iPad Air M4 11 vs 13 Inch: Don't Buy the Wrong One

0:00 On paper, choosing between the 11-in and 13-in M4 iPad Air might sound like a pretty simple and harmless decision. You pay a little bit more money and you get a little bit bigger screen. But, after using both of these for the last few months, I can tell you this choice is not just about screen size. It completely changes what the iPad actually is. In this video, we're going to skip dry benchmarks and spec sheets and we're going to talk real-world usage, the subtle aspect ratio differences of the screens, using these on a couch, and the exact physical experience of the two devices so you don't buy the wrong one. And if you're looking to pick one up, do not pay the full price at Apple. I've tracked down the best live deals and discount links and placed them in the description below to save you some cash. I find that the 11-in really gives you that true tablet feel. It weighs just over a pound and it's perfect for tossing around. So, whether you want to use this for couch scrolling or reading or if you want to hold this in portrait mode one-handed, this works really well. Also, in portrait mode, it's very easy to access the keyboard on the screen. Your thumbs are able to reach over just fine. And even in landscape mode, the stretch gets a little bit farther, but it's still usable with the full screen typing keyboard on it. The 13-in size, to me, doesn't balance quite as well as the 11 if you want to hold it in portrait mode.

1:08 It just doesn't feel as good to use one-handed. To me, it's also a little bit too tall to comfortably read in portrait mode. Just holding it up for a while gets uncomfortable even with two hands and the top makes it want to pull down a little bit. If you try to hold this with one hand, then your wrist is going to fatigue in minutes. You can also use this in landscape mode and it gets a little bit easier to handhold, but you're going to have to be moving your hand around quite a bit if you want to type with it. So, to me, if you get the 13-in, unless you really need to have the large screen that you're just interacting with, then the Magic Keyboard is absolutely a must for being able to type comfortably. Both of these have a standard Liquid Retina LCD display, which is very nice, very high quality, but it's not OLED like the Pro.

1:47 And both of these models are stuck at the 60 Hz refresh rate, which means it feels like it has a little bit of stutter compared to ProMotion on iPhones or the iPad Pro or the MacBook Pro. The big difference in the screens of these is actually in the aspect ratio. The 11-in has a 16 by 11 aspect ratio, so a little bit more of a rectangular shape. The 13-in has a resolution of 2732 by 2048, which gives you a 4 by 3 aspect ratio, which is a little bit boxier, closer to being a square. The 13-in doesn't just stretch the 11-in and make it larger, it completely alters the app layout because of that extra vertical height that it has. This means for watching widescreen movies on the 13-in, you have massive black letterbox bars on it. And the actual video on a 13-in isn't going to be all that much larger than it is on a 11-in. I will say for creative work though, the 13-in display is amazing. If you're using something like Lightroom, DaVinci, LumaFusion, then you've got a lot more space for panels and menus cuz these get crowded really fast on the 11-in. So with the 13-in, you've got actual breathing room for timelines, settings, and for file browsers all within it. For gaming, the 13-in one feels a lot more immersive. It feels more like a portable monitor compared to the 11-in. I will say though with the 13-in, hand controls can be quite a bit more fatiguing because of having to access a larger area of the screen. So again, with the 13-in, I would say a controller is absolutely a necessity and also a stand for this. I'm going to have links for my favorite iPad stand in the description below as well.

