Apple iPad Air Review

As the holiday season approaches, we have today the announcement of the next iPad iteration. It's not called the iPad 5, it's the iPad Air. I suppose the 'Air' name kind of gives away its main changes over its predecessor: A thinner, lighter, and smaller design. Of course there are other improvements in tow, but the big identifier of the iPad Air is its new chassis. Other changes from the iPad 4 include a faster A7 processor and improved LTE connectivity.

Unfortunately, the rumors that the new iPad was going to include the Touch ID fingerprint scanner  didn't pan out. Perhaps it's for the best; I doubt many people would find it useful on a tablet.

	Apple iPad Air	Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014)	Apple iPad 4
Body	240 x 169.5 x 7.5mm, 469g (Wi-Fi)/ 478g (LTE)	243 x 171 x 7.9mm, 540 (Wi-Fi) / 547 (LTE)	241 x 186 x 9.4mm, 652g (Wi-Fi) / 662g (LTE)
Display	9.7" IPS LCD 2048 x 1536 (264ppi)	10.1" Super Clear LCD 2560 x 1600 (299ppi)	9.7" IPS LCD 2048 x 1536 (264ppi)
Connectivity	Wi-Fi, GSM (2G), HSDPA (3G), LTE (4G)	Wi-Fi, GSM (2G), HSDPA (3G), LTE (4G)	Wi-Fi, GSM (2G), HSDPA (3G), LTE (4G)
Storage	16/32/64 GB, 1 GB RAM	16/32/64 GB, 3 GB RAM	16/32/64 GB, 1 GB RAM
Camera (Rear)	5 MP with face detection and HDR, 1080p video	8 MP with LED flash, face and smile detection and 1080p video	5 MP with face detection and HDR, 1080p video
Camera (Front)	1.2 MP with face detection, 720p video	2 MP, 1080p video	1.2 MP with face detection, 720p video
OS	iOS 7	Android 4.3 Jelly Bean	iOS 7
Processor	Apple A7 (Dual-core Cyclone @ 1.3GHz + PowerVR G6430)	Wi-FI model: Exynos 5 Octa 5420 (Quad-core Cortex-A15 @ 1.9GHz/Quad-core Cortex-A7 @ 1.3GHz + Mali-T628) LTE model: Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MSM8974 (Quad-core Krait 400 @ 2.3GHz + Adreno 330)	Apple A6X (Dual-core Swift @ 1.4GHz + PowerVR SGX 554MP4)
Battery	Non-removable 8,760 mAh	Non-removable 8,220 mAh	Non-removable 11,560 mAh
Starting Price	$549	$499	Discontinued (Previously $499)
Included Accessories	S Pen stylus

Design

The iPad Air brings with it the biggest overhaul to the iPad design since the introduction of the iPad 2. This time around, the iPad Air borrows the design of the iPad mini: the edges are no longer tapered, and the back is made of the same aluminium that has always covered the iPad, however, this time it'll be available in either Space Gray or Silver. The front is very similar to previous iPads, except that the side bezels are much narrower, making the device easier to hold.

Numerically speaking, the iPad Air is very slim. Weighing just 469g for the Wi-Fi model, and measuring just 7.5mm thick, the iPad Air joins the ranks of the Xperia Tablet Z. The Tablet Z, while still slightly thinner, is also slightly heavier than the iPad Air. But for the power it packs, the iPad Air is impressively thin and light. Of course, Apple had to reduce battery size significantly from the iPad 4 to reach this level of slimness, however Apple is still claiming 10 hours of straight use, so I assume they're relying either on lower power consumption from the A7 chip and/or on optimizations within iOS 7 to use less power to make that claim. Still, whether the iPad Air can still deliver as much battery life as the iPad 4 with a smaller battery is something we'll only find out when the device is up for sale. 

