Apple Unveils New And Improved iPad Air
September 16, 2020Apple has given the aging iPad Air, a much needed redesign. Announced during its online event on September 15th, the new tablet borrows the industrial looks of the higher end iPad Pro models. Gone are the massive bezels at the front and dated curvature of the rear panel. Instead, there’s a flat minimalist piece of machine aluminum that comes in a variety of colors.
The screen is bigger too, at 10.9-inches, which just slightly smaller than the iPad Pro’s 11-inches. The iPad Air still comes with touch ID, but the button and sensor is placed on the left side of the screen. Besides looking the part, the tablet also inherits several features from its Pro siblings, which includes support for the Apple Pencil (2nd generation).
It also happens to be the first Apple device with the new A14 bionic chip. It’s the most powerful chip the company has ever made, which Cupertino says can offer 40% better CPU performance and 30% improvement to graphics. It also has a new 16-core Neural Engine that is twice as fast as the previous generation chip.
https://youtu.be/r_VSll0WLZE
The A14 Bionic has a second generation machine learning accelerators in its CPU, which Apple pegs it to be 10 times faster than before. The improved GPU performance also plays a part in in image recognition, natural language learning, analyzing motion, and more. On the front, the iPad Air gets a 7MP front camera and the 12MP rear one from the iPad Pro.
As such, it can record 4K video, create artwork, play demanding gaming titles as well as edit photos and video footage. The iPad Air also gets a USB-C port that can accommodate transfer speeds of up to 5Gbps. This will allow users to connect this tablet to external monitors with resolutions of up to 4K. There’s also WiFi 6 and improved LTE speeds.
The Magic Keyboard and Smart Keyboard Folio for the iPad Air are available to purchase for $299 and $179. The iPad Air itself, starts at $599 for WiFi only model while the WiFi+ Cellular models start at $729. It will be made available in 64GB and 256 storage options alongside five different finishes including silver, space gray, rose gold, green, and sky blue.
