The iPad Air has been officially unveiled, alongside the iPad mini 2, with the fifth-generation Apple tablet landing with an all new, slimmer and lighter design.
The new tablet retains the same 9.7-inch Retina display as its predecessor, just wrapped within a considerably smaller and lighter body, without any loss of battery life.
iPad Air Features
Having been given a range of visual and performance based improvements, the newly unveiled iPad Air‘s slimmer design has been achieved by cutting the tablet’s bezel considerably, while the new innards make it “screaming fast”.
Making the tablet more friendly towards one-handed use, the iPad Air lines up at 20 per cent thinner than last year’s iPad 4 offering. It is also the lightest full-size tablet in the world, at just 1lb. “When you hold it, it will be a dramatically different experience”, said Apple.
It contains the 64-bit desktop class Apple A7 chip found in the iPhone 5S and the Apple M7 co-processor.
The iPad Air offers 8 times better performance and 72 times the graphics performance of the iPad 4 and has MIMO Wi-Fi technology for 802.11n connectivity that’s twice as fast.
It has a 5-megapixel rear iSight camera and dual stereo microphones too. It retains the 10-hour battery.
Taking further design hints from both the iPad mini and iPhone 5S, the iPad Air features a new flat backed form factor and will be made available in a Space Grey or black colour scheme as well as the silver and white option.
iPad 5 Release Date and Price
Although the tablet has been officially unveiled, the iPad Air release date is still a few days away. Apple has confirmed that its latest flagship tablet will hit retailers in just 10 days’ time on Friday November 1.
The iPad Air won’t have a bigger effect on your wallet. The iPad Air will have the same pricing as the existing iPad 4 with the 16GB Wi-Fi only model starting at just £399.
The Wi-Fi only iPad Air will set wannabe owners back £479, £559 and £639 for the 32GB, 64GB and 128GB storage options respectively. The cellular friendly model pricing starts from £499, rising to a whopping £739 via £579 and £659 stopping points.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
