Apple Sunset

iPad Air (3rd generation)

Discontinued 15 Sept 2020

Released

18 Mar 2019

Announced

18 Mar 2019

Pre-orders opened

18 Mar 2019

Launch price from

$499

Discontinued

15 Sept 2020

Lifespan

1 year, 6 months

Category
iPad Air
Status
Discontinued
Apple support status
Vintage (limited repairs, subject to parts)
Release type
Refresh of an existing model
Previous model
iPad Air (2nd generation)
Replaced by
iPad Air (4th generation)
Official Apple page
No longer available on Apple’s website
Tech specs
Apple specs ↗
Press release
Apple Newsroom ↗
More information
iPad Air (3rd generation) on Wikipedia ↗

Notes

The iPad Air (3rd generation) brought the name back after four and a half years away, on a 10.5-inch screen rather than the 9.7-inch one the line had used until then. Apple built it into the body of the 10.5-inch iPad Pro it had already stopped selling, down to the same 250.6mm by 174.1mm by 6.1mm, so the Air stayed exactly as thick as the iPad Air 2 while the screen grew by nearly a fifth.

Apple Pencil support was introduced on the iPad Air (3rd generation), though only the first-generation Pencil, which charged by being plugged into the socket on the bottom of the tablet. The Smart Keyboard worked with it as well, at $159 on top of the Pencil’s $99.

The A12 Bionic chip came across from the iPhone XS, and Apple claimed 70% more speed and twice the graphics of the 9.7-inch iPad it sat above. Storage started at 64GB, with 256GB the only other choice.

It was announced on 18 March 2019 in a press release, a week before the services event where Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade were introduced. Orders opened the same day, while Apple said it would be in shops the following week, priced from $499.

The model it replaced was the iPad Air 2.

iPad Air release history

  1. 2024

  2. 7 May 2024

    iPad Air (5th generation) Discontinued

  3. ↑ 2 years, 2 months later
  4. 2022

  5. 18 Mar 2022

    iPad Air (5th generation) Released

  6. 8 Mar 2022

    iPad Air (4th generation) Discontinued

  7. ↑ 1 year, 4 months later
  8. 2020

  9. 23 Oct 2020

    iPad Air (4th generation) Released

  10. 15 Sept 2020

    iPad Air (3rd generation) Discontinued

  11. ↑ 1 year, 6 months later
  12. 2019

  13. 18 Mar 2019

    iPad Air (3rd generation) Released

  14. ↑ about 2 years later
  15. 2017

  16. 21 Mar 2017

    iPad Air (2nd generation) Discontinued

  17. ↑ about 1 year later
  18. 2016

  19. 21 Mar 2016

    iPad Air (1st generation) Discontinued

  20. ↑ 1 year, 5 months later
  21. 2014

  22. 22 Oct 2014

    iPad Air (2nd generation) Released

  23. ↑ about 1 year later
  24. 2013

  25. 1 Nov 2013

    iPad Air (1st generation) Launch

More in iPad Air

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