

Always educational with great value for my time invested.

[anis_n]

It’s my first iPad (first tablet ever actually) so I think it’s a great introduction iPad for me. I’ll be using it for simple sketching, taking notes and Netflix. I don’t really play games either.

[edcipriani]

Thank you for discussing these concerns on the iPad Air 5. When I was started doing some pre-purchase comparisons between iPads in late March/early April 2022, I did come across some feedback and reviews from customers who had purchased the iPad Air 5 which mentioned the build quality issues you covered. I decided to buy a new iPad Air 4 instead in Mid April 2022, had to go for the 256GB storage option.

I was upgrading from an iPad Mini 4 which I've had for 5 years, so it's still a big leap forward. I figure that the Air 4 had been out for much longer, and many reviewers, including you, had given the Air 4 nothing but praise and thumbs up. We buy what works for us, and thank you for your reviews on the Air 4, that helped in my decision-making process as well.

[ezequielgavilan]

I felt the pain with the level 3 pressure... you almost tried the bend test haha! Amazing video!!!

[BookieTech]

I'm staying with my iPad Air 4, thank you for the informative video!

[rahilhabib]

Love your videos, thanks so much. I've never had an ipad (only apple device I've ever had and still have is my MacBook Pro from 2013) so your videos are really helpful because you do them from. An objective POV with your own preferences thrown in here and there. The objective perspective you give is really appreciated and its what I'm looking for in deciding which ipad to get.

I had been keeping my eye on the ipad 10 but now that it has been released, I feel disappointed with it (the price point and the fact that it still only has support for apple pencil 1 which now needs an adapter to pair and charge it!). With that price point I'm now considering getting the air 5 instead for a bit more.

I've seem some devices where you can connect an ad (or micro ad) card for expanding memory which works for me as I think 64gb would be enough except when I want to load on movies or soemthing so that would be helpful for me rather than paying 150-200 extra for the 255gb model! Really wish they did a middle ground 128 option lol

[Therejectionartist]

I’ve survived with 32gb on a 6 gen for more than 3 years, a lot of photos, some data heavy apps, really never struggled for space as you can sync in iTunes to reduce system data, uninstall and reinstall apps to increase storage, idle apps or just remove them until you need them. None of that is troublesome to do. Having said that I do have the air 5 with 256gb just because I never had more storage before so I probably won’t have to think about it. But even if you do have to think about it, there are easy solutions.

[briantafelmeyer]

I bought the 256 gig Air 5 version at Micro Center last week on sale for $599. 😮. I also did the stress test and found no issues (I didn’t go to level 3), it is a rock solid tablet. Great channel btw.

[Thewaterspirit]

the Air 5 has the same casing as the air 4, because each and every year, the price for manufacturing those specific casings goes down and down. That's why the iPhone SE is able to remain soo cheap, but still able to give people the full powered modern performance, on par with the iPhone 13 and ipad mini 6th gen.
The same is done here, its meant to be a more budget version of the iPad Pro, having the M1, and 8GBs of ram for those who want to spend a little less. Especially since the 120hz isn't entirely useful for everything on ipads.
I'm not even debating that "YOU SHOULD TOTALLY BUY THIS IPAD!!!!" no, more like it still has value like the other ipad models. Even if you're on some ipad air 3rd or 4th gen, maybe some older ipad pro. For me personally, I would upgrade to this ipad from my ipad 5th gen, rather than getting an ipad pro. Mostly because I'd wanna get as much as I can with the iPad pro line, being that I'd get the full 16GBs of ram with 1TB of storage, but that could wait till the M2 or M3 versions.

[reaperreaper]

For me, shoving the M1 into the Air but not including Thunderbolt is a waste, as that’s the one aspect of the M1 I actually appreciate and use on the 2021 Pros I’ve got

[stricken]

This is why I love your videos; when even your sponsor ad is useful and I don't find myself skipping it like on other YouTuber's videos where it's some irrelevant subject. I bought the s8+ but still find the iPad videos informative and entertaining since I have family members that love Apple. Keep it up!