iPad Air 11 (M2) Alternatives
Not sold on the iPad Air 11 (M2)? These are the alternatives we would consider instead, with the specific reason to prefer each.
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If the iPad Air 11 (M2) is not quite right, these are the Tablets we would look at instead, and the specific reason you might prefer each one.
Why you might look elsewhere
The most common reason people move on from the iPad Air 11 (M2) is straightforward: 60Hz is obvious the moment you scroll after using a 120Hz panel. If that is a problem for how you work, one of the alternatives below will suit you better.
The alternatives
| Model | Price | Score | Why choose it instead |
|---|---|---|---|
| iPad Pro 13 (M4) | £1299 | 5 / 5 | The best display ever put in a tablet, with no OLED brightness penalty on full-screen white |
| Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra | £1199 | 4 / 5 | The S Pen is included, which no competitor at this price does |
| Surface Pro 11 | £1049 | 4 / 5 | A full desktop OS with a real file system and real ports |
| OnePlus Pad 2 | £499 | 4 / 5 | Flagship silicon at a mid-range price |
| Galaxy Tab S9 FE | £449 | 3 / 5 | IP68 rated, which almost no tablet at any price is |
If you want to spend less
The OnePlus Pad 2 at £499 saves you £100. You give up some capability, but it delivers flagship silicon at a mid-range price.
If you can stretch further
The iPad Pro 13 (M4) at £1299 costs £700 more and adds the best display ever put in a tablet, with no OLED brightness penalty on full-screen white.
On the numbers that actually differ
Two devices in the same bracket usually share most of their specification sheet. These are the entries where they genuinely diverge, which is the only part of the comparison worth your time.
| Specification | iPad Air 11 (M2) | iPad Pro 13 (M4) |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £599 | £1,299 |
| Our score | 4 / 5 | 5 / 5 |
| Released | 2024 | 2024 |
| Display | 11in IPS, 60Hz | 13in tandem OLED, 120Hz |
| Chip | M2 | M4 |
| RAM | 8GB | 16GB |
| Storage | 128GB | 512GB |
| Weight | 462g | 579g |
| Battery | 28.93Wh | 38.99Wh |
| Screen-on time | 10h 05m | 9h 20m |
The cost of switching
Changing manufacturer is rarely just the price difference. Budget for the accessories that will not carry over, an afternoon of migration, and a fortnight of not knowing where anything is. On Apple hardware specifically, the things that transfer least well are the settings you configured once and forgot about — they are invisible until they are missing. None of that is a reason to stay put, but it is a reason not to switch over a specification you would struggle to explain to someone else.
When to stay with the iPad Air 11 (M2)
It remains the right choice if you are most people — it is the tablet to buy unless you have a specific reason not to. Nothing in this list beats it on that specific point.
Behind this page
This reference page is written from the same testing notes as the reviews it supports, and it is revised whenever the hardware or the software underneath it changes. Where a figure appears here it has been measured rather than quoted from a specification sheet.
If something on this page no longer matches what you are seeing, it is out of date rather than disputed — tell us and it gets checked again.
Related reading
The reviews this page supports go into the measurements behind these figures, and the knowledge base collects every reference page we keep.
Elsewhere in alternatives: iPad Pro 13 (M4) Alternatives, iPhone 16 Pro Alternatives and AOC 24G2SPU Alternatives.