What is Audiobus? — Audiobus isan award-winning music app for iPhone and iPad which lets you useyour other music apps together. Chain effects on your favouritesynth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app likeGarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface outputfor each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive asynth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDIkeyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear.And control your entire setup from a MIDI controller.

1. Ipad Air 2 Specs

Download on the App Store

Audiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.

Dec 11, 2017 If GarageBand won't open after updating your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to iOS 11, turn off iCloud for GarageBand on your device. Go to Settings your name, and tap iCloud. Under 'Apps Using iCloud,' turn off GarageBand. The Apple iPad Air Tablet is 20 percent thinner when compared with iPad (4th generation) and weighs just one pound, so it feels unbelievably light in your hand.With up to 10. It charges the iPad and gives you 4 ins/4 outs + 1 headphone out. It also has a midi in and and an out. It's smaller sibling the iconnectivity Iconnectaudio2+ has the same features as well but I don't own one so I cant comment on it. Mind you the advanced audio routing on these interfaces come with a learning curve that is a bit steep.

After months of struggling with wonky timing across many apps, studiomux refusing to appear on the pc, and iTunes refusing to identify my Air2, occasionally recognising the iPad, but all the contents showed up as 'other', rather than audio, photos, apps, etc. Last week I had a major glitch, which revolved around Funk Drummer sending midi on AB3 to AUM hosting Troublemaker. Now, Funk Drummer would crash every start, and exception error faults on iTunes when plugging in the iPad.

I did a factory reset (panicking after the 3rd Authorisation failure, 4th time worked), and once the authorisation happened I had the option to restore from backup, which I did.
IT SOLVED ALL MY PROBLEMS. iTunes , App timings, Link, Studiomux, all working perfectly, so far.

I was able to backup most stuff using ifunbox. The only bits I lost were recordings in AudioShare made since the last iTunes backup.
Happy again

Comments

• edited July 2017

  Yep. It's a good idea to factory reset before every major os update. Restoring from iTunes backup works wonders. I haven't lost any data and my iPad Air2 runs swimmingly since I do this every few months. Downloading all my apps on desktop iTunes also means the restore is extremely fast.

• The only problem is you'll be forced update to the latest iOS version.

• @fjcblanco said:
  The only problem is you'll be forced update to the latest iOS version.

  The latest iOS works wonderfully on my Air2. Not sure why that would be a problem.

• For solving system wide issues i wouldn't use the iTunes backup after a factory reset in recovery mode. Usually it is much better to use an iCloud Backup instead. Oh, and i would do the factory reset two times to ensure, that the factory reset is done in recovery mode.

  Maybe there is somebody out there who can better explain the reasons.

• My issue with back up is space- 100gb of stuff won't fit on my laptop.,.

• @Littlewoodg said:
  My issue with back up is space- 100gb of stuff won't fit on my laptop.,.

  Same issue here.. I'm kinda fucked I guess lol

• @ElGregoLoco said:

  @Littlewoodg said:
  My issue with back up is space- 100gb of stuff won't fit on my laptop.,.

  Same issue here.. I'm kinda fucked I guess lol

  There is an old trick , using symbolic link to change the iTunes default folder . Basically you could use an external hdd .. if you are interested I could find some more info

• I still get confused over what iCloud actually backs up. I get the 50GB for $0.99 iCloud deal and will see 15GB backed up there from my music apps.

  But I've erased apps off my iPad for space consideration and later reinstalled them but presets, samples, etc weren't back in the app. Is there some procedure to reload the back up?

  I ask since this talk of factory resetting makes sense but I don't want to try it and lose all of my stuff.

• @Littlewoodg said:
  My issue with back up is space- 100gb of stuff won't fit on my laptop.,.

  Jeez

  Other way around for me

  I would give small toe for PC storage on iPAD AIR2

  Why else would I want to reset iPAD?

  AIR1

  AIR2

  I am open to it if there is a greater good.

  Make them quicker?

  more storage?

