Apple event saw the announcement of a brand new iPad Air, alongside the new iPhone SE. Apple's mid-end tablet still slots in nicely in between the cheap iPad and the more expensive iPad Pro models. The iPad Air has Apple's M1 chipset at the helm and optional 5G support (with eSIM), but the base model is Wi-Fi-only as usual. The M1 chip is definitely the headline feature here, since it allows the iPad Air to match the iPad Pro in performance (although in true Apple tradition, the Air is likely to have less RAM).
Other updates to the iPad Air include the
new ultrawide front camera with Center Stage, which automatically pans during
video calls to keep you in view as you move around, and notices when others
join in, smoothly zooming out to include them too. All iPads now feature this
experience. On the back there's a 12MP camera, which seems unchanged from the
previous-gen iPad Air. The USB-C port, however, is up to two times faster, with
data transfers up to 10Gbps. The screen is still a 10.9" Liquid Retina
display with 500 nits of brightness, True Tone support, and an anti-reflective
coating.
The new iPad Air has landscape stereo
speakers, Touch ID built into the home button. The iPad Air runs iPadOS 15.4
preinstalled. This version of the software will be available as an over-the-air
update for other iPads next week. Thanks to the Universal Control feature it
packs, you'll be able to work with a single mouse and keyboard across multiple
Macs and iPads in a seamless fashion, with no setup required - you can even
drag and drop content back and forth between devices.
The new tablet has a 100% recycled
aluminum enclosure, 100% recycled tin in the solder of the main logic board,
and 100% recycled rare earth elements in the enclosure and audio magnets. The
new iPad Air comes in Space Gray, Starlight, pink, purple, and "a stunning
new blue". It will start from US$ 599 like its predecessor, with 64GB of
storage. A 256GB model will be offered too. The new iPad Air will be up for
pre-order in 29 countries and regions this Friday, and will be released on
March 18. The Wi-Fi+5G model starts at US$ 749.
The new tablet also supports the US$ 129 2nd
gen Apple Pencil as well as the US$ 299 Magic Keyboard, the US$ 179 Smart Keyboard
Folio, and the US$ 79 Smart Folio covers. These come in black, white, Electric Orange,
Dark Cherry, English Lavender, and Marine Blue.
