Getting out ahead of whatever surprises it has planned for its event on March 25, Apple announced two new iPads on Monday. 

Along with a new Pencil-enabled iPad Mini, there's a 10.5-inch iPad Air that, for the most part, is the now discontinued older 10.5-inch iPad Pro from 2017. Starting at $499 (£479, AU$779), the new iPad Air is built around a 10.5-inch Retina display like the 2017 Pro, but has an updated A12 Bionic processor like the one powering the iPhone XS. 

In addition to the processor change, the Air has a handful of other changes from the 2017 iPad Pro, such as a lower-resolution 8-megapixel rear camera that records video in 1080p, instead of 4K; and two speakers, instead of the Pro's four. The Air supports the first-gen Apple Pencil as well as a Smart Keyboard for the Air that looks like the one sold for the 10.5-inch iPad Pro -- not the newer Smart Keyboard Folio for the 2018 iPad Pro models.  

The 2019 iPad Air fits in between the regular iPad announced this time last year and the 11-inch iPad Pro that appeared toward the end of 2018. Note that CNET may get a share of revenue from the sale of products featured on this page.

iPad Air 2019 vs. iPad Pro 2018 vs. iPad 2018 specs

	iPad 2018	iPad Air 2019 (10.5)	iPad Pro 2018 (11)
Availability	See it at Amazon	See it at Apple	See it at Amazon
Display resolution	9.7-inch; 2,048x1,536-pixel resolution	2,224x1,668-pixel resolution	2,388x1,668-pixel resolution
Pixel density (ppi)	264 ppi	264 ppi	264 ppi
Rear camera	8-megapixel with 5-element lens	8-megapixel with 5-element lens	12-megapixel with 5-element lens
Video recording	1080p	1080p	4K
FaceTime front-facing camera	1.2-megapixel	7-megapixel	7-megapixel
Processor	A10	A12	A12X
Dimensions	9.4x6.6x0.29 inches	9.8x6.8x0.24 inches	9.7x7x0.23 inches
Weight	1.03 lbs (Wi-Fi); 1.05 lbs (LTE)	1 lbs (Wi-Fi); 1.02 lbs (LTE)	1.03 lbs (both models)
Battery	Up to 10 hours strenuous use over Wi-Fi; up to 9 hours over cellular	Up to 10 hours use over Wi-Fi; up to 9 hours over cellular	Up to 10 hours strenuous use over Wi-Fi; up to 9 hours over cellular
Headphone jack	Yes	Yes	No
Connector port	Lightning	Lightning; Apple Smart Connector	USB-C; Apple Smart Connector
Apple Pencil-compatibility	Yes; original Apple Pencil	Yes; original Apple Pencil	Yes; 2nd generation
Unlock with	Touch ID	Touch ID	Face ID
SIM card support for cellular model	Nano-SIM; included	Nano-SIM; eSIM	Nano-SIM; eSIM
Works with Smart Keyboard Folio?	No; works with Bluetooth keyboard	Works with Smart Keyboard	Yes
Audio	Two-speaker	Two-speaker	Four-speaker
Capacity and price: Wi-Fi models	$329 (32GB) / $429 (128GB)	$499 (64GB) / $649 (256GB)	$799 (64GB) / $949 (256GB) / $1,149 (512GB) / $1,549 (1TB)
Capacity and price: LTE models	$459 (32GB) / $559 (128GB)	$629 (64GB) / $779 (256GB)	$949 (64GB) / $1,099 (256GB) / $1,299 (512GB) / $1,699 (1TB)

Apple often introduces new products in March. At last year's event, Apple delivered a refreshed edition of its entry-level iPad in addition to some education-friendly software initiatives. That today's announcement was made by press release suggests that the company wants to keep the focus of next week's event solely on its new video streaming service.

• CNET editor Justin Jaffe contributed to this story.