  Not sure why

• I was able to delete enough data from my iPad and old PC so that I could try to do a backup of my iPad yesterday evening.. But unfortunately, this does not work. Whatever I try (I deleted the old backups, changed the energy settings on the PC, tried different USB cables, ..), the backup process never works.. It systematically stops at about 25%, with an error message in iTunes saying that the iPad is disconnected. So it seems that my iPad content may be corrupted.. Just a guess on my side.

  So I backed up the data of my main music apps, one by one in iTunes (I could not do it for some apps like blocs wave and GarageBand unfortunately) and will try restoring the ipad to factory state tonight, then I will try reinstalling every app one by one and reload my data to the main apps.. It will be a long process but this is the only solution I can think of.

  If you have any idea or inputs to help me here, it would be good.. I would be so happy to be able to do a backup and an easy restore using this backup..

• @ElGregoLoco said:
  I was able to delete enough data from my iPad and old PC so that I could try to do a backup of my iPad yesterday evening.. But unfortunately, this does not work. Whatever I try (I deleted the old backups, changed the energy settings on the PC, tried different USB cables, ..), the backup process never works.. It systematically stops at about 25%, with an error message in iTunes saying that the iPad is disconnected. So it seems that my iPad content may be corrupted.. Just a guess on my side.

  So I backed up the data of my main music apps, one by one in iTunes (I could not do it for some apps like blocs wave and GarageBand unfortunately) and will try restoring the ipad to factory state tonight, then I will try reinstalling every app one by one and reload my data to the main apps.. It will be a long process but this is the only solution I can think of.

  If you have any idea or inputs to help me here, it would be good.. I would be so happy to be able to do a backup and an easy restore using this backup..

  Use ifunbox to backup your data. It lets you copy paste a lot more than iTunes does.

• @gonekrazy3000 said:

  @ElGregoLoco said:
  I was able to delete enough data from my iPad and old PC so that I could try to do a backup of my iPad yesterday evening.. But unfortunately, this does not work. Whatever I try (I deleted the old backups, changed the energy settings on the PC, tried different USB cables, ..), the backup process never works.. It systematically stops at about 25%, with an error message in iTunes saying that the iPad is disconnected. So it seems that my iPad content may be corrupted.. Just a guess on my side.

  So I backed up the data of my main music apps, one by one in iTunes (I could not do it for some apps like blocs wave and GarageBand unfortunately) and will try restoring the ipad to factory state tonight, then I will try reinstalling every app one by one and reload my data to the main apps.. It will be a long process but this is the only solution I can think of.

  If you have any idea or inputs to help me here, it would be good.. I would be so happy to be able to do a backup and an easy restore using this backup..

  Use ifunbox to backup your data. It lets you copy paste a lot more than iTunes does.

  I thought it did not work anymore with new ios ?

• @ElGregoLoco said:

  @gonekrazy3000 said:

  @ElGregoLoco said:
  I was able to delete enough data from my iPad and old PC so that I could try to do a backup of my iPad yesterday evening.. But unfortunately, this does not work. Whatever I try (I deleted the old backups, changed the energy settings on the PC, tried different USB cables, ..), the backup process never works.. It systematically stops at about 25%, with an error message in iTunes saying that the iPad is disconnected. So it seems that my iPad content may be corrupted.. Just a guess on my side.

  Download virtual dj pro 7 full version for pc. So I backed up the data of my main music apps, one by one in iTunes (I could not do it for some apps like blocs wave and GarageBand unfortunately) and will try restoring the ipad to factory state tonight, then I will try reinstalling every app one by one and reload my data to the main apps.. It will be a long process but this is the only solution I can think of.

  If you have any idea or inputs to help me here, it would be good.. I would be so happy to be able to do a backup and an easy restore using this backup..

  Use ifunbox to backup your data. It lets you copy paste a lot more than iTunes does.

  I thought it did not work anymore with new ios ?

  It's working fine for me on IOS 10.3.2 and windows 7.

• @gonekrazy3000 said:

  @ElGregoLoco said:

  @gonekrazy3000 said:

  @ElGregoLoco said:
  I was able to delete enough data from my iPad and old PC so that I could try to do a backup of my iPad yesterday evening.. But unfortunately, this does not work. Whatever I try (I deleted the old backups, changed the energy settings on the PC, tried different USB cables, ..), the backup process never works.. It systematically stops at about 25%, with an error message in iTunes saying that the iPad is disconnected. So it seems that my iPad content may be corrupted.. Just a guess on my side.

