INTRODUCTION
It's been tempting lately to conclude that Apple doesn't
have it anymore, and tablets in particular is where
Cupertino does need to silence the prophets of doom
and gloom after an iPad 4 that was more like a 3.1 and
a mini that should've had a retina display.
To begin with, they could've done a lot worse than
borrow a line from macbooks but the Air signature isn't
just a PR stunt. It would be hard to believe it's the first
time an iPad Air crossed anyone's mind as a cool name
for a tablet but, by the looks of it, the iPad Air is very
well the first that actually warrants it.
Just sounds right, doesn't it? And the iPad Air will
definitely need all that crowd-pleaser ring when the
fresh iPad mini with Retina display finally starts hitting
the shelves. With Nexus tablets around, usual suspects
Samsung, the new Surface, and now even Nokia on the
list, an iPad has never arrived to such an unfriendly
welcome. Yet, if Apple has done its job right, the Retina-
flaunting mini will likely be the biggest threat.
Apple iPad Air
But let's not get ahead of ourselves and give the iPad
Air a proper introduction. Easily one of the hottest
pieces of hardware we've seen deserves it. Honestly, to
say that a diet was all the iPad needed would be a
massive understatement - after the iPad 4, which
deservedly gets retired. But the way the iPad Air looks is
a start made in heaven. The Air is almost 2mm thinner,
and has unbelievably lost near a centimeter on each
side - it's mostly screen bezel that's gone. The weight
difference is the whopping 183 grams. The screen - the
same gorgeous 9.7" canvas with 2048 x 1536px
resolution.
Key features
9.7" LED-backlit IPS LCD touchscreen, pixels, ~ 264 ppi;
scratch-resistant, oleophobic coating
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n connectivity with MIMO dual
antennas
LTE connectivity (data only)
GPS with A-GPS and GLONASS support (for the Cellular
model only)
Dual-core A7 64-bit 1.3 GHz Cyclone (ARM v8-based)
chip with M7 motion coprocessor
PowerVR G6430 quad-core GPU
1GB of RAM
iOS 7.0.3 with iCloud support and activation
16/32/64/128GB of inbuilt storage
Lighter at 469 grams (478 grams for the Cellular
version)
Thinner than ever at 7.5 mm
Bluetooth 4.0
Lightning USB port
Stereo speakers
Accelerometer, compass and three-axis gyro-sensor
5MP auto-focus camera
1080p video recording at 30fps
1.2MP 720p secondary camera capable of FaceTime
HVGA calls
Four and five-finger gestures
Comes with premium set of free Apple apps - Pages,
Garage Band, etc.
Main disadvantages
Non expandable memory
Price of storage climbs steeply, and storage is largely
overpriced
Tied into iTunes for uploading most of the content
iOS 7 could've made better use of the bigger screen
No standard USB port
No GPS receiver in the Wi-Fi-only version
Along with the impressive loss of weight, the iPad Air
has really stepped on the optimizations. There is a
smaller battery powering the tablet but Apple promises
the same 10 hours of battery life as before. The brains
behind the tablet are the same as on the iPhone 5s - a
class-leading 64-bit dual-core A7 chip that should be
twice as fast as the predecessor's. The GPU is even a
little more capable than on the iPhone, in keeping with
the bigger display and higher resolution.
Apple took a big step in the right direction with this
year's iPad lineup by equaling the mini and the Air's
specs, so the only thing you need to choose is the
screen size that works best for you. This puts the iPad
Air in a sticky position, as the mini's handling and
portability could be the big decider. The iPad Air, by the
way, is now much more comfortable to hold and the
narrower casing does wonders for single-handed
operation but there's no avoiding the fact that the iPad
mini is the friendlier form factor.
Last season's bigger iPad at least had the luxury of
being more powerful but those days are gone.
The Apple iPad Air at HQ
Yet, it might turn out in the end that it's the mini that
has more to live up to - and prove that it truly is an
equal in terms of performance. The iPad Air on the other
hand seems off to a promising start. Let's see if it can
really keep it up.
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