3:19 For note-taking, the 13-in 4 by 3 aspect ratio is going to be a lot closer to the standard paper size if you want to use this with the Apple Pencil Pro. But again, for hand-holding, it can be kind of uncomfortable to hold it for a long period of time, so you're really going to want to use this on a desk with the Apple Pencil. The 11-in is still totally fine for using with the Apple Pencil, you're just going to have to move around the screen a little bit more often because of the smaller amount of real estate you have with it. For multitasking on the 11-in, split view feels pretty crammed on it. It really gives you the the layout sizes of applications. The 13-in it almost feels like having two 11-in iPads side by side, which makes this a lot better for researching or if you want to have multiple apps or even if you want to open a video window up in a corner while doing some sort of reading at the same time. There's a couple of other interesting things about the screens, namely the fact that the 11-in screen maxes out at 500 nits of brightness and the 13-in actually gives it a bump up to 600 nits of brightness, which just means in harsher sunlight this one's going to be able to cut through a little bit better. I also found that the colors on the 13-in were just a little bit more vivid and it feels like the display has an extra depth to it that is missing compared to the 11-in and I'm really not sure why that is because even at the same brightness I definitely notice that. Whether you get the portable 11-in or the extra bright 13-in Tomtoc has the excellent Essence series of sleeves, which are very high quality and provide excellent coverage all the way around the iPad. These use high quality YKK zippers that work very easily and there's also an extra pouch on the front of the Essence case, which is perfect for keeping the iPad charger and cable or your AirPods all stowed away. There's also a nice convenient little carry handle on the top. These sleeves provide a snug and secure fit and they have that amazing corner armor times four protection, which is designed specifically to absorb impact and shock in the corners where the iPad is the most vulnerable. When you squeeze the outer edge and you feel the back of these, you can actually feel it expanding with the slow rebound from the shock-absorbing material. I really like both the B34 and the B35 and these are available for both the 11 and the 13-in iPad. Whether you want to get this for work, your daily commute, throwing in a backpack, or just carrying it around, Tomtoc has you covered. So, be sure to check out the link in the description below to see the Essence B34 and the B35 and give your iPad Air the protection it deserves. And again, a huge shout out to Tomtoc for sponsoring this video. Next, let's talk accessories. Both of these work with either the USB-C Apple Pencil or the Apple Pencil Pro. I definitely recommend the Apple Pencil Pro though because it has magnetic charging and magnetic pairing. They also both have their own Magic Keyboard case that you can get in either black or white. These are nice because they don't use Bluetooth, they have the smart connector on them, so you just attach the iPad, and then you have a full keyboard. They add the trackpad, which gives you a cursor that you can move around the iPad screen. It's very intuitive to use.

6:04 Also, you got a full function row on it, and the typing performance on it feels just like using a MacBook. Depending on which size you get, the 11-in the keys are a little bit smaller and they're more cramped. Also, the keys like caps lock and shift, they're not quite as long as they are on the 13-in model. With the 13-in model, the keys are the exact same size as a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro. So, this is going to feel more like using a laptop to you. I will say with the 11-in even though it's cramped, after using it for a long time, I've gotten really used to it, and this is my favorite device for just typing, sending emails, sending messages, and doing writing. The biggest problem with the Magic Keyboard is by the time you add a Magic Keyboard to the price that either iPads cost, you're really going to be pushing the price in the MacBook Air territory, and the MacBook Air is more stable to use on a couch, it's got macOS, and the keyboard is even nicer than that that comes with either of these. Both the 11-in and the 13-in M4 iPad Air start with just 128 GB of storage, which really isn't enough in 2026. By the time you start to put applications on these, and you use the great Apple ecosystem features like iMessage and your iCloud photos, you're going to very quickly fill up that space on them. So, I'm really bummed that Apple hasn't raised the level of storage on the base model of these. That being said, if you get the 11-in this one starts at $600, the 13-in starts at $800, and then you're going to spend an additional $270 to $300 to add a Magic Keyboard to this. So, with the iPad Air, the price of it definitely can add up fast. If you're trying to decide which of these you should get, I would say the 11-in is going to be the best choice for most people, especially if you just want to have that tablet feel. If you're looking for something to complement an existing laptop, something you can read on or take to coffee shops, or easily hold in one hand, this is the best balance of price, portability, and the true tablet feel. If you're looking for an iPad Air to be your primary device and you're a digital artist who needs every single millimeter of drawing space, or if you're a student and you need the side-by-side multitasking for hours of lectures and note-taking, that's where the 13-in is a better option.

8:10 But you're losing that lightweight handheld tablet magic that to me makes the iPad really special. And you basically start dealing with a device that really wants to live on a desk. So which would you choose? The 11-in portable size, or the 13-in for maximum workspace? If you've enjoyed this video, leave a like and a sub, and also be sure to check links in the description below for the best deals on the iPad Air.