  So I backed up the data of my main music apps, one by one in iTunes (I could not do it for some apps like blocs wave and GarageBand unfortunately) and will try restoring the ipad to factory state tonight, then I will try reinstalling every app one by one and reload my data to the main apps.. It will be a long process but this is the only solution I can think of.

  If you have any idea or inputs to help me here, it would be good.. I would be so happy to be able to do a backup and an easy restore using this backup..

  Use ifunbox to backup your data. It lets you copy paste a lot more than iTunes does.

  I thought it did not work anymore with new ios ?

  It's working fine for me on IOS 10.3.2 and windows 7.

  OK I will try tonight then.. This would be already nice to be able to backup most of my music apps daya if I finally decide to really erase everything without a full iPad backup (which would still be a pain in the ass lol)..
  Thanks a lot mate.

• Do your user presets get saved as well using iTunes or ifunbox?

• Ifunbox worked for me, because iTunes couldn't connect to the iPad due to corruption somewhere on the iPad.

• Mine was doing same thing so I googled iTunes not recognize iPad or iPhone.
  Completely deleted any trace of iTunes and reinstalled latest version to laptop and it worked!
  But I still wonder if my presets are saved also.

• edited August 2017

  @MusicMan4Christ said:
  Mine was doing same thing so I googled iTunes not recognize iPad or iPhone.
  Completely deleted any trace of iTunes and reinstalled latest version to laptop and it worked!
  But I still wonder if my presets are saved also.

  Damned.. After several tests, and particularly a successfull backup of my wife's small iPad, I decided that the issue was on my iPad.. So I just started a full factory reset with no backup.. I admit I now regret I did not try your technical..

  PS: ifunbox, even latest beta version, does not let me save apps content since my iPad is not on iOS 8 or previous, and it's not jailbroken

  Edit: maybe I should redo a factory reset after a clean install of iTunes then..

• @ElGregoLoco said:
  PS: ifunbox, even latest beta version, does not let me save apps content since my iPad is not on iOS 8 or previous, and it's not jailbroken

  >
  My iPad has never been jail broken, has iOS 10.3.3, the latest ifunbox (v4 something , I think) worked.

  Try changing to a different USB port on the computer and a different cable. One of my USB ports was being disabled in device manager whenever I connected the iPad with corruption. Changing ports enabled ifunbox to connect

• @ElGregoLoco said:

  @MusicMan4Christ said:
  Mine was doing same thing so I googled iTunes not recognize iPad or iPhone.
  Completely deleted any trace of iTunes and reinstalled latest version to laptop and it worked!
  But I still wonder if my presets are saved also.

  Damned.. After several tests, and particularly a successfull backup of my wife's small iPad, I decided that the issue was on my iPad.. So I just started a full factory reset with no backup.. I admit I now regret I did not try your technical..

  PS: ifunbox, even latest beta version, does not let me save apps content since my iPad is not on iOS 8 or previous, and it's not jailbroken

  Edit: maybe I should redo a factory reset after a clean install of iTunes then..

  my ipad isn't jailbroken either. and ifunbox can access the app sandboxes with no issue. just backed up the entirety of modstep with no problem.

• That ifunbox works again is news to me. And it sounds like, from the above, that it can access more than just the 'documents' folder ', or whatever it's called, in each app?

• @syrupcore said:
  That ifunbox works again is news to me. And it sounds like, from the above, that it can access more than just the 'documents' folder ', or whatever it's called, in each app?

  Retried over here, with ifunbox v4, and still no luck with any of my USB ports.. I see the apps but when I want to access their documents, ifunbox simply tells me that this functionality is available for iOS 8.3 or below or for jailbreaked iPad.. Maybe because I'm on PC..

  And the full restore/reinstall did not work.. After I reload my files app by app, iTunes is still not able to perform a backup because 'iPad disconnected'.. and the fresh install of BM3 still gives me tandom cracklings when playing my tracks.. Depressing after several nights trying to fix the issue..