Performance

We still have no benchmarks on the A7 chip used on the iPad Air. Of course, I could just put some iPhone 5s benchmarks here, since it also has the same A7 processor, but I think those could turn out to be inaccurate since I suspect Apple will increase GPU clocks on the iPad Air to handle the tablet's very high resolution. Either way, with a dual-core configuration of Apple's home-brewed Cyclone cores, based on ARMv8 64-bit architecture, at a clock speed of (probably) 1.3GHz, plus a OpenGL ES 3.0-supporting PowerVR G6430 graphics processor, the iPad Air will most probably take the top spot in most benchmarks again. Whether it'll be able to beat those monstrous Snapdragon 800 devices or not, that remains to be seen, but you can be sure it's a huge improvement over last year's iPad 4. 

Conclusion

The iPad Air isn't really so different from the iPad 4. There's the same display (not that I have any complaints about that), same camera module and RAM capacity. But the few changes it makes are very significant. The iPad Air sets itself as one of the thinnest and lightest full-sized tablets on the market, and the reduction of side bezels are very appreciable. As the iPad is a very good form factor for gaming, and Apple knows it, the iPad Air brings notable performance improvements that should maintain the iPad's spot as the fastest ultra-mobile device. 

The iPad Air will be available for sale as of November 1, and will sell for $499 for the 16 GB version. Storage increments will cost $100 and LTE connectivity will cost you a $130 premium. While I believe this to be some pretty steep prices, I think the price is worth what you get. If the iPad Air is too pricey, but you still want the big iPad experience, the (very) old iPad 2 is sticking around for $399 (at which point I'd recommend getting a similarly priced Android tablet, like the Nexus 10, which greatly outperforms the iPad 2 in almost every way), and if you want the iPad experience in a smaller package, you could consider the $399 iPad mini 2 (although there are comparable Android alternatives for much less), or the original iPad mini for $299.  

Apple iPad mini review

The budget tablet market has thrived, first with the Amazon Kindle Fire and then with the excellent Nexus 7. After Android 7-inch tablets managed to make a dent in iPad sales, Apple had to win some of its lost market share back, and it (tried) to do so with the iPad mini. Apple's response to budget tablets is an extremely well built device and a pretty good display, but unfortunately it isn't really a budget tablet, as Android competitors offer as much, if not more, for much less money.

	iPad mini	Google Nexus 7	Amazon Kindle Fire HD
Body	200 x 134.7 x 7.2mm , 308g	198.5 x 120 x 10.45mm, 340g	193 x 137 x 10.3mm, 395g
Display	7.9" 1024 x 768 (163ppi) LED-Backlit IPS w/ oleophobic coating	7" 1280 x 800 (216ppi) LED-backlit IPS	7" 1280 x 800 (216ppi) LED-backlit IPS
Storage	16/32/64 GB + 512 MB RAM	16/32 GB + 1 GB RAM	16/32 GB + 1 GB RAM
Camera (rear)	5 MP iSight camera w/ autofocus, F/2.4 aperture, face detection, 1080p video	None	None
Camera (front)	1.2 MP and 720p video w/ face detection	1.2 MP, 720p video	1.3 MP, no video
OS	iOS 7	Android 4.2 Jelly Bean	Custom Android 4.0
Chipset	Apple A5 (32nm HKMG): Dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 @ 1GHz + PowerVR SGX 543MP2 GPU + Dual-channel LPDDR2-800 memory	NVIDIA Tegra 3 T30L (40nm): Quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 @ 1.3GHz + 12-core GeForce @ 420MHz + Single-channel DDR3L-1333 memory	TI OMAP 4460 (45nm): Dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 @ 1.2GHz + PowerVR SGX540 GPU + Dual-channel LPDDR2 memory

