The product launch on March 8 came as a number of surprises, as unlike the leaks, the new M2 chip was not unveiled, but was replaced by the last and strongest member of the M1 series, the M1 Ultra. For now, the new SoC will only be available in the new Mac Studio – more on that by clicking here but the other protagonist of the evening also deserves a few characters.
The fifth generation iPad Air looks different from its predecessor only in its color variants, the silver model has been replaced by the starlight, the rose gold by a lighter pink, the sky by a darker blue, and the green model by one, and now we can get the new one in purple. Airt. Also new is that the 7-megapixel front-panel camera has been replaced by a new 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle sensor that now supports a feature called Center Stage, and this time the premium Wi-Fi + Cellular model is now 5G-capable.
The biggest change has taken place inside the iPad, with the A14 Bionic system chip being replaced by Apple’s M1, introduced in November 2020, which is currently the most powerful chip to be inserted into a tablet with its eight-core CPU and also eight-core GPU.
But what is the problem then?
The introductory price of the new iPad Air starts at HUF 249,990 gross, so in return we only get one 64 GB of storage, which is considered to be a bit lower by today’s standards. We have to pay 309,990 forints for the bigger 256 GB model, but this price is already so close to the 11-inch iPad Pro that it would be a mistake not to choose it for only 15,000 forints more. Let’s see what Apple’s professional tablet offers more:
While the Air name may be deceptive, it’s certainly no longer Apple’s thinnest iPad, as the Pro surpasses the 6.1mm Airt with its 5.9mm thinness.
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There is also a difference in terms of display, as the Pro is an 11-inch panel with 120M refresh rate with ProMotion technology and a maximum white brightness output of 600nits, compared to the Air’s 10.9-inch 60 Hz with a display capable of delivering a maximum white brightness of 500 nits.
The iPad Pro uses a wide-angle camera with a 12-megapixel f / 1.8 aperture and an ultra-wide-angle camera with a 10-megapixel f / 2.4 aperture in the company of a LiDAR scanner and a True Tone flash – as opposed to an Air single-camera without flash design. For biometric identification, the Pro uses the TrueDepth camera system known from iPhones and Face ID, while the Air operates with a fingerprint reader built into the power button.
As mentioned, there is no difference in system chips, both iPads use the 8-core graphics accelerator version of the M1 with 8GB of memory, so they are exactly the same in terms of performance, and although the iPad Pro with 1 or 2TB of storage already mobilizes 16GB of memory , its price can no longer be categorized on a tab with the iPad Air. Also a noteworthy feature is that the Pro’s USB-C connector already has Thunderbolt support.
So is the new iPad Air worth it?
The answer to the question is up to everyone. However, one is sure that if someone is about to buy a tablet and devotes approximately 300 thousand forints to this investment, the best choice will be Apple’s 11-inch iPad Pro.
| Apple iPad Air (5th generation) | |
| Housing size, characteristics: | Height: 247.6 mm Width: 178.5 mm Depth: 6.1 mm Tömeg: 461 g (Wi-Fi), 462g (Wi-Fi + Cellular) |
| Display: | Liquid Retina display 10.9 inches, 3: 2 Fully laminated LCD display with IPS technology 2360 × 1640 pixels 264 ppi True Tune P3 standard Grease repellent coating Apple Pencil (2nd generation) support |
| System chip and graphics unit: | Apple M1, 8 magos CPU, 8 magos GPU, Neural Engine |
| System memory and storage: | 64 GB or 256 GB storage, 8 GB memory |
| Battery and charging: | Built-in lithium-ion battery Up to 10 hours of operation 20 watt USB-C power adapter in the box |
| Cameras: | Rear camera: 12-megapixel wide-angle camera with f / 1.8 aperture Up to 5x digital zoom Smart HDR 3 Video recording: Front camera: |
| Operating System: | iOS 15.4 |
| Price and appearance: | 64 GB (249,990 HUF), 256 GB (309,990 HUF), March 18. |
(Cover image: Apple iPad Air. Photo: Gabby Jones / Bloomberg / Getty Images)
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