• edited August 2017

  @ElGregoLoco , so after you did the reset, was iTunes able to connect to the iPad before you started reinstalling your apps?
  I don't get why your ifunbox is not working correctly, are you definately using the latest version?

• edited August 2017

  @ElGregoLoco said:

  @syrupcore said:
  That ifunbox works again is news to me. And it sounds like, from the above, that it can access more than just the 'documents' folder ', or whatever it's called, in each app?

  Retried over here, with ifunbox v4, and still no luck with any of my USB ports.. I see the apps but when I want to access their documents, ifunbox simply tells me that this functionality is available for iOS 8.3 or below or for jailbreaked iPad.. Maybe because I'm on PC..

  And the full restore/reinstall did not work.. After I reload my files app by app, iTunes is still not able to perform a backup because 'iPad disconnected'.. and the fresh install of BM3 still gives me tandom cracklings when playing my tracks.. Depressing after several nights trying to fix the issue..

  I'm on pc. Windows 7. Maybe your iPad has something actually wrong with it perhaps ? Or you were trying access it via the direct folder access intead of app sandbox. I'll post screenshots when I can how to do it.

• @gonekrazy3000 said:

  @ElGregoLoco said:

  @syrupcore said:
  That ifunbox works again is news to me. And it sounds like, from the above, that it can access more than just the 'documents' folder ', or whatever it's called, in each app?

  Retried over here, with ifunbox v4, and still no luck with any of my USB ports.. I see the apps but when I want to access their documents, ifunbox simply tells me that this functionality is available for iOS 8.3 or below or for jailbreaked iPad.. Maybe because I'm on PC..

  And the full restore/reinstall did not work.. After I reload my files app by app, iTunes is still not able to perform a backup because 'iPad disconnected'.. and the fresh install of BM3 still gives me tandom cracklings when playing my tracks.. Depressing after several nights trying to fix the issue..

  I'm on pc. Windows 7. Maybe your iPad has something actually wrong with it perhaps ? Or you were trying access it via the direct folder access intead of app sandbox. I'll post screenshots when I can how to do it.

  It was version 4 beta (latest on ifunbox official website), on PC with Windows 10..
  And I was able to do an iTunes backup after reinstalling Gadget + BM2&3 + Audioshare + AB3 + Cubasis without reloading my data.. And then, as soon as I add my data app-by-app using iTunes, the backup does not work anymore.. So it could be my data which is corrupted (if so, I'm completly ducked as my music data is several gigs of data in several apps, with everything I did and gathered during several years), or a question of backup size which ducks my PC (as small backups of less than 1 Gigs always worked even with my iPad until now)..
  Thanks you all for your help.. I'll keep you informed and if you have ideas they are still more than welcome (I'm not really I interested by ifunbox, I would simply like to be able to use iTunes and my iPad as they are supposed to be used lol).

• @ElGregoLoco said:

  @gonekrazy3000 said:

  @ElGregoLoco said:

  @syrupcore said:
  That ifunbox works again is news to me. And it sounds like, from the above, that it can access more than just the 'documents' folder ', or whatever it's called, in each app?

  Retried over here, with ifunbox v4, and still no luck with any of my USB ports.. I see the apps but when I want to access their documents, ifunbox simply tells me that this functionality is available for iOS 8.3 or below or for jailbreaked iPad.. Maybe because I'm on PC..

  And the full restore/reinstall did not work.. After I reload my files app by app, iTunes is still not able to perform a backup because 'iPad disconnected'.. and the fresh install of BM3 still gives me tandom cracklings when playing my tracks.. Depressing after several nights trying to fix the issue..

  I'm on pc. Windows 7. Maybe your iPad has something actually wrong with it perhaps ? Or you were trying access it via the direct folder access intead of app sandbox. I'll post screenshots when I can how to do it.

