In March 2019, Apple introduced two brand new iPads: a new 10.5-inch iPad Air and a next-gen iPad mini, both of which are
compatible with the original, first-generation iPad pencil. Let’s take a look at these new models and their amazing hardware.
The 2019 10.5-inch iPad Air
From £479/$499/549 €
The new iPad Air is designed to offer professional power at
a lower price than the top-of-the-range, current iPad Pros.
It’s clearly built around the last generation’s iPad Pro
technology. For example, it offers a Home button and Touch
ID instead of edge-to-edge screen and Face ID and
although it’s compatible with the Apple Pencil, you have to
use the first-gen Pencil model, which recharges using the
iPad’s Lightning port. Even so, under-the-hood
improvements give this iPad Air a massive advantage
in power.
The new iPad Air uses an A12 Bionic chip with Apple’s
Neural Engine, delivering a 70 per cent boost in
performance and twice the graphics capability over the last
iPad Air model. The advanced Retina display with True Tone
technology is nearly 20 per cent larger, with over half a
million more pixels. Its advanced machine learning and Core
ML means it’s great for augmented reality, whereby objects
drawn by the iPad are superimposed onto the real world
using the iPad’s camera. If you want to know how a table
would look in your living room, for example, you could
download a 3D image from the store and point your iPad’s
camera at the area you would place the table. It makes for
great 3D effects in iPad games too.
Remarkably, all this power does not come at a high price.
The new iPad Air is intended as a lower-cost tablet with
today’s power at a lower cost. Available in 64GB and 256GB
capacities, the Wi-Fi-only iPad Air costs just £479/$499/549 €
for the lower capacity and £629/$649/719 € for the higher,
with the Wi-Fi and mobile data versions costing
£120/$130/140 € extra.
You can use an iPad Pencil with the new
iPad Air, but it has to be a first-generation
Pencil, not the newer version. Both are still
sold at Apple Stores.
Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi and Cellular?
All iPads are available in two versions. Wi-Fi only models are
cheaper, but they require a Wi-Fi connection to get on the
Internet. iPads which also offer cellular connectivity can go
online using either Wi-Fi or a 3G or 4G connection, like a
mobile phone, but to do so you need a SIM card and a data
plan. Cellular iPads also offer Wi-Fi connectivity for when
you’re near a network. If you mostly use your iPad online at
home or in hotels and coffee shops with Wi-Fi access, the
cheaper Wi-Fi-only version is probably sufficient. However,
those who frequently use it out and about might prefer a Wi-Fi
and Cellular iPad. Apple tablets with a cellular, as well as
Wi-Fi, connection cost considerably more than Wi-Fi only
models and you need a separate data plan, but it does mean
you can connect to the Internet from anywhere there’s mobile
phone coverage. Talk to your mobile phone store about
cellular iPads and pricing plans.
The room is real,
but the table is
drawn by the iPad.
O
Apple's Other iPads
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