Apple iPad 9.7-inch (2018) vs Apple iPad Air (2020) Specs Comparison

Design

Dimensions
9.4 x 6.6 x 0.29 inches 238.8 x 167.6 x 7.4 mm	9.75 x 7.03 x 0.24 inches 247.6 x 178.5 x 6.1 mm
Weight
16.86 oz (478.0 g)	16.23 oz (460.0 g)
Materials
Back: Aluminum	Back: Aluminum
Biometrics
Fingerprint (touch)	Fingerprint (touch)
Keys
Right: Volume control	Right: Volume control, Lock/Unlock key
Colors
Gold, Gray, Silver	Rose gold, Space gray, Silver, Green, Sky blue

Display

Size
9.7-inch	10.9-inch
Resolution
2048x1536px, 4:3 ratio, 264 PPI	2360x1640px, 264 PPI
Technology
IPS LCD	IPS LCD
Refresh rate
	60Hz
Screen-to-body
72.80 %	81.23 %
Peak brightness
	500 cd/m2 (nit)
Features
Oleophobic coating, Ambient light sensor	Oleophobic coating, Ambient light sensor

Hardware

System chip
Apple A10 Fusion APL1W24 (16 nm)	Apple A14 Bionic (5 nm)
Processor
Quad-core 2340 MHz Hurricane and Zephy	Hexa-core Firestorm and Icestorm
GPU
PowerVR 7XT GT7600 Plus	Apple 4-core GPU
RAM
2GB	4GB
Internal storage
128GB	64GB
Storage expansion
	not expandable
OS
iOS (13.x, 12.x, 11.x)	iPadOS (14.x)

Battery

Capacity
8827 mAh
Type
Li - Polymer	Li - Ion

Camera

Rear
Single camera	Single camera
Main camera
8 MP (Autofocus, BSI sensor) Aperture size: F2.4	12 MP (PDAF, BSI sensor) Aperture size: F1.8
Video recording
1920x1080 (Full HD) (30 fps) Time-lapse video, EIS, Video calling, Video sharing	3840x2160 (4K UHD) (60 fps), 1920x1080 (Full HD) (240 fps) Time-lapse video, Continuous autofocus, Picture-taking during video recording, EIS
Front
1.2 MP (HDR), Video capture: 1280x720 (HD)	7 MP (EIS, HDR), Video capture: 1920x1080 (Full HD)

Connectivity & Features

Bluetooth
4.2	5.0
WLAN
802.11 a,b,g,n,ac,dual-band MIMO, Wi-Fi Direct	802.11 a,b,g,n,ac,ax(Wi-Fi 6),dual-band MIMO
USB
Lightning	Type-C
Location
GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning	GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning
Sensors
Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Barometer	Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Barometer
Other
UMA (Wi-Fi Calling), Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync, AirDrop	UMA (Wi-Fi Calling)

Multimedia

Headphones
3.5mm jack	No 3.5mm jack
Speakers
Multiple speakers	Multiple speakers
Features
Album art cover, Background playback
Screen mirroring
Wireless screen share

Cellular

4G (FDD)
Bands 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(AWS-1), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700 a), 13(700 c), 17(700 b), 18(800 Lower), 19(800 Upper), 20(800 DD), 25(1900+), 26(850+), 28(700 APT), 29(700 d), 30(2300 WCS)	Bands 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(AWS-1), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700 a), 13(700 c), 14(700 PS), 17(700 b), 18(800 Lower), 19(800 Upper), 20(800 DD), 21(1500 Upper), 25(1900+), 26(850+), 29(700 d), 30(2300 WCS), 66(AWS-3), 71(600)
4G (TDD)
Bands 38(2600), 39(1900+), 40(2300), 41(2600+)	Bands 34(2000), 38(2600), 39(1900+), 40(2300), 41(2600+), 46, 48(3600)
3G
Bands 5(850), 8(900), 4(1700/2100), 2(1900), 1(2100)	Bands 1(2100), 2(1900), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 8(900)
Data Speed
LTE-A Cat 6 (300/50 Mbit/s), HSPA, HSUPA	LTE-A, HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS
Dual SIM
	Yes
SIM type
Nano SIM	Nano SIM, eSIM

Buyers information

MSRP
$ 559	$ 729
In The Box
iPad Lightning to USB Cable, USB Power Adapter	USB‑C Charge Cable (1 meter), 20W USB‑C Power Adapter

Availability

Officially announced
Mar 27, 2018	Sep 15, 2020

Alternative variants

with 32 GB storage

Internal storage	32GB
MSRP	$ 459

with 256GB storage

Internal storage	256GB
MSRP	$ 879

Wi-Fi only

Internal storage	32GB
Weight	16.54 oz (469.0 g)
MSRP	$ 329

Wi-Fi only

Weight	16.16 oz (458.0 g)
MSRP	$ 599

Wi-Fi only

Weight	16.54 oz (469.0 g)
MSRP	$ 429

Wi-Fi only with 256GB storage

Internal storage	256GB
Weight	16.16 oz (458.0 g)
MSRP	$ 749

Links

Full specifications
Apple iPad 9.7-inch (2018) Specs	Apple iPad Air (2020) Specs
PhoneArena Review
Apple iPad 9.7-inch (2018) Review	Apple iPad Air (2020) Review