  It was version 4 beta (latest on ifunbox official website), on PC with Windows 10..
  And I was able to do an iTunes backup after reinstalling Gadget + BM2&3 + Audioshare + AB3 + Cubasis without reloading my data.. And then, as soon as I add my data app-by-app using iTunes, the backup does not work anymore.. So it could be my data which is corrupted (if so, I'm completly ducked as my music data is several gigs of data in several apps, with everything I did and gathered during several years), or a question of backup size which ducks my PC (as small backups of less than 1 Gigs always worked even with my iPad until now)..
  Thanks you all for your help.. I'll keep you informed and if you have ideas they are still more than welcome (I'm not really I interested by ifunbox, I would simply like to be able to use iTunes and my iPad as they are supposed to be used lol).

  I found that I upgrades of funbox didn't work on PC after doing them.

  Needed to delete - uninstall and then reinstall Funbox and it worked again.

  IF YOU HAVEN'T DONE THIS

• @RustiK said:

  @ElGregoLoco said:

  @gonekrazy3000 said:

  @ElGregoLoco said:

  @syrupcore said:
  That ifunbox works again is news to me. And it sounds like, from the above, that it can access more than just the 'documents' folder ', or whatever it's called, in each app?

  Retried over here, with ifunbox v4, and still no luck with any of my USB ports.. I see the apps but when I want to access their documents, ifunbox simply tells me that this functionality is available for iOS 8.3 or below or for jailbreaked iPad.. Maybe because I'm on PC..

  And the full restore/reinstall did not work.. After I reload my files app by app, iTunes is still not able to perform a backup because 'iPad disconnected'.. and the fresh install of BM3 still gives me tandom cracklings when playing my tracks.. Depressing after several nights trying to fix the issue..

  I'm on pc. Windows 7. Maybe your iPad has something actually wrong with it perhaps ? Or you were trying access it via the direct folder access intead of app sandbox. I'll post screenshots when I can how to do it.

  It was version 4 beta (latest on ifunbox official website), on PC with Windows 10..
  And I was able to do an iTunes backup after reinstalling Gadget + BM2&3 + Audioshare + AB3 + Cubasis without reloading my data.. And then, as soon as I add my data app-by-app using iTunes, the backup does not work anymore.. So it could be my data which is corrupted (if so, I'm completly ducked as my music data is several gigs of data in several apps, with everything I did and gathered during several years), or a question of backup size which ducks my PC (as small backups of less than 1 Gigs always worked even with my iPad until now)..
  Thanks you all for your help.. I'll keep you informed and if you have ideas they are still more than welcome (I'm not really I interested by ifunbox, I would simply like to be able to use iTunes and my iPad as they are supposed to be used lol).

  I found that I upgrades of funbox didn't work on PC after doing them.

  Needed to delete - uninstall and then reinstall Funbox and it worked again.

  IF YOU HAVEN'T DONE THIS

  Thanks a lot, maybe I'll try one day.. Right now, it took me 3 evenings to come back to the same state I was initially in.. So I give up for now..
  Now, I'm really hoping that update 3.0.1 will improve the stability of BM3 on my iPad.. This was the goal of all this on my side.

• Thanks for sharing. I think backup file is very important for people who restore iPad to factory setting without iTunes. With a backup which contains all the existing data on iOS device, you can easily retrieve the data that are erased due to factory reset. Otherwise, you are most likely to lost your precious files and setting on your device.

• Soon I will have not other way than to do a complete factory reset..
  After installing some of the recent apps from AppStore I can no longer do a full backup with iTunes.
  (My current backup got 'corrupted' so I deleted it and now I can't make a new one, tried on different computers etc.).

  Maybe I will just start 'clean' with iOS11 and install only the apps I need and lift out all the 'important' files using iFunBox.. (Or install iOS11 on top of my current iOS10.3.3 and see if it 'fixes' the backup issues).

iPad Q&A

Update Published November 8, 2019

All Apple Q&As >>iPad Q&A (Home) Also see: All iPad Specs

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If you find this page useful, please Bookmark & Share it. Thank you.

What are the main differences between the iPad and the MacBook Air? Which makes the most sense for my needs?

There are many different iPad and MacBook Air models. In fact, as carefully documented by EveryMac.com, there actually are dozens of distinct models released over the course of several years.

Based on e-mail received, readers who want to know the difference between the iPad and the MacBook Air are most interested in usability and functional differences rather than technical differences, per se.

