You’ve probably heard of the “middle-child syndrome”—when there’s an older and a younger sibling, both often end up receiving more parental attention, leaving the middle child feeling overlooked. In simpler terms, it’s a widely observed phenomenon where middle children may sometimes struggle with a sense of identity or being heard.
This isn’t to suggest that middle children are inherently problematic (and if you know any, well, that’s not the point here), only that they can sometimes find themselves unintentionally or intentionally sidelined.
A curious case of the same middle child treatment can be seen in the tech world as well. Case in point: the iPad Air.
I have enough grounds to believe that there’s something equivalent to the “middle-child treatment” being meted out to the iPad Air. Here’s why.
When I hear the word Air alongside any Apple product, I automatically assume that the device is going to be light and thin, or rather the lightest and thinnest. Because why else would they attach such a moniker to the device if not to indicate its “light as air” features.
However, I’d be wrong in making such an assumption because I forget who we are talking about here: Apple — infamous for its “interesting” nomenclature.
The iPad Air was introduced as the thinnest tablet when it was launched back in 2013. Sleek and slim, in all its glory—it looked like an iPad that walked 10k steps daily and was in calorie deficit.
Then, somewhere along the line, I guess Apple lost the plot and launched the M4 iPad Pro in 2024 having designed it to be thinner than the device they called Air.
Apple also released the Air versions of their MacBooks and iPhones. The MacBook Air, in fact, was the first one to be launched in the Air series. It created quite a stir in the market when Steve Jobs pulled it out of a thin envelope. However, the versions of the MacBook Air released afterwards continue to be the thinnest laptops contrary to the iPad. Similarly, the iPhone Air (released last year) is the thinnest iPhone ever. The extra unfairness being meted out to the iPad Air, is clearly visible.
On a sidenote, I’d just like to add that, I think the only products that truly deserve to be called Air are those chips packets and not anything else.
I mean, why call it Air, if you don’t intend to make it the lightest. It’s not like you can accidentally make a whole device thinner and lighter than it is supposed to be—months of planning, research, and execution must have certainly gone in designing the iPad Pro.
Unfortunately, now the poor iPad Air stands at a weird intersection—it isn’t the most affordable iPad, it doesn’t offer the highest-end specifications, and it doesn’t even stand out as the sleekest or most “Air-like” in spirit. In effect, it ends up being neither the budget-friendly iPad nor the flagship one, and not quite the most “Air” either—it is just iPad.
It also does not fit in with the other two ‘Air” devices as they are the lightest in their segment. It sticks out like a sore thumb, not able to live up to its own name. Why it sits on the receiving end of such neglect, I don’t know. I can only hope that it stays strong in the face of such adversity!
To be or not to be “Air”—that is the question—the iPad Air seems perpetually stuck trying to answer and with no respite in sight as Apple continues to release thinner iPad Pros one after the other.