Katelyn S. Irons | Echo
Just as the Macbook Air made all other laptops look giant, the iPad Air makes the current fourth-generation iPad look clunky. The Air is 20 percent thinner and 28 percent lighter than the iPad 4, according to CNN.
"This is our biggest leap forward ever with a full-sized iPad," said Apple Senior Vice President Phil Schiller about the redesigned size and weight.
The Air sheds 0.4 lbs from the iPad 4, dropping its weight to 1 lb exactly. It also has subtle measurement differences. The iPad Air is 240 x 169.5 x 7.5 mm compared to the 241.2 x 185.7 x 9.4 mm of the iPad 4, according to TechRadar. This will require new cases and some new accessories (like keyboard cases) if upgrading from a previous iPad.
The Air is built around Apple's new 64-bit A7 chip, which is the same chip as the iPhone 5s. The graphics are 72 times faster than the first-generation iPad, according to Engadget. And with the addition of MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) technology, the new Air will benefit from boosted connectivity.It has dual microphones for clearer sound during FaceTime calls. The iPad Air-like the iPhone 5s-comes in silver, white, space grey and its typical black.
While a lot of techies were expecting the addition of iPhone 5s-like features, the iPad Air does not feature a fingerprint reader or the Touch ID system. The iPad Air has made very little changes to the Retina display, camera, storage, battery life or connectivity.
The Air will go on sale November 1 with prices starting at $499 for 16GB (Wi-Fi only) and up to $629 for 16GM (4G LTE). The iPad Mini will also be released starting at $399. The Mini features new colors (silver and space gray), Retina display and the new A7 processor.
