Let's start with the new iPad Air. It has
a fresh design, which is clearly inspired by the iPad Pro line. The screen
bezels are smaller, the port is USB-C and not Lightning anymore (and you get a
20W charger in the box). The tablet has the same footprint as its predecessor,
but because of the smaller bezels it now has a 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display
with 2360x1640 resolution. TouchID is integrated into the new, top-mounted
power button.
The new iPad Air is powered by Apple's new
A14 Bionic chipset, which is also expected to feature in the upcoming iPhone 12
family when it launches later this year. The A14 is built on a 5nm process, and
it's the first in the industry to reach that milestone.
It has a 6-core CPU design with two high
performance cores and four high efficiency cores. Performance is improved by
40% compared to the previous iPad Air. The GPU is 30% faster. On the rear
there's the same camera as on the iPad Pro models, a 12MP shooter with f/1.8
aperture, support for 4K video recording at 60fps, 240fps slow-mo, and improved
video stabilization. For selfies you get a 7MP camera with f/2.0 aperture and
1080p video at 60fps.
The tablet has Wi-Fi 6 on board, dual
speakers, and support for Apple Pencil, which attaches magnetically to the side
for pairing, charging, and storage. Apple will also offer a floating keyboard
case for it. The new iPad Air, running iPadOS 14, will be available next month
in silver, space gray, rose gold, green, and sky blue starting at US$ 599 (Wi-Fi-only)
or US$ 729 (Wi-Fi + Cellular) with 64GB of storage. It will also be offered with
256GB storage at US$ 749/US$ 879.
