Now bolstered by the mighty M3 chip, the iPad Air retains its throne as the best all-around option of Apple’s tablet lineup.

There are reasons to spend more on this Air than the entry-level $349 iPad, even if you're spending $250 more to get it. The two big ones are the M3 chip and Pencil Pro ($129, sold separately) compatibility.

The iPad Air M3 delivered almost identical scores in the 3DMark gaming benchmark test but was slightly faster in the Adobe Premiere Rush test. The Galaxy Tab S9 trailed behind both Apple tablets in these tests.