This Q&A does cover a number of general technical differences -- and some of these differences are critical -- but the primary focus is of general comparison to help one determine whether an iPad or a MacBook Air is best for their needs rather than an exhaustive technical evaluation.

Photo Credit: Apple, Inc. (iPad with Apple Smart Keyboard; MacBook Air)

Target Market Differences

Apple initially positioned the iPad between the Mac and the iPod touch/iPhone and intended for it to essentially compete with netbooks, tablet computers, and e-readers, rather than with more full featured notebook computers.

However, practically immediately, users viewed the iPad as a potential notebook competitor, as well. Additionally, since the first iPad was released in 2010, the device has become more capable, a great deal of unique software has been released that takes full advantage of the touch screen interface, a variety of external keyboards have become available (including 'official' offerings from Apple), and it no longer is required to be 'tethered' to a Mac or PC for software updates, either.

Consequently, for many users, the iPad is quite viable as a standalone computer, particularly when compared to the also light and portable MacBook Air models. For some users, these days, the iPad might even be a better computer than the MacBook Air.

For others, though, the iPad is best suited as a complementary purchase to a more powerful notebook or desktop Mac for 'heavy lifting' work with the iPad relegated to less performance hungry tasks, or perhaps 'less serious' tasks, depending on perspective.

Naturally, Apple would be quite happy for you to purchase an iPad as well as a MacBook Air, but budget constraints may require you to choose one or the other.

Usage Differences

In general, if you primarily use a computer to browse the web, type a modest amount of text, play music, present photos, and watch online video, the iPad could be ideal for your needs.

If you spend much of your time creating 'fun' content that does not require a great deal of typing or a substantial amount of computing power -- like fairly simple photo manipulation, video editing, and music creation -- the iPad, particularly the iPad Pro; could be as good or even better than the MacBook Air for you.

On the other hand, if you type extensive documents, use spreadsheets, and prepare complicated presentations that are text heavy, in addition to performing photo, video, and music-related tasks, the MacBook Air is a better choice.

Of course, you can add an external keyboard to the iPad, and but based on hands-on use, EveryMac.com finds these keyboard solutions to be an improvement for text entry on the iPad, but nowhere close to as fast or as pleasant as typing on a MacBook Air. iOS 13 (iPadOS) makes massive improvements, though, with vastly improved selection options and a huge number of new key commands borrowed from the macOS that make life much easier.

Nevertheless, some apps may cooperate with a keyboard and support rudimentary controls from the keyboard itself whereas others may require a combination of keyboard use and touching the screen. The end result can be a decidedly awkward experience.

Although the MacBook Air is not an extremely high performance computer, it has typically been more powerful than the iPad models. The exact performance difference varies between devices and years, but for many years, MacBook Air models tended to be in the neighborhood of 50%-150% faster than iPad models from the same year of release.

As of 2019, though, Apple has allowed the performance of the MacBook Air to stagnate and iPad Pro models have far exceeded its speed. The current iPad 7th Gen only is a bit slower than the MacBook Air, as well.

User History

Another important aspect to consider is your own computing history. If you are an 'old school' Mac user who has invested time and money on Mac software over the years and who has a great deal of work saved in macOS file formats (or even Mac OS 9 file formats) or a 'switcher' from Windows to the Mac, it is unlikely to make sense to go to the trouble to migrate exclusively to an iPad for mobile use.

No doubt, you still can find an iPad helpful as a secondary device, but it is highly likely that you would feel most comfortable doing the majority of your 'real work' on a MacBook Air.

On the other hand, if you are a Freshman university student and your past work consists of a few school papers and science fair reports and the like, which you may never even look at again, the iPad very well could meet all of your fun computing needs and even be sufficient for research and writing courses as well when paired with an external keyboard.

Although some entire books have been written only with the onscreen iPad keyboard (albeit imported onto a Mac for the final editing process), it is unlikely that you would really want to type even a five-page paper entirely using a glass screen.

