Apple has finally announced the new fifth generation iPad which is unexpectedly called the iPad Air. The new iPad Air brings tons of improvements and features over the previous model making the iPad lineup even stronger. The new device features a design that is as expected is heavily influenced by the iPad mini. The new iPad Air as its name suggests features a very thin design that is not only thinner than the previous generations but also a lot more lighter.
Apple has for the first time since the release of the original iPad has made the side bezels thinner making the overall size of the device smaller than it was before. This makes iPad Air look even more similar to iPad mini that has the same look. The fifth generation iPad only weighs one pound and has the thickness of just 7.5 millimeters, which is a lot less than iPad 4’s 9.4mm thickness. The device features same Retina display with 9.7-inch display. Apple has kept the size of the screen same as it was before and has reduced the width of the device to make it easier to hold. This also helps in reducing its weight.
The new iPad Air is powered by the A7 chip that has the 64-bit architecture same as on the iPhone 5s. According to Apple this processor provides two times performance over the previous chip. To make the WiFi performance better Apple has added two antennas instead of one and has also incorporated the MIMO technology, which according to the company provides 2x better WiFi performance than older models.
Along with the new design Apple has also added two new colors to the iPad Air including the space grey and silver. Internally iPad Air features A7 chip with M7 motion coprocessor that has the same application as it has on the iPhone 5s. It has the 9.7-inch display with the same resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels. iPad Air has a 5-megapixel iSight camera and 1.2-megapixel front camera for Facetime. Apple also announced at its keynote that there are over 475,000 apps available in the App Store just for the iPad.
iPad Air has dual microphones that enable it to not only hear more clearly but also see where you want to focus on and ignore sounds coming from other areas. Apple explains it as
iPad Air hears where you’re coming from. That’s because it has two microphones. And they don’t just collect more sound — they work together to capture better sound by suppressing audio from the source you’re not focused on.
Apple has announced that it will be giving away the following apps to iPad Air users for free. Some of these apps that include iWork and iLife are paid apps in the App Store.
Along side redesigned Smart cover for the iPad Air Apple is also offering an iPad Air Smart Case, which protects the device from the back as well by fitting perfectly on its thin design. The Smart Case for the iPad Air will be offered in six shades. Appel is also offering the Smart cover in new colors as well.
As far as pricing for the new iPad Air goes you can find the official pricing details in the table below for both WiFi only and LTE models. The price for base models is same as it was before that is $499 for WiFi only iPad Air and $629 for LTE model.
