INTRODUCTION
The iPad Air is the rebuild of world’s famous tablet that was redesigned by Apple to keep it the best over the competitors. The rebuild tablet is slim, light and designed with great fashion that gives the new look and better display with the older screen and the brilliant 64-bit Apple A7 processor.
Though it has been the best among the tablets, its Apple successors will get much more updates and amazing features as there is the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus along with the iOS 8. With these new upgrades there is much room for A8 processor, TouchID, faster Wi-Fi and NFC chip but uptill now it’s the best of Apple in tablets.
With upgraded and powerful motion processors and Improved LTE support the iPad Air is the best of Apple to bring the changed approach to tablets. It is 43% thinner and about 28% lighter than its earlier device.
While in its design and many features it might seem copying the iPad mini but its not the case, the Air is much more over the already stunning iPad mini. The super thin tablet is no doubt the most balanced among the tablets available on the market. Here is the brief overview of the iPad Air.
DESIGN
The design is not much different from the iPad mini but no doubt it is very impressive. It has the smooth aluminum back that feels great in the hand. Until you don’t try to hide the beauty behind the protection cover it will look amazing. Its back cover has the mirrored Apple logo that can easily catch the oil from the finger which may look bad. Alongside it has the attractive speakers at the bottom and also has the machined buttons that feel fixed, this all give it the premium feeling. It also has the other buttons including the power key at the top, the silencing rocker switch and nicely protruded volume buttons at the side.
There is also a backdrop in the design in this well maintained and expansive tablet. It has the plastic outer screen that feels when tapping. Though with smaller and lighter parts it goes ignored still it is noticeable if grazed with fingernail, it is although not going to be a big deal as the case will lesser the effect.
INTERFACE
Its interface is not any more going to be a surprise as its initial interface is similar with the current Apple iPhone or iPad that is already experienced with the iOS 7.
It has the new notification bar of the iOS 7 that emerges from the top of the tablet, by dragging. The notification bar gives access to the missed communications, updates and calendar entries.
Its malti-tasking pane is activated by both the upward sweep with all five fingers and by double tapping at the home button. This function will be showing all the apps in large thumbnails and you can jump easily between apps.
Its home screen now allows more apps in each folder. A collection of apps can be easily created by dragging icons on top of one another, so now you don’t need to have unnecessary conventional folders.
By dragging up from the bottom of the screen you can have the Control Center from where you can control the apps and functions including music, brightness, Wi-Fi and much more.
SPECIFICATIONS
With its design it also comes with the high end specs. It runs over the Apple’s A7 chip, a Dual-core 1.3 GHz CPU with quad-core graphics and 64-bit processing power with 1GB DDR3 RAM Memory and Internal Storage with 16, 32, 64 and 128 GB. It has the 5Mega Pixel rear camera and a 1.2MP camera on the front. The display is an IPS with resolution 2048 x 1536, on 9.7-inch Retina screen. It is build with advanced battery saving techniques that keeps the tablet last long in its functions. Also the Mobile Broadband 3G and 4G versions are available now.
KEY FEATURES
Display
Its display is not something new but still it is amazing. The slim iPad shows its best on the screen with the depth of its display. It has used the technology to reduce its power consumption and the heat up capacity without compromising over the display. Apple continued using the Retina screen in its iPads. Unlike the other large screen devices of Apple the screen of iPad is going to skip the criticism with much improved display. It is also a larger device that will give you the experience of bigger display for watching movies and videos.
Facetime
With the Facetime Audio using the VOIP technology the users can make free voice calls with other users. With the Facetime Audio it has the improved Facetime HD camera. The 1.2MP front camera has the ability to focus the whole face very nicely and sharply.
Contacts
Contacts app is another one among the only ways to talk to people over the new iPad. It is still on board onto the new device, which gives the access to all the people you have interactions already and those have been saved by the time.
iMessage and Mail
It has the standard iMessage and the inbuilt email app with many other chat apps that makes it good in communication and messaging. iMessage also creates some confusion while pulling the information on the device and resulting in people contacting you wrongly but it is not true for those ready to share their details. Its Mail app is finally much better that comes with a wide view. It shows the full display by using the whole screen size.
Internet
With the improvement from iPad 3 to iPad 4 and also the iOS 7 using internet has already made simple and also much cleaned, the same follows here. However its internet browser doesn’t do much. It will draw only the tweets that contains links, from your friends and also the offline web page saving are among the functions where the iPad is not an ideal. With a larger screen the text it display, with the same resolution, looks clearer. It also has an easy sharing using AirDrop, among the family with a number of Apple devices. With this feature now you don’t needs to share through messaging or Facebook.
Camera and Video
Unlike the iPhone 5S which comes with an 8MP iSight camera the iPad Air is kept with a 5MP iSight camera, following the previous iterations of the tablet which is not that able to work with low light.
Media
The iPad Air has enough to entertain the users with its media performance; it follows the rich heritage of Apple in the area of media to bring the best to the users. With the iTunes software and store being used by so many people, the music output must be good enough.
Music
It has an impressive audio performance with the most basic of earbuds that has made it looks like a media-centric device. Apple has managed to bring a refined audio output to a premium device. Its interface although has not build considering the iPad but still looks like it was designed for an iPhone. The new iOS might improve this.
Video
The Retina display of iPad Air shows its ability to display video in an attractive way. Apple has also refused to budge on the 4:3 ratio of the iPad screens that does much in reducing the fun of watching videos. The users will also face the issue with the file format. It supports only a limited file formats. For this there are third party player available for download that can assist somehow.
Storage
Storage is being the hot concern for the iPad, which can’t be completely experienced with half storage. With its full utilization, the 16GB of memory might come to be less in the capacity. A double of this can only get filled with apps while videos designed for the Retina screens can alone take most of the memory.
Battery life and Apps
It has a bit satisfying battery timing for standby. You can stick it in a bag, take it out with you for couple of days on standby but it is much less while in full functioning. It least up to 10 hours while surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video or listening music. This estimation can work as compared to the drainage in general use devices.
Apps
As it was made in the new iOS 7 the iPad Air comes with plenty of Apps that will give you access to many of the powerful tools like iWork tribe, iPhoto, iMovie and Garageband for free. It also enjoys the best of the Apple App Store that offer the best apps around, which offers improved user interfaces and are easily downloaded.
PRICES
It is not going to charge any premium over the iPad Air and also the device with Apple tag and security will be available on the same price ranges as others are already there. The prices range from US$499 to US$929 or AU$598 to AU1049 and £399 to £739. The device is available in the range from the 16 GB Wi-Fi only versions to the 64GB cellular option.