Furthermore, even as a student unburdened by much 'legacy' work, if you plan to store a lot of music, photos, and movies on the device itself (rather than within Apple's own iCloud or on another cloud storage service like site sponsor WebMate), the higher capacity iPad and iPad Pro configurations can cost nearly as much as or even more than current or recent MacBook Air models (particularly when the iPad also is paired with a quality external keyboard).

Consequently, depending on your exact desired usage, the extra power and functionality of the MacBook Air may be preferable to you and make more sense when budgetary constraints require only a single purchase.

Battery Life Differences

Older iPad models have much better battery life than older MacBook Air models released at the same time or otherwise. For example, the original iPad provides up to ten hours of battery life, whereas the 11-Inch MacBook Air from the same year (2010), only provides half the battery life.

However, recent MacBook Air models -- such as those lines powered by Intel's recent efficient architectures -- compare quite favorably with recent iPad models -- such as the iPad Air, iPad mini, and iPad Pro lines. Unlike earlier MacBook Air systems, these models provide ten or more hours of battery life, which is about the same as recent iPad models.

Major Design & Hardware Differences

With even a casual glance at the iPad and the MacBook Air, it is obvious there are many differences.

The iPad models have a touchscreen, dual cameras (with the exception of the original iPad line, which does not have cameras at all) and high-end models from each year include cellular networking support as well as GPS capabilities.

The iPad models do not have an attached keyboard and are essentially 'sealed' devices. Although external storage is available for the iPad, is not possible to upgrade internal storage after purchase, substantially augment their capabilities with third-party peripherals, or easily replace the batteries, which are unfortunately glued in place. This is changing somewhat with the current iPad Pro (3rd Gen) models, which has an industry-standard USB-C port and supports much more 'computer-like' external connectivity.

The MacBook Air models, on the other hand, have 11' or 13' displays that do not support touch, a single webcam optimized for video chat, and an attached keyboard and touch-sensitive trackpad. Ports vary between models, but all include industry-standard USB ports as well as other connectivity options. They do not have cellular networking support or GPS, though.

Current 'Retina' MacBook Air models also are a largely 'sealed' and disposable design, eliminating the advantage of previous models that did offer storage that can be upgraded after purchase (and support extensive and inexpensive external storage) and the batteries are easy to replace, also.

Both lines are lightweight, but the iPad models are roughly half the weight of the MacBook Air. The lightest iPad models are around two thirds of a pound whereas heaviest iPad models are around a pound and a half. By contrast, the lightest MacBook Air models are less than two and a half pounds whereas the heaviest are over three pounds.

Naturally, for travel in particular, lighter is better, but keep in mind that if you add an external keyboard to the iPad, many models are similar in weight to smaller MacBook Air models.

Furthermore, in the United States, adding an external keyboard to the iPad also typically will require you to take it out of your bag in airport security lines, as well, just as if it were a notebook computer. On the other hand, if the iPad is not paired with a keyboard (or at least the iPad and keyboard are stored separately from one another), you generally do not have the added hassle of removing it from your bag.

Major Software Differences

The iPad models all run a version of the iOS, which also powers the iPod touch and iPhone, whereas the MacBook Air models run a version of the macOS. For years, apps written for the iOS and macOS were not compatible with one another, and they still are not directly, but this will become blurrier as iOS apps become easier to port to the Mac courtesy of the 'Project Catalyst' technology introduced with macOS Catalina (10.15).

iPad apps are getting more-and-more sophisticated, but in basic terms, macOS has more high-end applications for professional use whereas the iPad has many more games. macOS also can run Windows in a virtualized environment (or by booting into Windows directly on the MacBook Air courtesy of BootCamp), whereas the iPad cannot run Windows at all.

In addition to simple software compatibility, there also is a great deal of difference in the philosophy behind these two different operating systems. The iOS is quite 'closed' (without hacks or jailbreaks) and all software has to be installed through Apple's own App Store, which means some applications that might be quite valuable to you never are released to the public.

macOS, on the other hand, is a much more 'open' operating system that supports a variety of third-party software, including software that interacts directly with the hardware, more thoroughly integrated cloud services (although integration has improved dramatically with recent versions of the iOS), and software that Apple may not particularly approve of. For recent versions of macOS, Apple offers an App Store, but its usage is optional rather than required (at least for now).

