iPad Air: Hands On [video]
by Anand Lal Shimpi & Brian Klug on October 22, 2013 3:02 PM ESTBrian also just finished up some hands on with the iPad Air. Check out the video below for his impressions and a comparison to the new mini.
We just played with the iPad Air, which is much thinner and lighter than the previous generation iPad. In the hands, it's shocking how much of a difference the change in profile makes, analogous somewhat to the way moving from the iPhone 4 or 4S to 5 felt. The chamfered edge and narrower profile makes it easier to grip the iPad Air in the hands, and there's still enough bezel around as well, though it is smaller.
The iPad Air feels a lot more like a larger iPad mini than it does a newer generation of the previous iPad. The iPad Air includes the same Apple A7 SoC as the iPhone 5s and also includes the M7 sensor fusion hub.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
43 Comments
View All Comments
ArthurG - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - link
yeah on a tiny 10" touch screen... sure...melgross - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - link
Businesses and government bought millions of them each year so far. Do you suppose they bought them to play games?EnzoFX - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - link
It's all about the quality apps. This is something that doesn't get enough recognition I think, that is Apple's push towards better and better apps. They continue to offer their owns at lower prices or make them free. It's about the devs and the platform. It is not so much about specs or something being just $100 cheaper. If you gain so much more from an ecosystem, then the $100 is easily worth it.Some fanboys can only see specs, and forget that it's about what you can do with it.
lilmoe - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - link
Any chance you guys can do a comparison on browser speed/fluidity of the iPad Air vs Surface 2? Same for maps. If you get a chance, of course.iwod - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - link
I think, please Correct me if I am wrong, the Memory in SoC could be (relatively) easily changed during the manufacturing. And If for heat concern reason it could also be decoupled from the SoC. So Apple could increase the Memory to 2GB. Since Apple has never mentioned about memory size in all its previous presentation we will have to wait to find out.The A7 in iPad could still be theoretically faster then A7 in iPhone by increasing CPU and GPU Clock Speed. Since the iPad has nearly double the Power Budget then iPhone.
Conservatively there could be 50% clock speed difference. Although another more likely Scenario would be the SoC be 10 - 20% faster and Apple has the software that allows iPad to run at Top Speed for longer period of time.
Sainlllday - Wednesday, October 23, 2013 - link
Ok, this might not be a huge upgrade over the current 4th Gen iPad, but iPads never seem like a big leap over the previous version. But the iPad 3 was enough of an upgrade over the original. I have the iPad 3 (and still feel a little burned that Apple came out with another one 6 months later)... is the iPad Air enough of an upgrade over the iPad 3 (especially figuring that I'll sell my iPad 3)? That's what I need to know.Vibosoft edito write an article:
darkcrayon - Wednesday, October 23, 2013 - link
Well, the Air is going to be 3-4 times faster in CPU and 3-4 times faster in GPU, so I'd say it's a big upgrade over the 3rd gen iPad. And then you take into account the huge weight savings over the 3rd gen, I'd say it's a no brainer if you have the few hundred bucks to spend for the difference in selling your 3.nedjinski - Wednesday, October 23, 2013 - link
not to steal any thunder - but now I am really curious about the kindle fire hdx - this reviewer kept saying, "it really feels light", etc - this ipad weighs in at 17 ounces, which is indeed very light. however the hdx 8.9 weighs in at 13.5 ounces - that's a huge difference - I do wonder how well it will perform.nerd1 - Wednesday, October 23, 2013 - link
The experia Z tablet is waterproof and only 5% heavier than iPad air as well.jasonelmore - Wednesday, October 23, 2013 - link
i dunno why you said "everything seems smooth" when you can see this ipad getting pretty chunky on the maps 3d panning/zooming.