Apple is running the back to school event currently and offering free AirPods which they do every year around this time. I assume the Universities will be honoring this promotion too. I know daughter’s schools are.
The M1 is not available in the Air currently.
All the devices are great but we’re running iOS 15, iPad 15, tvOS 15, and Mac OS Monterey betas currently and some of the new features won’t be available for non M1 devices.
What new features won’t be available?
If you have the Costco credit card, make sure you use it to purchase your IPAD, especially if you get it at Costco. My screen died slightly after 1 year, and because I purchased it with my card, I had an extended warranty through Costco. Saved me $$$.
More importantly, what features are missing that apply to OP’s usage?
I will mainly use it for internet surfing and light work stuff - email, opening/creating simple documents.
I just got an iPad pro few months ago. It is a bit heavier, but I can do everything I need to do without having my Mac. It takes great pictures. Pictures are amazing on it.
I ended up buying the 4th generation Air. As @thumper1 mentioned, the 8th generation non-air was really fine as well.
I opted for the Air for a couple reasons. The screen did seem a little bigger - less black edge. It felt visually like an upgrade over the 8th. I do think the resolution is a little crisper. The Air is compatible with the Magic Keyboard should that be something I chose to add on down the road.
The Air also has touch for the Home Screen instead of the button which is more like the newer iPhones.
The Pro would have been overkill for me. I landed in the middle with the Air.
Still setting it up - should have chose to sync /download all my phone apps but I did not snooze that option.
The 8th would have been perfectly fine. But I do have bad eyes and visually the slightly larger screen was noticeable but not too big like some of the pros!
I will say the 8th is really a bargain. Depending how much memory you want you can spend as little as $319 at Costco .
Apparently nothing y’all would use but if you’re interested you can watch the Apple Event. Some great stuff for intermediate and power users.
I bought 8th gen with LTE for my dad at Verizon. (I think I had a thread related). When planning for 94 year old usage, a big deal was the physical Home button. (It helps him navigate, and it helps me coach him by phone.) But … personally I talked myself into 12 mini and have survived without my beloved Home button.
You can always make a virtual Home Button in Accessibility Settings if you miss it too much.