Design

There's no doubt of it; the iPad mini has by far the best design in the small tablet group. For starters, it's the slimmest of them all, measuring a mere 7.2mm of thickness (compared to the Nexus 7's 10.3mm), and it's also the lightest, weighing 308g (vs 340g in the Nexus 7). The iPad mini is one of the world's slimmest tablets, only beaten by the Xperia Tablet Z's 6.9mm body. Also, while other small tablets are made of plastic, the iPad mini's back is made of an aluminum unibody, hence it looks and feels much better than every other budget tablet. The iPad mini takes on a slightly different design than what has been on the iPad since 2011, as it gives up tapered edges in favor of a more rectangular body. The rest is the usual iDevice setup: black Apple logo in the center, device name (iPad) in the bottom, and a 5MP iSight camera on the top left. On the front, the iPad mini is very remiciscent to the iPhone, because the vertical bezels are surprisingly small. This is what keeps the iPad mini as portable as other 7-inch Androids, despite having a display almost one inch larger. Aside from that, the usual front-facing 1.2MP camera sits above the 7.9" display, and beneath the display is Apple's signature home button.

Display

Quite uncharacteristic of Apple, but they made the iPad mini's display nothing special. That's not to mean that the iPad mini's display is a bad one, but it's not any better than its competition. One big win for the iPad mini's display is that it's larger than the competition (7.9" vs 7"). The difference isn't huge, but it does make the iPad mini noticeably better to use. I personally think that, for general use, the 4:3 aspect ratio is much better to use than the Androids' 16:10 screens, especially in the case of small tablets, as they're primarily used in portrait mode, and 16:10 is known for being too long and too narrow in portrait. The iPad mini's display, much like the Nexus 7's and the Kindle Fire HD's, is an IPS LED-Backlit display, which means that colors should be vivid, and viewing angles should be great. All good so far, but here's the achilles' heel of the iPad mini's display: resolution. The resolution of 1024 x 768 makes for a lackluster pixel density of 163ppi; very bad when compared to the Nexus 7's and the Kindle Fire HD's 1280 x 800 resolution and pixel density of 216ppi. As a result, text isn't very sharp and images/videos, not very clear in the iPad mini. But resolution aside, the iPad mini's display is ok.

Performance

Surprisingly, Apple also disregarded the performance factor in the iPad mini, as they used a 32nm die shrink of the Apple A5 (remember? the one that debuted in the iPad 2 in 2011). As expected, the iPad mini's very old SoC won't win any benchmarks, however it should be enough to deliver good performance (especially due to how streamlined iOS is). Even so, the performace that similar competitors boast is far superior. For a refresh, this Apple A5 is an SoC built on Samsung's 32nm HKMG process, consisting of two Cortex A9 cores @ 1.0GHz, and an old but still good PowerVR SGX543MP2 graphics processor. The Nexus 7, whose performance is admired, considering its $199 price tag, uses the once-premium NVIDIA Tegra 3 (T30L) SoC, which makes use of four Cortex A9 cores @ 1.3GHz and NVIDIA's own 12-core ULP GeForce GPU, which is on par with the Apple A5's GPU. Another similar competitor, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0, uses the Exynos 4412 chipset, which consists of four Cortex A9s @ 1.6GHz and a powerful Mali-400MP4 GPU. So, to break it down, the iPad mini has less than half the CPU performance compared to its competitors, but its GPU is on par with them. But, as this runs the ever so simple and optimized iOS, you would only ever have performance issues with the iPad mini if you try to play the most modern mobile games on it (e.g. NOVA 3 or Batman: The Dark Night Rises).

Price

Now, this is the most important factor in this sector of the tablet market. The iPad mini, while supposed to be competitive with budget tablets like the Nexus 7, is way off in terms off price. While most noteworthy Android 7-inchers have a price tag of $199 (and sometimes even a bit less) for the 16 GB version, the iPad mini starts at a hefty $329 for 16 GB. And apart from being more than double the price, the iPad mini suffers from a generally worse display (albeit a slightly larger one) and worse performance than its main competitors. Considering that, I imagine the only reason someone would buy the iPad mini would be because of either the much better build quality, or the fact that it's available in an LTE version (many 7-inchers are Wi-Fi only, but the Nexus 7 is available with 3G connectivity), or if the buyer just really dislikes Android. Generally, though, there are overall better alternatives for a much lower price.