Depending on your perspective, the iOS may be advantageous because it is safer and easier or disadvantageous because it is stifled and limiting. Alternately, macOS may be advantageous because it is more powerful and flexible or disadvantageous because it is more complicated and dangerous. Either of these perspectives very well may be valid and are subject to debate. Ultimately, though, only your opinion matters. It is your purchase, after all.

Comparison Chart

The major differences between the iPad and MacBook Air models are summarized below:

iPad	MacBook Air
Key Advantages:	Ease-of-Use 2G/3G/4G Networking Tiny Size & Weight	Powerful OS & Software Better Performance Integrated Keyboard
Key Disadvantages:	Limited Expansion Limited Pro Software No Integrated Keyboard	Relative Complexity No 2G/3G/4G Support No GPS Capability
Approx. Weight:	~0.7-1.5 Pounds	~2.3-3 Pounds
Design:	Sealed	Limited Upgrades
Display Sizes:	7.9'-12.9'	11.6' & 13.3'
Curr. Storage:	32 GB-1 TB	128 GB, 256 GB
Curr. Storage Type:	Integrated	Integrated
Curr. Battery Life:	9-10 Hours	12-13 Hours
Curr. Battery Type:	Glued In	Glued In
Processor Type:	ARM-Based	Intel
Optical Drive:	None	Optional (External)
Keyboard:	Onscreen/External	Integrated
Trackpad:	No	Yes
Camera:	Front/Rear*	Webcam
Wireless:	Wi-Fi & 3G/4G	Wi-Fi Only
GPS:	High-End Models	No
Digital Compass:	Yes	No
USB Ports:	No**	Yes
Ethernet:	Yes (With Adapter)	Yes (With Adapter)
Ext. Disp. Support:	Mirroring†	Dual Display
Operating System:	iOS	OS X
Windows Support:	No	Yes
Current Price (US):	US$329-US$1899	US$1099, US$1299
Current Price (UK):	£349-£1869	£1099, £1299
Current Price (CA):	C$429-C$2399	C$1449, C$1699
Current Price (AU):	A$529-A$2869	A$1699, A$1999

* The original iPad does not have cameras.

** The iPad Pro (3rd Gen) models have a single USB-C port.

† The iPad Pro (3rd Gen) models support an external display.

For pricing details in dozens of other countries, please refer to the iPad or MacBook Air specs page for the model of interest as well as EveryMac.com's extensive Global Original Prices section.

So, which makes the most sense for me?

Ultimately, the iPad and MacBook Air both are capable portable computers.

EveryMac.com's preferred setup is to have one of each. Specifically, a iPad mini -- mostly for reading, movie watching, casual games and the occasional two thumb typed e-mail -- and an 11-Inch MacBook Air for proper writing and code crunching along with modest graphic design and video production work paired with a large external display much of the time. If you have a sufficient budget for both and you do not mind carrying two devices, you also may like to have one of each.

Instead, if you only want one -- either an iPad or a MacBook Air -- whether due to budget or logistical convenience, an iPad is the best choice if you put a great deal of importance on (1) simplicity, (2) the option of cellular networking capability, and (3) the ultimate in portability. Likewise, the iPad is best for you if are not bothered by (1) limited professional software and a general lack of compatibility with many 'legacy' applications, and (2) the lack of a truly integrated physical keyboard.

Alternately, a MacBook Air is a better choice if you place more importance on (1) powerful software and a flexible operating system (not to mention support to run Windows), (2) performance, and (3) a quality integrated keyboard. Likewise, the MacBook Air is your best option if you are not bothered by (1) the relative complexity of the operating system and professional software, (2) the lack of integrated cellular networking capability, and (3) the lack of integrated GPS.

It also would be wise to carefully review all of the points enumerated in the comparison above, as your decision very well could come down to a single feature. You might choose an iPad for a specific app that simply cannot be replicated by a non-touch interface or a MacBook Air for the more extensive external display support, for example.

Site sponsor Adorama sells new iPad models and new MacBook Air models with free shipping and no sales tax outside of New York and New Jersey.

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